Helping Close to Home
We all need a helping hand sometimes. We may not ask for it, but I know we see it all around us any given day of the week. Helping close to home is a wonderful opportunity to give back, learn a lesson in humility and thankfulness, and most importantly, showing our children an important lesson.
This year I was invited to participate in a project called #GivingBackPacks along with several other bloggers across the country. The project sponsors, Fiji Water, Wonderful Almonds and Wonderful Pistachios, were donating products, a new back pack, and a $25 gift card to fill it with school supplies.
This project would turn out to be a blessing in disguise, along with those lessons for my family and myself, when we met a new family moving into the building. A single mom with 3 kids who was struggling. Not just with moving in, but getting her school age child registered for a new school, getting utilities turned on, and setting up a new home for her family.
It struck me that while she was doing the best she could, she needed help and I had the perfect way to offer her my help without embarrassing her or making a big deal out of it. Here’s what we did.
First, I talked with my family about what I thought we should do, and the best way to get it done. We agreed to do it anonymously, and make the most of the gift card we had been sent.
Next, we researched who was having the best prices on basic school supplies and went shopping. Even the kids got into it, comparing prices and deals, learning about brand names versus generic, buying in bulk versus single items, etc.
Finally, we took our purchases home and spread them out, so we could see just how much we were going to be helping another family with what we had been given.
I won’t lie…I was pretty amazed at what I consider a small amount would probably be a blessing to the new family next door. At least, I hoped that to be the case.
The whole family helped stuff/organize the back pack with the different supplies, snacks and water bottles. I loved all the pockets and divided areas to store different items in to keep them organized and neat.
Our last step? Leaving it on their front step. We didn’t knock, we didn’t leave a note, and we don’t ever plan on telling them it was from us. I can tell you, as a parent who sees and hears far more than my kids, that the mom was beyond grateful and blown away. Her daughter has been going on and on about her “special back pack”. I hope her mom took credit for it. It doesn’t matter to that little girl, except that she got her school supplies and more.
But hopefully mom finds some peace and a little breathing room with this simple act of helping close to home.
I’d love to give a great big THANK YOU to the sponsors for this project.
- Wonderful Pistachios – These now come in convenient packages, perfect for the lunch box! They come in several flavors like Roasted & Salted, Sweet Chili and Salt & Pepper. My kids always enjoy getting “hands-on” with their snack and shelling them on their own.
- Wonderful Almonds – Now available in a great snack pack size in Roasted & Salted plus Natural Raw flavors. These are easy to eat and a great healthy snack for busy parents and kids alike.
- Fiji Water – I have always enjoyed this brand of bottled water and how it not only tastes good, but always fit nice into the kids lunch bags or on the side of their back packs. Plus we keep a few in the car for T-ball games and going to the pool!
Whether you can stuff a back pack, fix a family a meal, or donate any amount of money, I hope our story inspires you to start helping close to home as well.
Disclaimer: This was made possible by generous sponsors, Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful Almonds and Fiji Water. I was supplied with the backpack, snacks, water and a $25 gift card to spend as I saw fit.
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