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Spread the Spirit of Giving

It doesn’t take much to help out your community, small things done by many leads to great things. The spirit of giving starts with one but quickly spreads to hundreds and thousands. Here is an inspiring story about a boy, his father and giving back to the community.

1. Spirit of Giving Starts With One

You may have read my other post that featured the inspiring partnership between Bessborough School and Moncton Firefighters. There was someone else inspired by the firefighters to do good things. A little boy in my son’s Grade 1 class by the name of Eli Mattatall asked for frozen turkeys instead of presents for his birthday. This gesture helped to kick off the school’s target of donating 200 turkeys to an annual turkey drive. The Sue Stultz Turkey Drive needed 4,315 turkeys to make sure every Metro Moncton family has a full Christmas dinner this year and the organizer Sue Stultz praised Eli at a school assembly saying the gesture was an “amazing and unselfish gift.”

spirit of giving - eli mattatall

Photo Credit: Tom Bateman/Times & Transcript

 

2. School Spirit of Giving Spreads to Hundreds

Eli’s father Nick Mattatall is the Principal of Bessborough School and offered to dress up as a turkey if the school met the goal of donating 200 turkeys. With the help of corporate sponsors, popcorn days and pyjama days, the school was able to contribute 265 turkeys. And so, Mr. Mattatall became Mr. Turkeytall. Check out the video on GlobalNews to see Mr.Turkeytall help walk $3,200 worth of turkeys to the fire station while students sing Christmas carols:

It’s ok to look like a fool when you teach the kids to do the right thing.

It’s real life learning. It’s hands on learning. It’s learning about giving back to others, it teaches the kids empowerment and food security – all the important things in life (Principal Nick Mattatall)

spirit of giving - nick mattatall

Photo Credit: GlobalNews

 

3. Community Spirit of Giving Spreads to Thousands

With Bessborough School’s contribution, the turkey drive tally was still 1,627 short of the goal of ensuring every registered family in the area has a turkey for Christmas. With only 1 day left to hit the goal, the community stepped up. After dropping off a donation equivalent to 276 turkeys, Morris LeBlanc, district manager for Shoppers Drug Mart shared this story with the Times and Transcript:

There was a young boy in line at our store on Elmwood Drive and our cashier was asking for donations for the turkey drive.  The young boy heard the conversation, dug into his pocket and found 35 cents. When it came to them, he gave his 35 cents and said, “I understand the importance of this because we got a turkey last year.”

With the entire community giving back, the Sue Stultz Turkey Drive surpassed its 4,315 turkey goal for this year, finishing with 4,603 turkeys ready for holiday dinner tables across southeastern New Brunswick.

According to the newspaper, in the 19-year history of this community turkey campaign, 70,000 turkeys have been donated at a value of over $1.4 million (not including this year).

 

Make a Difference

Whether it’s 35 cents, throwing $5 into a Salvation Army bucket or buying a turkey for someone this holiday season, I think we can all do something. Even just volunteering your time to help out can make a difference. It really doesn’t have to be much, it just has to be done by many. Spread the message. More importantly, act on it.

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