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"I keep a big jar hidden in my closet that&amp;#039;s filled with enough quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies to fund something pretty significant. For me, its part emergency fund and part rainy day fund; growing slowly day by day, and there if I need it. At some point, I planned to put it into my savings account. Until then, it sat in the darkest part of the closet where no one would find it. Enter my 10-year old son, Matthew. About a month ago, he came home from school and excitedly announced that the school was collecting change for &amp;quot;Pennies for Patients.&amp;quot; The campaign was to raise funds for cancer research and for families who had children with cancer who could not otherwise afford treatment. He was so excited to give all that he could, it made me smile. He ran into his room and emptied the coins out of his little secret hiding places and filled the box that his teacher had given him. His giving spirit was so infectious that the rest of us in the house gathered our change, too, and his father did the same at his house. Matthew was so grateful and excited and went to school the next day with the feeling that he had done something good. He came home frowning. &amp;quot;What is it, honey?&amp;quot; I asked him. &amp;quot;Everyone else had a lot more money than I did,&amp;quot; he said sadly. I explained to him that he gave so unselfishly, and that all of his coins, when put together with the coins of the other kids, would be enough to really make a big difference in the lives of these sick children. Skeptical, he shook his head and announced, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s not enough.&amp;quot; It broke my heart to see him want to give so much to these children whom he felt really needed his help. I thought long and hard. Finally, I brought out my secret jar and handed it to him. &amp;quot;Really, Mom?!&amp;quot; he asked in amazement. &amp;quot;Of course,&amp;quot; I replied. Matthew danced himself to school the next day as if he had won the lottery. Guess what? He felt like he did. Last week, in front of the whole school, Matthew was awarded a medal and a certificate for his giving and collection efforts. Helping sick children and seeing my son feel as though he made the world a better place was grand. Spending those coins on something that mattered so much to a little boy was priceless. Yes, the jar is now empty, but our hearts are full. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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