In Paul’s letter to the Philippian church he urges us to humbly put others ahead of ourselves. Here’s a story of how one sixth grade girl did just that for the sake of Brookstone. Shortly after moving with her family from Virginia to North Carolina, Gina Fieber became coordinator of Davidson United Methodist Church’s Mission Mall. Every year around Christmas time the church invites several organizations and nonprofits to set up booths in order to raise support for their mission. For the past two years, Brookstone Schools has participated in the DUMC Missions Mall, selling Christmas cards and birdhouses.
Enter Ashley Fieber, Gina’s precocious and outgoing sixth grade daughter. As you may or may not know, the current craze among children today is Rainbow Loom--a process of making bracelets and necklaces out of multi-colored rubber bands. After her principal banned them from school, Ashley was at a loss for what to do with her massive collection of bracelets. She and her mother began to brainstorm ideas. Then they came up with a winner. She could use her bracelets to support one of the nonprofits at the Missions Mall! Since Ashley technically couldn’t sell them on her own, they decided she would give her bracelets to one of the organizations and then help sell them at the booth. But then came the important question: which organization would she support?
According to her mother, Ashley has a huge heart for helping local kids in need. Since she had been a part of the previous year’s Missions Mall, Ashley was familiar with Brookstone and its mission to serve underprivileged children in Charlotte.
"I want to do it for the Brookstone kids!" she decided.
So Ashley went to work designing more bracelets to sell, even using her own allowance money to pay for the rubber bands. When the time came, she proved a natural salesman. Her warm demeanor and determination not only helped sell her bracelets, but also drew plenty of other customers and donors to the Brookstone table.
When all was said and done, the booth raised $1,720 for Brookstone Schools. Of that amount, $325 came from “Goods for Sale,” which included the birdhouses, the greeting cards, and Ashley’s Rainbow Loom bracelets.
"It made her feel good that she was able to do something completely herself for others," said Gina.
"A lot of children with Asperger’s tend to be self-centered. But I think helping other people brings her out of herself more."
Thanks to all who, like Ashley, have given their time, resources, and skills in service
to Brookstone and its mission.