I Made a Big Mistake With My Kid's Project

So my kid had this school project on community service that was due next week. He suggested we could collect blankets for the animal shelter, but I thought it would be more impressive to do something big like setting up a local food drive with the help of neighbors and friends. I got super excited about it because I figured if I put enough effort into organizing everything, my kid might get some recognition at school. I started calling everyone up in the neighborhood and explained what we were doing. Most people thought it was cool, but one lady, let’s call her Mrs. Johnson, she wasn't too keen on the idea. She said she didn’t have time or that others should take care of it instead. I tried to be understanding, but deep down, it bothered me how she refused without even considering getting involved. Then last week, as we were finalizing plans and gathering supplies for our big food drive event, my kid got a call from Mrs. Johnson’s son who was at the shelter where we wanted to drop off the items. They told us that Mrs. Johnson had already organized her own project, collecting clothes for homeless people instead of blankets or food. I felt like an idiot. Not only did I waste weeks planning something without checking if anyone else was doing similar work, but also I missed out on a chance to collaborate and show how the neighborhood could come together rather than competing with each other. It’s been bothering me ever since, why did I feel so threatened by Mrs. Johnson? Was it because she had better ideas or just that I wanted our project to stand out? So yeah, here’s my confession: I went ahead and planned this whole community service event thinking it would make me look good when in reality I could have helped the neighborhood work together instead of creating unnecessary competition.