By Mike Finney

DOVER — Big ideas can often come from the youngest of minds.

The pre-kindergarten class at Bayhealth’s Child Care Center backed that up when they sprouted an idea of have a vegetable sale to treat their parents to a graduation gift.

With the help of their teachers, Carie Harper and Karen McConnell, they not only raised enough money to treat their parents to a gift, but they helped Mom’s House, which is a child-care center in Dover in need of donations.

“The Child Care Center plants a vegetable garden each year, but most of our produce wasn’t ready yet,” said Ms. Harper. “Our class of 20 students collected donations of vegetables instead.”

The young students then staffed a successful vegetable sale on May 18 at the center. In fact, they sold out and raised $263, which far surpassed their $40 goal.

They were then able to buy each of their parents a carnation to wear at their graduations and, with extra money on hand, made the decision to help some neighbors in need.

Ms. Harper encouraged the students to consider what they could do with the extra money.

They decided to help Mom’s House – a nonprofit that provides childcare services to low-income single-parent families.

Seeing the generosity of the young students, Bayhealth’s human resources team decided to get in on the goodwill effort, too.

The team makes a group donation to Mom’s House each December on their own but wanted to contribute again to support the students’ efforts.

The employees donated funds to double what the children had raised, bringing the charitable gift to $415.

The class took a field trip to personally deliver the donation.

The young graduates marked a milestone moment in their education by showing they’ve learned the values of hard work and giving back.

“The students are proud to give each of their parents a carnation at graduation,” said Bayhealth Child Care Center Director Brenda Kibler. “And they were even prouder to support a great cause with the extra funds they raised from the sale.”

Bayhealth officials proudly said, “The spirit of giving has blossomed in this young group. And they’re learning at a young age to live out Bayhealth’s mission of improving the health of everyone in our community.”