Small Things
Perhaps you have a drawer in your house dedicated to the odds and ends that collect over time. A junk drawer. My mother had one. I remember cleaning it out. Lingering at the bottom there were a few coins – pennies, nickels, dimes – and a couple of quarters. They added up. Not a lot of money. But enough to be significant and not just thrown out along with the other stuff in the drawer.
At the cash register “Rounding Up” is also about pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters -- small change. It’s rounding up to the next dollar amount and giving that “rounded up money” to a charity. Chatham Alliance happened to be the round up focus for all of September and October at Chatham Marketplace in Chatham Mills in Pittsboro. Maybe you happened stop by there during those weeks. At the check-out counter you had a choice – keep the coins, the small change, or give it away to help others through Chatham Alliance.
I was there on one of the round up days. It was a Saturday morning. My job – to greet folks and represent Chatham Alliance. Answer questions about what Chatham Alliance does – including Chatham Chuckwagon, Kids Love Community, and Community Harvest. I don’t know a lot of the tiny details of those different projects, so I was a little nervous. But I thought I could handle it.
It happened to be one of those gray mornings. Rainy. Dark. Dull. A little windy. As I walked across the parking lot to the store entrance, I thought to myself, “Probably nobody is coming out to shop on a morning like this. It’s better to be at home where it’s warm and dry.” But -- Not So. I was there with another person representing Chatham Alliance and we greeted a good number of people. There were mothers with children in slick rain jackets. Babies in strollers. Retirement age folks. Single people. Couples with a purpose to find all the ingredients for a certain recipe. And, for the most part – all smiles - and all saying “yes” to rounding up. All glad to help out.
Sometimes “rounding up” can mean just a few cents or -- sometimes it’s a good chunk of a dollar. It turned out that for all the weeks with Chatham Alliance as the Round Up choice at the Marketplace $1579.33 was given by people when they checked out. A significant amount. It will go to help folks and help our community through the ASCC.
One more thing. Something little that added to my morning that day. Something a little extra and unexpected. The person working behind the bakery/deli counter brought out a nice muffin. The two of us from Chatham Alliance shared it. It was fresh from the oven and had to cool a bit for a few minutes. Then I had a bite. It was just a small thing. Sweet in my mouth. Sweetness adding to a whole collection of small things to turn the gray rainy morning into something warm and nice.
The small things, the good things, do make a difference when added up. The small bites of muffins. The hints of smiles on people’s faces. The pleasant conversations in the aisles. And, for sure, the small amounts of money that people gave with their rounding up. All good. I’m glad for the small things. I am glad.