Jackie Oelfke saw her 5-year-old granddaughter Sunshine emptying out her piggy bank on the living room floor. When she found out why — her heart melted.
Sunshine Oelfke of Ishpeming, Michigan sat on the living floor, counting up her savings made up of loose coins and crinkled dollar bills. She neatly stacked them according to their denomination and made a mental note of the total. Instead of putting the money back into the piggy bank, though, Sunshine put them in a plastic bag, then into her backpack.
“That piqued my curiosity,” Oelfke told CBS News. “Nobody messes with the piggy bank.”
Jackie knew that Sunshine was saving up for a snowmobile, so it was odd that she would empty it out. She asked her granddaughter what she was going to use the money for and when the truth came out, Jackie was stunned.
“I’m going to take it for milk money. I’m taking it for my friend Layla,” she explained. “She doesn’t get milk — her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do.”
Jackie was touched beyond belief and wanted to help Sunshine pay for her classmates’ milk. She set up a GoFundMe account that has reached over $7,000 of it’s $5,000 goal. The money is more than enough to pay for every child to have milk throughout the entire year.
“Guess what! My whole class got milk today,” Sunshine proudly told her grandma about the news. “Layla now has milk money.
Jackie was so moved by the compassionate act, that she took to posting a video on Facebook after leaving Sunshine’s school.
Sunshine’s compassion and generosity come naturally to her, she has no idea about the impact she’s made in her community.
“She doesn’t understand the impact she’s made,” Jackie said. “But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.”
The 5-year-old grew up in a very non-traditional household. Her mother is a drug addict and has been in and out of prison several times. Sunshine has been living with her grandma for quite some time. It’s evident that Jackie has instilled some great morals in her granddaughter and also the value of the little things in life.
“Milk is important in our family, so it’s very important for Sunshine’s friends to have milk with her,” Jackie said.
Sunshine’s generosity and kindness caught the attention of millions of people around the world. Even Arctic Cat – Snowmobiles, who graciously gave Sunshine her very own snowmobile. The one she was initially saving up for.
“It just goes to show that one person, no matter how old, how young, can make a huge, huge difference in the world. I’m very proud of her,” Rita Hausher, Sunshine’s teacher, told TV6.
Sunshine might only be 5-years-old but her act of kindness is something that everyone of all ages can learn from.
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