A Lost Wallet: The Classic Opportunity to Demonstrate Character

One of the volunteers who helped out with the basketball outreach program at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA last night contacted me late last night to let me know that he had lost his wallet at the Y.  He asked me if I could check in at the Y this morning to see if anyone had turned his wallet in to the front desk.  He really wanted to believe that if one of the kids had found it, they would have done the right thing and given it to a staff person at the Y.  I wanted to believe that too, because he is a relatively new volunteer with kids in Homewood and I didn't want him to get a negative impression of the kids in case one of them had been tempted by the wallet and decided to take it. 

There are a lot of LAMP kids in the basketball program at the Y, and as mentors we hope to instill good character in our mentees.  I was praying last night and this morning that maybe a LAMP mentee had found the wallet.  Sure enough, before I even had the opportunity to go over to the Y this morning, my doorbell rang early and I opened my front door to find a LAMP mentee and his mother standing there in the early morning cold.  He got a big smile on his face and he said, "Mr. B... I found this wallet outside the Y last night.  I tried to turn it in to the front desk, but the Y was already closed.  I took it home with me last night to give it to my mom so we could keep it safe and give it to you in the morning."  I was so proud of him!  The little guy is in LAMP, but he also spends a lot of time hanging out at our house with his little brother (they're friends with my daughters). 

I was grateful for the opportunity to thank he and his mom, and I was especially excited to call my friend to let him know his wallet had been found.  He was ecstatic!  And he'll get the chance to thank our young friend in person next Tuesday.  He told me, "These kids in Homewood, and your LAMP mentees, continue to surprise me with how well-behaved they are when they are at the basketball program.  And this return of the wallet is just one more example of the seeds of character that LAMP is building in them."  I'll have to make sure I pass the kudos on to my young friend's LAMP mentor.  This story is just one small example, but there are many good people investing in young people in Homewood (not just LAMP) and I can really tell that all of those combined efforts are making a difference.