Here is my story - Anna N
A few months ago Alicia challenged us to share our stories. I
loved the idea, but didn't think I had the words to write
something grand. While organizing the items for the Ronald
McDonald House, I realized I would never have a “grand
story”, because my story is small. Many small acts of kindness
that just keep overflowing my story. I love NHWT. To me, it's
about coming together, kindness, and giving.
In September I chose the Ronald McDonald House project because there was a need that I could fill. I had the time and resources needed, so I stepped up to chair. As soon as my son Charles discovered we were making breakfast bags, he begged me to collect pop tabs. He has always wanted to collect pop tabs, unfortunately our canned pop intake is limited and we only collect about ten a year. I thought maybe others would have ten too and combined we could drop off a bag of pop tabs. We dropped off two bags, a little over two pounds!! If you know about recycling, you know that's only a dollar or so. If you follow the Ronald McDonald House at all you know our dollar or so goes into an even larger pot that grows to over $33,000 a year. We came together. We did what we could. We made a difference. Our small gesture along with all the others will make a grand impact.
The thing that really struck me as marvelous, the reason this is the story that I decided to share, was Charles. As we were taking all of the collected pop tabs and putting them into large Ziploc bags he asked, "How many do you think there are?" I answer him with a guess of around 2,500. He then started to cry and said, "I always wanted to help other kids. I can't believe my dream came true! This is so many more pop tabs than I could have done alone. Thank you for helping me!" Such a simple act created a ripple effect and a ten year old boy has now decided he needs to help more, do more, be more. You can't pay for that type of happiness, his or mine.
And that, along with so many other small acts of kindness, support, and gratitude are the stories that overflow my basket. They make our chapter great. They help me become a more thoughtful and grateful person. They show me that many hands can do amazing things.
In September I chose the Ronald McDonald House project because there was a need that I could fill. I had the time and resources needed, so I stepped up to chair. As soon as my son Charles discovered we were making breakfast bags, he begged me to collect pop tabs. He has always wanted to collect pop tabs, unfortunately our canned pop intake is limited and we only collect about ten a year. I thought maybe others would have ten too and combined we could drop off a bag of pop tabs. We dropped off two bags, a little over two pounds!! If you know about recycling, you know that's only a dollar or so. If you follow the Ronald McDonald House at all you know our dollar or so goes into an even larger pot that grows to over $33,000 a year. We came together. We did what we could. We made a difference. Our small gesture along with all the others will make a grand impact.
The thing that really struck me as marvelous, the reason this is the story that I decided to share, was Charles. As we were taking all of the collected pop tabs and putting them into large Ziploc bags he asked, "How many do you think there are?" I answer him with a guess of around 2,500. He then started to cry and said, "I always wanted to help other kids. I can't believe my dream came true! This is so many more pop tabs than I could have done alone. Thank you for helping me!" Such a simple act created a ripple effect and a ten year old boy has now decided he needs to help more, do more, be more. You can't pay for that type of happiness, his or mine.
And that, along with so many other small acts of kindness, support, and gratitude are the stories that overflow my basket. They make our chapter great. They help me become a more thoughtful and grateful person. They show me that many hands can do amazing things.