Drive By Stir Fry: Shon Smith makes a difference donating food
I am a big fan of stories of contribution and also stories of redemption — where we see the humanity and dignity of people who have been subject to ridicule or harsh judgment.
Local restaurateur Shon Smith of the Wok About Grill showed the Wenatchee Valley his spirit of contribution by working with the folks at Upper Valley MEND to get perishable food into the hands of low-income individuals in Leavenworth, according to my friend Duane Goehner of the Friends of Leavenworth group. “We’re calling it Drive By Stir Fry,” Goehner told me.
organization also donated food to MEND and other community groups.
Wok About Grill volunteers and Smith assembled the packs and delivered them last week.
Smith received a lot of criticism from the community recently when he considered defying the order to shut down his restaurants. The truth is we all make bad decisions or rash judgments in the heat of the moment. At least, I know I have a lengthy list of things that I would do differently in my personal and professional life.
This is a great reminder that all of us are human beings. Sometimes we make great decisions and look heroes and other times we do things that make us look idiots or bad human beings. The truth is we are both of those things.
I hope that people who were critical of Shon Smith will be willing to see him as more than just one questionable decision in the heat of the moment.
We already have too much choosing sides going on. Let’s discipline ourselves to get out of that destructive cycle. We can be critical of actions and at the same time be more humbly generous with our assessment of the human beings involved.
