A culture of giving
As parents, we hope to teach our children the important values of empathy and need to help others. Aren't these what our society should be all about? This is why, although we are a low-income family, we have decided to teach our 8 year-old son, Benjamin, and our 5 year-old son, Samuel, the joy of giving. We had established a weekly ritual, not knowing that one day, a sick little girl treated at the Children's would benefit from it.
Every week, we give our sons $1.50 each that they have to split equally between 3 piggy banks: into piggy bank number 1 goes money to invest in a long-term project, into piggy bank number 2 goes money to benefit a charity at the end of each year, and into piggy bank number 3 goes money to buy treats.
This year, I was so moved by a letter we received from the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation that I decided to share it with my sons. Maybe you are already familiar with Rosy's story? She’s the little girl who fought a second brain tumour in the spring and whose family now lives solely on the father's income as a sales clerk... She was part of the Tiny Tim Fund campaign.
After reading the letter, my eldest had a revelation: “This story not only affects Rosy. It affects her whole family,” he said. “Maybe our savings could help pay for their gas or a bus pass.”
And that's how both piggy banks no 2 were emptied of their contents. Nickels and dimes were counted and a little letter was written for Rosy to cheer her up.
