Five-year-old girl starts giving early
By Emma Gray
Recently Garry Oak made a new friend, and Friends of Trees had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of an inspiring young tree lover.
We met Phoebe last week when she dropped by our office with her mother and an envelope heavy with just over $20 in quarters. Phoebe had saved the money one dollar at a time every week for five months! She decided to donate some of her savings to Friends of Trees, and we could not be more grateful for her generosity.
Phoebe told us she chose Friends of Trees because she loves trees just like we do. She likes trees, “because of their leaves, because they’re like umbrellas, because they make a special syrup (maple), and because you can hang a hammock from them.”
Her mother also shared that one of Phoebe’s favorite things to do is take walks in the fall and collect leaves. She loves adding the colorful leaves to her ever-growing collection.
Last May, when Phoebe turned five, she began receiving an allowance of five dollars per week. Of the five dollars, she saves one dollar for her education, uses one dollar to buy gifts for others, saves one dollar for a special gift for herself, and donates one dollar to charity. She splits the fifth dollar evenly between categories.
With the money she’s saving for her own special gift, she hopes to buy a Hello Kitty doll at Build-a-Bear Workshop. Considering her obvious dedication, we have no doubt she will reach her goal!
Our office was impressed and inspired by Phoebe and her family’s commitment not only to our cause but to the important ideal of community giving. If Phoebe continues to save only one dollar per week until age 72, she will donate nearly four thousand dollars!
Imagine what a difference it could make in the world if everyone chose to make philanthropy a priority. We are sincerely thankful for Phoebe’s donation and hope that she continues giving back to her community for many years to come.
In addition to her monetary donation, we look forward to having Phoebe and her family plant with us to help turn Portland and Vancouver’s ‘grey-to-green.’ The world can always use more of nature’s gorgeous umbrellas—not to mention that special syrup.
We hope to see you out planting too! And if you would like to follow Phoebe’s example, check out all these ways to support Friends of Trees.
–Emma Gray is Gift Tree and Member Services Specialist for Friends of Trees