200.3 - Hero Award: Ashley Jiron

Hero Award: Ashley Jiron

While I didn't really find any good news this week, I did find someone deserving of a Hero Award, our occasional feature to acknowledge someone who on some matter big or small just did the right thing.

This has actually gone let's call it semi-viral so you might well have heard about it already, but still I want to mention it.

So our hero this time is Ashley Jiron, owner of P.B. Jams, a restaurant in Warr Acres, Oklahoma that focuses on peanut butter and jelly and other types of nut-based sandwiches.

Recently, she noticed that someone had been rummaging through the trash and taking thrown-away food.

Instead of calling the police or trying to find some sort of lockable trash bin, she posted a note, in fact several of them around the building:

To the person going through our trash for their next meal,

You're a human being and worth more than a meal from a dumpster. Please come in during operating hours for a classic PB+J, fresh veggies, and a cup of water at no charge. No questions asked.

-Your friend, the owner.

Ashley Jiron

Jiron says that even though she knows that pride and shame may keep that person from taking her up on the offer, she won't take the sign down until they come in because, she says, a free meal is the least she can do for someone who is obviously down on their luck. In fact she has already replaced several notes that either blew away or were ruined in the rain; now she covers them with clear tape.

In response to a suggestion from someone on Facebook telling her of a program at a pizza shop in Philadelphia, Jiron has started a "pay it forward" campaign at the restaurant, where customers can pre-pay for a meal for someone in need. So far, about 50 meals have been paid for that way.

Yeah, it's not much, yeah yeah and blah blah, it's not really costing her anything because the meals are still paid for, yeah yeah cynical blather and bluster, it's just for the publicity, and on and on.

I don't care. It was a nice thing, a good thing, the right thing, to do. Which makes Ashley Jiron a hero.

Sources cited in links:
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/10/restaurant-owner-leaves-touching-note-for-dumpster-diver/21165463/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/13/pbj-restaurant-dumpster-trash-free-meal-oklahoma-city_n_7055672.html?cps=gravity_2082_4328149088083721193
https://www.facebook.com/pbjams66/photos/a.1526644477615662.1073741829.1524750647805045/1587459304867512/?type=1