Boy's refusal of gift touches Lions Club member
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Rose Village — A Fort Vancouver Lions Club member was touched by a Washington Elementary School fourth-grader's unselfish spirit when helping provide other children with gifts in December. Lions Club volunteers help run the school's annual Christmas Store, which allows children choose free gifts for their family. Bruce Preece said a boy he was assigned to help initially declined a present, saying that isn't what the season is about. Preece said the child received a gift anyway, but the conversation stuck with him. "The experience touched my heart," Preece wrote in an email. He said the boy "displayed such an unselfish maturity, uncommon for someone his age and circumstance." Nearly 91.2 percent of students at Washington Elementary qualify for free- or reduced-priced school meals.
