Piute County School District,

Just a quick holiday story to send you into the break ready to change the world for good.

“When Michigan resident Chad Rose just happened to have an extra Christmas tree that was used on his business’s parade float, he did what any decent person would do: he posted on Craigslist to give it away for free. For some, a tree is an annual necessity and integral part of the holidays, but for many it’s an expense that needs to be saved for daily essentials. After posting the ad, his inbox was immediately flooded with touching stories of why various families deserved to have the tree.

With each e-mail he read, it became clear how significant a simple tree can be in contributing to the holiday aura. One email, which he shared with MLive.com, read, “Having a real Christmas tree would be such a great blessing this year [because] usually we draw a Christmas tree on a large poster and hang it in the corner.” Realizing that $25 towards a tree was too much for some families to spare, Chad went out and bought 40 more to give away for free. He spent most of the next day going over his list of emails, checking it twice, and not paying much attention to who’s been naughty or nice – just deserving.

But the good holiday spirit in this story doesn’t stop there — Ann Posont of East Grand Rapids read Rose’s Ad and contacted him, not to get, but to give. She offered to donate ornaments and other trimming for the 40 trees he had picked up.”

Thank you for all of your efforts to help our students in need this year. Thank you for all you have done to make this a fun time of year for all of our students. I try to read, listen to, or at least watch Charles Dickens “The Christmas Carol” every year. I think Scrooge provides a wonderful affirmation for everyone at the end, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons they teach.” 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and have a jolly week 19,

Koby