When Compassion Explodes

He knew that they needed help and that he had a trailer. 
What he didn't know was exactly what to do, 
but he knew exactly whom to call. 
The phone rang and he offered our Assistant Principal his trailer; 
he said he'd drive it to West himself 
if only we could help him fill it. 
How cool is that!

But we're so busy with state testing next week; 
could we? 

It was Friday at noon when we made the decision to hold a one-day {Monday only} blitz to help feed our friends in West. We would have to create a flyer to be distributed and sent home in Friday folders to tell our families about it. We'd need a rotator slide for the website and a message for our marquee to share the plan with our community. And collecting stuff requires boxes to put it in for our donation station. 

I prayed that our school family would be able to answer our call to help feed our friends with non-perishable, ready-to-eat food items
 on such short notice. 

Then came Monday, and stuff came pouring in ...

for West.

Students stopped by with 
cans and boxes, containers and bags. 
A first grader asked if I knew "what made that sanitizer place blow up?" sparking a conversation about whom we're helping and why. When he noticed that some cans didn't have pop tops, 
he suggested we put a can opener in one of the boxes. 
Another first grader asked if we could all go along 
to help deliver the food ... 
field trip anyone?

Third graders helped us sort and box up the food that helped fill the trailer. One of them gasped when she came across two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. 
"Whoever gave these must really be generous!" 
she enthusiastically announced.

That dad and his daughter left school at 2:00 ...

to drive our donations 220 miles 
down the road to West.

Such a beautiful outpouring of 

love, compassion and care...

that started with an idea and a phone call.
Sometimes that one spark is all it takes ...