Voices for Voices®

Everyday Heroes Who Deserve More Than a Parade | Ep 288

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 288

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Everyday Heroes Who Deserve More Than a Parade | Ep 288

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What captures our attention in today's media landscape? A scandalous kiss cam moment at a concert or the heroic efforts of first responders saving lives during devastating floods? This stark contrast forms the foundation of our reflective conversation about recognition, service, and finding fulfillment in helping others without applause.

As we approach our 300th episode milestone, I'm taking a moment to explore why we're drawn to sensationalism over substance, and how this affects our collective ability to celebrate genuine goodness. The recent flooding in Kerrville, Texas provides a sobering backdrop to this discussion – while volunteers and first responders work tirelessly to save lives, their stories receive a fraction of the attention given to celebrity scandals and viral moments of questionable behavior.

My personal journey mirrors this tension between seeking recognition and finding purpose through service. The early years with Voices for VoicesⓇ were admittedly focused on accolades and personal achievement, but I've discovered that helping others without expectation of recognition brings a far deeper satisfaction. This transformation represents a fundamental shift from self-centered motivation to genuine compassion.

Everyone can contribute something meaningful, regardless of resources. Financial donations are valuable, but giving time and talents can be equally impactful. Something as simple as serving meals at a shelter once a year creates ripples of positive change that extend far beyond what we can measure. When we help others because it's right rather than for acknowledgment, we nurture our own spiritual and emotional wellbeing while making the world better in tangible ways.

Subscribe and follow Voices for VoicesⓇ on YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Audacy, and Rumble to join our growing community of listeners committed to being a light for others in a world that often celebrates the wrong things.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Introduction and Community Gratitude

4:31 Natural Disasters and Human Response

7:43 Sensationalism vs. Meaningful Stories

17:38 The Value of Helping Without Recognition

30:42 Small Acts Make Big Differences

43:02 Being a Light for Others

#EverydayHeroes #InspiringStories #HeroicActs #CommunityChampions #UnsungHeroes #BeyondTheHeadlines #RealLifeHeroes #HumanSpirit #ChangeMakers #LocalLegends #ActsOfKindness #PositiveImpact #CelebratingHeroes #MotivationalContent #HeroSpotlight #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram

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Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I am your host. Founder of Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes. Thank you so much for joining us on this and every one of our 285 plus episodes in studio, out of studio. We can't do this without you, can't do it without your love and support, especially in tumultuous times of uncertainty in the world, of uncertainty in the world, tough areas, tough topics to talk about. And it's you, our viewers, our listeners, not only here in the United States but across the world, that have this interest, and we're experiencing an increase in support, viewership, listenership. And so here we are. And so here we are Again over 285 episodes, with a goal of hitting 300 by the end of calendar year 2025. And instead of just hitting that number, we're going to be surpassing it sooner than expected.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

And that's the beauty of being able to film these episodes out of the studio we're able to cover more current events, more timely versus when we're in studio beautiful setting, beautiful setup. We have to film ahead and sometimes that can just make it a little bit tougher to stay on top of situations and events that pop up as they seem to do from time to time. We had these horrific floods in Carriville, texas, recently, and just heartbreaking to be in here and watch coverage about those. We're able to talk about it and talk about the trauma that comes from an event like that of flooding, people missing that. We know that. We love People that maybe have been found unresponsive and, you know, are hard to go out to Every single person from that area, every single first responder, every single, anybody who has stepped into that, anybody who has stepped into that. You know just a terrible situation and natural disasters. They happen time to time. It seems like maybe the occurrence level has been increasing again, that's just just an observation. I don't have any numbers to support that. It just seems that these natural disasters, when they happen, they're just very, very difficult situations. So when we talk about that type of a situation hard on the community, hard on the area, hard on first responders, hard on anybody live there, know somebody that lives there probably been impacted one way or another, and so again, our hearts go out to each and every person that is involved with with that situation, this episode what we wanted to do is make it more positive.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

We spend a lot of our time talking about being told conversations about what we can do better, how we can meet our goals, how we can exceed them, and we spend less time talking about the positives, the accomplishments that we make, the goals that we meet and exceed, not just the goals that we can improve on, Because we know we're not perfect, nobody's perfect. It's important, just as a human being, that as we experience negativity, bad experiences, personal life, professional life, the ups and the downs, what sells are those clicks and those sensational topics and words. 25 years ago we weren't as inundated and maybe if we were, we just didn't know it that sensationalistic journalism of again the shock value and we think about positive stories. There's not as many, it seems, of the positive stories as there are of the shock and awe of negative and outrageous. I'll give an example.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

So just recently there was a, a cold play concert, and apparently through one of the songs or during one of the songs, there was a. There was a kiss cam. You know that goes. It goes around the arenas or the stadium or wherever the event's being held, and so this camera would focus in on a couple people and then people would say hey, kids, kids. And then it would go on to the next two people that the camera operator, uh tell, should be next. And before I get into this, I first and foremost mostly I do not condone any of the activity that happened by the two individuals that I'm going to be referencing. So by me talking about this, this doesn't condone it, make it okay, make it right, make it any better. It's just a proof of point of it's a sensational, shock type of a story and everywhere you turn, it seems social media-wise specifically is what I've noticed so many people are posting about it.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

And so this kiss scam landed on two people and there was a man and a woman and the man had his arms around the woman. And there was a man and a woman and the man had his arms around the woman like they were embracing. And once the camera focused in on them and they saw their picture up on the camera or on the video screen, up on the camera or on the video screen, immediately they both kind of acted like nothing was happening. And so it turns out, at least from what I can tell, is the guy involved is married. I don't know children, I don't know what that status is. I've been able to again, in our good faith research before we talk about these things, these topics, uh appears the the gentleman is married, and then people appear that the girl may also, may be married as well, and so, of course, with this story and the picture you know, and the videos of once, the camera focuses on them and then they just act like you know, they didn't want to be seen together and like they didn't want to be seen together, and so, of course, there's been this huge fallout that's been going on.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Again, there's a lot of different reports out there, but the reason I'm bringing it up is it's a shock value story and, for whatever reason, it's drawing a huge amount of interest. And we juxtapose that Again, we're not condoning that activity at all, not in belief, but we juxtapose that with a new story about an individual, about an individual, individuals who are helping people. I mentioned Kerrville, texas, and there's just just just just so heartbreaking the floods and people have lost their lives and people still missing, and yet there are first responders and just regular people that are pitching in and helping, that are pitching it and helping, whether they're able to find and recover and save somebody or not. There's a lot of people that are doing a lot of good down south in Texas and I don't feel that same level of coverage from a media perspective social media perspective Again I could be completely wrong. I don't think I am, I could be. But from what don't think I am, I could be.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

But from what I've been able to ascertain from social media and other media outlets, that this story about this Coldplay concert and you know, this alleged affair between this CEO of this organization, allegedly, apparently married with this girl's lady and potentially maybe married herself in some type a long-term relationship, and so I look at both of those things. There's one that we would think that, wow, we would want to cover a human interest story where people are doing good. So I would think, covering that and those first responders and just those human beings that are going out of their way to help in any way, shape or form, I would think that would be more widespread, more widespreadly covered in our media, not some alleged affair between a couple that were shown on a kiss cam video screen at a Coldplay concert. I'm just saying Coldplay because that's the name of the band that was holding the concert the night where this activity was caught on tape and is being talked about by so many. And so I just want to take some time to say thank you to all those first responders down in Texas and elsewhere, all those humans, first responder or not, who are helping people each and every day that don't get the press coverage that other stories get. And so thank you to everyone that's doing good in this world, not just here in the United States, but across the globe.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Across the world there's a lot of awesome people, a lot of awesome organizations, a lot of just awesome human beings that are stepping up and not always just waiting for, you know, the next natural disaster to happen, that they're doing positive things day in and day out as they're able to. You know whether that's making a donation or whether that's volunteering time at a shelter, at a warming shelter during wintertime, and helping people who you know we're not judging here people that are living on the streets for one reason or another. When the temperature gets to be really low, there's warming centers that open up. There's people day in and day out over the course of that period of time when that weather is a brutal cold. They're doing great things. They're preparing meals, they're serving them, they're cleaning up after they're getting ready for the next day, the next evening.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Not glamorous work, not glamorous at all, but that's helping our fellow human, fellow human beings, because we never know when if we'll be in that type of a position where we may need help, because no matter how little or how big, big, we all need help from time to time and that's what the big part of voices for voices in my part, with the organization of starting it and continuing it on is there's times I need help, there's times I need to talk to somebody, and those times aren't glamorized, they're not. They don't make theized. They're not. You know. They don't make the news. They don't have. You know the national or international media. You know showing up to. You know to do a half hour hour story on something we did, on something we did and we did something well, or we're helping where we're just trying to help our fellow human beings versus you know the story of the Coldplay concert, and so that's why, again, for everybody out there watching listening, give us a big thumbs up like share, follow, subscribe.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Voices for voices TV show and Podcast, wherever you consume your content, your podcast. You have iHeart we're on iHeart. You have Odyssey we're on Odyssey. You have Spotify we're on Spotify. You have YouTube we're on YouTube, you have Rumble, you get the idea and we can all be a light for others. We may not get it again. We might not get it again. We might not get it the kudos, the credit, the award but it's a story like that. It's individuals like you who are doing good work.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Again, for anybody that's new to Voices, for Voices. Take kind of the first 25, 30 years, whatever, of my life. It was all about titles. It was all about titles. It was all about money. It was all about accolades, things that Justin could get and that's me, in case anybody's that new. It was all about what I could get, what I could get recognized for. It was about me, me, me. And now those days are still there, but in proportion to, again, those earlier years, there's a much greater proportion of me being more cognizant, more aware of helping and wanting to help and wanting to be a light. And wanting to help and wanting to be a light, and that can mean tackling tough subject matter.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

That can be talking about things that aren't glamorous A lot of people turn away from. They don't want to hear about it, they don't want to listen, they don't want to hear about it. They don't want to listen, they don't want to watch. But I truly believe that so many people need help in this world. So many people need help in this world and there, as with just a lot of things, there's the easy road and then there's the hard road. The easy road would be what thing or things can I do to help in the quickest fashion? And then there's things like talking about individuals' experiences with some very, very tough, very traumatic experiences, and then people start judging and say oh well, you're talking about this and you need to make better judgments. You need to make better yeah, better judgments on what you do a show on or what you spend your time on. And I like to think that and what I'm finding is there's people across that spectrum, people that it's easy to help and then people that it's harder to help. It's easy to donate a gift card or donate food on the continuum.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

It's much harder to talk about a person or a person to have been through awful situations, awful events, because those stories of events are so raw and we may think, well, I don't want to talk about that, I don't want to, I don't want to talk about that, I don't want to cover that, I don't, I don't want to give somebody a platform to do that. I just want to do the easy, the easy thing. All the time and, as you know or if you don't know, I tend to go in the harder, tougher areas. In the harder, tougher areas when not a lot of people, a lot of organizations want to go and there's a lot of great people, a lot of great organizations out there. But, just like anything, there's good organizations, good people and people on the other side of that spectrum when people want to get that easy credit or they don't want to get that easy credit, or they don't want to get in the trenches and research and talk to somebody and listen to their horrific story and things that they had to encounter and go through, had to encounter and go through. Again. It's easy to grab a gift card and give a donation. That's great. We need people to do that. We do.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

But when we look at what something's easy and hard because we choose to cover some of the hard, hard topics, the hard areas, I don't need an award. I don't need a again. 20 years ago I would have needed a pat on the back and an attaboy or attagirl Way to go. Now I'd much rather just help somebody, regardless if it's an easy way or the hard way, because my time's short on Earth, all of our time is short on Earth and I don't want to think at the end of my time that while I could have tried, I don't know if I would have succeeded, but I could at least tried some of these harder topics, these harder areas. I already had so much regret for those first 30 years or so of my life and we'll continue to have that from time to time Things that I wish I would have did that or if I only was thinking like this. Well, hindsight's always 20-20. We're always able to.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

You know they call it the Monday morning quarterbacking after ballgames over the weekend. It's always easy to look back at a game and say, oh well, the coach or the manager, they should have did this, but they didn't, it was a team loss. It's the same thing with the. It's easy to say, oh well, I wish I would have did this. I wish I would have at least tried it, not for me, but for the people who are in these again, just terrible, inhumane conditions being taken advantage of, being abused, whether you want to think about it or not, whether I want to think about it or not. There's people at this very moment who are being abused, that are being taken advantage of, and so we can either make the choice of seeing what we can do to help help those people and we can help, we can invite, we can have guests on our show or we can talk about the topics ourselves to hopefully inspire another person to step out.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

And so doing good doesn't always have to be about the money. Doing good doesn't always have to be about the money, doesn't always have to be about. Well, I have five goals for this year and I met all of them, and so I'm going to get this big raise or this big bonus and a raise, and all those things are good. You know we we look at things under Maslow's hierarchy of needs and food, water, clothing, shelter. You know that really lays out the foundation that we can't look at security in other areas until we have those more basic areas covered, and there's people this very moment who don't have those covered. You know we can have a spirited discussion on whether the person deserves to be where they're at or not, but I'd rather not spend my time arguing and, you know, nitpicking about that.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

Why don't we just help our fellow humans to the best that we can. We might not be in a position to help. We might not be in a position to help financially, but maybe we can help serve dinner once a month or once a year to those less fortunate. And yeah, all our time is valuable, but it would just be your time. We wouldn't be asking for some donations, some huge amount of money. We would just donate our time and that would be something that we could do to help the help. And I'd like to think that no matter how we help whether it's by donation, by financial means or by our time and our talents God looks at all of that as helping our fellow human.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

So sometimes I hear people talk about so many people. They're asking for money and you know, I can't or I don't know whatever that feedback is. Just think If those that can and those that could help would donate one afternoon, one meal serving a year. That'd be one less meal, that potentially multiple people would have to go hungry. And again, we can have a spirited discussion on what the person did or didn't do, why they're in that position. But I can guarantee you if somehow, someway, you end up in that position, but I can guarantee you, if somehow, someway, you end up in that position and you need a little bit of help, you're going to be very thankful for anybody that would put their time, talents and treasure towards serving you or serving me a meal again. That's not the glamour thing, it's not the glamorous thing, it's not the shock value. It's not going to get the press. It's going to be the couple having an affair at a Coldplay concert and that story is going to get the press. And so I would just challenge each and every one of you I challenge myself, everybody that's part of Voices for Voices to just look, look for an opportunity once a year to get started and do something that's different than what you're.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

If you work for a company or an organization, try to do something. That's not what is the pet project of the CEO At that organization. Because of that CEO, that's going to get they're going to get the credit. You can be sure that, while that's not a glamorous thing to help people, you better bet though. While that's not a glamorous thing to help people, you better bet, though. If there's a CEO, a head of an organization and they're able to get some, they're able to contact the media much easier than you and I are. They're going to be doing it for the credit. But when you do things that aren't for the organization, you can do things for the organization.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

I'm not saying not to do those, I'm saying quite the opposite. I'm saying you can do those for that organization. But then you can also think of how can I do something that means more for me, that makes me feel better, not just well, I got a couple hours off of work or a few hours off of work to go work on this project, and then the hour that I spent gets thrown in with all the other employees and then the CEO stands in front of the camera and they're getting that credit. But when you and I just do the humane thing, we're not, we're not going to get that type of credit. So that's why it has to be in here, has to be in your heart to want to help.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

And I don't make I don't like to make a lot of guarantees, I'm not going to guarantee. I will just say that, if you haven't already, the first time you help somebody, and even just the slightest way, that you serve lunch on a holiday weekend and you see the looks and look the you know. Thank you, thank you for this food, thank you for these people who are choosing to take even just an hour or two out of their day to help load my plate with food and nutrients and vitamins and minerals. Because I don't know about you, but if I'm ever in that position where I need a meal or I need a little bit of help, I'm going to be looking up to those individuals and say thank you, thank you, thank you for donating your time, talents, your treasures to help me have a warm meal. So maybe the news cameras don't follow. Follow you, or or I. Maybe it's the CEO Follow you, or I, maybe it's the CEO to get all that credit.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

But there's so many other things, so many other ways to donate our time. Again, just once a year, maybe it's an hour or two a year, on one day, and that just becomes your thing. And then, when you have a family, you want to show your loved ones the thank, the thanks and the value of helping their fellow human being who's down on their luck at the time being. Because, again, if I'm down on my luck at the time being, I am going to be so grateful, so thankful for the food, the nutrition. If it's a warming center for the night to be able to warm up, I have somebody maybe donate a pair of boots or a new hat or a new sweatshirt to keep me warm. It gives you a whole new perspective on life when we look at it, when we look at it, when we look at things from this perspective. So let's not dwell on what we're not doing well, what we're not doing good, what somebody tells us we could do better. There's always going to be those things Instead, why don't we focus our time, talent, treasure our energy and celebrate Doesn't that mean you in that self-care area Like wow, I'm glad I did that, I made a difference.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

I don't need CBS and NBC or TMZ or whoever to come cover me in that story. I need to just be able to look in the mirror and the field in my heart. Look in the mirror, in the field in my heart, that what I did was doing the very thing that I would hope, that if I was ever in that position and I needed the help, that there'd be somebody across the way that would be reaching out to help serve my plate, to fill my drink, to fill my water or juice. So let's be grateful, let's be thankful, let's celebrate, celebrate being alive. I've did it before, I'll say it again we're not guaranteed tomorrow, we're not guaranteed the next minute, the next second, the next hour, the next day, the next month, week, year.

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

So shouldn't we do things to make us feel good and that are healthy, even if it's just that one hour a year or maybe two hours on one day, and you got the whole rest of the year to do what you want to do and think about and all those things? And I can tell you from my experience again, I'm not going to guarantee it, but from my experience I don't, and I'm getting goosebumps and chills. I can't tell you what, what thing or things I did when I first realized that it feels really good to help somebody and not to have to get something in return, that I don't need that news story, I don't need that award, I don't need that award. It's just my heart being warmed because there may be one less person that has to think and worry about where they're getting their next meal from, or that they're not going to have to continue to wear Boots that are, that have holes in them, that they're going to be more protected from the elements from the elements. So let's help our fellow human Because, again, when the tables turn and more often than not it seems like it does turn in some way somehow Are you going to hope that somebody's on the other side of that table or the other side of that serving station to serve you?

Voices for VoicesⓇ, Justin Alan Haye:

I know I am. So why should I wait until then to immerse myself? Why should I wait until then to think about that situation? Why don't I do what I can do now, where I have two legs, I'm able to walk, that I'm able to drive? Because there's going to be a time where our time is going to come to an end on earth and there's going to come a time that, if we drive that, we may not be fit to drive, we might not be fit to drive, we might not pass our eyesight test for getting our driver's license renewed. So I think, I think the world is in good hands with us, and so, as I try and Voices for Voices tries, to be a light for others, I hope and pray that you also are a light for others and you want to be that light for others, that you don't need the accolades, you don't need the awards, that you can just be yourself, I can be myself, and together we can help our fellow human beings who just need a little bit of help.

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