My friend, Cathy, teaches 7th and 8th grade math and science. For a long time, she sponsored Muffin Monday in the teachers’ lounge at her school. On Sunday evening she made muffins at home–extraordinary muffins, healthy muffins, yummy muffins! She set the muffins out in the lounge on Monday morning, along with a change cup, asking for some small donation ($.25 – $.50 maybe, I don’t remember) in exchange.

Cathy used the money she collected to purchase books for kids during school book fairs. She designed certificates informing kids that they’d “won” the book of their choice at the fair. Kids didn’t have to enter a contest; they were simply selected and presented with the coupon. They turned the coupons in at the fair, and Cathy later paid for the books the kids chose.

One woman puts brand new books in the hands of kids who might otherwise not be able to have them, nourishing her fellow teachers in the process. She said it was her attempt to “just do something–anything–to make the world a better place.”

It doesn’t matter how small your action might seem. Do something. Anything.

Hey, I have an idea. Why not stitch a bookmark?