“A Hot Topic Belt…” I muttered to myself as Mrs. Green handed each member a note card with what looked like black, fine-ink scribbles. Adopt-a-Family is what it is called.


“We can buy him more than that,” I thought to myself with the corners of my mouth curled.


A thirty-dollar Wal-mart gift card, a worn-out shopping cart, and our determination stood at our side at the starting line. The variety of items that we could offer him wandered through my mind. All of his sizes were provided on the white rectangle of paper. On our marks, get set, go.


“This shirt is perfect!” I interjected.


“I like this one better, though,” added someone else.


“Let’s just put anything that catches our eye in the cart and decide later.”


As we roamed the endless aisles of clothing, we found ourselves wanting to buy our teenage boy much more than we could afford. Our budget was indeed tight. A minute misfortune like that did not hinder our perseverance. With two graphic Tees staring from the bottom of the cart and seconds ticking away, it was time our group got down to business. The handle settled closer to my skin as I gripped firmly onto the cart.


“We should split up. You’ve got the pants,” I pointed to a friend, “And we’ve got the shoes and miscellaneous item. My partner and I sped to the shoe department and scanned the dangling shoes, looking at sizes. One black pair called our names with it's waving shoelaces. Immediately we grabbed the shoes and rushed to find our last puzzle piece. One problem. We only had $1.00 left. It seemed like a hopeless case, yet we never gave up. After what seemed like 20 minutes, I spotted the beanie rack. I looked above it and read the sign.



"Yes, one dollar. We can buy this!



At that moment my friend and I gave each other a well-earned high-five. Mission accomplished.



After going through that adventure, I realized that giving is truly more rewarding that receiving. Painting smiles on anyone's face is worthwhile. With team work, anything can happen. Even work that seems beyond believable is achieved.