EDITOR'S NOTE: In June 2004 I began a new venture as managing editor of both Northfield News and Faribault Daily News. This column originally appeared in the Northfield News on Feb. 3, 2006.
As I sit to write this column, I do so without a soda pop in front of me. It's not that I can't afford one; it's just that I don't have any available spare change to buy one. And I can thank my 7-year-old son, Garrett, for that. No, he didn't clean me out to buy the latest shoot-'em-up video game, or some other new techno gadget. He, like the other hundreds of students at Greenvale Park Elementary, scavenged all of our available change for a project at school called "Pennies for Patients." Last week, the students were challenged to bring in change to collect it to give to cancer research. The first day, the kids brought in all their pennies, the next all their nickels, and so on until this week they were collecting dollars. Ultimately, all the money from all the Greenvale classrooms will be collected, totaled and given to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was inspirational to see how Garrett dove into the project, and I admit a bit humbling for myself. He's always been a generous kid, always wanting to give to someone else much more than he wants to receive himself. But this past week he's been on a mission to ensure that there wasn't one single coin left in our house, car or my office, for that matter. (Hence, no soda pop for Dad.) He wanted it all to go to "Pennies for Patients." For example, we have a routine in which after school, Garrett comes to the office with me and he receives a couple of bucks for a treat from the vending machine. Since the "Pennies for Patients" project began, however, he's accepted that money only twice, and only after I convinced him both times that he had earned those treats. Otherwise, he's collected for "Pennies for Patients." Finally, after the third or fourth night of the ritual of turning over couch cushions and emptying out the pesky catch-all containers where change always ends up, I asked him what it was that lit a fire under him about this particular project. I innocently assumed I'd hear an answer about his Nana who was diagnosed with cancer several years ago and continues to bravely battle a disease that has ravaged her body. In fact, his Nana, after hearing about the project, even mailed Garrett a few bucks to help him chip in. But I was wrong. His answer was much more simple and humbling. With all the nonchalance of a 7-year-old, he said, "Cuz, Dad, they need it more than I do," and he proceeded to dump out the small wicker basket I have on my home desk that serves as the vessel for my end-of-the-day pocket contents. "Score," he said, "there's quarters in here." And that is why I don't have a soda in front of me as I write this. That 65 cents is being kept company by thousands of other coins somewhere, and eventually will make a difference for someone who needs it more than I do. But by no means do I want to celebrate the philanthropic deeds of my son alone. It took the efforts of hundreds of his schoolmates to collect the $4,565.93 total that was added up on Friday. And it took the donations of hundreds more parents than just myself to reach that figure. I suspect that Garrett's drive to collect change this past week could have been found in all of the Greenvale kids, and that is why I am humbled. Thanks to a simple idea, i.e. -- collecting the change that lies around uselessly in all of our homes, these children collected more than $4,500 that will go toward cancer research that could one day cure people whom need the money more than I do. People like Garrett's Nana. So, today I drink coffee. It's available free at work and the money I may have spent on a soda is on its way to a much more important use. I suspect there are Greenvale Park parents all over Northfield who feel the same way. -- Devlyn Brooks is the managing editor of the Northfield News.
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