The other day we had a parents meeting for my son's golf team at our new high school. The cost per player for a pack of all kinds of stuff came to about $200. At the end of the meeting the coach requested the money and I noticed that it seemed easy for these golf parents to whip out their checkbooks for this amount. Then, it dawned on me...I remembered back when I was a kid. My folks didn't have a lot of money. I didn't get a golf club in my hands until I was 29. I imagined that there were other athletes at our school who may struggle to come up with the money. Just so happens that our golf coach is the athletic director this year also. I sent him a note that if he knew of any kid who couldn't come up with the dough to let me know. I'd pay for it. Earlier that very day a young man did come into the office saying he was having trouble coming up with the money. He's a three-sport athlete and that's all I know about him. I paid for a couple sports for him apparently, $350. He doesn't know who did it. Only the coach and athletic secretary know - and now you. To realize there may be a need, mostly based on my own life experiences, and to help a kid in this way without the government holding a gun to my head to steal my money to give to a bunch of shlubs...felt really great. The coach thanked me and shook may hand the next day. I just said, "Hey...I had a good year." That's true in many ways, actually.

Maybe you'll consider doing the same. Contact the high school athletic director and ask if a kid is having trouble coming up with the dough.