FreeLists / arachne / [arachne] About three years ago ...

["L.D. Best" <l.d.best@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Arachne at FreeLists---The Arachne Fan Club!

Going thru my mail I found a folder "fire fund"; I opened it and was 
once again reminded of the kind people who were willing to help a 
stranger simply because she needed help -- an elderly lady who had lost 
her home to a Christmas night fire.
I don't remember if I ever gave an accounting of the funds we received 
and how they were spent, so I thought I'd copy over my son's e-mail to 
me (he's the brave man who took her shopping):
--------------
1 mens leather winter coat Normal $110, on sale for $34.99 @ Sears
7 Pairs of Womens Pants Normal was $24 a piece sale was $7.99! @Kohls
24 Pairs of Socks Normal $3.99 a piece 6pack, Sale was $1.99 a piece 
6pack @ Sears
24 Pairs of Undergaremnts Normal $7.99 for 3 pack, Sale was $4.99 @ Kohls
10 Various Shirts FREEBIE! Manager at Kohls heard why we were shopping 
and threw in 10 free winter shirts!
4 Bras $27 Normally !0.o!  On sale for $12.99 @ Victoria Secrets Dayton Mall
Total of all reciepts was $203.59

There ya go, from the books lol

----------------------
I'm certain my son was helping find the sale items; after all, I trained 
him. <G>  About $570 worth of clothing, clean clothes for each day of 
the week, all because people donated what they could afford (even small 
donations were valuable, as you can see from the prices paid).  There 
was one other thing we got for her, the only "nice" thing she asked for: 
An $80 dress; she needed a Sunday Go To Meetin' outfit, and you know 
she'd wear it every trip to church until it was threadbare.  But there 
was only $60 left, and although gasoline was $3 a gallon, the going to 
and from did eat up quite a bit of our 'spare' cash.  One of the other 
firefighters said he'd taken up a collection at the firehouse and would 
bring it over when he got off shift, so I swallowed, told my son to give 
me the cash and I handed him my credit card.  That neighbor was going to 
get her nice dress.  And she did, and my son got all upset because she 
was nearly crying when he went to take her shopping again to get that 
dress.  (The other firefighter not only didn't bring over the $$$ 
collected, but actually disappeared out of town!  Maybe I couldn't 
afford it, but sometimes things take priorities over meat for dinner, 
right?)
That was a good Christmas season, and good way to start a new year.

We all can help in big and small ways; some nuts donate their time and 
energy and genius to creating software that will run on computers not 
worth keeping ... some people simply drop a bit more into the cup for a 
charity nearby, while others might shovel snow from a walk, or ask a 
neighbor if s/he needed anything from the store when headed out to go 
shopping.  Even a small honest smile can be a gift when someone isn't 
feeling exactly up to par.  The trash you pick up from the sidewalk 
makes the place nicer to live in or visit.  The door held open when it 
wasn't necessary, the polite or kind word said at the right time ... 
small and large donations everyone makes at one time or another.
Here's hoping this new year is one where we can all get the chance to 
give, and give of ourselves, when the opportunity arises.
And the first sucker who calls me a durned "Pollyanna" will see what it 
means for l.d. to throw a hissy fit!
l.d.
<G>
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