A Lesson To Learn From Children

This week at Head Start, our classrooms are participating in the St. Jude's Trike-a-Thon. The Trike-a-Thon is a week long event dedicated to bicycle safety, as well as, an opportunity to raise money for the children at St. Jude's. Since we are a Head Start program and 90% of our families live at or below the poverty line, I did not have very high expectations for how much money we would raise. Regardless of that, it was still going to be a great opportunity to teach our children that there is always someone less fortunate than us that we can help.

Our goal for the Trike-a-Thon event was $200 and you can imagine my surprise when a child turned in her donation packet with a check for $160. A four year old raised $160 -- five of those dollars being from her own piggy bank. I couldn't help but tear up. She took to heart the lesson of helping those less fortunate.

So far, the children have raised close to $300 and I couldn't be more proud of our babies! It also got me thinking about how reserved I am with donating my money. If these families who are living paycheck to paycheck find even a few dollars to donate to the cause, why am I, a young professional making a good living, so quick to find any reason as to why I can't "afford" to donate?

Now, this doesn't mean that I need to give $160 a month to a charity I believe in. And it doesn't mean that I only need to give monitarily, because giving your time is just as important. But I do want to be better about supporting other organizations outside of the one I am working for.

I've been blessed beyond belief with the life I was born into, and I never forget that. That is why I chose to become a Social Worker and give my life to serving those less fortunate. I need to be better about giving both my time and my money. If a child who has nothing has the ability to give so freely, I have the ability to do the same.

So, I challenge you all to do the same. Give freely. Find something, a charity, an organization, that you're passionate about and donate your time or your money -- or both. Sometimes we think that our little contributions aren't making a difference, but they are. Even if one life is changed for the better, it was a success.