MONROE - Ken Behring, one of Monroe's most notable home-town-boys-done-good, and his wife Pat were back in their old high school auditorium Friday.
The school has now become Monroe Middle School, and Behring was invited to speak to the enthusiastic sixth- through eighth-grade students about his road from Monroe to wealth and finally purpose.
Behring's advice to the students was to "keep capitalism growing;" learn a foreign language, especially Spanish or Chinese; and "give some kindness."
"Don't wait as long as I did. The satisfaction you get from helping one person ... it means everything," he said.
Seventh-graders have read Behring's new book, "Road to Purpose: One Man's Journey Bringing Hope to Millions and Finding Purpose Along the Way," about the creation of Wheelchair Foundation.
The foundation has given away about 800,000 wheelchairs to people in poor counties all over the world.
Behring described some stories he tells in his book about seeing the faces on children and the elderly when he lifts them into a wheelchair.
"One seven-year-old girl had never moved from her pile of rags" he said. She was very frightened at first, but once she was taught how to use the wheelchair by herself, her face lit up.
"It doesn't take a lot. Poor people in the world feel nobody cares," he said.
Behring said he found a "solid base" growing up in Monroe, during the Depression Era, when he was "so poor I'll never forget what it was like." Behring said his family ate vegetables from their garden, and the only meat they had was from relatives who farmed.
But Behring was given the opportunity to work and earn money, and developed a drive to earn more. Working for himself since the age of 18, Behring said he was never satisfied and always wanted to "move up to something better."
"Capitalism is how you do something, not why you can't do it," he told the students. "It's when people tell you you can't do something, you really try harder," he said.
But Behring said when he had reached the top - when he had become a successful millionaire in real estate development and famous as the owner of the Seattle Seahawks, that he found life was "barren."
"I had everything money could buy," he said. "But money can not only give you a better life, it can be used to help other people."
Behring started using his private plane to carry medicines to Africa. And then one day, he was asked to take a few wheelchairs to Romania.
"There was just enough room in the back room (of his plane)," he said.
Thus started Behring on the road to creating the Wheelchair Foundation.
Students' questions to Behring revolved around his personal life.
"I liked how he lived in California and Monroe, and how he had different jobs and businesses," sixth-grader Hayley Mertz said.
"I like his poodles," Morgan Bonjour said.
Behring said he and Pat own two little poodles, who do not travel with them.
"The black one is called Little Bit, because he's a little bit of a problem," Behring laughed.
Sixth-grader Jacob Heiman couldn't decide what he liked best about Behring's life story.
"Everything," he said.
The school has now become Monroe Middle School, and Behring was invited to speak to the enthusiastic sixth- through eighth-grade students about his road from Monroe to wealth and finally purpose.
Behring's advice to the students was to "keep capitalism growing;" learn a foreign language, especially Spanish or Chinese; and "give some kindness."
"Don't wait as long as I did. The satisfaction you get from helping one person ... it means everything," he said.
Seventh-graders have read Behring's new book, "Road to Purpose: One Man's Journey Bringing Hope to Millions and Finding Purpose Along the Way," about the creation of Wheelchair Foundation.
The foundation has given away about 800,000 wheelchairs to people in poor counties all over the world.
Behring described some stories he tells in his book about seeing the faces on children and the elderly when he lifts them into a wheelchair.
"One seven-year-old girl had never moved from her pile of rags" he said. She was very frightened at first, but once she was taught how to use the wheelchair by herself, her face lit up.
"It doesn't take a lot. Poor people in the world feel nobody cares," he said.
Behring said he found a "solid base" growing up in Monroe, during the Depression Era, when he was "so poor I'll never forget what it was like." Behring said his family ate vegetables from their garden, and the only meat they had was from relatives who farmed.
But Behring was given the opportunity to work and earn money, and developed a drive to earn more. Working for himself since the age of 18, Behring said he was never satisfied and always wanted to "move up to something better."
"Capitalism is how you do something, not why you can't do it," he told the students. "It's when people tell you you can't do something, you really try harder," he said.
But Behring said when he had reached the top - when he had become a successful millionaire in real estate development and famous as the owner of the Seattle Seahawks, that he found life was "barren."
"I had everything money could buy," he said. "But money can not only give you a better life, it can be used to help other people."
Behring started using his private plane to carry medicines to Africa. And then one day, he was asked to take a few wheelchairs to Romania.
"There was just enough room in the back room (of his plane)," he said.
Thus started Behring on the road to creating the Wheelchair Foundation.
Students' questions to Behring revolved around his personal life.
"I liked how he lived in California and Monroe, and how he had different jobs and businesses," sixth-grader Hayley Mertz said.
"I like his poodles," Morgan Bonjour said.
Behring said he and Pat own two little poodles, who do not travel with them.
"The black one is called Little Bit, because he's a little bit of a problem," Behring laughed.
Sixth-grader Jacob Heiman couldn't decide what he liked best about Behring's life story.
"Everything," he said.