Father’s Day is about the children
June 17th, 2007 by Eric
I woke up this morning to my wife playfully tossing my 19-month-old daughter between us in bed. She was wearing an ear-to-ear smile on her beautiful little face (as she does every morning) and a shirt that my wife bought her yesterday that said, “I love my Daddy!” on the front. And as I do every morning, I thought, “I’m the luckiest man on the planet.”
But my thoughts seldom end there; this morning they quickly turned to fathers who are less fortunate and their children. So I went downstairs and found an organization spending Father’s Day helping those families.
The National Father’s Day Council last week held its 65th annual Father of the Year award, honoring seven fathers who have “attained success in their chosen fields, and have found the time to be role models in raising their children.” Here they are:
- Allen Sirkin, President & COO, Phillips-Van Heusen
- General George W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff, United States Army
- Hulk Hogan, Professional Wrestler
- Tom Glavine, Pitcher, New York Mets
- Harry Smith, TV Anchor, “The Early Show,” WCBS-TV
- John R. Edwards, former U.S. Senator & Presidential candidate
- Dwayne Wade, Guard, Miami Heat
Now I know that there are fathers that are more deserving than these and that they are only receiving this because they are famous, but the award isn’t really for them:
Proceeds from the event will be donated to Save the Children’s United States Programs, which benefit almost 35,000 children who live in areas of persistent rural poverty. Partnering with schools and community organizations, Save the Children provides high quality early childhood development services for children from birth to age five, and literacy and physical activity/nutrition programs for children from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Last year they raised over $100,000 for “Save the Children’s” Gulf Coast Hurricanes Recovery Fund through fund-raisers and private donations. They hope to exceed that his year.
So instead of that last-minute, 20 dollar necktie that your father will probably only wear because he’s a good father and doesn’t want to hurt your feelings, why not send that money to children whose fathers are not so lucky. Do it in Dad’s honor. You can donate just those few dollars here. Plus, you can feel all warm and fuzzy about donating to Save the Children. According to CharityNavigator.org, 91% of donated funds go towards program expenses rather than administrative costs and they receive four out of a possible four stars. So make progress in peace, my progressive friends.
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