20:18 Dec 20 2010
Times Read: 677
A member here on VR sent a donation to the Center today. She said she'd heard from another member about our ministry and the work we do. She said that she and a family member wanted to help, even if just "a little bit."
She sent it via the PayPal link on our website, so we received the donation today. We had a senior today who needed a vital prescription paid because her health insurance gives her a limit of refills and she's just over. It's medicine for her heart.
That prescription was paid today because we had the funds to do so. When you look at it like that, through my eyes, you can see how that "little bit" is a gift of life. It is all the more special because the giver did not know the receiver. She gave in faith her "little bit."
Just from this place, VR, we have received and matched to families and individuals: Financial donations from an auction done on VR, individual members who have sent financial donations, boxes and boxes of HUGS (hats, underwear, gloves, and socks), graphic design donations for our fliers and fundraisers, items donated for raffles and silent auctions, web design, and gift cards.
THOUSANDS of dollars worth of love and giving from this one site. Parents here have gotten their children involved in the shopping and shipping, and even in the making of beautifully hand-made hats. Every "little bit" went toward changing lives.
There is a group of women here locally who meet weekly and make quilts. Some are large and some are small. Some are brightly colored and patched, while others are soft and subdued. The women who make them would never think themselves the givers of anything grand, but I have given those quilts to homeless women in tents who have wept at the sight of them. They have gone to seniors and unwed mothers, to almost anyone who looks like they need warmth of a bit of love.
In giving their "little bit," it may just have become a treasured posession when someone has very little. It is certainly an affirmation that can be touched. It says, "I care. I may not know you, but I care that you walk in the same world as me. I wish for you to be warm and safe."
I love that you give financially. I love that you give warm clothes you have made or personally selected. I love that you give from your talents, your artistic flair, and your business expertise. You give generously and creatively and I am honored to know you.
Most of us are not rich. Giving is a sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice of joy. It is giving because you want to, not because you have to. The giver is blessed and the receiver is blessed. How can anything ever possibly be better than that?
I love all of you. Thank you, VR members. You have given abundantly and made a difference in the lives of others. You have certainly made a difference in mine.
" The generous will themselves be blessed,
for they share their food with the poor. " -Proverbs 22:9
COMMENTS
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xxEmaeraldxx
22:08 Dec 20 2010
I believe there is love and warmth in the heart of all men and thatChristmas is a time when we can express and extend that kindness to all :)