Maybe you remember that Miss K had decided to give back for her birthday this year. Well, I say ‘this’ year but technically it was last year. But it was only this past October so… you feel me, right? And the giving back part didn’t actually happen until Christmas time.
She asked her friends that came to her party NOT to bring her a gift. Instead she asked them to bring a gift that she could give to someone else. At the time we envisioned donating a bunch of toys to Toys 4 Tots or another similar organization. But we decided to get more people involved that might want to help. I helped her make up some flyers which she and her sisters passed out around the neighborhood. Just something to let them all know what it was she was doing and how they could help. She asked for donations of toys, clothing, cash, and/or gift cards. I also made an announcement on facebook.
In total she ended up with about 35 toys, a few articles of clothing in various sizes, 2 coats, and just over $300 in cash and gift cards. We weren’t sure how far the cash and cards would go but when we realized how much she had to work with in the toys we saw that she could probably do much more that just donate toys to an organization. It was then that we decided to ask around for a family that might be in need of help.
9 kids later (from 5 different families) she was ready to play Santa Claus! For some she only needed to provide a few things just to supplement what the family could not do on their own. But for others she provided the entire thing! One family with 3 kids received 4 toys per child, 2 complete outfits each, and a pair of pajamas for each as well. This is also the family that needed the coats. Someone else was able to provide a third one for them. Another little girl in Idaho received a similar set up… minus the coat. Some of the families we did not know personally, others we did.
There was a little bit of worry when we first took on that many kids. How was that $300 going to spread that far? Miss K and I prayed to Heavenly Father to help us spread the money as far as it needed to go and VOILA! The rest is history. I truly believe that Miss K was blessed for her efforts in so many ways. This experience taught her so much and I watched her grow up and realize how blessed she is in her life. Such a great kid! I couldn’t ask for a sweeter daughter to call my own.
Going shopping with her was so much fun. I let her choose everything that we bought since it was her project. She did a great job although she was indecisive at times which she comes by honestly having me for a mother.
Decisions aren’t easy… ok?
Anyhow, she wants to do it again next year (or this year, technically) so we are gearing up. And her sisters want to be involved this time as well. They got to join us on a couple of the shopping trips and really got into it. However, they were only allowed to make suggestions to Miss K. She had the final say on all of it.
So proud of the young woman that she has become and I can’t wait to get to know her even better as she develops into a teenager (THIS YEAR!! YIKES!).
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