My local school district is supporting a nation-wide drive to raise money for research into an illness that strikes young and old alike.
The drive involves having every homeroom in the school individually gather up and donate whatever loose change they can spare, find, beg, or borrow. (I'm sure the district draws the line at stealing. (smile)) The homeroom making the highest contribution gets a free lunch from a local restaurant.
Not a bad deal, huh, for a few pennies here and there?
News of the drive made me think about the old bottle I've been using as a piggybank for coins left at the end of the week, every week, for almost a year now. And I promptly decided to see just how much I'd actually saved. Grand total: forty-two dollars and eighty-seven cents.
Not a bad haul, considering that money might have trickled through my fingers. Which got me thinking...
Maybe little trickles, tiny little ripples, could make an awfully big difference out there somewhere.
It could be the cash we collect for a good cause, like the local school drive.
Or the pennies we find in the street and drop into a collection jar at a cash register.
The bagsful of clothing we donate instead of letting collect dust in our closets.
The time we spend at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen or literacy program.
The parking space we give up to the next harried shopper we see at the mall.
The empathetic smile we share with the woman in the department store with the wailing toddler wrapped around her leg.
Or the funny face we make that leaves the toddler laughing.
We might never learn what comes of those little ripples we set off. But if they hit the right place at the right time, anything could happen!
Got any ideas for making a big splash?
All my best to you,
Barbara
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Barbara White Daille
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4 comments:
I'm more the little ripple person. I donate little things around the apartment to Goodwill. I kind of know what it's like to be in need of things. I am on disibility and on a limited income, but I try and help with what I can. I have this big jar that I would put all the loose change in, pennies, nickles, dimes, toonies.(I need the quarters and loonies for laundry) I have a great family that will ask me if I want a certain item before they get rid of it, like when my parents got a new bookshelf, I got the old one. I've been putting change in there for 5 years and the thing is only 1/4 full. Probably in 2-3 years I'll roll it cause I figure I'll use it for my son's college payments.
So I don't think I'll ever make a big splash, unless I win the lottary.
Well, Christa, I don't think you need the lottery (for the big splash, anyhow (grin)). With all those little ripples you set off, you ought to be guaranteed to cause a few tsunamis!
That jar of yours sounds like a treasure trove for your son. But I have to show my ignorance here--what are loonies and toonies? Dollar and half-dollar coins?
Best,
Barbara
Here in Canada they have changed our $2 bills and our $1 bills to coins. We call the $1 coin a loonie because on one side the is a picture of a loon and the $2 coin a toonie because it is worth $2. It just makes for more change in the pocket.
Well, Christa, I'd responded to your message early this morning, and somehow the blog ate my post!
Thanks for filling me in on the loonies and toonies. Much more interesting than saying a dollar bill.
You'd written: It just makes for more change in the pocket.
And more change in your son's college jar. (smile)
Best,
Barbara
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