"Please do not open these just yet. I wish for all of you to open it at the same time." Serena instructed as she passed the folded papers, and each person took a copy.
When everyone was holding one, Serena said "Okay, together in, 3, 2, 1!"
"Holy mother of god!" Diether was the first to exclaim.
"Bloody hell!" Kylo seconded.
"Praise the lord, Hallelujah!" Joseph could not help but mention.
Timothy's eyes were about to pop out of its sockets.
Douglas like a loser has no words but could only frown.
Isabel also cheered thinking Charlton was involved to make it a success.
Emily looked at the numbers, her heart palpitating.
Geoffrey and Leonard smiled proudly as they looked at the account.
Charlton could not help but chuckle seeing Serena's gloating smile.
Via and the others cheered.
Well, and Serena, yeah, she has that gloating smile on her face.
When Timothy recovered, he cleared his throat. From Serena's explanation last time, they did expect something, but not this much considering that it's just been 3 weeks and the discs have only been sold locally. "Almost 1,800,000 and more coming. Gods, when will I ever earn that amount of money on my own. This is astounding results. Congratulations, Serena and everyone."
Everyone clapped their hands for a job well done. Then looked at Serena.
Serena knowing that it's her turn to speak again started explaining, "As you can see, the total income is nearing 1,800,000 and that is only for 3 weeks in the local market. I already asked Mr. Easton and he told me that by end of July, stores in Militeia, Eulio, and Horace would start operating. Thus, we can expect more to come by the end of summer."
"That sure would be a lot of cash streaming in." Diether commented.
Mary as the treasurer could not help but ask, "Teacher Timothy, how do we plan on handling the money? The money raised from the concerto last time also still have some surplus."
"Geoffrey and I have already talked to the facilitators. If it is alright with everyone here, the surplus from the concerto would be donated to this orphanage for future use." Timothy answered.
"I think that everyone would be fine with that. It would even make us feel better." Joan shared.
"Yes, Joan is right, However, I'm just wondering, since Geoffrey said that standardized education is key, then what to do with the next batch, I mean the children who will get a year older soon?" Joseph asked.
Geoffrey answered, "Although I said that standardized education is the key, I understand that we cannot move with that immediately. Thus, the practice of teaching the older children life skills shall continue for a certain period of time. Now the facilitators suggested that since hiring another batch of professionals would be costly, some of the older orphans who learned the skills this year would be given the choice of staying and imparting their knowledge. They will be paid of course, but just at a lower price."
"Alright. Sounds fair." Joseph replied.
Mary nodded, "I see, then how about the money from 'we are the world'?"
"I will have to talk to the school dignitaries for that. Serena, do you have any suggestion?" Geoffrey asked.
If Serena was not thinking of the benefits, she would not have minded the funds and just let it go wherever. She does have the best interest of children in mind, but she also knew that this was positive publicity. At some point, she thought of making something like a foundation, but sadly, they already tied the project up with the school. Anyhow, in some way, credit must somewhat fall to either herself, or someone close to her. Since she will be busy, and so will Charlton, then she can only come up with this.
"Initially Mr. Easton raised the problem regarding the distribution of funds, and I have thought about it a couple of times. I don't want to dampen everyone's mood, but I think we all know that no matter how promising the amount we have is, it's still scarce in comparison to the number of orphanages here, add to that the ones abroad. I always keep in mind that all of us came from all over the empire so the benefit should be distributed throughout." Serena began.
"In solution, I came up with the idea that instead of us looking for where to donate, it should be the orphanages writing to us requesting for donation."
"You mean, orphanages even from anywhere in the empire can make a request? Won't that cause an influx once this gets out in the open?" Artemis asked.
"Indeed it will. Thus, we must ensure that we are able to screen through all of those, which would be difficult given all the responsibility the student council's already ladened with. In this light, I believe we need to have a group of people to work solely on this project. A good leader too. Given the current circumstance, not that I am being bias, but perhaps Leonard can lead that?"
Everyone looked at Leonard.
Leonard sighed. "I think that Serena's suggestion is good, and if I were to be given the responsibility and I'm up for it."
Serena grinned at her brother. She knew that despite how good it sounded to be the leader of that, it would be even more time consuming than being in the student council. Oh well, he can handle the extra work.
Geoffrey nodded, he knew that he should not work with that because no matter how fairly he screens, all his choices could be interpreted as political. "I will raise that with the school dignitaries later."
The others also nodded their head. It was a sound suggestion indeed.
When everyone was done with the meeting and going back to their respective rooms, Kylo walked next to Leonard.
Well, Kylo just could not help but take a jab, "I'm so jealous of you Leo. Your sister has been thinking of a back-up plan for your career in school just in case you get kicked out of the council next year." Then he laughed.
Leonard turned red. He wanted nothing else but to smack Kylo's head.
—
TBC
