Leave the gun take the cannoli (9)

The hallmark of a great man is his willingness to help others succeed and his unconditional loyalty to his friends. Allan Sih lived a quiet life of purpose, dedicating most of his free time to helping friends and strangers in their hour of need.

As a long time New York Cares team leader, Allan spent the better part of his weekends volunteering with people who were struggling with life altering illnesses. He also enjoyed an active social life, maintaining friendships from his teenage years to his final days.

Allan had a strong sense of empathy and the ability to organize everything and everyone in the midst of chaos. His only discernible weakness was the way he made coffee.

When I met Allan he was struggling with a coffee pot at NYU Rusk Institute. We were setting up the snacks at his monthly social event for patients with spinal cord injuries. Alan had carefully measured the water and scooped out a minute amount of grounds. I grabbed the pot, scooped a heaping pile of grounds into a paper cup and said “trust me, and everyone will stay awake through BINGO.” That was the beginning of our friendship and charity collaboration. We chopped vegetables at God’s Love We Deliver, read to kids and served lunch to the homeless for over seven years. We also ate at every vegetarian restaurant below 14th Street.

Allan knew how to pick a restaurant, where to buy the best green tea in bulk, and how to get the best prices on electronics. He was also an expert on chili.

As a former president of the New York Texas Exes, the University of Texas alumni association, he never missed the annual chili cook off fundraising event. He considered himself a Texan as much as he considered himself a New Yorker. I think he was born in Asia, so I guess you could say he was a citizen of the world. And he lived everyday of his life trying to make the world a better place.

Allan Sih’s Memorial will take place on May 7th from 12 to 3 pm at Hill Country, 30 West 26th Street, NYC.
(212) 255-4544

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2011 at 10:52 pm and is filed under Caring Community, Children's Charities, feeding the homeless, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.