Caring example: Wayne Country Day teens show what holiday is about

It was all the money they had raised in their pie sale, yet somehow, the seventh- and eighth-graders at Wayne Country Day School did not think they had done enough.

After thinking about the future and what they wanted to do with the $450 they had raised, which traditionally is saved for class projects and other fun, these young people decided the money would be best spent on others.

And once again, a group of Wayne County young people has provided an example for the rest of us of the true spirit of the holiday season.

The classes decided to donate their money to the Empty Stocking Fund after thinking about what the toys, clothes and stockings it would buy would mean to the 600 needy children slated to be a part of this year's celebration.

After all, they said, no child should be without a toy for Christmas.

Their own only lament, they said, was that they could not have helped more.

Now isn't that a lesson for all of us.

Adults often seem to forget that Christmas is about more than the hustle and bustle and the gift shopping. We assume that our children's only concern is what they will find under their own trees.

And then along comes a group like the students at Wayne Country Day -- and we are reminded that sometimes young people understand better than we do just what Christmas is all about.

These children had no reason not to vote to have a party or to hoard their money for some future project. That was the reason for the fundraiser. They also did not have to give all their money away.

Yet, when faced with the story of children who were not quite as lucky as they were, they decided that their money would go for good and not for fun.

How proud their parents and their school must be.

And what a challenge they have set for the rest of us.

Published in Editorials on December 11, 2008 10:55 AM