I once found some money on the ground … I kept finding it over several days. I then doubled it and gave it away. Stick around … I’ll explain.
This is a true story. It might inspire you to become quite a groundhog, especially if you are really short of cash.
I ended up giving away the money (for good reasons that will be explained), but you might decide to do otherwise.
Note: (an Historic update):
Never-the-less, I believe that my pre-COVID story still holds life-lessons that go far beyond the idea of accumulating wealth.
How the ground-money story began:
A few years ago, I was a member of a church congregation in Buderim (Queensland, Australia), and I introduced a fund-raising project.
My idea was loosely based on ‘The Parable of The Talents’, found in the New Testament (Matthew Chapter 25), though with my experiment there would be no punishment for anyone who failed to raise any additional funds.
Calm-down! … this is not a religious story!
So, to continue my story:
I suggested to the church congregation that we might come up with some fund-raising ideas that could be implemented over a two-month period, with the ‘earnings’ to be distributed to charity.
I asked them to think of ideas for fund-raising (individually or in groups), and I asked them to be ‘ready’ the following week to tell us their ideas.
I then distributed an instruction sheet to everyone in order to outline how the project would develop. It was set out like this:
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WILL YOU TAKE A STARTER ENVELOPE NEXT WEEK?
1. Next week you will be given an opportunity to take an envelope (it will contain a $5 note).
2. Think of ways that you could multiply this amount.
3. You will have two months to maximize your efforts and use your ‘talents’.
4. You will then choose where you’d like the money to go to. (A tick-sheet will help you decide where your money will go. It will have a list of options)
5. You will then bring in your donation plus your ticked charity choice(s)
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The following week would see initial reports on ideas etc and the distribution of the $5 envelopes to anyone who volunteered to give it a go.
The optional charities:
(A mix of religious & non-religious organizations) were the following:
The charity-choices tick-sheet was set out like this:
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Where do you wish your money to go to? Please tick one of the boxes below — that’s where the extra money will be directed to.
▢ 1. I choose to give the money to CARE Australia for hunger relief
▢ 2. I choose Medecins Sans Frontieres for world disaster relief
▢ 3. I choose World Vision Australia for developing country projects
▢ 4. I choose Amnesty International for human rights work
▢ 5. I choose Unitingworld for their outreach programs
▢ 6. I choose ‘The Shack’ Nambour for work with the homeless locally
Need help in deciding which of these areas to support?
(Here are the contact details for the six options offered):
CARE Australia www.care.org.au
Medecins Sans Frontieres www.msf.org.au
World Vision www.worldvision.com.au
Amnesty International www.amnesty.org.au
Unitingworld www.unitingworld.org.au|
‘The Shack’ Nambour www.theshacknambour.com.au
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The project gets underway:
People were essentially left to their own devices, but we would have ‘show & tell’ progress reports over the coming weeks prior to the end of the two months.
The money-raising ideas:
There was an interesting range of ideas coming from individuals, pairs, and small groups, including cake-making; card-making; jewelry-making; puppet-making … all displayed and sold at a mini-fayre held the week before the project’s planned end.
Some ideas were quite quirky, like the man who bought a few ping-pong balls and brought them (and a bucket borrowed from his wife) to the mini-fayre and set up a game of ‘get the ball to land in the bucket’, with 10 cents a go (winners to get a small prize). His bucket was angled in such an awkward way that not many ‘won’. He made a lot of money!
Then there was MY idea!
MY money-raising idea:
When I announced my idea (before we started off), they all thought that it was a bit of a cheat, and if I’m honest, I had little confidence that I would raise any money at all, because I was going on holiday for ‘the month’!
I wouldn’t have access to my shed at home. I wouldn’t have any tools with me, and in any case, I really was going on holiday (with my wife) and, well, you can imagine … we had thought of relaxing a lot!
So, I chose a relaxing idea … one that would require just about ‘nil’ effort.
And I announced my idea to the congregation the week before I went on holiday. The congregation groaned a bit on hearing what my idea was!
My idea was quite simple:
I would keep my eyes on the ground during the holiday period, and whatever money I found there would be doubled. That’s it … that’s all!
You can probably guess what the congregation thought of my idea … and why they ‘groaned’ on hearing about it. In truth, I wasn’t too optimistic.
So, that’s all I did as we trod the streets, went shopping, and generally enjoyed the delights of our holiday destination.
I know, I know … you want to see me red-faced and apologetic when I faced the congregation again, two months later. “Bet you found very little Fred” I can hear you saying, “Maybe the odd five-cent coin … the one that people seem to not care about if they drop one”
Amazingly, the result was quite the opposite.
I’ll just describe the first three days”
- Day One: I was walking across a newly concreted driveway when I noticed a 50-cent coin set in the concrete. So, I had to imagine picking it up (’cos it was stuck), then I doubled it, and put $1 into my ‘collection’.
- Day Two: Something similar, but a bit more up-market … Whilst shopping in one of the modern shopping centers I noticed that every so often there was a gold $2 coin set into the flooring’s pattern-work. This led to an imaginary $2 pick up, and a real $4 put into my collection.
(We found ourselves walking over several $2 coins that day, and every other day we went shopping there! … $4 being added to the collection each time!!) - Day Three: Thought we’d really relax and go to the annual show that was on at that time. To get to the show meant crossing over a busy highway with a ‘wait’ area half-way across. Whilst waiting there for the traffic to stop I saw it! … It was right under my right foot … it was a $50 note!
* * * * * (Yes … you got it in one … $100 added to the collection) * * * * *
Perhaps there is something in the saying; “God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform” Now I know that I promised you that this story wasn’t necessarily a religious story, but hey, it was started off in a church!
Makes you think … maybe … or maybe not. (there’s a non-believer get-out).
The overall results of the two-month efforts:
The following images were presented to the church congregation in a PowerPoint presentation after the monies collected had been distributed (using the tick-box choices), and responses had been received from the charities.
(Shown here as a combined image):
. . .
Takeaway:
‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’ is actually the title of an Australian song based on the struggles of Indigenous Australians to reclaim stolen lands. It is often used as a clarion call for other campaigns too, and as you can see, I too used it as a background quote for charity fund-raising.
And YOU … Do you have a social issue that’s dear to your heart that needs addressing … that needs you to start small to begin with?
Do you have a personal problem that’s worrying you (perhaps one that you are keeping to yourself).
Whatever your desire; your hope in life (for yourself and/or for others), what are you going to do about it?
Are you ready and willing to begin at the beginning? Ready to start small, but to keep on going.
What would you choose to begin with? … What might your first step be?
What might your contribution be to that beautiful concept?
* * * * * ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’. * * * * *
Are you ready to make it happen? … Don’t wait ‘til tomorrow … DO IT NOW.
These three words can transform your life.
Remember, always … ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’
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This post was previously published on ILLUMINATION.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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Photo credit: iStock