I ran across something I wasn't aware of today. Something that is known as
4-H. I had never heard of it in high school. If it existed where I attended school, it wasn't well communicated. Some kids and some partnering adults were standing in front of a market, selling various foodstuffs in order to raise money for their projects.
4-H educates children with a variety of extracurricular activities. This particular group was actually going to be working with farm animals(chickens and cows) as well as plant life. It reminded me of Evoke's second mission, and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help them along. The kids seemed eager to learn about their project, and were having fun acquiring the means to do so. I gave them 10 dollars and they gave me a grilled hot-dog and diet soda. It was more of a donation than an attempt to buy the food.
I wanted to do more, though. Money does help them get the education they're looking for, but there's should have been more I could do for them. I'm a proponent of the power of people and setting a good example for them by making one of them do it seemed like a good idea.
As I was leaving the market, they began to ask if I wanted to buy anything, only to realize I was there earlier and gave them the donation. The kids smiled, waved, and I stopped and told them something. "There's an older gentleman just up the road here, holding a sign. I didn't get a good look at the sign, but I know that standing on the corner of a street for a long time can certainly make someone very hungry and very thirsty."
I recognized the person on the corner as a man who had lost his job and his home. I'd had seen him before at least a week ago. He didn't ask for money. He asked for food or work. I told the kids. "Do you think you could take some food up to him? I'm sure he'd really appreciate it." Now, giving a fish to someone only feeds them for a day, but inspiring young people to do kind things for others might lead to something much more.
You need to be a member of Urgent Evoke to add comments!
Join Urgent Evoke