I'm just a normal "Joe" (or "Joanne" as the case may be). I'm not a professional fundraiser, I don't belong on any committee for urban renewal, I don't even give blood regularly. I have a really busy job with a software start-up. I'm a mom of two. I've over-committed myself to do the yearbook for school and I'm the proverbial taxi cab to all practices which span four nights a week and occasionally I'd like to get my workouts in. Sound familiar?
I do not have time to be "nice". I laugh even as I write this.
About six weeks ago I had coffee with my friend Mike, and he was telling me about this neighborhood they had done a Thanksgiving dinner for last year and they wanted to do something bigger this year. It was intriguing to me because I actually did want to make a difference and was interested in having our family serve others. I wanted my kids to gain some perspective and plant seeds early for getting outside of our bubble. So I said - "let me know about it, we'd like to help." Well, the goal was to serve 300 people a full Thanksgiving dinner. So somehow, "I'd like to help" quickly turned into me garnering support from 100 of my closest friends, neighbors (as well as Mike's) to pull it all together.
It was an amazing, life-changing experience. "If you build it, they will come." Such a classic line...but holds so much truth in many different circumstances. Whether it's a baseball park, a business opportunity, or a service project. People want to play, buy or serve. And that's what I found out when I sent out an invitation through "Evite" to invite people to help prepare food and/or serve during the dinner. The outpouring was fantastic. So many people said to me, "we've always wanted to do something", or "I really want my kids to be able to serve" or "what an amazing idea, thank you for doing this." That last comment felt, and still feels, very awkward to me. Here I was asking other people to donate - food, money or time, and they were thanking me. But we'll come back to that. Even complete strangers heard and pitched in. We ended up feeding over 300 people and had food for an additional 100 for the tiny church that serves that community.
In addition, during that event, families were given an opportunity to sign up for Christmas presents. So we planned a Christmas store where we would supply 250 presents for kids ages 1-18 and as many gift cards as we had donations to support for the families.
Again..out went the Evite...and in came a a little stream of toys, clothing, gift cards and donations toward our commitment to this community. I'm no professional at this stuff - but I do have a thing for spreadsheets. I had asked people to let me know the ages and gender of what they were buying so that I would know each day where we were at on our progress. So with 3 days to go I knew we were still 100 gifts short. And then the miracle of the season happened...that little stream became a waterfall - and my doorbell really didn't stop ringing during the last two days with people dropping off their donations - both expected and unexpected. It hit me that when your heart is in the right place...when you learn to let go and let God...then amazing things will happen. We had more than enough for that little community - our "goal" was far surpassed and we were able to take families that hadn't even signed up.
I've had several people say "how do you find the time?" I found myself describing it like this - it's like when you are thinking about having another child and you think to yourself that you can't possibly love that child as much as you love the one(s) you already have. Yet, when that child is born, the space is just made in your heart. It's like that with service. I couldn't imagine adding another thing to my plate, but when I stepped out into it (that little leap of faith), it's amazing how space is made, that little extra energy you need comes, that other person who makes the difference shows up. In a myriad ways, it just takes care of itself, and you can't imagine having not been a part of it.
"'Tis the season" ... it IS the Season. But I think we've started something that is about to say "It's ALWAYS the season". I'm so grateful for all of the people who gave of their time, effort and money in this incredibly difficult economic time to give hope and joy to someone else. Who knows what the "pay it forward" impact of that will be? I can tell you this...it will be far more than a child opening a gift on Christmas morning. But if you can imagine in that very moment the look on that child's face...if it looks anything like the smiles on these face below, well, that does seem enough.
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