By MARTA GOUGER

mgouger@tnonline.comThere are three types of people in the world: those who have, those who don't and those who share whatever they have.I have been blessed to be on the receiving end of kindness many times over the years.In 2003, my husband was in a head-on crash. When we came home from the hospital, our church friends brought us meals for about a month. I had food in the freezer, but no time to cook anything. I was bandaging my husband's wounds, helping him walk and working full-time.Ronnie had a brain injury, so he couldn't stay alone. Our church set up a schedule for people to sit with him, laugh with him and sing with him, all so I could go in to the office.People from church gave him rides to doctors' appointments in Philadelphia. One kind man said to Ronnie that he "was going that way anyway."It wasn't true, of course, but it made me think about how I could help someone.When we began to recover, I signed up for the meals ministry at my church, not because I'm a good cook my meals are basic but because I so appreciated that help and it was time to pay it forward.But I've got nothing on my friend Yvonne.She was already a kind, loving person when I met her. Then she developed cancer and God transformed her.When she healed, she looked at the world around her with new meaning and determination.It started with her fingernails.Yvonne had faithfully paid to be pampered with a manicure and nail tips.One day she looked at her beautiful hands and decided she could do something better with her money.She took that $20 and bought canned goods for people who needed food.Soon she started stockpiling goods when they were on sale. Her husband, Vince, also got into the routine and put shelves in their dining room.She didn't care that the shelves weren't fancy and that it might not look like a photo from Better Homes and Gardens.She just wanted to feed people.Canned goods are great, but people need meat. So they started buying meat.Then they bought a freezer to store the meat.When Hurricane Sandy hit, they were without power for nine days. They borrowed a generator to keep the freezer running.It was no accident that Yvonne constantly stumbled upon people who needed help. She would give them whatever she could.During Sandy a family with several children called her to see if she knew where they could get a hot meal. Many places in the community were serving a meal here and there, but they had transportation issues as well. Yvonne and Vince couldn't cook they didn't have electricity.So off they went to buy a meal at McDonald's for the family.Most people would stop right there, but they dreamed of more.They are using their own money to set up a food outreach ministry. They are completing tax paperwork now, and the first event will be a free Thanksgiving meal for anyone who needs one.We all have something to contribute to help others. Some of us are blessed with money. Some of us are blessed with talent. And others are given time to help, or to just listen. It doesn't have to be much.We can choose to hold onto our gifts, or like Yvonne, we can choose to make a difference.