Mr. Hammond’s Blog – The Biggest Littlest Gift
As you may know, the Returning Thanks breakfast kicks off our annual fund which helps sustain the school’s operations such as awarding teachers raises, keeping tuition below cost for all children and providing financial aid for families who need it.
This year’s Returning Thanks breakfast was held on Tuesday the 18th of November and I’m very pleased to say that the generosity of our community is both inspirational and heartwarming. The community has already exceeded last year’s totals and the number is climbing.
As the advancement team and I were opening the envelopes and tallying the contributions, we came across a small envelope with a child’s name on the front and her little hand print traced in crayon across the sealed flap on the back. When we opened it, we found a one dollar bill neatly folded inside.
A short while later, by chance (actually grace), we cross paths with the child’s mother and asked how her little four-year-old came up with the idea of contributing to the annual fund. Her mother said that as she was busily preparing to go to the Returning Thanks breakfast that morning, her daughter asked, “What are you doing, Mama?”
She explained that she was going to a fund-raising breakfast where she would support the school by making a financial contribution. “What does financial contribution mean, Mama?” the little girl asked. “It means helping the school run by giving money.”
“I’ve got money, Mama,” the four-year-old responded, and she ran to her piggy bank, opened it up and pulled out a dollar bill. Running back to her mother, she said, “Here Mama, give this for me.”
Her mother undoubtedly smiled and took the time to make a learning experience out the moment, putting the dollar into an envelope and inviting her child to put her name and hand print on it. Her mother gave it to the table captain when the envelopes were collected that morning.
There are some things, you just don’t forget. This would be one of them.
Just as the woman in the Gospel who gave out of her need, sometimes the smallest gift can be the largest. As we build this school together, based upon teaching children servant-leadership, I see the whole community coming together to model such servant-leadership by creating a “culture of giving” where each member supports the school in the manner and amount they are able, not out of obligation but out of gratitude and love.
We are well on our way.
