the gift

i heard the nicest thing that i just had to share with you. i rode home the other day with a woman i know from the train, and she was telling me about her daughter's upcoming birthday party. for the second time in this little girl's young life, the family has requested that in lieu of birthday gifts, guests bring non-perishable food items to be donated to a local hunger charity.

my friend told me how the first year they did it, it was her suggestion to her daughter and came along with assurances that she would still get plenty of birthday gifts from her family. but this year, her daughter came to her about it...the idea came from a little girl turning eight. i thought this was the most beautiful thing. not only for the good her thoughtfulness will do, but for the promise that is born when a child is exposed to ideals of kindness and generosity.

i love that they decided to forgo presents to benefit people with so much less. and i love that my train friend shared it with me - i am considering it an introduction to possibilities in generosity that i haven't yet discovered, courtesy of a soon-to-be-eight year old girl.

photo from http://www.theyesyoucanshow.com/