Giving Back to Hope for Henry

Below is an inspirational story of one boy giving back to Hope for Henry as told by his wonderful mom. Matthew was assigned a "holiday" math assignment in school. They had to go on a holiday "shopping spree" in honor of a charity. The spree was obviously not real -- but was based on locating items and prices in catalogs, circulars, or magazines.

There were some ground rules:
(1) they had $1,000 to spend
(2) they had to include 7% sales tax (they've been studying decimals this year)
(3) they had to purchase 10-20 items (no more, no less)
(4) they had to spend at least $975.00; but no more than $1,000.00 (including tax).
(5) the items selected had to be appropriate for the charity selected; and
(6) they had to put together a report, including an introduction, cut and pasted pictures of the items and their prices, and a creative artwork cover (Matthew's front cover was in the shape and design of an iPod).

Matthew selected Hope for Henry as his charity and spent $978.72 on 15 items -- including an iPod, superhero toys, a digital camera, and a DVD player. He would not part with the final report, but his introduction and tally pages are featured on this site.

After completing this project, Matthew and I decided that it would be a wonderful holiday gift to make this "mock" shopping spree a reality. Accordingly, I have made an on-line donation of $979.00 in honor of Henry, Matthew's project, and your wonderful advice and wise words over the last few years. Matthew is hoping that some other kids will receive some wonderful gifts -- like the iPod that never leaves his side.