Editorial: Believe Project shows generosity is contagious
An Arlington Heights woman who already puts together bags of toiletries for homeless people says she could always use another $100 to hand out more of them.
A woman from Gilberts could use $100 to help out her boss, who has a very sick child and must spend much of her time away from work.
A fourth-grade teacher from Lake Zurich would like to give $100 to a student who has little money of his own and a heavy burden to bear at home.
A Mount Prospect woman would divide $100 among her 12 grandchildren, add some money of her own and explain that their job is to give the money away to someone deserving. They'll meet up in January to discuss what they did with it and how it made them feel.
A seventh-grader from Arlington Heights wants to give $100 to his chemistry teacher, whose cat died and whose son crashed his car (and to pay for equipment kids break in class.)
Some of these stories make us smile. Some put a lump in our throats. All are truly inspiring.
They're just five of the more than 320 entries the Daily Herald has received so far for the Believe Project.
We're publishing a short story on the front page of the paper each day in December (as well as on dailyherald.com) naming someone who will receive $100 to provide a little assistance, recognition, comfort or joy to someone in need. Well, actually, it's $125, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The Believe Project is the brainchild of a suburban businessperson with a real rags-to-riches story and a life's mission to promote the spirit of giving. This person chooses to work anonymously through us and has sent us enough money to give a different person each day $100, based on a brief pitch for what they'd do with it.
Except that once our benefactor saw the number of compelling pitches, we were sent another batch of envelopes to provide to another 30 recipients beyond those we publish.
An Arlington Heights man was so moved by the project that he sent us $800 and asked us to sweeten each person's envelope by $25.
The idea behind the Believe Project is to promote a sense of giving and to provide people who might not have the wherewithal to give on their own a chance to experience that joy.
And much to our delight, it appears to be contagious. Watch for the remaining winners this month. We hope you're as inspired by this - as we are - to do something special on your own as your own resources allow.