To the editor:

Every day, we hear negative things about young people. I would like to share my experiences of the generosity of youth despite the current era of economic hard times.

The Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Club and Lawrence High School teens through seminar classes have been collecting money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to benefit children with cancer. While the money was being counted through a changer at Commerce Bank, a young college-age man and woman approached the machine.

I told them that it would be a little while before I was finished as I had several containers to complete. The couple, after hearing about the Pennies for Patients Campaign, handed me their bag of coins and dollars and said, “Here. Add this to your collection. We were just going to use it to go out and eat with anyway. Your project is much more important, and it’s not much money.”

I asked the man if he was sure he wanted to do that, and he and his female partner said “yes.” They smiled and started to leave. I called to them and asked their name. The man said “Evan.” The bag they had donated totaled $40.37.

This is just one example of all the generous and kind people who live in Lawrence. A total of $877.22, which included the donation by the generous couple, was donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help children with these cancers in our community. Kindness and generosity is alive and well in our community.