Dianne and Joe Good understand a few simple truths about children.

Children need to be taught, not told, and love goes a long way.

That’s why an evening of relaxing in the easy chair turned into a six-year road trip that’s touched nearly 200 young lives.

Each summer since 2004 the Goods and as many adult chaperones as they can collect board a charter bus with between 30 and 40 children bound for a new city, new experiences and life lessons.

The first trip was to Atlanta. San Antonio, Branson, Mo., the Smoky Mountains, Disney World and Washington, D.C., have followed.

“Me and my wife said, ‘look at all these kids just walking up and down the street,’” Joe Good said. “‘What can we possibly do?’”

The children — as young as 4 or 5 and as old as 19 or 20 — have very little.

“Most come from a single parent home, where mom is working two jobs and has three kids,” Joe said. “One kid had never been out of Natchez.

“We tried to come in and show the kids a different life.”

The Goods believe that children learn by doing and experiencing. Dianne has built their neighborhood ministry around an old Chinese proverb.

“Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.”

“Kids learn by doing things,” she said. “There are so many kids who do not have the opportunity to travel.”

Dianne dreamed up the summer trip idea one evening when the couple was sitting at home.

“I was sitting in a chair, and it just hit me. ‘Why don’t we give the kids a trip,’” she said.

Joe responded with a bit of hesitancy, but it didn’t last long.

That year, and every year since, Joe and Dianne have led children — mostly from their Woodlawn Avenue neighborhood — on fundraising projects.

The children are expected to work as hard as they can to raise the money needed to pay for their portion of the trip.

They sell candy and sell tickets to a barbecue fundraiser for which Joe cooks.

“I want you to try first. You have to earn this,” Joe said.

But if a child falls short, Joe steps in, asking local businesses to sponsor the remaining costs.

Last summer’s weeklong trip to Washington, D.C., cost approximately $380 per person.

Only children who have made good grades and behaved well during the school year are eligible to go. Some children have gone on more than one trip, but the Goods work hard to make sure everyone has at least one opportunity to go.

Once the group reaches its destination, the Goods pack in as much sightseeing, amusement and educational opportunities as they can.

“In Atlanta, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center, one little boy who really didn’t have anything came to me and said, ‘That’s the best thing I’ve ever done,’” Dianne said. “I get enjoyment from seeing that.”

Of course, Joe said, even the greatest theme parks, museums and parks don’t beat the hotel swimming pool for the children.

The summer trip may be the yearly culmination of the Goods’ influence among neighborhood children, but it certainly isn’t all they do.

Any day you can find at least a small group of children playing in the Goods’ yard. The couple watches out for the young ones, talks to them and tries to reach them.

“We want every kid to understand they need to show respect, go to school, stay out of trouble,” Joe said. “I always try to talk to them. I think that’s my job.”

Joe, 56, who works at Mississippi River Corporation, has one adult daughter of his own. The couple has two more adult children together and two grandchildren. Dianne, 55, works at Regions Bank.