At the end of December 2011, one of our supporters sent us a donation, along with this explanation. Since then, she continues the tradition every holiday season. With the 2015 holiday season upon us, we thought you would enjoy reading this as much as we do every year at this time!
As a bank teller, I come into contact with dozens of customers every day, some having the "gift for gab". I’ve noticed the last few years during the holiday season I am asked the question over and over again, "Are you ready for Christmas?"
Now, I’m not completely sure what this question means or how to answer it, and being asked several times a day can get a bit redundant to the point that this year I was not looking forward to being asked the dreaded question.
One morning in late November I woke up with a thought; I could turn something that I considered to be 'bad' into something good! Starting December 1, I would mark down every time the question, or any form of it, was asked of me at work by a customer, and after Christmas I would tally up the number and donate $1.00 for every mark to WCV! I made it a fun thing and challenged my co-workers to do the same for their favorite charities.
After Christmas I counted my "chicken scratches" and discovered two things: 1) I wasn’t asked this question nearly as much as I had thought, and 2) the total was enough to treat myself to a Caring for Critters sponsorship, something I had asked for but not received this Christmas.
I have learned through this experience to be more kind and patient with my customers; after all, they don’t know that the past ten customers before them have told me that we’re in for some rain, or that there was a fire on Main Street. People are generally good and kind, and working in a service capacity makes me thankful for that every day.
So, attached is a copy of the tally sheet I used to conduct this experiment. I will soon be sending my check for $31.00 - not much by monetary standards — but given with more respect than I have ever donated to a charity, knowing that the Wildlife Center of Virginia does indeed teach the world to care about and to care for wildlife and the environment.
Sincerely,
—Cathy from IL