The day started with prayer. It was going to be a big day celebrating the efforts and sacrifices of fifteen incredibly cute and amazing five year-olds. With so many components to the day, it had to be placed in God's hands.
Joni and Friends Area Director, Eric Jones, and Wheels For the World Director, Mary Grace Rushing, had been all over Texas collecting wheelchairs that had been donated. They loaded wheelchairs and drove until 12:30 at night and then came to my house early the next morning to load another 50 chairs. Despite the collapsed supports and pouring down rain, they had smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts because they knew what the wheelchairs would mean to their recipients.
As for myself, I helped Eric and Mary Grace get set up for loading and I left to pick up balloons and head to the school. A camera crew would be at the school in 45 minutes to interview the kids. I had a number of minor "hiccups" to overcome. The balloons weren't ready and my phone and computer would not accept e-mails or texts as I was trying to coordinate people. I arrived at the school a couple of minutes before the camera crew and they arrived a couple of minutes before the Wheels For the World truck.
As we brought the kids out to see the truck loaded with wheelchairs, their jaws dropped and their faces lit up. They couldn't believe there were so many. The camera crew took shots of the kids in the truck with the wheelchairs and then went into a quiet room to interview some of the kids about the fundraiser. As I watched the kids go in and out of the room I thought about all of the moments I wish the camera crew could have caught. There would be no way to capture just how amazing the kids are.
It was finally time for the celebration! The room was swarmed with butterflies, each representing a dollar that a child had raised. About 100 children filled the room, along with parents, friends, teachers, and friends from Joni and Friends. A slide show was playing, the treats were ready, the awards were ready, and now it was time to talk about one of my favorite subjects, kids!
Steffani Wilkins, Director of First Foundations Preschool opened the celebration by thanking the children and thanking God for the success of the fundraiser. The children sang and signed the song, "It's A Beautiful Day." I reminded the children of the book we started the unit with, The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews. As molecules are moved by the flapping of butterfly wings, more molecules are moved until the movement of the butterfly wings can be felt around the world. I told the children those movements had been felt across the United States and in Brazil, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, China and the Ukraine as people have read their story.
We talked about the book, The Boy Who Changed the World, also written by Andy Andrews. The children had changed the world by saying "yes" to God. I went through the long line of people before them that had to say "yes" to God or none of it could have happened. Ultimately, it was God who originated and planned it all!
Throughout the fundraiser the children were asking family and friends to donate so wheelchairs could be collected, refurbished, and delivered to those in need around the world. They came up with great ideas of products to sell. They gave up their piggy banks and tooth fairy money to add to the total. Their parents gave sacrificially so all of their great ideas could come to fruition.
One of the kids had another idea. His father is Sr. VP of Business Development for MediLogix and his son asked him if he could get some wheelchairs together. His father shared the idea and in a few short weeks he had almost 170 wheelchairs promised to Wheels For the World. Carlos shared his son's vision and a great number of people responded with support, including Nexion Health Management, Inc. and Creative Solutions in Healthcare. At the celebration he also presented a brand new wheelchair that MediLogix had donated. The children had no idea how many wheelchairs had been donated until we shouted and counted to 150. This number doesn't include the wheelchairs that have not been picked up yet!
We then had a series of drum rolls as the kids anticipated how much money had been raised. $1,000...$1,500....$2,000....$2,500 until we landed on the number of $3,150!! The children, along with the support of some amazing parents, had raised over $3,000!
The Celebration was bittersweet for me since I will not be teaching in this way next year. I have loved this journey and God has continually surprised me. He sure let this last year end with a bang!!
The children in the Bridge Class have been able to raise over $15,000 for Joni and Friends over the years, and more importantly, 135 children have developed a love and compassion for all kinds of friends, regardless of their abilities and disabilities. I feel humbled and blessed to have been able to be part of such a beautiful experience!
One of the kids had another idea. His father is Sr. VP of Business Development for MediLogix and his son asked him if he could get some wheelchairs together. His father shared the idea and in a few short weeks he had almost 170 wheelchairs promised to Wheels For the World. Carlos shared his son's vision and a great number of people responded with support, including Nexion Health Management, Inc. and Creative Solutions in Healthcare. At the celebration he also presented a brand new wheelchair that MediLogix had donated. The children had no idea how many wheelchairs had been donated until we shouted and counted to 150. This number doesn't include the wheelchairs that have not been picked up yet!
We then had a series of drum rolls as the kids anticipated how much money had been raised. $1,000...$1,500....$2,000....$2,500 until we landed on the number of $3,150!! The children, along with the support of some amazing parents, had raised over $3,000!
The Celebration was bittersweet for me since I will not be teaching in this way next year. I have loved this journey and God has continually surprised me. He sure let this last year end with a bang!!
The children in the Bridge Class have been able to raise over $15,000 for Joni and Friends over the years, and more importantly, 135 children have developed a love and compassion for all kinds of friends, regardless of their abilities and disabilities. I feel humbled and blessed to have been able to be part of such a beautiful experience!
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