Givers versus takers
We make a living by what we get- but we make a life by what we give, said Sir Winston Churchill.

Mark Blum, the Agoura Hills bicycle repairman who spent much of his life giving to others, succumbed to multiple sclerosis last weekend. Stephanie Bertholdo tells his story on page 2A.

Quietly, unassumingly, Blum was one of the most generous people our community has ever known. Only 54, he volunteered more in his later years than most of us will in a lifetime. With limited resources due to his unemployment, and limited mobility due to his disease, Blum still managed to devote his time to collecting and repairing old bicycles and donating them to people in need, mostly children, the world over.

Throughout the years Blum kept in close touch with The Acorn, and it always felt good when he called to say hello and to ask if we could help spread the word that he needed more bikes- always more bikes to fix and give away. The community always responded, and from 1996 until he closed the workshop in his home earlier this year, Blum refurbished more than 3,500 bicycles. When he was no longer able to do the work himself he trained his young helpers to do the job for him.

"I believe there are angels living amongst us. Mark Blum, the Agoura Hills founder of Mission with Bikes, is one of these angels," wrote reader Suzanne Benjamin upon hearing that Blum's failing health had forced him to retire.

There are many of us who are blessed with good health and an affluent lifestyle. Blum had neither, Benjamin said, but he remained rich in spirit and generous of heart.

Where is your life today? Do you put yourself above others? Or are you someone who chooses to look out for his fellow man, like our friend Mark Blum? He taught us much about the way we should live the moments of our lives. We'll miss Mark and we applaud the virtues that he stood for. His life was defined by what he gave, not by what he took. His philosophy gives us hope that there will always be a better tomorrow.