Pure Goodness!

I saw the sweetest thing happen today! Our PTA is having a clothing drive for the Knox County Clothing Center, which provides clothes for needy children in our school system. To hold the donations, HUGE cardboard boxes, probably 4 feet tall, sit beside each front entrance to our building. The boxes have been nicely decorated to advertise the clothing drive and are eye-catching due to their size. In fact, I've thought all week how fun it would be to hide inside a box and jump up like a jack-in-the box when classes walked down the hall. After all, it IS almost Halloween! Anyway, I'll move on to the touching scene I witnessed early this morning. As I made my rounds through the building around 7:40, I saw a petite kindergartner standing on tiptoe, stretching her arms up as far as possible, and trying with all her might to get a new-looking hot pink polka-dotted coat into the very tall box. Noticing that she didn't have on a jacket and knowing that the temperature was very chilly, I wondered if the coat had just recently come off her body. "Hey Sweetie!" I said. "Is that your coat you're giving away?" Turning her head to see who was speaking to her, she said softly, "I thought some other kids might need a coat." "That is just one of the most precious things I've ever heard," I said, "but I don't think your mom would want you to give away your very own coat. It looks brand new! I can tell that you have a good kind heart and care about others' feelings, and you've made my day for having such a sweet thought, but I think you better keep your coat for the winter! Nodding her head, she said, "Oh, okay," gave me a hug, and moved on down the hall to her classroom. This little girl comes from one of the largest families in our school, and she doesn't have lots of extras. What a pure heart she has, and oh how we need more people like her in this world of ours!