"The world is a dangerous place, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
---Albert Einstein
Today I had the privilege of spending time at my daughter's elementary school where some children in each grade took time out of their recess period to make sandwiches for the homeless. The sandwiches were far from gourmet -- they were cheese, turkey, ham, and a combination of those. But the children took great pride in each step of the process - decorating brown paper lunch bags with drawings, cartoon figures, and upbeat phrases, as well as packing two sandwiches, along with fruit, candy, and more in each, and putting the bag in a designated box after it was stapled closed. Many kids -- older and younger -- even wanted to do the activity twice.
I came away realizing that when presented in a simple yet creative way -- and when allowed to do an altruistic activity together with friends -- kids will give up part of their favorite school activities to help less fortunate people. This activity seemed very normal to them, and while one could argue that making one lunch isn't doing all that much for the larger homeless problem, it certainly gives kids a bit of education and realization that not everyone has as much as they do, and certainly not everyone gets to be picky about what they eat for lunch (that's an issue we've occasionally had in my house - I'm working on it!).
Bottom line: It was nice to see kids doing something to help others during the school day.
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