$200 in 60 minutes

Can you think of a time where you spent $200 on something? Do you remember what it was? Do you still have it? Did you take pictures of it? Was it for yourself, your family, your home, your children, your wardrobe, your handbag?

A few days ago, my dear friend, Jeanne Perkins and I met with the public school director, Toinette and purchased $200 worth of uniforms, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, notebooks and rulers for the children of Utila attending the public school.It took us 60 minutes and we biked to 5 tiendas (stores). The principal of the public school owns one of the stores. Another of the stores was underneath Toinette’s house. These wonderful teachers had to create supplemental income because often the  teachers must share between one salary or they don’t get paid until the end of the school year.

I recently read an article dated back in March 2008 by Charles P. Pierce titled “Sweet Charity”. He articulates, “As soon as we start thinking about making a donation, we start think of reasons not to do it. Money’s too tight at home. The person to whom we’ll give it will spend it unwisely. The buck in the envelope is just a drop in the bucket. Oh, Lord, the problem’s so big and my wallet is so small.”  I have thought these very thoughts. He goes on, “When giving away your money, it helps to think of it as more than bits of paper and scraps of metal. That’s not a $20 bill you’re slipping into the envelope there. It’s a bag full of flour. It’s soup or a blanket or a bottle of medicine. That handful of quarters is a handful of rice.”

That wasn’t just $200 I threw at a problem the other day. It was 15 uniform shirts, 6 rulers, 77 notebooks, 40 pencils, 59 sharpeners, and 65 erasers. It was a direct contribution to help children get an education. It was a gesture of love towards these precious souls who will probably never leave this 8 mile wide, 3 mile long island.

How are you consciously giving your money away to a worthy cause?

Charity in its finest sense is always an act of the creative imagination. ~ Charles P. Pierce