Help-A-Thon

Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 276: Today, I am grateful for Help-a-Thon.

Today is Help-a-thon. It is our annual fundraiser that supports the PTO and manythings an educational budget does not stretch far enough to reach. Truthfully, the money is already raised and in the bank and there is nothing to deliver except service and a great experience.

Like any "a-thon" - pledges are made in support.  The difference is that after the pledges are collected, the students and staff will literally cover our little village of Morton in acts of community service. It is the best day of the school year!  

Basically, pledges are made to support acts of service and the school receives the funding. And the cherry on top is that a percentage will be given to several local charities that have a positive impact on youth. It is a Win-Win-Win... (and the Cubs made it to postseason, too). 

If you are local... some will be working outside... give them a honk and a cheer. Look for the Help-a-Thon t-shirt designed by former MJHS student and graphic designer Andy Pfeifer and sponsored by local businesses. It is a really rocking design. 

Please remember that for education to make a real difference, it must extend beyond the classroom. 

Some of our youth will have glimpses into their future when the glimpse work inside a healthcare facility for the aging, a firehouse,a police station or the the library. Others will experience landscaping work or finding a passion for feeding the hungry or serving those often forgotten by society. In the past, new dreams of help and service are born and acted out before the student ever graduates from high school. 

This just might be the most educational day of the school year. 

Thanks to entire community for giving, cheering and inspiring 12,13 and 14 year old youth to embrace service. 

One of my favorite scriptures is one I try to keep close to my heart every day. I have not perfected it, but I will keep trying. It helps me make better and more Lord honoring choices when I embrace it:
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ " -Matthew 25:40

Jesus was serious about widows, orphans, the sick, the lost the hurting and the lonely. He was a game changer for women and never saw them as second class citizens but partners in the mission. We need to be serious about them, too. 

Here is the 2016 video (thanks Andy Knepp).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B80_tPutt7_TRTdrdmpPOF8zRDg/view?ts=59bacc04 

What a great day it is in public education! Service feels good. Looking beyond ourselves and into the needs of another. 

Today, I am grateful for Help-a-Thon.