CAMPAIGN BLOG
2 Nov 2009'I want all children to have a warm home, good food and a Mom and Dad who always looks out for them.’ Andrew, aged 9, Cork
Again I have to say it - opening the post is one of the best parts of this job. On Friday I opened an envelope - in it was a €50 donation with a handwritten letter from a young boy called Andrew (aged 9) who is from Cork. The €50 was from Andrew's own communion money.
I hope Andrew doesn't mind me sharing this story but Andrew's note touched me so much because it said, in the simplest way possible what we are trying to achieve here in Barnardos. His letter asked that the money ‘....go to a child the same age as him who needs it'. (I promise it will) Andrew said that he wanted ‘.....all children to have a warm home, good food and a Mom and Dad who always looks out for them.'
Andrew obviously has all of those things and the great thing is that, with all of that and given how lucky he is, Andrew still thinks about other children and wants to make sure that they are all OK.
I don't think I was half as aware at 9 as Andrew obviously is. I was lucky enough to also have all the things that he talks about - warm home, good food and parents who always looked out for me - but I think I may have taken that for granted, or maybe just assumed that everyone else had them. Now that I am (considerably) older I know that's not true. I don't want children to worry and I don't want Andrew and other 9 year olds like him to have to shoulder the responsibility for children out there who are not as lucky as he is.
But I am glad that Andrew and other children like him are more aware that not every child is as lucky as him. I am glad that Andrews parents encouraged him to do what he did and I hope that more and more people become as aware as Andrew. Because acknowledging that there are children out there that do not have the very basics such as a warm home or good food is a big step. Fixing it is the next step - that's what we are all about here in Barnardos.
This is the last week of our appeal - people have been brilliant so far but we do need more. We need others to take a leaf out of Andrews book - to realise not everyone is as lucky as he, our you or I if that's the case, are and to do something to change that. If you can support us in any way - however large or small - you will be helping to make sure that all children out there have some chance of having the obvious love and support that Andrew has.
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- "I hope the muscles are not aching too much and that you really enjoyed the experience" Written by Ruth Guy, Barnardos Fundraising Director
- 'I want all children to have a warm home, good food and a Mom and Dad who always looks out for them.’ Andrew, aged 9, Cork
- "So she emptied the contents of her piggy bank, €6.41, into the envelope and sent it in to us and asked us to make sure it got to the children who need it."
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- World Poverty Day (written by Fergus Finlay, Barnardos Chief Executive)
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