So I read in my little local paper about a nearby school named Wesleyan where every one of the 410 students in the high school were invited to an assembly where they were handed a crisp $100 bill and told to "do something beautiful for God." No strings attached. No requirement to ever account for how the money is spent. I called Dean of Students Marc Khedouri and he told me that the intent of the project is to teach children about sacrificial giving and to encourage critical thinking skills.
Within days of the assembly, students had given their money to various organizations individually, and one boy even started a non-profit foundation called Diamonds in the Rough to raise money for baseball fields for schools without funds to build or repair their own. Numerous students were starting to pool their money to do something bigger together. One girl called CARE and found out if she could donate $50,000, then CARE would match it and there was a foundation that would then match that $100,000. This girl's $100 could then become $200,000 towards CARE's worldwide humanitarian aid programs. This girl pulled together 9 of her friends and they have committed to raising $5,000 each. According to Mr. Khedouri, this girl has already met her goal.
In a letter Mr. Khedouri sent home to parents, he asked the obvious question--what if students waste their money, or simply buy something for themselves? Mr. Khedouri said that could happen, because many people do waste their gifts, but the lesson learned would be more valuable. The seed would be planted.
And that is what got me thinking. What are my gifts? What can I do? And that's when I knew. It is time for me to go, to do something beautiful. And so, now, on exactly the one-year anniversary of when I started this blog, I am bidding farewell to Stone in the Pond. And I am asking you, as a final goodbye, to do something beautiful. Be a Stone in the Pond.
0 comments:
Post a Comment