By Molly K. DewittJDNEWS.com
Matthew Purkey wants you to buy his liberty.
Purkey, a corporal stationed at Camp Lejeune, is selling his 96 hours of liberty allotted during the Thanksgiving holiday for $25 an hour in hopes of raising $2,400 to donate to a homeless shelter in Wilmington.
“Liberty (in the Marine Corps) means enjoying the things you can’t enjoy on a normal basis,” he said. “The homeless don’t get liberty.”
The 27-year-old Marine, who lives in Hampstead, spent last Christmas with his wife Kayla and a group of Marines serving the homeless at the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter in Wilmington. He said the experience was “humbling” and sparked his interest in doing more.
“It’s one of those ugly facts of society that we just don’t like to look at,” he said. “I believe that people will not make eye contact with the homeless because they know they are two decisions away in their life from being that way.”
Purkey said he found the inspiration for his liberty-selling venture after hearing a sermon in church a few weeks ago. The congregation was asked “Are you doing enough?”
“I’ve come to the realization that a lot of people want to help out, but they’re scared to do the footwork,” he said. “It’s easy to be faithful when you’re sitting at home in the lap of luxury.”
However, at the heart of Purkey’s devotion to this cause is something more personal. For eight years he struggled with alcoholism. Some nights, his mother wrote down his name and address on a piece of paper and tucked it into his shirt pocket because she feared the worst.
“It’s easy to go from drinking to have a good time to drinking to not feel sober anymore,” he said. “It’s a fine line people push. I pushed that line long enough and before I realized I wasn’t having fun anymore.”
He believes God saved him.
“There’s no other way to say it: He delivered me,” he said.
The experiences he gathered from his darkest days are something Purkey said he hopes will help him further his mission to help the homeless.
“I know the pain that they’re feeling, and that’s the relief I want to give,” he said. “When people tell me you don’t know what it’s like — I do.”
Purkey plans to spend the liberty hours he sells with the homeless at the Good Shepherd Center during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. He’s been told the center is usually full during holidays and said he does not expect special treatment. If there is not an available bed for him he will sleep on the street and panhandle for food if necessary.
“I’m not taking anything with me. If there’s room, I’ll stay … If there’s not — off I go,” he said. “People have gone through worse with less.”
Purkey said his wife is “joyfully worried” about how he will fare during the weekend but supports him in his endeavors.
Katrina Knight, executive director at the Good Shepherd Center, said they are “excited” about Purkey’s endeavor.
“He is clearly very sincere,” she said. “He already has experience volunteering and working with people in housing crisis and I think he has a really heartfelt desire to bring greater awareness to the problem, not just in our community but throughout the region.”
Knight said Purkey’s passion for advocacy as well as his desire to personally experience life at the center are what made the partnership a good fit.
“We’re really looking forward to when the time comes that he has those hours and can spend some time here living among our folks but can also volunteer and understand the scope of our work firsthand,” she said.
If all goes well, Purkey said he hopes this will become an annual event.
“I’d like for this match to cause a fire,” he said. “Next year I hope if I’m not here, if I’m not able to do it, that someone else will pick up the reins.”
With two years left in the Marine Corps, Purkey already has plans for life as a civilian. He and his wife will return home to Ohio to open a shelter and start programs for those struggling with addiction with several friends, one of whom is an accountant and one, an architect.
“I honestly believe God made us all different jobs to come back together for his cause,” he said.
The group of friends has already come up with a mission statement for their endeavor: “It’s truly American to judge someone on the potential of their future not on the mistakes of their past.”
Purkey plans to present the funds generated from the sale of his liberty hours to Good Shepherd Center on Nov. 1.
“People look at them through eyes of hellfire and damnation. Instead of damning these people, let’s help them,” he said. “This is something that I have to do. God has put this on my heart for a reason.”
By Eitan Gavish
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