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--posted by Rick on Jan 18, 2008
The week before Thanks Giving, I did a little experiment with my class, leaving $200 in ten-dollar bills outside my classroom. Lots of great stories unfolded.
Katrina Kapetanovic was one amongst the students. Like everyone else in the class she struggled mightily with what to do with her $10. Some quotes from her essay:
"What if I got a bunch of people to each give $10 to a beneficial cause? Could that do more good? Will it really end up making a substantial difference long after the money was given? I still find myself to be stuck, constantly researching and questioning myself and how I could get the $10 to trickle down It doesn't seem like it could do a whole lot of good for just one person with $10 to give it away.
That is when it suddenly dawned on me. This $10 serves as a reminder that I need to be doing something for a good cause. This is enough. I'm going to find a picture frame, frame the $10 bill and hang it in my room so I see it every day. This way I will look at it and know that there are many people and organizations out there that could use my time more than any financial contribution I am able to give them.
Great! I've figured it out. ...However, I still think there is much more that could be done. After all, I spent a great deal of time contemplating how to spend my $10 and I still don't feel like I've accomplished enough.
I continued. If more people knew about the effort I put forth just to think about how to benefit as many people as possible with $10, maybe it could inspire others to get more involved, as it has inspired me.
How fantastic it would be if other people would stop and think of all the good they could be doing with their free time. I now have a new goal. I want to spread the word. Let people know how important it is to give what they can, when they can, and this will make a substantial difference.
...If I could inspire 50, or even just one person to do something charitable or kind that they would not have otherwise considered, I will feel really good about myself. Maybe these people will tell other people and it will have a ripple effect, maybe even exponential, and we will start to see an increase in those helping others.
Maybe ten years down the road I will review this little story and have accomplished a lot. Maybe I will still be trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. However, I do know one thing: that the $10 in a picture frame hanging in my room will always be there along with the reminder that I can do a little more to make a difference."
***
P.S.--Katrina is already hard at work getting her former school interested in helping a woman build a house for her family in Sri Lanka, and collecting children's books. Last semester she helped raise $1600 for a local "Gilda's Club" for cancer patients and families. My guess is that she has just begun her odyssey of giving.
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