Nancy ran into Walmart needing just three things, detergent, bottled water and plastic cups, pretty simple; she’d be in and out in no time. And she almost was, if not for the ACHDS sweatshirt-clad boys who caught her attention. Not because they were being rowdy, actually, if she thought about it, it was because they were so well behaved! Nancy’s son Dan, was about the same age as these boys, and she couldn’t picture him and his 2 brothers behaving this well; never mind the 36 young men who appeared to be on some sort of shopping spree with a wish list for kids in hand. She stood watching them for a while wondering who they were and what it was they were doing, and how on earth did their teachers get them to behave that well?!
Nancy was nothing if not forthright and went over to one of the people who seemed to be in charge. “I can’t help but notice your group,” she began, the woman laughed, “hard to miss us, isn’t it?” Nancy reassured her that they were very well behaved, but she had been wondering, what they were doing with carts loaded high with toys. The woman, who introduced herself as the case manager of an organization called Chai Lifeline. She explained that these boys under the leadership of their teachers, Rabbi Cohen and Rabbi Neuberger, from a local private school called Arie Crown Hebrew Day School, had raised $4000 (!) to donate in the form of toys to Chai Lifeline Midwest. Instead of handing a check to the organization though, the dedicated teachers then (bravely!) took their class shopping for gifts, enabling the boys to get the full experience of what it truly means to give.
Nancy watched the boys for a few minutes longer; they made sure not to block the aisles while they conversed quietly among themselves. She watched as they held up toys to show each other and she listened to the joy in their voices as they said, “I bet any kid in the hospital will cheer up when he sees this!” As she waited on line, she thought briefly of what her son’s teacher had told her last night; Dan seemed to be somewhat of an “entitled child,” and maybe they could work on making him a bit more of a giver. Nancy glanced at the well-behaved boys one more time, spending money that they had raised to buy toys for sick children. As she left the store she realized that she walked away with detergent, bottled water, plastic cups and a lot of food for thought.
