These Learning Links provide ten quick-and-easy, five-minute mini-lessons to promote student thought and dialogue about service and civic engagement. You may use as many of them as you wish, and in whatever order best meets your needs and the interest of your students. The purpose of these mini-lessons is to provide a deeper understanding of philanthropy (the giving of time, talent, and treasure for the common good) and to reinforce the lesson focus. These Learning Links also promote the development of character traits, civic engagement, and student leadership. As appropriate to your grade level, it is recommended that students play an active leadership role in presenting these mini-lessons to their classmates.

1. Read: Osceola McCarty described herself as "just a little old colored woman who walked everywhere." Though Osceola McCarty died September 26, 1999, of liver cancer at the age of 91 her legacy lives on. As a young girl she was unable to get a formal education beyond the sixth grade because of family circumstances.  She had to quit school to help her family meet their needs. Even though she worked for seventy-five years as a laundress and continued to take in laundry until at the age of eighty-six, arthritis forced her to retire; she firmly believed that a person always has enough time to do all the things that a person really wants to do. All through her life she took pride in her work, had deep abiding faith, and saved her money. She began her habit of saving as a little girl just to have money for candy. It continued as once a month, just like clock work, she would go to the bank to make her savings deposit holding out just enough to cover expenses. She prided herself on her consistency. From the very beginning she recognized the difference between "wanting and needing." She would always says, "I was happy with what I had."
   
   At the age of 88 she began to make plans for her care and the management of her property if she should need it. She informed those who helped her plan of her desire to give some of her money to her church, some to her family, and $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, her home town! She so wanted others to have what she was never able to have, a formal education.  Her generosity resulted in her receiving an honorary degree from Harvard University recognition and interviews from ABC, CNN, NBC, BET, and MTV and numerous magazines and newspapers have written articles about her, including Newsweek, People, Life, Ebony, The New York Times, Essence, and Jet. "People tell me now that I am a hero...I am nobody special. I am a plain, common person...no better than anybody else...I don't want to be put up on a pedestal; I want to stay right here on the ground.”
   
   Discuss: How might Osceola McCarty’s distinction between “wants” and “needs” have helped her to save the money that she did to donate to charity? Most charitable contributions given to projects and causes are motivated by a special interest on the part of the donor for that particular project or cause. Part of Ms, McCarty’s motivation for giving her money to the University of Southern Mississippi was to give students an opportunity to get what she never was able to get, a formal education. What might be some of the motivations that could be used to encourage our peers to donate to the event? Part of the mystic that revolves around the Osceola McCarty story is reflected in “a poor common person giving away hard earned money”. In what ways might taking part in our Penny Drive be the beginning of our own school’s legacy?
   
    
2. Read: According to the non-profit group RandomKid, students across the United States have raised more money for Katrina relief efforts than many major U.S. corporations. RandomKid tracks donations made by students. It is an Iowa-based non-profit group, founded in 2005 after ten year-old, Talia Leman, decided to trick-or-treat for Katrina victims. Her efforts motivated kids across the country to create their own methods of fundraising. In December of 2006, the group announced that students from over 4,000 schools across the country had raised over $5 million for the battered Gulf Coast in just three months! That figure has now reached to over $10 million! School-age kids raised this money through bake sales, lemonade stands, car washes, making bracelets, and many, many other fundraisers.
   
   Discuss: What do you think is the message in this RandomKid story? What does this story say about “every little bit helps”? How might stories such as these be used to inspire student involvement in our Penny Drive event?
   http://blogs.abcnews.com/the
   blotter/2006/08/us_school_kids_.html
   
    
3. Read: Ever since Oliver Wendell Holmes said free speech stops short of the right to recklessly shout "fire" in a crowded theater, judges and juries have wrestled with finding practical applications of the what “free speech” means. The saying “Actions speak louder than words” seems to contradict the saying “Do as I say not as I do.” But the fact remains that we all have a right to our opinions. Whether or not we choose appropriate methods to express our opinions may be another issue all together. Some people express their opinions standing on street corners and shouting their opinions to passersby. Others share their opinions by engaging in organized debates. Others register their opinions by voting. Still others quietly go about doing what they feel needs to be done without fanfare and headline-grabbing intentions. For example, typically anonymous donors account for 10% of all donations made to Colleges and Universities. And it may surprise you that approximately 80% of all donations come from individuals at the community level and not from mega-companies and their wealthy entrepreneurs.
   
   Discuss: In what ways might our Penny Drive be a way of appropriately expressing our opinions? Is there appropriateness in sharing our opinions with others in an attempt to have them consider becoming a participant in our Penny Drive? Why or why not? What could happen if everyone was of the opinion that only those with money could or should donate to our Penny Drive?
   
    
4. Read: Elizabeth Scott is a life coach, writer, wife, mother, pianist, karate enthusiast and Mensa member. She has spent the past eleven years working with a variety of people on stress management, personal growth, and emotional, financial and physical health. She has spent several years conducting individual therapy and couples counseling as well as family therapy while facilitating Stress Management workshops. From her vast experiences, she concludes that people are generally happier when they have meaning in their lives, and part of living a meaningful life is having a feeling of making a difference in the world.
   
   Recently, Oprah Winfrey demonstrated the “giver’s high” one experiences when helping others. She replaced her usual holiday giveaway show with a show where she inspired and enabled audience members to give away $1000 in any way they choose. Everyone involved in giving the money away agreed that the experience was life changing for them. “The gift, once blessed; the giver twice” proved to be an appropriate summary of their experiences.
   
   Discuss: How would you interpret the phrase “The gift, once blessed; the giver twice”? How might we be able to use this phrase to help motivate ourselves as well as our classmates to be involved in our Penny Drive event? Is it OK to feel a “giver’s high” when making a contribution that has the potential to make a difference in the world?
   http://stress.about.com/od/
   optimismspirituality/a/meaning.htm
   
    
5. Read: The largest act of financial charitable giving in United States history, to date, is the one made by Warren Buffet. He donated $37 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. When asked why he did this, he commented on the fact that life isn’t just about making money, but it’s about being a part of a bigger picture. Legendary auto executive, Lee Iacocca started and continues to fund his own foundation estimated to represent millions of dollars for medical research in search of a cure for diabetes. When asked why he chose to use his money in this manner, he reflects on the fact that he was able to attend college because someone donated money to a scholarship program of which he was the recipient. “It’s important to give something back,” he emphatically states. “I chose diabetes as my focus because my wife Mary died from complications brought on by this terrible disease.”
   
   An elderly widow employed as a house cleaner in a local hotel, makes it a point to set aside 15% of her wages and tips each week to donate to Hospice, a non-profit organization that helps the very ill and dying. When she was asked why she gives to Hospice, she recounts how helpful they were when her husband of 51 years died of cancer. Chester, a taxi cab driver in one of the busiest cities on the east coast, contributes all of his tips to an orphanage in his community. When asked why he would do this, he shares that he had promised himself to do all he could to help others who find themselves in the same situation in which he grew up as a child.
   
   Discuss: Someone once said, “It’s not how much you give, but how much of what is given that you give back that truly defines giving.” How does this saying apply to each of the people we just read about? How does this saying apply to our giving to the Penny Drive? How can we help others understand that it’s not how much one gives or the reason why one gives that is important, but rather that everyone has something to give?
   
    
6. Read: The Lincoln penny is the current one cent coin used in the United States.  It was adopted in 1909 at which time the Indian Head penny, which had been in existence since 1859, was replaced with the head of Abraham Lincoln. The reverse side of the Indian Head penny showed the words ONE CENT within a laurel wreath. In 1860 the reverse side design was changed slightly. It showed ONE CENT within an oak wreath, with three arrows inserted under the ribbon that binds the two branches of the wreath. When the change was made to the Lincoln penny in 1909, the reverse side featured wheat until 1959 at which time the wheat gave way to the present day penny that features the Lincoln Memorial.  The design of this new penny has been in use longer than any circulating American design. More pennies are produced than any other American coin. It is interesting to note that wheat is often used as a symbol of harvest, abundance, and life sustaining nourishment, while the Lincoln Memorial was designed to commemorate a president who stood for honesty, equality, liberty and justice for all.
   
   Discuss: Do you think if someone were to see a penny lying on the ground, that their reaction to it would be the same or different if they saw a quarter lying on the ground? Why or why not? Under what conditions might someone’s reaction be the same? Which coin do you think would make a difference to our Penny Drive?
   
    
7. Read: It seems today that for every mood swing, inconvenient behavior, irritating symptom, unwanted pain, or side effect there is a colorfully shaped pill to smooth the way of our hectic life styles. We are bombarded by advertisements on the TV, radio, and every form of print media telling us to ask our doctor about this or that pill that will make everything all right. Viewers of these ads are often convinced by the sincerity of the celebrities and hawkers of these medications that the perfect cure for every little thing has arrived. But common sense would tell us otherwise. Sometimes we are faced with health situations for which there are no single pill-cures. In order to be restored to health, we need to develop other strategies for wellness, sometimes independently and sometimes working in cooperation with others.  Typically, cultural and social needs are immune to single pill-cures. To provide relief for these needs, we are also required to work independently as well as with others.
   
   Discuss: What are some situations for which there appears to be no single-pill cure? Our Penny Drive has identified a need for which there is not a single pill-cure. In what ways is our Penny Drive asking us to work independently as well as with others to provide relief from unwanted situations and circumstances?
   
    
8. Read: The November 20, 2006 edition of The Christian Monitor reported that times are exciting in the traditionally quiet world of philanthropy. It seems there are a growing number of newly wealthy people that promises to change the world. Among the recent developments, the pool of potential wealthy donors has mushroomed in the past two decades. It includes more than 8 million people who are millionaires in the United States. The number of family foundations has risen 60 percent in six years. The number of nonprofits in the United States has doubled in the past five years. That number has risen to more than 1 million while Americans' generous donations rose by 6 percent last year to $260 billion. People are most interested in "making a difference" in the world. They are zeroing in on serious global problems and taking an active role that aims at specific results. Mr. Gates' leaving Microsoft to concentrate on foundation work is a prominent example of this phenomenon. United Nations studies have shown that key health and poverty problems could be solved if sufficient resources were brought to bear, but with governments falling behind on commitments, new philanthropists are needed to step in.
   
   Discuss: Given this information why would it be easy for someone hearing it to “step back and let those who are wealthy just do it?” Who will benefit from our Penny Drive efforts? Why wouldn’t one of those millionaires take up the cause we have identified? Do you think there always be a need for fundraising events such as the one we are conducting? Why or why not?
   
    
9. Read:  The Trevi Fountain is the largest water fountain in Rome.  It is constructed at the end of three of the aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. It served Rome for more than four hundred years before it was broken down by invaders in the 1st Century. During the 15th Century the fountain was rebuilt and it stands today as it did then a symbol of the arrival of fresh living water. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured of a return to Rome. Another interpretation of the legend says that tossing two coins into the fountain will ensure a marriage, while tossing three coins into the fountain will lead to a divorce. A more recent version of the Trevi Fountain legend contends that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Fountain. Whether you believe in the legend of the Trevi Fountain or not, perhaps is of less interest to those who benefit from all this coin tossing. Approximately, 3,000 Euros ($2,000 plus U.S. Dollars) are thrown into the fountain each day and are collected at night. The money has been used to subsidize supermarkets for Rome's needy people. Legends, by definition, are fictitious stories about people and situations in history that contain elements of truthfulness. In this regard perhaps the more recent interpretation of the legend of the Trevi Fountain is “truthfully” all about luck… a happy ending for those who find themselves better able to purchase their food at lower prices.
   
   Discuss: Our Penny Drive is designed to be one way of meeting an identified school or community need. In what way might our tossing coins into the collection containers, be “lucky” for our recipients?  The fact that the legend does not require any particular coin denomination would indicate that any coin will do. What coin denomination do you think is most often seen lying at the bottom of a fountain? If you guessed a “penny” you are correct! Assuming that people who pass by the Trevi Fountain are not tossing in coins of great value, what might the amount of money collected each day say about the numbers of people who must be contributing? How can we work to ensure a happy ending to our Penny Drive?
   
    
10. Read: Have you seen the "give a penny, take a penny" trays at convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, and elsewhere?  The way these trays are supposed to work is: if you can use a penny or two to make the cents part of a transaction, you can take pennies from the tray. Conversely, if you receive some pennies in your change, you should put them into the tray. If these trays don’t work as they should, it usually is because people mainly take pennies out of them, and don't always put pennies into them. Said another way if “give a penny, take a penny" trays are going to work in order to have pennies to take out of the tray someone has to be putting pennies into the tray.
    
    Discuss: Our Penny Drive is about putting our change into the collection box so that there will be some to take out when it comes time to do so. When “give a penny, take a penny" trays don’t work it appears that people are saying when it comes to my money, a penny is a penny,  but when it comes to using someone else’s money a penny here or there it isn’t really that important. How can we encourage everyone to consider participating in our Penny Drive, so it will work as it is intended to work?