Becknutt
Well-Known Member
This morning I am searching for "rabbit" related news for the newswire and up pops a story about a little girls Rabbit shaped piggy bank. This brought tears to my eyes. A little reminder that there are good people in the world.
How one 7-year-old girl's $11 gift brought a wealth of kindness
By David Lauderdale
Published Wednesday, January 30, 2008
On the face of it, her most recent contribution totals only $11 -- everything she could shake out of her piggy banks shaped like Snow White, a rabbit and a pig.
Jane emptied them after hearing about a couple in Palmetto Bluff whose home burned. She sealed all her money in a Ziploc bag and sent it to Norm and Marge Agin through her father, who told his family about the fire because he works at Palmetto Bluff.
Jane's note said she wanted to help them fix their house, which burned to the ground while still under construction. A county man has been charged with arson.
Jane has no concept of what it would really cost to replace the dream home. And she's too young to grasp how insurance and personal assets could well handle such a loss on one of Palmetto Bluff's exclusive 20-plus-acre family compounds.
That's why her contribution is not really about nickels and dimes.
The Agins' first reaction was to thank Jane with a teddy bear. Then Marge tried to think of a way the money could help another child. They donated Jane's $11, and $100 more, to Hilton Head Heroes, which brings children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to Hilton Head for a cost-free resort vacation.
Lindy Russell, who founded the charity along with her troubadour husband, Gregg, told us about the donation.
"This story touched my heart as a perfect example of the paying it forward theory -- making lemonade out of lemons," Lindy said. "This woman lost her house and found a way to make her tragedy benefit others, and this small, compassionate child gave all she had to help someone in need. Great example of what Hilton Head/Bluffton is all about."
Marge Agin said, "That isn't in the genes. You teach that.It's so refreshing. There's so much 'me-me-me' these days."
Jane's parents asked that we not reveal their last name.
"This is about the gesture, not about the child," her mother said. "It's just how Jane is. We don't want her to think, 'Wow, you do something right and your name gets in the paper.' "
That's apparently saving us a lot of paper and ink.
When Jane was 41/2, she fired off a ton of questions when she saw someone who had lost her hair in a fight against cancer. It was why, why, why? She was told nobody knows why. When one of her teachers at Christ Lutheran Preschool mentioned the Locks of Love program, Jane donated her own hair to a cancer patient. She plans to do it again this spring.
Another time, Jane emptied her piggy banks to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"Trust me," Jane's mother said, "she can have a hissy fit in Wal-Mart like anyone else, but she has a good heart.
"I told Jane that I knew in my heart that when the Agins got it, that it would help them somehow. I told her this might be the thing that lets them know they will be OK."
Marge Agin said, "I still have the little plastic baggy full of coins and will keep it forever."
How one 7-year-old girl's $11 gift brought a wealth of kindness
By David Lauderdale
Published Wednesday, January 30, 2008
- Photo: A seven-year-old Hilton Head Island girl wrote this note when she sent $11 to a family whose under-construction home burned in Palmetto Bluff.
Special to the Packet
Enlarge Image
On the face of it, her most recent contribution totals only $11 -- everything she could shake out of her piggy banks shaped like Snow White, a rabbit and a pig.
Jane emptied them after hearing about a couple in Palmetto Bluff whose home burned. She sealed all her money in a Ziploc bag and sent it to Norm and Marge Agin through her father, who told his family about the fire because he works at Palmetto Bluff.
Jane's note said she wanted to help them fix their house, which burned to the ground while still under construction. A county man has been charged with arson.
Jane has no concept of what it would really cost to replace the dream home. And she's too young to grasp how insurance and personal assets could well handle such a loss on one of Palmetto Bluff's exclusive 20-plus-acre family compounds.
That's why her contribution is not really about nickels and dimes.
The Agins' first reaction was to thank Jane with a teddy bear. Then Marge tried to think of a way the money could help another child. They donated Jane's $11, and $100 more, to Hilton Head Heroes, which brings children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to Hilton Head for a cost-free resort vacation.
Lindy Russell, who founded the charity along with her troubadour husband, Gregg, told us about the donation.
"This story touched my heart as a perfect example of the paying it forward theory -- making lemonade out of lemons," Lindy said. "This woman lost her house and found a way to make her tragedy benefit others, and this small, compassionate child gave all she had to help someone in need. Great example of what Hilton Head/Bluffton is all about."
Marge Agin said, "That isn't in the genes. You teach that.It's so refreshing. There's so much 'me-me-me' these days."
Jane's parents asked that we not reveal their last name.
"This is about the gesture, not about the child," her mother said. "It's just how Jane is. We don't want her to think, 'Wow, you do something right and your name gets in the paper.' "
That's apparently saving us a lot of paper and ink.
When Jane was 41/2, she fired off a ton of questions when she saw someone who had lost her hair in a fight against cancer. It was why, why, why? She was told nobody knows why. When one of her teachers at Christ Lutheran Preschool mentioned the Locks of Love program, Jane donated her own hair to a cancer patient. She plans to do it again this spring.
Another time, Jane emptied her piggy banks to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"Trust me," Jane's mother said, "she can have a hissy fit in Wal-Mart like anyone else, but she has a good heart.
"I told Jane that I knew in my heart that when the Agins got it, that it would help them somehow. I told her this might be the thing that lets them know they will be OK."
Marge Agin said, "I still have the little plastic baggy full of coins and will keep it forever."
