The Power of Eighty-Three Cents

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a community a lot like yours & mine, there resided numerous families from every walk of life, who experienced the same struggles, hopes & dreams as you & I. One day, the townspeople received an extraordinary gift from a land far away. The gift came in so many boxes however, it would require a great deal of time & resources on the already burdened locals to assemble.

So the present stayed in its containers for years to follow & was thus forgotten about.

In time, a bright young businessman from within the community had grown immensely frustrated from the inaction surrounding the gift & vowed to take matters into his own hands. If lack of funds was the problem (& it always is!) then he would offer a solution.

Since he ran the local paper, he promised to publish the name of anyone who financially donated to the assembling of this all but forgotten item NO MATTER HOW SMALL THE AMOUNT.

The idea worked like a charm. Problem was, the big donors decided to sit this one out. Instead, 121,000 peasants, drunks, chimney sweepers, factory workers, shoeshine boys, grocery clerks, barbers, waiters & waitresses, little old ladies on fixed incomes, orphans & even kindergartners donated toward the cause with the average contributed amount totalling a mere eighty-three cents.

As the unveiling drew near, A gifted young poet from within the community was summoned to pen a work to commemorate the festivities.

She initially declined, presuming the event would not merit the appropriate inspiration needed. Fortunately, she would experience a change of heart.

To this day, the poet's masterful words of hope & encouragement have been warmly received by countless travelers from all walks of life arriving in her homestead...

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

From our family to yours-Have a safe & blessed Independence Day.