On the Nineteenth Day of December . . .

Today, I had the honor and pleasure of attending the de Paul School’s 18th Annual Compassion Celebration, and it captured the true spirit of this holiday season.  If you have been following this month’s series of posts, you may recall that to kick off the month, I spoke to the 8th grade class at The de Paul School about homelessness and the day shelter for homeless men where I work (On the First Day of December  . . .).  Well, this morning, for the second year in a row, I attended their assembly where all of the students in kindergarten-eighth grade revealed to the student body, faculty, staff, and their families which charitable organizations they chose to learn more about and to help in their respective missions this year.

While I learned a great deal about various agencies in our community, the most valuable lesson I learned is how pure of heart and compassionate children can be when given the chance to do so.  Each class introduced the recipients of their compassion in a variety of creative ways, but their genuine care and concern for those recipients were really what was on display front and center.  My heart was touched when I heard these amazing children speak about how they felt “sad” by the plight of some of the men, women, children, and animals in our community who are in need of help, and I was so impressed that they then acted on these feelings by raising awareness about their chosen causes and organizations and by collecting much-needed items and monetary donations and by spending their time with some of these people and animals.  They invested their time, energy, and resources to make a positive difference in our community, and I am so very grateful to them for being compassionate leaders and positive role models.

At the conclusion of the Compassion Celebration, I was overwhelmed by the goodness and kindness that these children demonstrated, and my hope and faith in humanity were renewed, as I have no doubt that their compassion is not seasonal.  Just as their lives were positively impacted by what they learned doing these projects, they, in turn, positively influenced all of us who were fortunate enough to be present this morning.  Thank you to every single student at The de Paul School for being bright lights in what can seem like a very dark world sometimes!

Just one thing each day . . .