Kindness changes people in so many ways. We often have no clue how an act of kindness, no matter how small, will impact someone’s life. Especially in the tough times we are going through, there is no excuse to be rude- positivity is the only way in 2020!
Charlie Poveromo was always positive, and he looked out for those around him.
He took care of his brothers, sisters, friends, and family. He loved working with people and took the job as a lead bartender in one of the best restaurants in New Jersey.
Poveromo impacted so many people’s lives. It’s hard to find someone who cared as much as he did about others.
No one had a negative thing to say about Charlie. His boss Tony Del Gatto, who owns the restaurant said,
“He was one of the finest gentlemen I had ever met. Everybody felt like an individual to him. He spoke directly to people, his eyes never wandered,”
Charlie spread kindness and joy outside of work, too. It’s just the kind of person that he was.
About five years ago, New Jersey had been experiencing drastic heat. Charlie noticed that the garbage men were looking completely exhausted one afternoon.
Poveromo decided to help them out by giving them some hydration. The bartender must have felt right at home as he poured water into plastic cups for the hardworking city workers.
Charlie gave each man some water and talked with them while they cooled off and sat in a shaded area.
The garbage men said their thanks, and then got back to work.
At this point in the story, you should know that Poveromo wasn’t your ordinary individual. He didn’t stop there but went the extra mile to be sure the sanitation workers were always taken care of.
Charlie headed over to the store and purchased a cooler, a case of water bottles, and a bag of ice.
His wife fondly remembered the beginning of this story.
“The next morning at 6:30 am, after working all night and only getting a few hours of sleep, he loaded them into one of our coolers and waited for the truck to roll up,” she said. “I watched as he went up to the truck and explained that, from now on, the cooler would contain cold drinks for them all summer long.”
Charlie had a busy schedule with his job and family, but that didn’t stop him from always re-stocking the cooler on his off day.
Charlie didn’t think much of the cooler. He knew he was helping the men, but he didn’t think much of it. It was another kind thing in his positive life.
He’d done other things for people, but this cooler was much bigger than he realized.
The garbage collectors, police, firemen, and other city workers would regularly stop and grab something to drink. Pretty soon, everyone in the neighborhood knew why the cooler was there and what it signified.
But tragically, in March 2018, Charlie suffered a heart attack and passed away.
Charlie’s dear wife Velvet knew what she had to do. She had been married to Charlie for almost 37 years and she knew that the cooler had to be stocked and maintained for the men that needed it.
Velvet wouldn’t let Charlie’s legacy die with him.
She attached a note to the cooler that explained the loss she and the family had experienced. She also included a picture of Charlie for all to remember him.
Velvet commented to NorthJersey.com,
“I had to step into his shoes, Once the weather started getting warm, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, the water bottles.’ I had to do it. It was his tradition, and I had to honor him.”
Velvet kept spreading kindness and positivity and started a hashtag “Charlie’s Cooler” to help others pay it forward.
Special coolers show up in cities all across the United States. There have been sightings in New York, Wyoming, and of course, New Jersey.
Somehow, Charlie still puts a smile on faces with his cooler, even when he’s not present to enjoy their company. That is what each of us as humans should strive to do.
The impact one person’s life can have on a community, city, state, and country is astronomical!
Charlie’s legacy never died!
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