Kids these days. They’re so ... altruistic.
Altruistic? As in, “unselfish concern for the welfare of others,” as Webster’s puts it?
It’s true.
Even though the winter holidays are behind us, perhaps we shouldn’t forget the selfless acts of several kids at the Beaches, some of them spurred by those holidays. And these are just several examples.
One selfless act wasn’t just a solitary act; it was the continuation of an eight-year movement. By a 16-year-old Fletcher High junior nonetheless.
With the help of Beaches businesses, students and others, Dawson Pickett of Atlantic Beach led the Dawson Pickett USO Food Drive once again through the holidays, gathering enough to feed about 450 Mayport military families while refilling the USO food pantry.
Dawson’s mom, Valerie Pickett, recalled this week how the drive got started eight years ago. She and Dawson were driving along Mayport Road on their way to get the car fixed. They noticed a sign at the local USO center about a military food drive.
“I said, ‘What? Why would the military be having a food drive?’” Valerie Pickett said. The center director told her that, sure enough, many military families are on food stamps.
She sought her daughter’s reaction, “and she said, ‘yeah, that’s ridiculous, or something like that,’” Valerie Pickett said. But Dawson didn’t just blow it off. She started collecting food in the Mayport neighborhood to help out, then the effort grew and grew. It’s grown to Beaches-wide and beyond. She collected $250 worth of cash and food at the 2008 Beaches Town Center Holiday Celebration, for example.
All to help military families whom she had never even met. Altruistic.
Another story involves a Boy Scout, Corey McCall, who was in search of a mission to earn his Eagle badge.
He went to Little Stars Preschool in Ponte Vedra Beach and created a garden.
The garden, complete with a statue of Mary, benches and a trellis, was recently completed.
“The children planted carrot seeds,” school Director Chris Saliba wrote in a recent e-mail. “One of the children pulled the carrot spout today and was amazed to find a small carrot attached. ... It is heartwarming to meet such a wonderful, caring teenager that wants to give back to our community.”
He created garden for kids whom he had never met. Altruistic.
And finally, a selfless act from a 10-year-old. This wasn’t for strangers; it was for her and her Ponte Vedra Beach family. But how many 10-year-olds would take on the task of paying for a family vacation?
Theresia Chvala asked her mom prior to the holidays if they could visit her grandma in Colorado.
Her mom, Stephanie Chvala of the Sawmill Lakes subdivision, pondered her daughter’s query.
“A simple question, true, but it sparked a conversation about the economics behind flying our family of six from Florida to Colorado,” Stephanie Chvala wrote in an e-mail. “Since the trip had a price tag that sounded formidable even to my adult mind, I thought she’d quickly give up and move onto another topic.”
However, Stephanie Chvala wrote, “Theresia is a determined sort,” and she persisted in her line of questioning: “Can I pay for it? I can do chores and earn money and save it up so we have enough to go.”
Though Theresia is a conscientious saver, her mom said, “it was clear that doing extra chores wouldn’t be enough to accomplish the goal at hand, so the discussion turned toward how she might use her talents and abilities to earn some money. Given her love for art and her drive toward all things creative, the idea behind Chvala Family Art was born.
Now Theresia and her siblings paint greeting cards to sell, some with original poetry and other words.
And they don’t use the proceeds for iPods. They’re for family expenses. Altruistic.
