Word-Of-the-Week #1028: Fortunate
April 18, 2024 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #1028: Fortunate
Fortunate – having more advantages than other people.
Do you believe you should help others that are less fortunate then you? When was the last time you did that?
This week I felt like rerunning “Kindergartener pays off lunch money owed by classmates. Five-year-old Katelynn Hardee of Vista held a cocoa and cookies fundraiser,” by Deborah Sullivan Brennan. I feel it’s important to realize and remember how fortunate we truly are!
“After a Vista kindergartener learned of hardships faced by some of her classmates, she sold hot cocoa and cookies to pay off the lunch money they owed.
Katelynn Hardee, 5, held a hot cocoa stand in front of her home Sunday, aiming to help end hunger with proceeds from the treats.
She wanted to make sure that other students “can have a snack and lunch,” she said. “If they don’t, their tummies grumble.”
Her goodies, along with some handmade artwork, brought in $78, which helped square up lunch accounts for 123 other students with small balances, said Jamie Phillips, director of child nutrition services for Vista Unified School District.
“It’s amazing to see a 5-year-old do a fundraiser,” Phillips said.
Katelynn, a student at Breeze Hill Elementary School, loves art, cooking, and asking questions, her mother Karina Hardee said. So when she heard another mother discuss her difficulty covering the bill for the after-school program, Katelynn asked her mom about it.
“I tried to explain that we need to be kind and give back to others who are not as fortunate,” Karina Hardee said.
Katelynn had done a lemonade stand over the summer, so she decided to sell hot cocoa this time, and donate the money to help kids who couldn’t pay for lunches. She and her mom mixed up chocolate and milk, and baked sugar cookies shaped like snowmen, snowflakes, presents and Christmas trees.
“I decorated them with icing and gumball toppings,” Katelynn said.
Friends, neighbors and passers-by stopped for snacks, and Katelynn made $48. She raised another $30 with artwork she is making for a family friend. Phillips used that donation to clear the balances on 123 lunch accounts.
That act of charity “is not typical of a 5-year-old, but for Katelynn I could see that,” her teacher Rachel Ellis said. “She’s very mature for her age.”
Over 1,000 students in the district have negative balances ranging from less than a dollar to $10 or more, Phillips said. In Vista, nearly 65 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches based on their family income. Some other students might be eligible, but did not submit the application in time, he said. In other cases, families have income that is too high to qualify for the meal program, but not quite enough to make ends meet.
“The cost of living here is so much higher” than other communities, he said. “You could not qualify for free and reduced meals, and could still not be at a livable income.”
Schools still provide meals even when students owe money, but the nutrition department sends notices reminding their families to pay. If they don’t pay by the end of the year, he said, the balance doesn’t carry over. Instead, the school district reimburses the nutrition department from the general fund. But that diverts funds from other programs, and the district is currently facing budget deficits.
Phillips said anyone can donate to help pay down the lunch balances and some seniors contribute the money left over in their own lunch accounts when they graduate. Katelynn’s fundraiser has already inspired more giving; another donor just paid to clear all the lunch balances at Major General Raymond Murray High School, Phillips said.
“It’s really inspiring,” Ellis said. “When I told my class, they said, ‘We can do that? I want to do a lemonade stand.’”
Katelynn thinks her donation probably made her classmates happy, and said she wants to do more lemonade and cocoa stands in the future.”
This week’s focus is on being fortunate. Do you appreciate all that you have? Are you more generous during the holiday season? If a 5-year-old can make a difference don’t you think you can do something to help those that are less fortunate than you?
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Word-Of-the-Week #803: Fortunate
December 26, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #803: Fortunate
Fortunate – having more advantages than other people.
Do you believe you should help others that are less fortunate then you? When was the last time you did that?
This week “Kindergartner pays off lunch money owed by classmates. Five-year-old Katelynn Hardee of Vista held a cocoa and cookies fundraiser,” by Deborah Sullivan Brennan is a great follow up to the last three WOW’s!
“After a Vista kindergartener learned of hardships faced by some of her classmates, she sold hot cocoa and cookies to pay off the lunch money they owed.
Katelynn Hardee, 5, held a hot cocoa stand in front of her home Sunday, aiming to help end hunger with proceeds from the treats.
She wanted to make sure that other students “can have a snack and lunch,” she said. “If they don’t, their tummies grumble.”
Her goodies, along with some handmade artwork, brought in $78, which helped square up lunch accounts for 123 other students with small balances, said Jamie Phillips, director of child nutrition services for Vista Unified School District.
“It’s amazing to see a 5-year-old do a fundraiser,” Phillips said.
Katelynn, a student at Breeze Hill Elementary School, loves art, cooking, and asking questions, her mother Karina Hardee said. So when she heard another mother discuss her difficulty covering the bill for the after-school program, Katelynn asked her mom about it.
“I tried to explain that we need to be kind and give back to others who are not as fortunate,” Karina Hardee said.
Katelynn had done a lemonade stand over the summer, so she decided to sell hot cocoa this time, and donate the money to help kids who couldn’t pay for lunches. She and her mom mixed up chocolate and milk, and baked sugar cookies shaped like snowmen, snowflakes, presents and Christmas trees.
“I decorated them with icing and gumball toppings,” Katelynn said.
Friends, neighbors and passers-by stopped for snacks, and Katelynn made $48. She raised another $30 with artwork she is making for a family friend. Phillips used that donation to clear the balances on 123 lunch accounts.
That act of charity “is not typical of a 5-year-old, but for Katelynn I could see that,” her teacher Rachel Ellis said. “She’s very mature for her age.”
Over 1,000 students in the district have negative balances ranging from less than a dollar to $10 or more, Phillips said. In Vista, nearly 65 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches based on their family income. Some other students might be eligible, but did not submit the application in time, he said. In other cases, families have income that is too high to qualify for the meal program, but not quite enough to make ends meet.
“The cost of living here is so much higher” than other communities, he said. “You could not qualify for free and reduced meals, and could still not be at a livable income.”
Schools still provide meals even when students owe money, but the nutrition department sends notices reminding their families to pay. If they don’t pay by the end of the year, he said, the balance doesn’t carry over. Instead, the school district reimburses the nutrition department from the general fund. But that diverts funds from other programs, and the district is currently facing budget deficits.
Phillips said anyone can donate to help pay down the lunch balances and some seniors contribute the money left over in their own lunch accounts when they graduate. Katelynn’s fundraiser has already inspired more giving; another donor just paid to clear all the lunch balances at Major General Raymond Murray High School, Phillips said.
“It’s really inspiring,” Ellis said. “When I told my class, they said, ‘We can do that? I want to do a lemonade stand.’”
Katelynn thinks her donation probably made her classmates happy, and said she wants to do more lemonade and cocoa stands in the future.”
This week’s focus is on being fortunate. Do you appreciate all that you have? Are you more generous during the holiday season? If a 5-year-old can make a difference don’t you think you can do something to help those that are less fortunate than you?
I LOVE feedback! Join my Facebook community on my FUN-damentals Fan Page.
Word-Of-the-Week #634: Fortunate
September 28, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #634: Fortunate
Fortunate – having unexpected good fortune; lucky.
Do you consider yourself to be a lucky person? How many times have you had good things happen that were totally unexpected? How grateful are you of your good fortune?
In Monday’s San Diego UT, columnist “I’m there for you baby” Neil Senturia’s, Luck is a powerful factor in making people rich caught my attention. I am including excerpts.
“I won the ovarian lottery.” – Warren Buffett
What the Oracle of Omaha is saying is that he won the lottery when he was born white, healthy, smart and living in America.
Right before he exited the womb, there were 6.8 billion tickets, and he was lucky enough to pick that one. And Buffett is very public about his blessing. He says, “Gratitude is a key ingredient to personal happiness.”
But this column is not about inequality or privilege or education or race or gender – it is about luck. What role does luck play in making you rich?
For this, we turn to Ben Steverman at Bloomberg Business Week. He tells the story of Robert Frank who has a heart attack on the tennis court. He lives to tell the tale and play again because there was an accident three blocks away at that time, and two ambulances arrived, and only one was needed, so when the call came, the extra ambulance reached him in three minutes. The rest is history. No double fault.
Frank, who is a professor of economics at Cornell, says, “I am alive today because of pure dumb luck.” Not sure if it is coincidence or divine intervention, Frank has now begun to study the role of luck in the creation of wealth. His new book is “Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy.”
Frank boldly reminds us of a bit of political heresy. He points out that Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama were “pilloried” for suggesting that “the wealthy among us didn’t do it all themselves.” The Masters of the Universe howled.
Warren Buffett
Frank rightly points out the role of the individual, the Bill Gates, the Steve Jobs – they were talented and hardworking. But they happened to arrive at the same time that a favorable macro environment arrived.
If you bought a house in 1990, you entered a favorable macro for 15 years. Same as buying stocks in April 2009; the Dow has almost tripled since then. Think about how you met your current wife (assuming you are happily married). Twenty minutes on either side, and you probably miss each other.
Not only where you were born, but when you were born make a difference. Kids born in the fall tend to be the oldest in their class. That has a relevance that gives these children a lifelong advantage over their peers.
Sadly this week, Arnold Palmer touted as the inventor of modern golf, died. And I read this in the LA Times, “Palmer’s first professional major victory, at the 1958 Masters, serendipitously intersected with the phenomenon of television. His chiseled looks and bold – some called it reckless – style of play made him a compelling lead actor in golf’s weekly playhouse theater.”
My mother told from the time I was a little girl that I was lucky and fortunate. I believed it and I am really lucky! I’m here to tell you everyone has the opportunity to be lucky. One big component is Karma! You can’t lie, steal, cheat, or do anything dishonest if you want to be fortunate. And in case you don’t know everybody is fortunate and rich if they get to live in the US!
This week is all about being fortunate. Do you consider yourself to be lucky? Have you ever been at the right place at the right time more than once? Was it planned or was it just a coincidence? How’s your karma bank? Are there more deposits than withdrawals? Think about that!
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