Looking Back
Last year in July, I spilled my heart out to each and every one of you. My husband was laid off, and we had gone through our rainy day funds. We were facing an eviction and disconnect noticed from every utility company. YOU, my readers, and friends came to our rescue! Thanks to all of you, we were able to pay our rent and our bills! I couldn’t believe how blessed we were. I couldn’t believe how much you all cared. If you want to read about that horrible time in our life, you can do so HERE. I never did write a proper thank you to all of you. So from the bottom of our hearts I want to thank each and every one of you that came out of the woodwork with words of encouragement, ideas, and the financial help. Since then we’ve been paying it forward!
Present
I want to let you all know that my husband is working again! In September he was hired by Sheetz as a Shift Supervisor. We are making it work. We even have insurance now! Thanks to everyone’s support and encouragement we never gave up! Back in July I made a promise that if we were helped I would pay it forward when we could. I want to tell you that I have been doing just that! Every Wednesday I volunteer at our local Urban Mission. We donate whatever we can, whenever we can. Paying it forward has been an important part of our lives ever since. We never asked for a hand out, what we needed was a hand up.
Paying it Forward With a Hand Up
When you’re into volunteering you get to meet a lot of awesome people. People who’s hearts are so big, it makes you wonder where they actually keep it! A few weeks ago I met one of these people. Her name is Jessica. She is such a sweet person, and knows the true meaning of a hand up and paying it forward. Here is what she says about her mission:
Hello, my name is Jessica and am the mother to 7 wonderful children. I run “An Angel of Hope” on Facebook. I decided to start this mission because I, like so many other Americans knows what it’s like to have very little! 42% of children live with their family in poverty. Sadly this statistic isn’t getting any better! I started this mission in hopes that I can bring people together, to help each other. We have families that need just the basic everyday items, like toilet paper, toothpaste, and even diapers for their baby. I post their needs on my page in hopes that maybe someone can offer an item or two to this family. A lot of times a couponer may come along and pass down an item they paid very little for, or someone got a little extra in their paycheck so they help the next person! Many children go without something as simple as a birthday cake, or a gift to open, or even Christmas gifts under the tree. They are also placed on our page hoping someone can fulfill there wish! The only thing we ask from the person in need is when they are able to they give back! We do screen the families to make sure they are truly in need, once that process is verified they are placed on our page until a sponsor offers to help, we then send the sponsor a shipping address and ask that the items are sent right to the family. The families are required to send in photos of their family/children with the items that were sent in! We all love seeing the smiling faces of the children and their families with their new items. We hope that one day these helping sites are no longer needed, but until then I can only pray people continue to help each other!
An Angel of Hope
Jessica and I are teaming up to bring you what we’d like to call a reverse giveaway. We are putting together a multi-winner giveaway, but at the end of the giveaway the winners will get to pick whether they want to keep their prize or sponsor one of the families or children on An Angel of Hope’s page. I was going to celebrate our 5000 Facebook likes with a giveaway, but I thought that this idea is much better. The Reverse giveaway will take place in February that way the children who need Easter presents will have time to receive them. If you’re a blogger an you’re interested in participating in this by offering a prize pack or two for children an/or families as a whole. Please email me and I can give you more information. We are very excited about doing this and we hope you are too!
I love your idea about the reverse giveaway. Angel of Hope sounds like a great cause!
LoLo if you’re interested in joining us for the reverse Giveaway you’re more than welcome to, just drop me a line.
Wow! What a great cause! I completely agree with Paying it Forward as well!!! Nice post!
Kristin Wheeler (Mama Luvs Books) recently posted…Book to Check Out: The Perdition of Zephyr Hopkins by, Jesse S. Greever
Thank you so much! It’s a close to my heart cause.
Sounds like an amazing cause!I will check into it. I try to reach out and volunter and often as i can. For all that I have, the least I can do is pay it forward,
Melissa recently posted…Mommy LOVES winning Tuesdays!
It really is an amazing cause and there are a lot of families and children listed on the page right now. I hope to see you there!
Wow, that’s awesome. I discovered your blog during that time. Happy to hear things are looking up
Ghada recently posted…26 Super Easy Ways to Show Your Kids Love
Thanks Ghada. I also remember your words of encouragement and those meant the world to me. Thanks for being there!
what a wonderful idea! Let me see if I can round up a sponsor for you!
Paula Robinson recently posted…New HTC Butterfly to be launched in Singapore!!
Thank you Paula! that would mean so much! This project is very close to my heart.
You are doing a very nice thing. We are going through the same thing right now except my guy has been on disability for over a year now and doctors couldn’t find out what was wrong with him. They figured out some things – he has arthritis in his back and slipped discs so he needs surgery. The doctor that he had didn’t send over the correct (or not enough) notes to the disability company so his benefits were cancelled. He’s owed over $17,000 but can’t get any of it. He recently got a lawyer so hopefully things will start turning around. We had to resort getting on welfare, we were 1 day away from being locked out until our TRA got pushed through and our rent was paid for 3 months, our electric bill just got under $1,000, we are close to getting another eviction notice (I hope the TRA comes through for us again), and I haven’t been able to get winter clothes for our 3 kids; one of them being 10 months old so he’s still stuck wearing mainly 6-9 month clothing, which is horrible because he’s a big boy and can fit into 12-18 month clothing.
Anyway, I think it’s a really good thing you are doing. I’ve planned to do the same thing once things get back in order for us. We’ve had programs help us out and I’d like to give back as well. When my son was a few months old I received some clothing from a program and ended up donating all my girls smaller clothes to them along with the clothing my son no longer fit in to.
Keep up the great work!
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Danielle, Thank you so much for your kind words. It’s a hard place to be. Please go over to An Angel of Hope on FB and email Jessica, I’m sure we can do something for you and your family. I’m going to be emailing you shortly.
LOVE this idea! How creative and SELFLESS!
Lindsey G recently posted…Wordless Wednesday: One Year Ago
I love what “Angel of Hope” is doing. I just went and visited the FB page and think that’s such a wonderful initiative on her part. And the reverse giveaway idea is such an awesome one. Please let me know if I can help spread the word around when the time arrives
Marina recently posted…Apple Crumb Tea Cake {A Healthy, Fresh, Apple Cake Recipe}
Marina, I will definitely keep you in the loop!