A Changed Retirement Vision

Seon and Marty got married on a yacht.

It isn't your usual retirement vision; and it wasn't Marty Burbank's vision, at first. An avid sailor and attorney, Marty had been dreaming of getting a 40-foot sloop for him and his wife to sail off into their sunset years.

But it wasn't to be. There was a fateful Sunday when he was listening to a sermon about giving and generosity - and that changed everything.

Marty and his wife, Seon Chun-Burbank, have been volunteering and contributing at Rio Vista Elementary in Anaheim. There, he met kindergarten teacher, Tessa Ashton, who happens to attend the same church that he and his family do.



On that Sunday before Christmas, that sermon got him thinking, "Sailing has been a big part of my life. [But] the boat seemed like a real selfish thing at that point. This is something significant that I think is going to impact a lot more people than just me."

So, what was this plan that could impact other lives? It was all made public in an announcement that he made before a class of 26 students in Ms. Ashton's kindergarten class. That's when he announced to the class that he would pay for every student's college tuition. None of them would have to worry about how they could afford college, when they have completed the necessary education. The only thing on which they needed to focus was learning.

According to Ms. Ashton, "He cried and I cried. And the kids got really concerned because they've never seen me cry....You don't walk into moments like that very often so it was kind of a magical thing." Ever resourceful, she was then able to launch into a lesson about happy tears.

Why did Mr. Burbank pick this class? He said, "They don't come from families where anybody has had an opportunity to go to college. And college is not something that the parents talk to the kids about." Every single child in this kindergarten class, if they all take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, will be the first in their family to attend and graduate from college.

Six-year-old Jessyca Resendiz explained what this gift meant to her, "College is a big place and there is a fountain. It has a big cafeteria that has coffee and bread." Now she can go there to become what she dreams - a doctor.

One of the mothers, Silvia Escobar, whose son Roniel Garcia is in the class, had only completed second grade in her native Guatemala. She said in Spanish, "May God bless him always for helping people who truly need his help. There are no words."

Marty and Seon talk to one of the students.

In exchange for financing the education of these kindergarten students, Marty only asked that the parents keep him informed of their child's progress in school and the children write or draw a picture of what a college education means to them. In addition, Marty feels he received the best part of the deal, "I'd rather not have a boat and get these kids through school. Maybe one day they'll buy me a boat."

Marty and Seon with their sponsored kindergarten students.

Thanks to information from this article and video on Godvine: http://www.godvine.com/Man-Donates-Retirement-To-Kids-After-Church-Service-8816.html?utm_content=buffera72c3&utm_medium=fbpage&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=gvupdate; and this article by Denisse Salazar at The Orange County Register: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/college-702701-burbank-school.html.

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