By Suzanne Hadley

Two wide-eyed, little girls crowd around the grand piano at the Silver Pond restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to get a closer look at 12-year-old Amanda Hu.

Amanda’s delicate fingers fly up the keyboard, producing the melodic strains of Chopin. She has been playing at her family’s restaurant each Friday and Saturday night since she was 7 years old. She turns to give the girls a warm smile, but her fingers never leave the keys.

Customers linger at their tables, enjoying the classical music. Amanda scans the audience as she plays, watching people’s reactions.

"I like seeing that they’re happy," she says. And last year this talented performer did something that made her whole school happy—very happy.

Noteworthy Goal
When Amanda performed "Sonata Opus 49, No. 2" at a school talent show three years ago, she was disappointed because the old school piano was painfully out of tune. An accomplished pianist, Amanda knew the beauty of a quality piano.

Because Amanda’s school, The Classical Academy, is a charter school, it receives little funding from the school district. Amanda knew that meant her school would probably never have a good piano.

The petite but determined fourth-grader brainstormed with her parents to figure out how she could help the school find a new piano. Her mom suggested she save the tips she made playing at the restaurant.

Once she had a plan, Amanda took action. She put a sign on her tip jar, explaining that all the money would go to purchasing a piano for her school. The money started coming in one dollar at a time.

After one year, she had raised less than $1,000. At that rate it would take more than three years to earn the money she needed. Instead of getting discouraged, Amanda and her parents prayed that God would provide.

One night special visitors ate at the restaurant and heard Amanda play. "They were the last table here," Mrs. Hu says. "Before I took Amanda home, I told her to go over and say hello and ask them how their food was."

The visitors had seen the sign on Amanda’s tip jar and asked her to play a song. Amanda played two quick songs and then the customers left. The next day the woman called and said she was a reporter for the Denver Post. She asked if she could write a story about Amanda’s project.

After the article was published, money poured in from all over Colorado. Another newspaper and two TV stations picked up the story, giving Amanda’s cause even more exposure.

Six months later, Amanda had raised nearly $4,000—enough to buy an upright piano and a cover.

On December 7, 2001, Amanda and her mom went to a piano store to pick out the special gift. Amanda played each piano, listening for the perfect sound. She chose a shiny, walnut Yamaha.

Two weeks later The Classical Academy held a Christmas concert to honor its young benefactress. Amanda’s fingers danced over the keys as the rich notes of Debussy’s "Golliwog’s Cakewalk" sang out.

"I feel really good when I see other people using my piano and everybody enjoying it," she says. "I’m very thankful to God for the opportunity to help my school."

Class Act
Amanda plays regularly at school concerts, her church and even a local rest home. She loves performing for people, and surprisingly, she never gets nervous. "Nobody ever told me what nervousness meant, so I never got the point of it."

Amanda’s best memory is playing for a Christmas chapel at Focus on the Family. Dr. James Dobson heard Amanda play at the Silver Pond and invited her to perform. "It was a really, really great honor," she says.

Almost a year has passed since Amanda presented her school with the new piano, but she continues to play every weekend at the Silver Pond.

What is she saving her tips for now?

"College," she says. "Colleges cost a lot!"

Even though she recently beat 20 other competitors to win first place at the Maurice S. Thomas state piano competition, Amanda sees piano playing as a hobby, not a future career.

"I might want to be a doctor," she says. "Of course, I’ll have to decide what kind of doctor."

Amanda hopes her actions will inspire other kids to be generous and help others—even when the task seems monumental. "Work hard and do things right," she says. "And with God all things are possible."

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