Friday, August 12, 2011

There is hope

A recent column by Nicholas Kristof tells the story of someone whose life should give us all hope: Rachel Beckwith. In her all-too-brief life she did a lot for the rest of humanity. When she was 5, she began donating her hair to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer or other disease. When she was 8, she began donating to charity:water, which builds wells in Africa. The donation this time was a request to skip her birthday party and donate the money to charity:water; plus she asked those who would have been invited to donate $9 to the charity. A month-and-a-half after her 9th birthday Rachel died in a car accident. 

Her church and friends began donating to the charity on a page dedicated to her.  Thus far, they have raised almost $1,000,000.

Rachel is not alone in doing something about the problems of this world. My 9-year-old granddaughter has been raising money for hospitalized kids for a while now. I suspect that there are many more 9-year-old girls showing us how we should live.

No comments: