Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Marc Goldstein with me. Welcome, Marc.
Marc Goldstein: Hi, Toni. How are you today?
Toni: I am great. How are you today?
Marc: Wonderful.
Toni: Good.
Marc: Sun’s out.
Toni: I know, right? What is that? I have no idea.
Marc: Exactly.
Toni: Welcome to the Project, and take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Marc: Well, I’m from Berks County. I grew up here. About 2011, an idea came about to start Blankets of Hope. Seven years later, we have donated over 27,000 blankets to 90 organizations, mainly in Berks County, but we have donated blankets outside of Berks County, depending where the funds come in.
Toni: That’s amazing.
Marc: Thank you.
Toni: That number is staggering, isn't it?
Marc: It is, and by the end of the year, because we have projects that our blankets will be shipped to that haven't been included yet, we’ll actually be over 30,000.
Toni: That’s a lot of blankets.
Marc: It is a lot of blankets. Thank you.
Toni: That’s good. Good for you, and congratulations.
Marc: Thank you very much.
Toni: Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Marc: It’s feeding off of our emotions and reacting to the surroundings around us in a positive way. That’s really what inspired me to do Blankets of Hope was reading something in the newspaper that emotionally, I was like, “Wow. Why all the negative news?” I reacted, and what I wanted to do was react in a positive way.
Toni: So, inspired for you means, “If it’s bad news, I’m going to do some good news,” or is it any kind of emotion attached to it?
Marc: Well, it’s any kind of emotion attached to it, but seeing the negative news, it really just makes…being positive has a greater effect. People are happier when they are positive. I react more to the negative, but yes, I do react to the positive as well.
Toni: Okay. Do you know when you’re inspired? Can you feel it?
Marc: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Toni: Yeah? What’s it feel like?
Marc: It’s just a gut feeling. It’s something like I said, reading the newspaper and seeing that, you get a “wow” moment. That’s what happens.
Toni: Do you know the last time you were inspired?
Marc: Oh my God.
Toni: Even if it was a little thing that created and stirred a little emotion in you?
Marc: Honestly, I get inspired every day by the little things that happen. I don’t have any particular moment, but to be honest with you, every day there’s someone or something that has inspired me. Yeah. You see it every day.
Toni: Isn't that a wonderful way to walk around the world?
Marc: Oh, absolutely.
Toni: To be inspired every day?
Marc: Absolutely.
Toni: Absolutely. So, how do you take that mindset, which is a positive mindset and being inspired every day, and how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Marc: What I do is, obviously I do it through Blankets of Hope. I do it through other avenues. I’ve bought a person a coffee one time at Wawa or something of that nature, but every day I’m working on inspiration through Blankets of Hope, trying to help someone else. Maybe someone else sees that and they can be hopefully inspired by what we’re doing and create their own gift, their own…
Toni: Their own way of helping.
Marc: Thank you. Yes.
Toni: At its essence, you were inspired to do Blankets of Hope, and that is to provide…tell me the mission of Blankets of Hope.
Marc: Our mission is that every person deserves to be secure, to feel warm, and to have hope. I probably got that wrong, but in that essence. The idea is that when someone gets a blanket, no matter what their situation is, whether it’s homelessness, hospice, someone going through chemotherapy, that blanket really has a touching moment. It doesn’t solve the issues, but if you’re ever sick, I’m sure the first thing you do is grab a blanket. The blanket really means something to the individuals. For me, when dealing with the organizations and sending a blanket, I know that there’s a deeper meaning behind it. People really love it.
Toni: That’s fantastic. Who in Berks County inspires you, Marc?
Marc: Well, there’s a few people. Chef Tim is one. I met him a couple years ago. I didn’t know much about him, but after having a 5 to 10-minute conversation with him, his energy and his heart is unbelievable. For someone who’s a chef, sometimes you think, “Oh, they have an ego,” and all that. Good ego. But his heart is amazing. He was one person that still inspires me. We have conversations, and there’s always something positive that we’re talking about.
The late Sharon Parker, who really was instrumental in helping Blankets of Hope when she was with the Berks Coalition to End Homelessness. She was the one that I reached out to and was very instrumental in helping me and guide me through everything. The thing that was great about her — and still is, even though she’s not here anymore — is that she was true to her cause. She was passionate. There was no ego. She was one of the most caring people I’ve ever met.
To follow that is how I met Elsayed Elmarzouky. Going to the People First event for the first year and meeting him, I wasn’t sure; but all of a sudden after talking to him, he’s an amazing person, reading up on some of the stuff that he has done. What I really like about him is his ego is in check. It’s not about him. He’s the kindest person. I love chatting with him. He really is one of my heroes. He really is an unbelievable person.
The last one that I look to is my father. My father passed away two years ago. Blankets of Hope, he was my first donor. Besides me, he was my first donation of $50. My dad has never said a bad thing about anyone in his life. I think I maybe heard him yell a handful of times. He never talked down to anyone. He never judged anyone. I got a lot of that from him. I got his heart. My dad’s heart is incredible. I think of him every day. He’s with us every day.
Those are the four people that still inspire; two of them who aren’t here — but they are here.
Toni: What a generous list that you’ve presented. All four very generous human spirits. What would you like your legacy to be, Marc?
Marc: Well, that’s kind of an ego question, because I really don’t care what people think of me. The legacy that we either leave now or when we pass, honestly, if one person saw what I was doing and they did something for someone else in their own way, whatever way that is, then I guess that’s my legacy. I’d be happy with that if I knew that one person saw what I did and did something else for someone else.
Toni: Well, just from this tiny little interview, you have already passed on your father’s legacy through you, and so that is a wonderful way to keep that momentum going. I’m sure that you are living your legacy every moment of every day. For that and for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project, we thank you.
Marc: Thank you very much.
Toni: You’re welcome.
