Stories of Kindness from Around the World

A 5 Year Old's Extra Special Birthday Kindness


--by Puppatina, posted Dec 2, 2010

My wonderful  grand daughter just turned five. We always have a party for her with all of our friends and family. I am often a little embarrassed by all the riches received by her.  I thought that this year, with her parents blessing, we could do something different.

A nearby elementary school was devastated by fire over the summer and lost nineteen classrooms and the library.  I thought we could use  this birthday to create an opportunity for Lily, even at the young age of five, to understand service to others.

The day before her party we drove to the school and took her on a tour of the devastation. Since Lily has been attending nursery she understood the concept of school and seeing the burned buildings helped her understand why we wanted to help.

We asked the party-goers to bring donations of books for the school instead of a present. Of course people still brought Lily gifts (isn’t that always the way?) but she also collected three boxes of books for the library.

It was her first building block towards what I hope will be a life filled with service and I hope it has a lifelong effect on her.

 

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Readers Comments

dreamer22 wrote: You're an inspiration. Great job!
Lindy wrote: How lucky lily is to have such a thoughtful and kind nana. I shall remember this when my grandsons have their next birthdays. See how the ripples of her kindness grow. Thank you x
Raji wrote: Itis so inspiring! May god continue to inspire many more hearts.
serveothers wrote: Hello,


That is awesome. I wish more parents do that. For my daughter's 8th b'day she did similar where she collected money to donate to world wild animal foundation. She loves nature so the choice was easy.


Keep up the good work.

Annie wrote: That's beautiful!
Puppatina aka Lily's Nana wrote: @cherry - books are such a precious resource. I'm glad you have also found a way to spread the joy of books and the joy of giving!
bluangell wrote: This is such a wonderful story especially around the holidays when there is so many people doing without and to think that someone so young is starting out with the concept of giving which is so much more important any time of the year,but even more so when others are not having any kind of holiday at all! This is really an uplifting testament to all things that can happen if we only work together to make a difference~
Pishoo Heera wrote: Excellent way to show a child by practical example to share at such a young age well done
Cherry wrote: As i get a collection of books, i give them to my grandson, who lives in a small town. He donates them to his town library. It teaches him about giving and helps the library get books that are still on or recently on the best seller list.
Renee wrote: Ahhh. If only every child was blessed w/such a thoughtful and kind grandma, someone to teach them young that life is about giving to others. My son is now 25 yrs old, but as he grew up, i always tried to instill in him that we are here to help others along us make the journey as well. Thank you and your family for such a wonderful gesture!

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