Determination

Today in the lunchroom, I noticed that there was a basket of apples, several cups of applesauce and some other pieces of untouched food. There was a sign on it that said "Share Basket." It looked to me like she was saving the food that the kids weren't eating from being thrown away. I mentioned that I thought it was a good idea, because I hate to see food wasted. She said she wasn't sure if it was okay for health reasons, but she didn't like seeing it thrown away either. She then asked me if she had told me what she was trying to bring to the school. Her plan started after reading a newspaper article about some teachers in Mesa who noticed that a lot of their students went hungry on the weekends because there was not much food at home. They organized a program where on Fridays at the end of the day, they call kids out with their backpacks, and put a paper bag inside filled with healthy, non-perishable snacks for the weekend. This teacher at my school...also named Judy...was so impressed with this idea, she began the process of trying to bring the program to our school.
As most new things are at my school, it was met with resistence. "How do we know who'll really need it?" "How do we know it's getting eaten?" "How do we do it so the kids don't feel singled out or get made fun of?" "Where do we get the food and the money?" Judy graciously volunteered to give up some of her time to make sure the plan would run smoothly.
Today she updated me, telling me, with a smile on her face, that the plan had made it all the way to an attorney, and she was just waiting to hear back from him. She had to type up 2 whole pages of steps as to how the program would work. It makes me sad because I feel like there have been so many times when I have had great ideas (well, at least I thought they were) yet was so easily discouraged by the mountain that stood between me and my goal, that I just gave up.
I am so thankful for people like Judy who march right over those mountains, with the goal of helping those less fortunate overpowering their fear of failure and hard work, and I hope that I can grow from her example and climb the mountains that I have come to fear.