Helping Hands – Pastor Michael Stone

Excerpt from Automotive News. See the full article here: http://www.autonews.com/article/20031229/SUB/312290729/helping-hands

Helping hands

Despite the busyness of business, many in the auto industry found time this year to lend a hand to those in need.

Some fed hungry bodies, some fed hungry minds. Some provided comfort, encouragement or a day of fun.

All of them gave their time. And it made a difference.

Here are some of their stories.

GM administrator helps the needy in Flint
Flint, Mich., has taken some hits as General Motors employment there has shrunk. But resident Michael Stone, 50, is doing his best to help the community’s poor. Stone, a staff administrator at General Motors’ Romulus (Mich.) Engine Plant, spends his off-duty time as executive director of the Flint International Dream Center, a community group that helps those in need. For example, it collects food donations and distributes them to the needy. “Since September 2000, we’ve given away 225,000 pounds of food,” Stone says.The group also distributes clothing, school supplies and Christmas toys. And its Easter egg hunt provides low-income kids with prizes ranging from $5 to a new computer.Stone says he grew up in a religious family whose seven children were taught to appreciate what they had, and to share with others. Now he, his wife and three children do the same: “We think we’re helping to promote a continuance of something my parents taught us.”