It started off with a simple question by Phoebe, an adorable little girl with a big heart. After seeing a person holding a cardboard sign begging for food, Phoebe wondered, “Why does that man look so sad, and why is he holding a sign in the street?”
A grown up conversation ensued. “What can we do to help?” asked Phoebe. Her parents told her about one possible place the hungry could go for help; The food bank. Her ambitious goal was to raise $1,000, in two months. Why $1,000? No one knows; Phoebe couldn’t even count denominations of money before the project.
“Phoebe focused on the smaller picture, and what she could do,” her teacher explained. She decided to collect cans as a project to complete her mission. Phoebe knew that she could raise money by recycling cans, because her dad would bring her and her sister to trade cans for cash on the weekends. She was especially encouraged after talking to officials at the San Francisco Food Bank. They told her several agencies had pledged to provide $9 in food for every $1 donated to the food bank.
With a little bit of guidance from her teacher and a whole lot of support from classmates, Phoebe wrote letters to 150 family, friends, alumni and neighbors. She received 50 responses. Word got around about the 5-year-old girl who wrote, “Dear Family and Friends… My charity project is to raise lots of money for the S.F. Food Bank. They need money. I am collecting soda cans. Would you please give me your soda cans and bring them to With Care…” Donations started pouring in… Friends, family and even anonymous donors dropped off cans, checks and cash at the colorful storybook-looking day care.
Phoebe’s once overambitious goal seems minuscule compared to the check for $3,736 she gave to Paul Ash, the executive director of the San Francisco Food Bank. With matching donations from the charity’s large network, Phoebe’s donation resulted in $33,624 worth of food — or 17,971 meals — for the city’s hungry.
Source: The Huffington Post
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