How to "Give" to Others

For the third year in a row, Dominic's school has done a "Loose Change Drive." This is something that Dominic's wonderful teacher (Mr. P.)  and I have worked on together from the beginning.  It has been awesome as a parent to watch how the teachers, administration, students and parents have all reached into their pockets and given their extra pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to others these past three years.  The first year, we donated the money that was collected to the Habitat for Humanity, last year it was the Special Olympics. When Mr. P and I were deciding which charity to donate to this year, we knew the money should go to the Sparrow Foundation in memory of a little girl (Lacey Holsworth) who was just eight years old when she passed away of cancer back in April.  I can't even fathom what it must be like for her parents. She was younger than Dominic. When I contacted the charity to get their mailing address, they told me that they wanted us to come down in person to deliver the check. Dominic, Lauren and I made a poster:

 
Yesterday, we went down to drop off the check. When we arrived, my contact person said something like, "we have invited the local media to cover this story!"  Well, that was kind of unexpected :)  There were two television stations there.  One station interviewed Dominic and I and the other station interviewed Mr. P and then we switched.  We then presented the check to a doctor from the hospital.  It was very cool to watch Dominic shake the doctor's hand and then slap him a high-five! Even though Dominic has now graduated from his elementary school and is heading to middle school, I hope the "Loose Change Drive" is something that continues there. The way I choose to look at life is that we are all here for just a limited time. Sometimes choices are made for you that are out of your control (like accidents, unexpected illnesses, and such), but most of the time you can choose how to live your life.  My hope is if just one parent or child saw the news broadcasts last night (we were on two stations at the same time), then maybe it will inspire them to volunteer their time at at a local soup kitchen or donate their used toys to a homeless shelter. When you "give" to  others, not expecting anything in return, it makes you feel good from the inside out!