The American Dream

The American Dream – it stirs enormous emotion. It inspires massive hope. It prompts awe-inspiring actions.

Several years ago I was invited to address the American Savings Education Council to discuss Sammy Rabbit strategies for teaching kids early to save money. Following the presentation, I wrote a column titled, Recipe for the American Dream!

I like dreams, big dreams. And I like working to accomplish dreams, American or otherwise. I always have. It started in childhood with songs like Joe Darion’s Impossible Dream.

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go…

My affinity for dreams grew hearing and studying incredible speeches like Martin Luther King Jr.’s, I HAVE A DREAM.

I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream…

My feelings for dreams, their power to inspire hope and produce action deepened from there. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s speech quoting George Bernard Shaw stills echoes in mind and continues to motivate me nearly 50 years after it was originally delivered.

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why?

I dream of the things that never were and ask why not?

And, of course, there was former Beatles member John Lennon’s song and invitation, Imagine:

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope some day you’ll join us…

I decided to take Lennon up on his invitation and join him in dreaming and doing. With the support of many wonderful and talented people, we invented Sammy Rabbit.

“Dream and do big, one step at a time” -Sammy Rabbit

Our big dream and hope is to inspire kids around the world to get in the habit of saving money and reading for generations to come, so they can better position themselves to make their big dreams come true.

Like John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and many, many others, we hope parents, teachers, and youth champions will join us in our efforts. We would love to have more champions like:

California Department of Business Oversight Education and Outreach Coordinator, Alana Golden, OR

Philadelphia Money Smart 101’s Leslie Girone, OR

Walnut Elementary School Principal, Christine Heinrichs!

All three are fantastic role models, passionate champions of youth financial education, and relentless warriors of empowerment for children’s big dreams.

With champions like that, the possibility of inspiring big dreams is compounded! Whether it is money or dreams, I share the feelings of my fellow entrepreneur, “The Financial Literacy Lady,” Elisabeth Donati, I love compounding and compound growth. What about you?

When you inspire a child or anyone to dream big, you never know what is possible. Take Christina for example. She is a Walnut Elementary School 5th grader. Here is a video she developed and produced on her own. It was inspired by her Sammy Rabbit Dream Big Day Experience.

We agree with John Lennon. We don’t think Christina is the only one who dreams big dreams. In fact, we know for certain she is not. We know this from investing 15 years in the trenches, reading, singing, and delivering programs to more than a quarter million children in 8 different countries. We invite you to check out our record. We hope it earns your confidence as it has others.

And, we hope you join us.

To make it easy and fun for anyone, anywhere to inspire big dreams, we have developed lots of resources and are making many of them available FREE online in Sammy’s Dream Big Day Experience website. We hope you take full advantage of them. The resources include Sammy’s 12 Steps to Make Big Dreams Come True – our recipe!

For more information on how to join Sammy inspiring big dreams, contact us.

Have a magnificent, Sammyriffic day!

Warning! A Sammyriffic day includes reading, smiling, and service to others which can have a positive compounding impact on lives!