Back in the early days of the circus, regular admission was just a nickel. That’s doesn’t seem like a lot of money, and quite frankly it wasn’t even back in the glory days of the circus. But the people running the circus knew that the average person would most likely match that nickel with another one (or two) spent on food and souvenirs of the day. More importantly, they knew that a couple nickels from hundreds and thousands of people added up to some serious money. They quite literally had barrels of nickels to deal with. What they’d do, is seal up each barrel, mark ‘nails’ on it and ship back to their bank in the winter quarters. The point being that a nickel here and a nickel there can add up pretty quickly.

Changing the subject now, I just canceled my subscription to World of Warcraft (WOW), an online game. That I ever had a subscription to such a game might make some think less of me, but let me just say on the game’s defense, it runs deeper than your average video game. Some of the more challenging tasks require the precise co-ordination of 20 people working together to actively achieve a goal while managing both resources and risk.

But I regress; I canceled my subscription because I just haven’t played the game in a while and it does cost $15 a month. Which is also the reason why I didn’t cancel it earlier because 15 bucks doesn’t seem like much in my monthly budget.  I got to thinking and with some quick math I realized that, like those circus nickels, $15 a month does add up pretty quickly. In a year, that’s $180 and it starts to seem like an awful lot of money to see my own version of the circus. As a result, I’ve decided to donate my monthly WOW fees to the Yak Bell project. I’m getting better utility for my money and losing an unproductive habit in the process.

So I want to challenge each person reading this post to find your own personal WOW expenditure. It could be an online game subscription, maybe a daily latte, lunch out, maybe cigarettes or too frequent trips to the tanner. Find that little extravagance in your life and ask yourself if you can give it up or at least cut back, just for a few months. I think you’ll find, as I have, that the gratification of building libraries for kids outweighs whatever you’re getting from the latte.

I’m planning to put the Yak Bell project on my budget right where WOW used to be. If you watch our donations you can see my $15 donation being made each month. What I’d like to see is a dozen, a score, even a hundred donations just like it being made monthly. If you will join me, we can build those libraries with barrels of nickels.

Ever since I can first remember, I’ve been a lover of books. I was raised on Dr. Seuss and still have fond memories of learning to read with the ‘Dick and Jane’ books used at that time. My early favorites were Clifford the Big Red Dog and Curious George. As a young child, I commonly read the same books repeatedly. I advanced to Hardy Boys Mysteries, Encyclopedia Brown and on to the Chronicles of Narnia devouring each book as fast as my eyes could move across the page. I never quite seemed to have enough to read.

As I grew to adulthood, I never lost my passion for books, lugging hefty book-filled boxes every time I moved to a new home. I bought my present house 20 years ago and have slowly filled it with books ever since. We have shelves and bookcases in every room of the house. There are boxes and crates of books in the basement and stacks at various places in my house. When I find a new interest I quickly move to acquire as many books as I can on the subject.

I first read about Room to Read on MSNBC’s news website a couple of years ago. The story of John Wood and his trip to Nepal instantly captivated me. In addition to my love of books, I am also passionate about traveling. His story was almost too good to be true, traveling in an exotic place and providing books to so many young children.

As one might have guessed, my own daughters never lacked for books when they were growing up. It hurts me to think of those children who grow up with so little access to books. And it’s not just the books, it’s the lack of education. Without educated adults, poverty is rampant and basic needs become scare. To make matters worse, uneducated adults are much more likely to raise uneducated children leading to a downward spiraling cycle.

I have spent the most recent years of my life dedicated to raising and educating my two daughters. Along the way, I have tried to help out their friends as best I can. Often just by giving them a safe place to be and a hot meal. All along I have said that when this job is done, I will be looking for that opportunity to ‘cash my chips’, departing from the conventional to do something different with my life, hopefully something that will make  a positive difference to others. When I read John Wood’s story, I see a man who has done just that. I admire him, and everyone at Room to Read for truly making the world a better place.

I tell the story of Room to Read whenever I get the change. I am not an emotional guy, but I get a little choked up and teary eyed every time I tell the story. To bring so much good to so many children of the world is a staggering achievement.

For me, the opportunity to ring the Yak Bell is the opportunity to stand amongst giants.

There is much kids need to learn while they are growing up and much more they learn from the process of growing up. I would like to brag about how I consciously set about to teach my kids the lessons they’ve learned in life, but  it didn’t exactly go down that way.  I strived to make certain their educations were well-rounded, but, at the end of the day, much of what they learned from me I didn’t even know I was teaching. More often, we learned the lessons together.

I never set about to teach them to love books and reading. A house full of books and frequent trips to the bookstore did that. Traveling; it was something I loved. I didn’t drag them along, but I didn’t set about to teach them to love it either. Yes, I was adamant that they were better served in an inner city school district, but the myriad lessons this taught them went far beyond my expectations.

Many years ago, I made a decision to have breakfast and dinner with my kids each day. In the first few weeks it was just the three of us, Robyn and Alyse giving me quiet encouragement and feedback while I desperately tried to learn how to cook just a few decent and nutritious meals. As my ability to cook slowly improved, the dinner table became more than my classroom, it became a community center. Whatever kids were in the house at dinner time would sit down and eat with us. Most nights there was at least one or two friends at our table. Some nights we would host a half-dozen or more. On these occasions we transformed into a great extended family, sharing the preparation, cooking, and cleanup.

In those days I thought I was just feeding a few hungry kids, but in truth we were building a community; teaching all those kids the joy of breaking bread with friends and loved ones. Thanksgiving has become the ultimate expression of this community. My daughters and I host 20 or more guests at  an extravagant feast the Saturday following the official holiday. Far from being the lonely martyr toiling in my kitchen, I invite all in attendance to share the experience. In the hours before we sit down to eat, my kitchen fills with people: carving turkey and ham, mashing potatoes, whisking gravy, and serving up great bowls of yams, cranberries and green beans. As the last dish is set upon the table, I realize that I am unable to express my thanks adequately for the occasion.

When I look back now I realize parenting my daughters wasn’t the task I thought it would be. Dr Spock said we need to love them, feed them and leave them alone; Right on the first two points at least. Those hours spent at the dinner table, or in the living room, or on the road to some new destination were all part of my daughters’ education.

I need look no further than The Yak Bell Project  to see the fruits of that education. With this act they are honoring me with a gift greater than I could ever ask, paying those educations forward to hundreds of deserving children a world away.  I will never need another father’s day gift nor will I ever doubt that I have raised two extraordinary young ladies.  I am touched, I am proud, I am humbled.

Already we have raised $825. We’ve still got a long way to go but it is amazing to see that we’ve raised that much and we haven’t even started!

So we’re off to go celebrate our dad we hope each one of you is off to have a great day with your dad as well!

I was pondering this question on my way home to work when I realized exactly what we could get dad. It would take a lot of work, but wasn’t our dad worth it? So after consulting with my sister, I wrote this email to John Wood:

Dear John Wood,

My father is a big fan of you and the work you’ve done with Room to Read. In fact I’ve never seen my father get excited about a nonprofit until he called me after hearing you story on NPR. When I told him you were coming to the Michigan Nonprofit SuperConference he got so excited that I decided to sneak him into your keynote. On our hour long drive home and he spent the entire time talking about how great you were and how amazing your organization was.

And when my dad left that conference he had one dream: to ring the yak bell. My sister and I want to make that happen.

You see my dad is the best dad in the world. He is a single father who has given us everything two girls could ask for. When he didn’t know how to sew patches onto our clothes he bought Sewing for Dummies and learned. When he wasn’t getting enough flexibility at work he quit his job to find one that would allow him to spend more time with us. My father was a terrible cook when my parents divorced but he knew family dinners were important so he tried different recipes every night and now I am proud to say my father is an excellent cook who makes some of the best tacos in the Michigan.

So when my sister and I discussed what to get our awesome dad for Father’s Day I had one big very audacious goal: we want him to ring the yak bell.

This is where you come in. My sister and I have started The Yak Bell Project, a fundraising campaign to raise $24,000 for Room to Read. We are launching a social media campaign on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter to raise awareness about awesome dads like ours and to raise money and awareness about your organization.

So here is my question for you: If we raise $24,000 can my father ring the yak bell? We will pay to fly my father wherever the yak bell may be so that he can ring it. It would make my father so happy and it will allow me and my sister to give back to my father for everything he has given to us.

We would love it if you could make this happen for our dad and if you have any inspiring stories about dads involved in Room to Read we would love to share them!

Peace and Happy,

Robyn Stegman

It was a shot in the dark. I figured we had a 50/50 chance at best that he would respond, but it was worth a try. So my sister and I went on working to put this on. We made our fund raising plan. We create this website and our Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr account hoping we would at least be able to get some response from someone at Room to Read before we launched our project on June 20.

Then this email came in my inbox:

Oh my God, I am crying.   Happy and emotional tears.   YES YES YES YES YES!!  We simply must make this happen!!!

More later – running into a dinner here in New York

Thank you for making my night.

John Wood

Founder and Board Chair

Room to Read

I was shaking with excitement. Our entire family could barely speak. And that’s when I realized that this was actually happening. We we’re going to make this work. We were going to make our dad’s dream come true.

Now is the hard part: raising $24,000. Luckily, we have all of you who will follow us on our path and help us get there. My sister and I are going to make this happen anyway we can and we can’t wait to connect with all you and work with all of you to make this happen.

We still have a lot of work to do so I am signing off but make sure to follow this blog for the next couple of weeks and find out all the cool things we are planning for The Yak Bell Project.