Thanks to the kindness of strangers, Fairley High School’s band has gathered enough money to accept the invitation to perform at the Orange Bowl later this month in Miami.

From a pitiful fund raising start of $3,750, six weeks later the band had gotten enough checks large and small to raise the $180,000 needed for the band members, majorettes, flag girls and plenty of adult chaperones to go.

The check that surprised me the most was for just $5, sent in by an inmate serving a 44-year sentence for aggravated robbery in the Tiptonville state pen. Andre (I won’t use his last name) sent me a letter explaining why he made the donation, and here’s what part of it says:

“I decided to donate what I could. I’m an offender helper as my prison job making thirty-four cents an hour… I bring home a total of twenty-six dollars a month to provide for myself personal hygiene articles and food supplements…. I grew up in the Southwest area of Memphis and graduated from Mitchell High School in 1979 and I know the peer pressure of having the opportunity to do something positive and my parents wasn’t able to afford it and the positive becomes negative and a person acts on the negative. That is why I wanted to do something to help at least one child stay out of prison.”

For you skeptics, he sent me proof: the original of the personal withdrawal request for $5 that the warden signed. The purpose of this withdrawal, the official form (with the state seal on it) says, “for an indigent student to assist in his/her quest to perform at halftime at the Orange Bowl for the Fairley High School Band.”

This is just one of the reasons why I love my job. You never know who is going to be reading and moved enough to respond.

The Guest Diva and metro columnist,
Wendi C. Thomas