26 Acts in 26 Days in honor of 26 People

In 26 days, it will be December 14th.

December 14th marks the 2 year anniversary of the Newtown shootings where 26 people (20 precious children & 6 adults) lost their lives at Sandy Hook.

Just like I have done in the past 2 years,  I will be doing 26 Acts of Kindness in the next 26 days in honor of the 26 lives that were lost.

 My heart still aches for the community of Sandy Hook & Newtown. 

They are still in my prayers & I haven't stopped thinking about them.

As you may remember, my friend Laura lives in Newtown & her 2 youngest children go to school at Sandy Hook. They physically survived the shootings, but the emotional wounds will never go away.

Laura did a guest post on my blog last year for the 1 year anniversary of Sandy Hook. It was beautiful, you can read it {HERE}

You may remember that after the shootings occurred in 2012, I also did 26 Acts of Kindness.

For ideas, you can read what I did HERE and HERE. 

Last year for the 1 year anniversary, I did 26 Acts of Kindness as well.

You can what I did in 2013 HERE

 Here are some more Random Acts of Kindness you can do:

• Pay for the order of the person behind you in the drive-thru line.
• Send friends and relatives notes or letters of encouragement on the back of your kids’ artwork.
•  Leave love notes for your spouse or kids in their lunch.
• Bring water, coffee, or hot chocolate to outdoor workers (like the crossing guard at your kids school or bus driver)
•  Buy a soda or candy bar for the cashier when you’re checking out.
• Give a restaurant or coffee gift card to someone (bank cashier, postal worker, homeless person, or random stranger)
•  Send a silly card to brighten someone’s day.
•  Call or email someone you haven’t talked to in awhile, just to ask how they are.
•  Send your spouse a text just to tell him something that you appreciate about him.
• Hide a kind note in a library book.
•  Bake cookies for someone. (Postal carrier, neighbor, elderly friend, Sunday school teacher, Teacher, Teacher Aide, School Secretary, etc)
• Leave coins on a parking meter or the machines at a laundry mat.
• Pay the toll for the car behind you.
• Give a huge tip on your next restaurant bill.
• Offer to return someone’s shopping cart to the store.
• Let someone go ahead of you in the checkout line.
•  Pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant.
• Donate food to a food bank
• Bring your child's teacher a coffee or treat
• Send your child's teacher an email just to say thank you
•  Make a meal to share with a sick or busy neighbor.
• Offer to keep a friend’s kids so she and her husband can have some time alone.
• Make cards for nursing home residents…and deliver them with your kids.
• Pick up trash at the park.
•  Thank a soldier & write them a note/card.
• Make care bags for the homeless (Tolietries, bottled water, food store gift cards, non-perishable/ready-to-eat foods.)
•  Buy car wash coupons and give them away.
• Leave extra coupons on the store shelf next to the item they’re good for.
• Tape envelopes with quarters to vending machines.
• Take homemade cookies or cupcakes to the police or fire station.
• Pack a date-night box  (red box movie, popcorn, soft drinks, movie candy) and leave it on someone’s doorstep. Ring the bell and run!
• Bring a friend or neighbors Donuts one morning
•  Take magazines, crosswords or Sudoku puzzles to a waiting room at the hospital
•  Take flowers to a nurses’ station – for the nurses.
•  Purchase a store gift card or a gas card and send it to a friend in need.

There are SO many simple things you can do. 

You don't need to spend money doing this, many things you can do for free or for minimal cost.

I am so excited to do this again. 

Kate is almost 8 and Claire is 6. They will be joining me in doing the acts of kindness. They are at an age where it is imperative teach them and model to them the importance of doing nice things for others. 

(I will not be telling them why we are doing the 26 Acts of Kindness....I don't think they need to know about the school shootings that happened 2 years ago. When they are older I will tell them, but not at ages 7 and 6. I will tell them we are doing Random Acts of Kindness to be nice)

You can even download this #26Acts printable to keep track.

 Download it {HERE}

As I do each act of kindness, I will say a prayer for each one of the victims families.

Here are the names of the 20 precious children:

Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Benjamin & Allison.

And 6 staff members:

Rachel Davino, Dawn Hochsprung, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Anne Marie Murphy & Victoria Soto.

You are not forgotten.

 

The 2 year anniversary & the holiday season are incredibly hard for the victims families.

I am going to try & complete my Acts of Kindness by December 14th

 (but if I don't finish by then, that's okay, I will try & get them done by Christmas)  

26 Acts of Kindness in 26 Days.

Honoring the 26 Victims.

I hope you will join me!

If you have any Random Acts of Kindness ideas, please put them in the comments.
 Let's spread kindness this holiday season!

26 Acts of Kindness {2013}

A few weeks ago, I posted {here} that like last year, I was going to do 26 Acts of Random Kindness in honor of the 26 victims in the Sandy Hook shootings. My goal was to have them done by 12.14 (the 1 year anniversary of the shootings). I did my last 2 acts of kindness today, so I was about a week late getting them all done....But, hey! I got them all done, so that's what matters, right?

Here is a list of the 26 Acts of Kindness I did for 2013:

1.  Gave the girls money to donate to the Salvation Army:

2. Donated to my older sister's half marthon. She was running to raise $ for World Vision, they are building a well in Africa. 

3. At the grocery store, donated money to St. Jude....every dollar counts, right?  

 

4. Taped a dollar on the Red Box machine so that someone could get their rental paid for.

5.  Brought in Toys for the Toy drive at my school

6. Adopted a Family with our Small Group at church.

7. I was at Target with the girls getting them slushies (as a bribe) and there was a man sitting in the in the eating area. He asked if I had any spare money so he could get a meal. I told him I would buy him his meal, so I bought him a pizza & some bread sticks at the Pizza Hut inside our Target.

 8.  Donated items for the school auction at the girl's school.

9. A teacher at my school was having a really rough week, so one day I got her a Starbucks gift card to cheer her up.

10. My friend Becky was collecting items for her church's Auction, so I donated a Target gift card to the Auction.

11. Donated clothes & shoes to Goodwill.

12. My friend Tara was collecting presents for a single mom & her 2 kids because the mom couldn't afford presents for her kids, so I bought a couple of toys for each of the kids.

13. I got 10 free Baskin Robbins coupons from our school PTA, so I gave 3 of them my friend's husband so he could take his kids to ice cream when his wife was out of town for the weekend.

14. I gave 4 of Baskin Robbins coupons to the cashier at Baskin Robbins and told him to give the coupons to the next 4 people to come into the store so they could have a free ice cream cones.

15. When we were in the city last week, there was a musician playing Christmas music with his guitar in the BART station, so I put some money in his guitar case. 

16. When we went to the city, the woman who worked at BART was so very helpful to me & the kids, so the next day I called BART customer service and let them know that she was really helpful to me & my 3 kids.

17. Went through the McDonald's drive through for a Diet Coke and then paid for car behind me.

 18. I was on my way to pick up Kate from school and I noticed our neighbor's dog roaming the court, so I brought the dog back to it's backyard.

19. Gave a homeless man a $5 McDonald's gift card so he could get a warm meal.

20.  Kevin and I organized Christmas Caroling....we wanted to go caroling around our neighborhood and at each house collect canned food items so we could donate them to our local Food Bank. We finally organized it and last Monday had over 50 adults/kids at our house for pizza, cookies, hot coco and Christmas Caroling.

 We called the event "Caroling for Cans"

It was crazy with all those kids, but so fun.

21.  Had my students make Christmas cards for teachers on Friday, it was so neat to read such heartfelt cards & then I delivered them to the teachers at my school.

22. Adopted a "kid" at my school whose family is struggling & I donated a Target gift card so that he could have a Christmas present.

23. Added money to a vending machine so that someone would get an unexpected free soda.

24.  Returned some shopping carts in the grocery store parking lot that were blocking parking spaces.

25. Luke got his 2nd haircut today (tear!) and we had to wait 45 minutes. The haircut place was SWAMPED. We had to wait 45 mintues. The girl who cut his hair said they had been going non-stop since they opened this morning since everyone wanted to get their kids haircuts in time for Christmas. So, I gave her an extra big tip :)

26. Bought 4 lotto tickets & taped them to the gas pump when I filled up with gas today.

So, there you have it...my 2013 Acts of Kindness in honor of the 26 Sandy Hook victims.

Even though this time of year is crazy busy, I am so glad I was able to do little things this Christmas season to honor them. 

This is a tradition I will continue to do each December...I will never ever forgot those 26 people or the community of Newtown.

 I encourage you to join in next December...or even now. 

It's never too late to start doing random Acts of Kindness & spreading Christmas cheer.

Little things can be big things.

Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

Newtown : 1 Year Later {A Guest Post from a Sandy Hook Mom}

 Many of you who have been reading my blog since last December know that my friend Laura lives in Newtown, Connecticut. 

 I have never met Laura in real life. We have mutual friends, and started reading one anothers blogs in 2009. In fact, when I opened my Etsy shop in Fall of 2009, Laura was one of my first Etsy customers and I designed her family Christmas card that year (and have also made a couple more of her beautiful family since she first ordered from me in 2009).

Her 2 youngest children attend Sandy Hook Elementary School and her youngest son Luke was a 1st grader last year. As you know, the shootings happened in the 1st grade classrooms....but not his. 
His class was next door. His class was hiding in their cubby  as the shootings happened. 
He was safe, but 5 of his friends were killed and his Prinicpal. 

He wasn't physically scarred that day, but the emotional scars for him, the surviving parents & the community of Newtown run deep. 
Life will never be the same.

Last year, after the shootings, I decided to to 26 Acts of Kindness in honor of the 26 lives that were lost. I knew for 1 of my Acts of Kindness, I wanted to send dinner to Laura & her family, but since I am in California and they are in Connecticut, I thought I would order them pizza from their favorite pizza place. She told me not to worry about it, but I wouldn't take no for an answer. 

I felt so helpless last December and wanted to help. 

Read this post HERE to and the awesomeness of the 26th Act of Kindness & then come back to this post.

Laura & I email back & forth often. 

As the 1 year anniversary of 12.14 approached, I emailed her to see what the people of Newtown needed. How could I help? Did they need more gift cards? ;)

Laura wrote back and said that their community needs prayer. 

Just keep on praying for Newtown & the families of Sandy Hook.

Laura also asked if she could do a guest post on my blog to share about their experience. 

I know many of you who read my blog donated to "gift card madness" so I know you will love reading her post. 

Laura has a true gift with words.

Please welcome my friend, Laura:

***************************************

 We sat. 

Luke and Annie with their peanut butter panda puffs cereal, me with my third cup of coffee, and we shared our ideas of how we want to spend the date on the calendar that we can not avoid; the one that is quickly approaching. 

December 14. 

My son's therapist suggested a beautiful way for him to honor his friends that have gone home to Jesus. We all feel good about this. We will write notes or draw pictures to our loved ones, tie them to a balloon, then send them up to heaven. It's a good idea I think, and my children have responded well to this. Luke, with more cereal on the table now than in his bowl, offers a suggestion; something he wants to do.  

"I want to send a balloon up for everyone who died." 

Then I, failing to remember his age; forgetting the little brain of his that has no way of truly recalling the horror of that day; my own ignorance to his innocence, reply, 

"Sure. We can do that. We can get 26 balloons."

His spoon stops moving.

His eyes grow wide.

He has concern all over his face.

And in his seven year old voice, he asks in disbelief, "Twenty six people died????"

It's been nearly a year. 

A year unlike any other. 

He was right there.

 He heard it. He lived it. 

He mourns his loss of friends and teachers and school. 

And yet, he had no idea. 26 people did die.

For our family, watching the news is not an option. We simply don't do it. It is not helpful. It is rarely accurate. And it changes nothing. Nothing released or reported will ever give us back what we lost. No news reporter, no hoaxer, no conspiracy theorist, no NRA representative, no anybody will ever do or say anything that will change the evil events of that day. Details and images will never heal those directly affected. Twenty six people died. Twenty six families hearts were dug out of their bodies. Twenty six balloons will go up to heaven. December 14 happened. We live with that, and we live on.

But it is a dark, true and ugly story. 

Horror at its best. 

Death and violence, the young and innocent the target. 

What happened here was the work of the devil. 

What followed with the conspiracy theorists was the work of the devil. 

All the fear, sorrow, doubt, chaos, and confusion was, you guessed it, also the work of the devil. That's the bad news.

But the good news?

The devil is not the main character in this story. God is.

And this, my friends, is where you come in.

Still in shock. Filled with fear. Crying out to God. You heard our cry. 

But you did more than listen. 

You cried with us. 

And then, you responded. 

You responded in the only way a human being, born in the image of Christ our Lord, could possibly respond. 

With love.

Within days after the shootings, the boxes began to arrive. 

Mel, who I had never met in real life, just through our blogs, organized a world wide mission of compassion. 

The simple goodness of her heart & her friends hearts to reach out to our community in an enormous way. She got the word out, opened hearts, and we were flooded with an overwhelming amount of generosity. 

As we sat together, reading cards, and counting gift cards, and hugging teddy bears, my children would look at me and ask, "Mom, who sent this to us?" And shaking my head with my hand on my heart and tears wet on my cheeks, I would tell them, "I don't know. People who know what happened and who want to help us." And innocently, they would press me for more information..."But why mom???" And I would look them in their eyes and say, "Because everyone loves you."

It's always been about love.

We can not breathe or smile or walk or sing or sacrifice or eat or engage or contribute or be intimate or cry or help or support or laugh or encourage or teach with out it.

LOVE.

We need it to survive.

And in our moment of feeling like barely surviving, you poured out your hearts upon us.

You. Total strangers to me. Total strangers to my community. You reached out.

You dug deep into your own sorrow, and gave and gave and gave because you knew that the only way to heal your pain was to try to ease the pain of another.

You knew that the only response to evil was goodness.

You knew that the only way for us to see our way out of the dark, was to be the lamp at our feet.

You knew that if we felt too week to shine, you could be our light.

At a time where hatred and anger could so easily be born, you chose what our hearts are made for:

love.

The ice cream, the jewelry, the cards, the blankets, the bears, the sneakers, the footballs, the artwork, the toys...they provided a great distraction for my little ones, and forced us to to not let go entirely of the Christmas feeling. 

But as I sit here, a year later, the true works of goodness that you bestowed upon us truly have yet to be fully recognized. My brain still has yet to wrap itself completely around this picture. 

What a blur it has all been, and looking back, I can only guess that it was nothing short of grace that carried us through. 

Please know that many of the gift cards were handed out directly to our friends; to the siblings who lost a dear brother or sister. 

We did our best to spread the love you so generously bathed us in. 

My children took delight in dressing the bears up in green and white bows and handed them out to children they passed by. 

Cold Stone Creamery's business here in Connecticut no doubt soared above their goal, thanks to all of you! 

The Starbucks cards fueled us all and kept us warm in the cold winter.  

I found comfort in dropping gift cards in mailboxes, hanging bags off of doorknobs, and passing the love on. 

There is great healing in that.  

And I am blessed to wear the most beautiful handmade necklace, reminding me to always SHINE. You, total strangers, proved that we are not total strangers at all. We are all brothers and sisters. 

Many people, one body of Christ.

As we get closer to the anniversary of December 14, I wanted, on behalf of myself and my family, to say thank you. 

Thank you for your generosity. 

Thank you for your kindness. 

Thank you for the selfless giving and beautiful example of what this world needs more of: Love and compassion. 

I ask that you continue this mission you so willingly accepted; to spread the word... that God is good, and people are good, and that love conquers all.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Rom 8:28

***************************************

 Thank you, Laura for sharing your heart.

In 10 days it will be the 1 year anniversary.

In 21 days it will be Christmas.

Know that we are praying for you, your family, your school, your town and your friends who lost their precious children. 

May you feel God's presence during this difficult season.

Keep Loving Others and Keep SHINING.

26 Acts of Kindness in 26 Days

In 26 days, it will be December 14th.

December 14th marks the 1 year anniversary of the Newtown shootings where 26 people (20 precious children & 6 adults) lost their lives.

In honor of the 1 year anniversary, I will be doing 26 Acts of Kindness in the next 26 days in honor of the 26 lives that were lost.

 My heart still aches for the community of Sandy Hook & Newtown. 

They are still in my prayers & I haven't stopped thinking about them.

As you may remember, my friend Laura lives in Newtown & her 2 youngest children go to school at Sandy Hook. They physically survived the shootings, but the emotional wounds will never go away.

You may remember that after the shootings occurred last year, I also did 26 Acts of Kindness.

For ideas, you can read about what I did HERE and HERE.

 

Here are some more Random Acts of Kindness you can do:

• Pay for the order of the person behind you in the drive-thru line.
• Send friends and relatives notes or letters of encouragement on the back of your kids’ artwork.
•  Leave love notes for your spouse or kids in their lunch.
• Bring water, coffee, or hot chocolate to outdoor workers (like the crossing guard at your kids school or bus driver)
•  Buy a soda or candy bar for the cashier when you’re checking out.
• Give a restaurant or coffee gift card to someone (bank cashier, postal worker, homeless person, or random stranger)
•  Send a silly card to brighten someone’s day.
•  Call or email someone you haven’t talked to in awhile, just to ask how they are.
•  Send your spouse a text just to tell him something that you appreciate about him.
• Hide a kind note in a library book.
•  Bake cookies for someone. (Postal carrier, neighbor, elderly friend, Sunday school teacher, Teacher, Teacher Aide, School Secretary, etc)
• Leave coins on a parking meter or the machines at a laundry mat.
• Pay the toll for the car behind you.
• Give a huge tip on your next restaurant bill.
• Offer to return someone’s shopping cart to the store.
• Let someone go ahead of you in the checkout line.
•  Pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant.
• Donate food to a food bank
• Bring your child's teacher a coffee or treat
• Send your child's teacher an email just to say thank you
•  Make a meal to share with a sick or busy neighbor.
• Offer to keep a friend’s kids so she and her husband can have some time alone.
• Make cards for nursing home residents…and deliver them with your kids.
• Pick up trash at the park.
•  Thank a soldier & write them a note/card.
• Make care bags for the homeless (Tolietries, bottled water, food store gift cards, non-perishable/ready-to-eat foods.)
•  Buy car wash coupons and give them away.
• Leave extra coupons on the store shelf next to the item they’re good for.
• Tape envelopes with quarters to vending machines.
• Take homemade cookies or cupcakes to the police or fire station.
• Pack a date-night box  (red box movie, popcorn, soft drinks, movie candy) and leave it on someone’s doorstep. Ring the bell and run!
• Bring a friend or neighbors Donuts one morning
•  Take magazines, crosswords or Sudoku puzzles to a waiting room at the hospital
•  Take flowers to a nurses’ station – for the nurses.
•  Purchase a store gift card or a gas card and send it to a friend in need.

My friend Mique has Random Act of Kindness Ideas & Printables on her blog {HERE}

There are SO many simple things you can do. 

You don't need to spend money doing this, many things you can do for free or for minimal cost.

I am so excited to do this again. 

As I do each act of kindness, I will say a prayer for each one of the victims families.

Here are the names of the 20 precious children:

Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Benjamin & Allison.

And 6 staff members:

Rachel Davino, Dawn Hochsprung, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, Anne Marie Murphy & Victoria Soto.

You are not forgotten.

The 1 year anniversary & the holiday season is going to be incredibly hard for the victims families.

I am going to try & complete my Acts of Kindness by December 14th

 (but if I don't finish by then, that's okay, I will try & get them done by Christmas)  

26 Acts of Kindness in 26 Days.

Honoring the 26 Victims.

I hope you will join me!
 Let's spread kindness this holiday season!

The 26th Act of Kindness

It started with a Facebook Status on Monday, December 17th just 3 days after the terrible tragedy in Newtown. 

Earlier that day, I had emailed my friend Laura (who lives in Newtown and who's youngest 2 kids attend Sandy Hook Elementary) I asked Laura what their favorite pizza place was in Newtown. For one of my 26 Acts of Kindness, I wanted to call the pizza place and pay for a pizza to be delivered Laura's house that week so that one night she didn't have to worry about what was for dinner. Laura wrote me back letting me know that I didn't need to to that, and that they were taken care of for the week. 

Well, I didn't want to take no for answer....I was feeling helpless about the tradegy in Newtown and I wanted to do SOMETHING that would directly help the people/families/community of Sandy Hook.
I got an idea & posted it on FB to see if any of my friends could help.

This is what my status update said:

“Like some of you have heard, my friend Laura lives is Newtown & her 2 youngest kids go to Sandy Hook Elementary. Thankfully, her kids survived because their teachers hid them and kept them safe. Her daughter is a 4th grader & her son is a 1st grader and they both saw a lot of horror that day and lost friends & classmates. I want to do something nice for Laura & her kids. I was thinking about sending them some giftcards to Coldstone, Starbucks, Panera Bread, etc, so that they can enjoy a fun treat like ice cream or a hot coco or she take her kids out to lunch and not worry about the cost. I know that the ice cream or treat won't make the situation better for them, but thought it might be a nice gesture knowing that we are thinking of them here in California. Here is where you come in. If you would like to donate a couple dollars, a small gift card or a even a note, please let me know. I am hoping to send them to her in the next week so that they can use some of them during their Winter Break.”

What happened in the minutes, hours & days after my status update completely AMAZED me. People started commenting and wanting to donate. That night, within 3 hours I had over $500 in paypal donations. Then, my FB friends started sharing my status & more donations kept coming in.

On the days that followed this week, I had friends, neighbors & fellow teachers at my school giving me Gift cards. People just wanted to give & help out.  The money, the gift cards, they just kept rolling in. 

 

My friend Heidi, who was one of my soccer teammates at University of Colorado (and now works for Nike) sent Laura's kids new Nike's. The note she included with the shoes said this, 

"New shoes for the many wonderful steps forward that you will take in these shoes. God Bless You!"

 

 My friend Jon’s father in law is best friends with NFL Hall of Famer John Madden, and got John Madden to sign a football for Laura's husband (who is obsessed with football)

 

Jon's dad gave me his FedEx account number to use for shipping the package which ensured that every single penny that people donated went to the people of Sandy Hook.

People just kept giving & giving & giving. 

Why? 

Because what happened in Newtown could have happened in any of our towns. 

Their tears are our tears. 

Their heartbreak is being felt across the country. 

People just wanted to help.

The donations kept coming in that week…$5 here, $10 there, some $50 donations, a $75 donation. $5 gift cards, $10 gift cards, $15 gift cards, $25 gift cards, $30 and $40 gift cards.

 PEOPLE JUST KEPT GIVING.

I WAS OVERWHELMED.

On Friday December 21, 2012  I had gotten $1305 in cash donations.

  I decided to do some Christmas shopping for her family in the form of gift cards.

I also got 2 big gift cards to Lakeshore Learning Store for her kid's teachers so that they could get things for their new classrooms (Sandy Hook Elementary has been relocated to a new school site). I thought they would like to get some things for their new classrooms. 

In addition to the cash donations, there were also $280 in various gift cards that were donated.

So, on Friday, the 21st, my friend Jon came over to my house and helped me package up all the items and get them to FedEx in time.

GIFT CARD MADNESS!!!!

 

The box was filled with gift cards, notes, a burlap "Shine" bunting, the John Madden football & teddy bears

We wanted to make sure that Laura & family got the package by Christmas Eve, so we sent it overnight via FedEx using Jon's dad's account.

 

We made it to FedEx at 4:53 pm...just in time for the 5:00pm cutoff. We decided to do Overnight delivery, so that it would get there ASAP.

 

 That night, I couldn't sleep. I woke up every hour. I kept having dreams/nightmares that the package got lost or stolen. 

Laura had NO idea this was going on. (She deleted her FB last year and I didn't post it on my blog because she reads my blog. Hi Laura!!!!!)

 All I told her was that there would be a FedEx package delivered to her house on Saturday.

All day Saturday, I kept checking the tracking number to see if it was delivered.

Finally, it was safe in the hands of Laura & Family. Delivered.

 

 We got SO many gift cards donated, so I told Laura to use & keep whichever ones you want. For the ones you won’t need, just give them away to other families in your community and at Sandy Hook School.

It's all about Spreading the LOVE.

I wrote a letter & added this at the end of the letter to Laura:

Despite the tradgey in your town, May you feel and know the HOPE  and JOY that CHRISTmas is all about. JESUS…we LOVE because HE first LOVED us. Here to save us and give us PEACE.  

Laura wrote me the nicest email & is so thankful. 

This was part of her note:

"To all your friends who donated to this most awesome package, THANK YOU from the bottom of our broken hearts. You have put smiles on some very sad faces. God Bless you all. You have given & shown us the true meaning of Christmas"  

But, the 26th Act of Kindness didn't end there....after that package was sent on the 21st, people still kept giving me things to send to Newtown. Homemade cards & notes. More gift cards.

I will be sending out a second package to Laura in the nex week, filled with more gift card & goodies.

One of my FB friend's daughter's birthday party is next week and in lieu of presents for her daughter, she is having guests bring a book that will be sent to Laura and donated to the new Sandy Hook Elementary.

Another friend is having a necklace made for Laura.

 People just want to give and I am humbled.

Thankful that God used me in this project.

All I did was a status update. Everyone else responded.

To God be the Glory.  

  Are you ready for some totals?

 $1790 cash was donated that was used to purchase gift cards
$1150 in various giftcards to Stabucks, Coldstone, Barnes & Noble, Subway and Target (to name a few) were donated.
For a grand total of  $2940

 Almost $3000 in donations. 

UNBELIEVABLE.

This total doesn't include the Nike Shoes, the signed John Madden Football, the banner, the books & the necklace that were donated

All for the people & families of Newtown.

Laura will be spreading the love and  handing out the cards to the community of Sandy Hook.

Specifically to families of the victims (who Laura's children were friends with)

 Also, to their clergy at Saint Rose who have worked 24/7 with the entire community..spending nights at the homes of the victims, and leading them all through this horrible time. 

Laura will also be handing out the extra gift cards to the teachers at Sandy Hook School.

  

I have had many tears over the past few weeks, streaming down my face…overwhelmed by my friends willingness to spread Love to Laura's family and the other families of Newtown & Sandy Hook.

So there you have it....the 26th Act of Kindness, aka GIFT CARD MADNESS!
 I told you this needed it's own post!!!!! 

Again, I will say it......TO GOD be the GLORY!

All I did was post a status update. 
God did the rest.

Way, Way, WAY more than I ever thought or imagined.

All because Laura didn't let me order her a damn pizza :)