Sub-for-Santa
We are at the time of year that is a double-edged sword for me. Some years I dislike this time of year, other years it is the greatest.
The years that I focus only on my family and aspire to give or get "great" presents, they are the years of dislike. However, the years that I focus outside of the "wants" of my family or myself and provide for those in greater need, my Christmas and holiday season are remarkably serene and enjoyable.
One year in particular my wife and I helped multiple families through sub-for-santa. In fact that year we spent more money on sub-for-santa than on our own family. The kids loved it, and by and far that was my favorite Christmas. Another time we had a holiday food drive at Verio. We collected a huge amount of food that year for the food bank, and once again my Christmas was one of the best I had. The following year, after I got laid-off and was back in school and did not have the involvement in these types of activities, was amongst my worst. From these experiences I have come up with a simple phrase:
"If it doesn't impact your life in some way, than you haven't given enough"
I find that as my focus narrows on a smaller and smaller subset of people, my potential for joy becomes smaller and smaller, until ultimately there is little potential, and thus minimal joy found in my life.
Sub-for-santa is by far one of my more enjoyable ways in which to give this holiday season, and I think it stems from one childhood memory.
In 3rd grade I got a football as my Christmas present. It was a perfect gift for me. I loved sports, and therefore I played with that football for hours on end each day for the remainder of the winter break. The first day of school I packed it in my bag so that I could show it to all my friends at school. When I got to school, I remember not thinking that football was so great anymore, as the gifts my friends got seemed so much better. Suddenly, rather than focusing upon how cool that football was and the hours of of enjoyment I received, my focus moved onto what my friends got, and I wondered why I didn't get such cool and great presents.
Now as I reflect back on that memory I realize that there are many kids in a different position than me. Rather than going to school excited to show their friends what they got, they aren't looking forward to school at all, because they are not excited at all. There are many kids who will return to school having not received anything for Christmas. Sub-for-Santa, to me, has as a goal to provide a Christmas to those who will not receive anything. That is why I like and support Sub-for-Santa.
For the past three years I have taught high school, and each year the school where I teach conducts a sub-for-Santa charity drive where the money raised is used to sponser multiple families from the school's area and provide a Christmas for them. The money is also used to provide for other charitable endeavors throughout the year that benefit families and students within the school's boundaries.
Each year they have a homeroom competition seeing which homeroom can raise the most amount of money per student. For the past two years I came in second, despite raising the most as a whole. The problem was/is that my classes always are close to 40 students each, whereas the classes that have won typically have less than 20 students in their class. See here and here. Two years ago my head was shaven because my students exceeded my expectations, and last year my hear went platinum blond for the month of January as my students once again exceeded my expectations.
This year I do not have a homeroom, but am once again looking for a good showing, but I will need to depend more on my salesmanship and family and friends. So if you are looking for a good cause and would like to donate, you can send me a personal gift donation through paypal to paypal@heliconius.com. To do this log into paypal, click "send money", then click on the "personal" tab, and then select "gift". As long as you fund it through your account balance or directly from a linked account then there is no cost. If you would like to send a check you can send it to the school addressed to me or generally at:
Copper Hills High School
C/O Mark Berrett
5445 New Bingham Highway
West Jordan, UT 84088
If you would like to give anonymously, just put "sub-for-santa drive" on the memo line, and remove the C/O line. If you would like to give my classes the recognition put "Mr. Berrett Sub-for-santa drive" on the memo line.
Anything would be appreciated, and thanks in advance. May your Christmas and Holiday season be full of joy.
:: Posted by mark on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:48 am
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