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Last week we decided we needed a project. Okay, ‘I’ decided that we needed a project. So I suggested to the girls that we head out to the dollar store to buy some things that folks living out on the street might need. Socks, gloves, etc. Of course Kate, in the spirit already, asked if she could get something for herself. Sigh…I agreed, but if she was going to spend a dollar on herself she needed to put a dollar into the pot to buy things for the needy. I told the other girls that they could have the same deal.
That is why I was shocked when they came down with their pockets full of their own money. Yes they were going to pick one thing out for themselves, but all together they put $41 into the pot to buy things for the homeless bags. I love seeing evidence that we are filling up our kids with the right things!
We had a great time at the dollar store. We decided to put together 10 bags. In them we put fuzzy socks, furry gloves, a toothbrush, hand sanitizer wipes, chapstick, two granola bars, three chocolates, a comb and a rain poncho. After all the bags were packed the girls then made Merry Christmas cards to go to each recipient.
The next morning we were meeting up with Joelle and her family to see our cousins visiting Santa. Since we were in downtown Seattle we figured that was the perfect opportunity to hand out the bags. Now, where to find the prospective recipients? Not two blocks from where we parked our car we hit the jackpot. There was person after person huddled under blankets to keep warm while they were sitting on the sidewalk. As we approached I realized they looked somewhat well dressed, just cold. I asked what they were all doing and quickly found out this was not our target audience. I’m thinking that folks that are waiting for $180 sneakers (they were awaiting the release of the new Air Jordans at the Nike Store a block away) might not need our little holiday bags.
And therein lies the problem. We didn’t want to offend anybody by assuming they needed our assistance, but we did want to help those who needed it. It was harder (and scarier if you ask Ellie) than we thought it would be, but it led to some interesting discussions with the girls and we hope it lifted the spirits of the people we gave them to. There were lots of grateful looks and thank you’s and smiles and they weren’t all coming from me!
I’m hoping this will become an annual tradition!