World Kindness Day Celebrated
It all started in September 2018 when 9-year-old Abigail Moen was watching television with her dad. “A commercial came on and it made me cry. There were kids who needed surgery so they could smile and be happy,” Moen explained.
Moen, a student at Anne Hutchinson School in Eastchester, felt compelled to act. “I always want to help people. It feels good,” she added. The 4th grader came up with a plan to raise money. “I decided to collect bottles because I knew the ocean had too much plastic and I thought recycling bottles could help the ocean and help a kid get surgery,” said Moen.
After one year, Moen collected enough bottles to help pay for the surgery of a child, like the one she saw in that commercial. “I collected 6,600 bottles – that’s $330,” Moen exclaimed!
Moen donated the money to the organization profiled in that commercial, Operation Smile. The global nonprofit offers free surgeries to children born with a cleft lip (tear in the lip) or cleft palate (gap in the roof of mouth). The condition makes it difficult for a person to eat, drink, speak and smile. The cost for surgery is around $240.
“I didn’t know what a cleft lip or cleft palate was until I saw the commercial. I started telling people at school and they brought in bottles for me. Every weekend my parents would take me to the machine to cash in the bottles,” Moen conveyed.
The pre-teen, who enjoys playing soccer and the piano, wants to be a surgeon when she grows up. In the meantime, her fundraising efforts continue. “I plan on having a bake sale and yard sale. I’d also like to make bracelets and sell them to raise more money to help children. We all can be kind and help others,” Moen concluded.
Abigail’s act of kindness should make us all examine ourselves, and how we can help others this holiday season. And thanks for reminding us Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
For more information on Operation Smile visit-operationsmile.org
