In a society plagued with so many problems, what can one person do? A lot, as Rev. Tom Oshiro has shown.
Oshiro, 89, died last week after a lifetime dedicated to helping people physically and spiritually.
Diminutive in stature but a giant spiritually, Oshiro didn鈥檛 put much stock in retirement. For him, it was merely a matter of changing gears.
After retiring as lead pastor at Royal Oak Baptist Church, he arrived at the Mustard Seed Food Bank in 1991, serving first as counsellor, then pastor, then director. He watched the number of hungry people grow from 400 to 7,200 a month 鈥� including 1,700 children 鈥� and oversaw the food bank as it clambered from the brink of financial collapse in 1996 to reach an annual budget of $1.9 million 鈥� all from donations 鈥� by 2014. That was the year he officially retired from the food bank, but retirement and his age didn鈥檛 stop him from continuing to work there.
He regarded as one of his greatest achievements the launching the Hope Farm Healing Centre in Duncan, where those struggling with addictions can go to recover after detox.
He saw helping as more than handouts 鈥� he believed in helping people learn to help themselves and to lift themselves out of difficult situations.
For Oshiro, a life of service was not one of grim sacrifice, but of joyous purpose. He constantly radiated hope and optimism.
Sometimes, monuments are erected to honour the achievements of great people, but stones and statuary are not needed to memorialize Oshiro 鈥� his legacy of service and compassion will live on for many years in the lives of the many people he helped and influenced.
