Field trips are a source of excitement for schoolchildren, so it was remarkable when students at nearby South Pittsburg High School decided to give up an overnight field trip so they could help victims of recent tornadoes in Bridgeport, Ala.
The students had raised $2,000 to travel to Tybee Island, Ga., for an educational visit. But they selflessly gave up the planned excursion when they learned the plight of a family in Bridgeport. The storms had tragically killed a member of the family, and the students in South Pittsburg agreed to donate their trip money to his bereaved relatives.
"Most of these kids have not been out of our area in their lifetime," Marion County Commissioner Jane Dawkins told the Times Free Press, so their sacrifice was significant.
Soon, however, people from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama who had heard about the kind gesture started calling to make donations so the students could go to Tybee Island after all. Businesses at Tybee Island got wind of the students' generosity, too, and donated free meals, as well as visits to various attractions.
Before they knew it, the South Pittsburg students were on their way to the Georgia coast.
While they did not donate their trip funds in the expectation of reward, we are happy for them that others were touched enough by their gesture to help them make the trip.