Small Bites Make a full meal

Small Bites Make a full meal

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The Braille Monitor – December, 2000 Edition

Small Bites Make a Full Meal

by Mickey Fixsen

Jeanina

and Mickey Fixsen

From

the Editor: Mickey Fixsen moved to Iowa in the seventies in order to get the

rehabilitation services that he knew he needed and that no other state in the

nation was able to offer. He and his wife Jeanine are longtime Federationists

who live in Iowa City. Mickey is a consummate wood worker--the grandfather clock

in the dining room at the National Center is an example of his workmanship.

He also builds and exhibits hotrods. The following is what he has been thinking

about our capital campaign:
The capital campaign for the new National Research and Training Institute for
the Blind is now in full swing, and we need to raise over eighteen million dollars
to get the project done. Eighteen million dollars is a very large sum of money,
and if you write it out like this, $18,000,000.00, it looks insurmountable.
Most of us cannot imagine this sum of money and therefore do not know how any
paltry sum we could contribute toward the project could possibly have any effect
on reaching the final goal.

I am reminded of something that Dr. Jernigan said to us on many occasions
when we were about to begin a task which appeared extremely daunting to us.
He would ask us, "How do you eat an elephant?" He would then say,
"The answer is obvious. One bite at a time!"

We therefore should make like hungry Federationists and take our fair bite
of the eighteen-million-dollar elephant. It doesn't have to be more than you
can chew. Lots of small bites add up quite quickly. For example, we have some
fifty thousand members in our organization, and if we all contributed only $300
total over a five-year period, we would have fifteen million dollars! This $300
contribution breaks down to only $60 a year and breaks down even further to
only $5.00 per month. Now $5 doesn't seem so daunting, does it?

Most of us can find $5 each month in our discretionary spending. This may
mean that we skip a movie or a meal out at a restaurant one time each month.
We might, alternatively, have to cut out a few soda pops or snacks to get the
$5. We can do it.

I realize that this example does not get us to the full eighteen million dollars
that we need, but it clearly illustrates just how small a bite can make a huge
difference. There will be some that can afford to take a much larger bite--many
already have, and there are a few others that cannot afford to bite quite as
much. However, it is easy to see that, if we all take our fair bite, we can
more than achieve our goal of eighteen million dollars. Bon appetite!

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