A 5-Year-Old Girl Spends All Her Savings on an Honorable Cause That Brings Her Grandma to Tears

Many parents strive to instill a basic understanding of personal finance in their young children. While teaching a child to save might be challenging, it is an excellent method for helping them develop a sense of independence while teaching them the value of self-control. 

Sunshine Oelfke was five years old and lived in Ishpeming, Michigan. Like many children her age, she was putting money away for something. Sunshine was diligent in setting aside a portion of her allowance each week. And she used that time-honored method of stowing cash: a piggy bank that could not be opened until the appropriate moment.

Sunshine’s grandma Jackie Oelfke was taken aback when tiny Sunshine started pouring the contents of her piggy bank onto the floor of their living room. She observed her arranging the cash and coins on the floor in an orderly fashion.

Jackie was correct in understanding that the girl wanted a snowmobile. However, it was so expensive that it was well beyond the young girl’s means. So, her plans had changed. 

The concerned grandma initially thought Sunshine was just toying around with her money. The young girl tried her best to tally the cash but had trouble keeping track of the various denominations. So, Jackie and her granddaughter sat down to count the money. 

In addition to continuing her odd behavior, Sunshine said something out of the ordinary. She shared her plans with her granny – she would take the money she had worked so hard to save and give it to children who needed it more.

“[Sunshine] said she was taking it to school for milk,” Jackie said in an interview with TODAY, beaming with pleasure and joy at her granddaughter’s behavior. “I explained that I had already paid for her milk for the month,” Jackie continued. That was when Sunshine explained that her friend was the one who needed the milk. 

This young girl had arrived at the personal judgment that a snowmobile could wait (for the time being). Instead, she decided to use the money she had saved to ensure that one of her closest friends would have access to milk when they were at school. 

Jackie was moved by Sunshine’s generosity. She and her friend both loved milk, but her friend was doing without. So, she wanted to right that perceived wrong and do so with her own money. 

Jackie learned that Hausher consistently goes above and beyond to support her younger students. She loves the kids in her class and is dedicated to her role as their teacher. So whenever there is a financial shortfall, she takes money out of her own pocket (as many other teachers do). 

The current price of a carton of milk for each student in Sunshine’s class is forty-five cents a day, which comes out to almost nine dollars for the parents of those youngsters each and every month. The situation is similar in other schools. Because of this, many kids miss out on milk in cafeterias across the country. 

Hausher spoke to the TODAY show, explaining that she has “always felt sad when I have had to tell a student ‘No’ when they ask if they can have milk.” The compassionate teacher had a great deal of sympathy for Sunshine’s desire to assist her buddy.

Jackie made the decision to inform the entire world of her granddaughter’s behavior. She posted a video to Facebook and shared it with everyone. In it, Jackie talked about the recent events, and she even got a little teary-eyed when talking about what Sunshine had done. 

Jackie immediately set up a contribution page on a crowdfunding platform, thinking that if she could earn $700, she would be able to ensure all the children in Sunshine’s got milk with their lunches. 

An extraordinary event occurred. Thanks to the generosity of a multitude of anonymous donors, Jackie and Sunshine quickly surpassed their $700 goal. With the astonishingly high $6,000 donated in just two weeks, all twenty children would be drinking milk for free until the end of the year.

Sunshine observed a difference in the mood around snack time after the contributions were handed to the school. However, this wasn’t the best thing to come out of the story. One day, she returned from school with some inspiring news.

Jackie is amazed by her grandchild and the massive difference she’s already made in the world. Though Sunshine doesn’t fully grasp the magnitude of what she did, Jackie says she “knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.” 

Sunshine’s home life has been fraught with challenges. So the fact that the youngster has developed an empathic disposition toward the plight of others is a testament to the excellent parenting skills of Sunshine’s grandma. 

Jackie admitted that this circumstance may not be hurting Sunshine in a direct manner right now, but she is concerned that it may lead to difficulties in the future. Jackie explained, “she’s going to have enough issues growing up with this. I’ve never told her she can’t do something, and I didn’t want to start now.” 

It’s encouraging to see that Sunshine’s upbringing hasn’t impeded her progress in any way. At such a young age, she has taken responsibility for her own personal growth. Now during recess, all of her classmates are allowed to drink milk. This story is the perfect example of how a simple action can snowball into a significant event. All it needs is one individual to get things rolling in the right direction.