With all of the talk about volunteering this week I decided to have a discussion with my 5 year old about it. I didn't know how much she would grasp or whether or not she would be interested but I figured I'd try. The result of that short conversation amazed me.
We discussed different ways we could help and my daughter, who has always loved animals, positively beamed when I told her we could help animals by raising money. She immediately said she wanted to do that so I gave her the choice of donating locally (to our zoo), nationally (to National Wildlife Federation), or globally (to World Wildlife Fund). She replied, "I want to help animals all over the world!) WWF it was!
She designed bookmarks to sell, helped design a webpage. and is even keeping a blog about her fundraising experience. Today we went door to door and I couldn't believe her enthusiasm. She's usually so shy but she shined today as she read the little sales pitch she had written on a clipboard. She wanted to keep selling, even when it started to rain. I am so proud of her. She's raised over $100 already and she has reminded me that we can all make a difference.
*** UPDATE ***
Thank you to everyone who supported my daughter in her cause. Anna exceeded her goal of raising $200 for the World Wildlife Fund. She was so excited that she decided to increase her goal to $500 and went back out selling door to door again this weekend. She is already up to $415 raised. I am so proud!