Helping Hands discussion
Examples of Good Will
>
Uplifting Articles
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.
I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.
Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.
For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.
I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.
I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.
"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, >From Santa Claus" on it.
Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.
Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were -- ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.
May you always have LOVE to share,
HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...
Mod
The trend apparently began when one woman paid around $500 toward three layaway accounts at a Kmart in Michigan; the woman specifically looked for accounts with toys placed on layaway in order to help out families with little ones at home.
Copycat Secret Santas followed the woman’s lead, and now, as the Associated Press reported, the movement has taken on a life of its own, with hundreds of layaway accounts paid off by random strangers around the country. Most of the accounts are at Kmarts, though do-gooders are spreading the wealth by paying off strangers’ Walmart layway items as well.
Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2011/12/19/...
Kmart Layaway Shoppers Touched by Cash-Carrying Angel
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/...
OMAHA, NEBRASKA
Anonymous Donors Pay Off Kmart Layaway Accounts
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/16/...
RENO, NEVADA
Christmas spirit: Anonymous donors pay off Reno woman's layaway account
http://www.rgj.com/article/20111219/N...
LAYTON, UTAH
Anonymous layaway Santa paying off balances
http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/...
These are just a few of the many articles being written about many incidences. What do you think? Pretty awesome!
Heather wrote: "Who is Santa ClauseI remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.
I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "..."
I loved your story about Grandma and Santa Claus. She sounds like an amazing woman!
Yes, I need to concur with Connie. Love your grandma stories. Sometimes kids need to still know the magic of Christmas is alive and well. I remember my writing a letter to "Santa Claws", how literal was that.
Mod
But I found a scrapbook that my mom had kept of my childhood. She had a picture of me with Santa Clause and wrote under it "this is the year Heather found out the truth about Santa, but instead of being disappointed, she was actually excited to 'be Santa' for her little brother and sister'.
I thought that was a nice comment, it showed that even at my young age, I was already experiencing the excitement of giving gifts to others. In my opinion, that excitement of giving is realized early on in life. Hopefully it continues on into the later years.
I remember my daughter was quite younger than now, and she was disappointed that their was no Easter Bunny, and I think when we went to the various malls, then she realized there is no ONE Santa. We didn't have to say anything for Santa. But she was disappointed that there is no Easter Bunny. I have had the ruse going for some time and would make her specialty baskets of goodies. Oh well.
By Kathleen Toner
CNN
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (CNN) -- For years, Jennifer Cervantes struggled to make ends meet.
She worked 30 hours a week at Wal-Mart, but her paycheck -- along with child support and disability payments -- never seemed to cover living expenses for her and her five kids. Despite her best efforts, she kept falling further behind.
"Paying the rent, electric and gas -- it takes everything I have," she said. "I don't like digging up change ... so I can buy the kids' food. I needed help somehow, somewhere."
Desperate, Cervantes decided to write a letter to Sal Dimiceli, whose newspaper column might be considered a "Dear Abby" for the down and out.
Within a few weeks, Dimiceli showed up on her doorstep. They talked for a while, and then he offered to pay one month's rent as well as her outstanding gas and electric bills. He also went to the local grocery store and stocked the family's empty refrigerator.
"I was shocked," Cervantes said. "I feel relieved. The kids are getting tired of macaroni cheese and Ramen soup every night."
It was just another day's work for Dimiceli, a 60-year-old real estate broker whose weekly column in the Lake Geneva Regional News focuses on people in dire straits. Through his column and his nonprofit, The Time Is Now To Help, Dimiceli has provided about 500 people a year with food, rent, utilities and other necessities.
"I'm just addicted to helping," he said. "I don't have time to go to the show or golf. ... My fondness in life is helping my fellow Americans."
Dimiceli gets about 20 to 30 letters a week from people in the Lake Geneva area, and he investigates nearly all of them himself. He'll often visit people's homes to verify their circumstances. If someone appears to have a drug or alcohol problem, he refers them to other programs. And to make sure people are being honest about their situation, he'll open their cupboards to see how much food is in the house.
"I do not want to give a hard-earned dollar to someone who is taking advantage," he said. "But once I verify that their need is genuine, my heart opens right up."
At that point, Dimiceli springs into action with his unique safety net. He'll start by meeting immediate needs, perhaps providing a hot meal or moving someone without heat into a warm motel room. Within a day or two, he'll take care of other basics, like paying overdue rent or turning on utilities. His rapid response is a point of personal pride.
"There's not any bureaucratic red tape, " he said. "I want to help people now."
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2011 CNN Heroes
But Dimiceli doesn't stop there. He also goes over each recipient's budget and finds ways to stabilize their long-term situation -- maybe negotiating lower rent with their landlords, repairing their car or tapping his network of supporters to help find them a job.
"It's not just a Band-Aid to feed them for that day," Dimiceli said. "We get them back on a track (so) that ... their pride is given back to them. They can catch up."
It's a level of personalized assistance that's almost hard to believe, but there are countless stories of Dimiceli's good works throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. The vast majority of people he helps are never even mentioned in his column.
For nearly a year, Val and Al Hyner had been unemployed, using their savings to pay for a small motel room. With almost no money left, Val pawned her jewelry, including her wedding ring.
Returned wedding ring restores hope
RELATED TOPICS
Poverty
Philanthropy
Wisconsin
Dimiceli showed up and helped the couple with gas cards and rent. And when he heard about Val's sacrifice, he dipped into his own pocket and made arrangements to get the ring back.
"Those that are in dire need, they'll sell all their personal belongings to survive," he said. "I want to give them their self-esteem back. ... They need to hang onto parts of their life, and sentimental things are very important."
Such stories have become commonplace during the hard economic times of the past few years, and Dimiceli has been flooded with requests for help, even as his real estate business has taken a huge hit. He still gives away at least 20% of his income -- he estimates that he has given away a few million dollars of his own money over the years -- but in the last decade he has begun to rely more on donations to his nonprofit, which he started in 1989. He has also built a strong network of supporters to help him, along with his wife and four children.
"The movement has grown," he said. "As fellow Americans, we're all together, helping each other. That's what it's all about."
Dimiceli is passionate about helping others because he knows what it's like to be poor. Born on the West Side of Chicago to a beautician and a tool-and-die maker, he said his family struggled because of his father's gambling habit.
"We moved like gypsies, being evicted a lot," he said. "I know how it feels to watch your mother cry when the electricity is turned off and you have no food. ... It was hard."
When Dimiceli was 12, he got a job as a dishwasher so he could help out at home. Grateful, he promised God that if he ever became successful, he'd always help others in need. He has spent nearly all of his adult life making good on that vow.
After he first found success as a rock concert promoter in the 1970s, Dimiceli began to give money to various charities. But when he realized that much of their money was spent on overhead, he decided he could do a better job himself and started helping people on his own around the Chicago area. He eventually started his nonprofit, vowing that every penny would go to help others.
Dimiceli's philanthropy has gone through various phases. In the 1990s, he took an entire community in Illinois under his wing. But for the last decade or so, he has concentrated most of his work in the Wisconsin area where he now lives.
Eight years ago, he was approached by a neighbor who knew about his work and asked him to write a column in the local paper. He agreed do it anonymously, adopting a pen name, W.C., to stand for With Christ. In recent years, he was persuaded to reveal his identity so that people would be encouraged to donate to his foundation. His column has become so popular that it now appears in a number of area papers.
Dimiceli says that when he sees a pile of new letters, he gets anxious thinking about all of the people who need his help. He'll often work late into the night doing "marathons of helping" that leave him physically and emotionally exhausted. But every morning, he can't wait to start again.
"When people are in need, they often feel alone," he said. "I want them to know someone cares about them. I want to (say): 'Come on, I have a little extra strength I want to share with you. Let's get you back on your feet.' "
Want to get involved? Check out The Time Is Now To Help website at http://www.timeisnowtohelp.org/