Family Stories

Ms Grumpy

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So we have collected enough donations that we will be contacting VOA next week to start working on our first family of the year.

Everyone has been so wonderful in helping to get things started. I can not say it enough, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You ! This is an incredible group and I am so glad to be a part of it.

As soon as I have any information I will be posting it in this thread.

Nancy
 
Yuppers !, we have enough to take on roughly 3-4 families. I will get more info on Moday for everyone. Please keep the donations coming as we would like to help many more.

Thank you and happy holidays.
Grumpy
 
If at all possible, we are going to try to get to at least one Senior before Thanksgiving. My heart wants to help as many people as we can. And we will !!!
 
I am sorry that I have not written in this thread sooner, I have just been working on getting families from VOA. Unfortunately we were not able to get any seniors prior to Thanksgiving, but I am currently working with 3 families.

When we get the information on the families, it includes the kids clothing sizes, what they need and what toys they would really like. There is also a small note from the parent explaining their situation and why they are asking for help. I am going to start each post about a family with this note. Here are the family stories.
 
VALENCIA's FAMILY

Struggling single mom. Trying my best to provide for my kids with another baby on the way next month. I want my kids to have a good Christmas this year. I want to see a smile on there faces. I have been out of work for 4 years and it's hard for me to find work. Also I got hit by a car back in 2011 and that has been hard on me.


I called and talked to Valencia to find out about her family and she told me that this coming Monday, December 9th she will be going in to have her baby delivered by C-section. Her story actually began when she was hit by a car and had a major injury to her back. She has not been able to work, because she cannot stand for long periods of time. She had been in a long term relationship when it went bad. After leaving a bad situation she found out she was pregnant. I am working with her to get gift to her before she goes into the hospital on Monday.

Valencia has a 10yr old son, a 7yr old daughter and a 5yr old daughter.
 
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LISA's FAMILY

I just want my kids to have a nice Christmas.


I called and talked to Lisa. Sweet lady. A while back she had moved in with her mom, to help her out with the bills. Lisa was working a full time job and mom helped out with the child care, it was a win, win situation for both of them. But her company made cut backs, and her hours were cut to part-time. She still is working as much as possible, while looking for a full time job.

Lisa has 13 1/2 yr old daughter, 12 yr old son, and a 2 yr old daughter.

I will be meeting with Lisa at a store this afternoon to go shopping. After talking with her about what her kids needed I offered to meet her at a store so that she could pick out the gifts for her kids. I have a budget that I will follow and prior to meeting with her I will purchase gift cards to make the purchases. I did this last year with one of the families and it worked out very well. They chose things that they knew their kids would like and the excitement that the parent had, knowing that their kids were going to get what they wanted, was wonderful. I will let you know how things go with Lisa today.
 
It's easy to sit here and click the mouse, Your thinking about helping others and getting out there to find them and tell their stories is awesome! A true example of Christmas spirit and very inspiring.
Thank you.
 
Thanks for all you're doing. Donating is the easy part; you and Mr. Grumpy pull the weight. The moms and their families are going to appreciate it beyond words.
 
Thank you for all your kind words guys. But none of this would be possible if it were not for you. I get so much out of doing this and I wish that I could share the emotional part of doing this. It makes every moment worth it.
 
Valdez's Family:

It would be a true blessing for our family to be adopted this Christmas. Just like many families are struggling this holiday we are as well. I am a single mom (dad is incarcerated and has not been a part of children lives) and that works full time for a non profit that assists finding resources for special needs students such as eye glasses, dental screening, uniforms, etc. This year the non profit has to reduce the hours of staff and I was one of them. Each year I usually adopt a family for Christmas, but this year has been a total struggle. My children are very appreciative and have told me don't worry about Christmas this year, we can celebrate next year. I was financially unable to provide presents for the kids birthdays this years. It would be nice to be able to give them something for Christmas. Nothing big just something, anything would help. And please know that I will give back....10 fold.


After talking to Valdez I set up an appointment to take her shopping. She wanted necessities. We bought all the the kids sheets and comforters, pajamas, socks, t-shirts and underwear. We had spent most of our budget on this stuff but I told her that we needed to head to the toy department. We bought all 3 of the kids toys, then got her wrapping paper and tape. Last but not least, I took her over to get her stocking stuffers.

This woman was, by far, the most genuine, sweetest and humble person that I have met doing this. Everytime we picked something up and she looked at the price she would turn to me and ask, "is this too much?" When I paid for everything I received a $10 gift card from the store, which I just handed to Valdez. She didn't want to take it, but I made her take it.

We got outside and loaded up the back of her vehicle. She just kept saying "I can't believe this, I am so blessed, thank you". We hugged and she asked me if she could keep in contact with me. I said of course. And she finally asked me if her children could call me on Christmas after they were done opening their presents. I told her I would love that.

I don't know if you will be able to see what is exactly in these pictures, but I tried to take pictures of the 2 shopping carts full of presents for her kids.

This is what your involvement with Adopting Families has done for this well deserving family. Thank you !!!


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I currently have the paperwork for 2 more families, which I got today. I will be making the call to them in the next few days. And I will let you know about them.

I hope that this thread is the kind of stuff that you would like to know about each family. If it is too much info, let me know. I was just trying to convey to you each families situation and how they react to your generosity.
 
In past years, I have been blessed to be able to help deliver Christmas to some families. It's a real reality check, and changes your attitude about your own life, and how fortunate we are.

Thanks, Nancy, for letting me tag along. You and Dave do all the heavy lifting.
 
Reading this thread makes me think I can dig a little deeper this year. Keep op the good work!
 
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