Song: Run This Town- JZ
Happy Valentines Day. I'm so tired I can barely see the keyboard;) BUT Gotta give it up to my little t-shirt drive. Big ups to Andrea Barucha who responded immediately to my FB post and put us in touch with the family we will be donating to!!
I always loved the computer trick where you press shift and the less than sign (<) + the number 3 and it becomes a heart. Thanks Marie Claire for teaching me that <3. So I thought it would be cool to put it on a t-shirt and send it out to my dear Marie out in Sonoma, CA. Then I thought it would be cooler to make a couple extra for her two full of love little girls. Then I thought (lots of thoughts people, scary in here:) that it would be cool to sell the t-shirts, but not cool to be in the business of t-shirts, so why not a t-shirt drive for charity? I grabbed my friends daughter after school, snapped some pics-posted them on the Facebooks and alas, our Sandy Hook Elementary drive was born.
This small and manageable project has given me so much more than I could have ever imagined. It was my first venture into community service. I heard the rumors, the gift is in the giving, its' better to give then receive...blah blah ba bleepin' blah. But I was not prepared for the actuality of it. The people who showed up-three had lost their homes in Hurricane Sandy- families from out of state-everyone dealing with their own heartache and happiness- came with their wallets open, willing and understanding...and sharing parts of their own stories. It broke me wide open.
When I went to order the shirts from Vistaprint.com the prices had doubled. The delivery was no longer free. There was going to be no money left over to send the promised donation. I knew there had to be a way out. I have done a lot of my business through Vistaprint and they have unbeatable customer service. One woman I spoke to said she was sorry but she had done all she could do. I thanked her and called back. I got a different woman, Jovana Gardner from Montego Bay, Jamaica. I could tell the second I heard her upbeat voice we had a chance. She listened to the story of our effort and what happened and said those magic words, "Let me see what I can do." She cut the prices below the original and sliced the shipping to almost half. We were back in action thanks to her. One person always makes a difference. You could be that person.
I had organized the drive so that the people who bought the shirts would come get them. I was hoping that it would all fall in one specified hour, so I could get a group shot and we would send a family that lost a child in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting a gift in time for Valentines Day (and my house would be spotless and I would look perfect:) Then we had a snowstorm. Life always wants to get in my way! So the pickups were random and I was sometimes a mess. No one cared. The t-shirts I had placed neatly in piles by size were tossed into a wicked frenzy by my thank-god-he's-cute baby fireball Henry. They waited patiently while I fished out for sizes. They pretended not to notice the crushed Cheerios on the floor. Gave me hugs. Those that weren't able to pick up, I connected with over the phone. For the most part I dred talking on the phone, but because the reason was bigger than myself I picked up and connected and had funny and heartfelt conversations. Maybe I'm too Pollyanna but I would not have recognized their greatness as clearly if it had all gone according to plan. You can bet I would have clearly recognized my greatness:) It's easy (and believe me I wanted it to be easy), to come into an organized beautiful space with a well rehearsed hostess and be comfortable. They walked into chaos and treated it like an ashram and me like the head monk.
I would call it what one of my friends has told me is the language of the heart. A connection we all have to each other that defies all boundaries. A feeling of kindness. What it means to be kind and to receive kindness. It's not affection, it's a connection. There are so many good and generous people out there. I wouldn't know it if I only watched the news. But what the news this time gave me was a call to action. As you can see by my thought process in creating this drive there was nothing noble in it. But what it gave me is a gift of grace. I feel peace. I understand more that we are not responsible for the result but the effort. I understand more that although I prefer it when life goes according to plan, especially according to MY plan, it's better when it goes according to His plan. That is a miracle. That is the gift of giving. Plus we raised a pretty decent chunk for a family I can't imagine could use it more.
I had the best Valentines Day 2013, I hope you did too. <3
Happy Valentines Day. I'm so tired I can barely see the keyboard;) BUT Gotta give it up to my little t-shirt drive. Big ups to Andrea Barucha who responded immediately to my FB post and put us in touch with the family we will be donating to!!
I always loved the computer trick where you press shift and the less than sign (<) + the number 3 and it becomes a heart. Thanks Marie Claire for teaching me that <3. So I thought it would be cool to put it on a t-shirt and send it out to my dear Marie out in Sonoma, CA. Then I thought it would be cooler to make a couple extra for her two full of love little girls. Then I thought (lots of thoughts people, scary in here:) that it would be cool to sell the t-shirts, but not cool to be in the business of t-shirts, so why not a t-shirt drive for charity? I grabbed my friends daughter after school, snapped some pics-posted them on the Facebooks and alas, our Sandy Hook Elementary drive was born.
This small and manageable project has given me so much more than I could have ever imagined. It was my first venture into community service. I heard the rumors, the gift is in the giving, its' better to give then receive...blah blah ba bleepin' blah. But I was not prepared for the actuality of it. The people who showed up-three had lost their homes in Hurricane Sandy- families from out of state-everyone dealing with their own heartache and happiness- came with their wallets open, willing and understanding...and sharing parts of their own stories. It broke me wide open. When I went to order the shirts from Vistaprint.com the prices had doubled. The delivery was no longer free. There was going to be no money left over to send the promised donation. I knew there had to be a way out. I have done a lot of my business through Vistaprint and they have unbeatable customer service. One woman I spoke to said she was sorry but she had done all she could do. I thanked her and called back. I got a different woman, Jovana Gardner from Montego Bay, Jamaica. I could tell the second I heard her upbeat voice we had a chance. She listened to the story of our effort and what happened and said those magic words, "Let me see what I can do." She cut the prices below the original and sliced the shipping to almost half. We were back in action thanks to her. One person always makes a difference. You could be that person.
I had organized the drive so that the people who bought the shirts would come get them. I was hoping that it would all fall in one specified hour, so I could get a group shot and we would send a family that lost a child in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting a gift in time for Valentines Day (and my house would be spotless and I would look perfect:) Then we had a snowstorm. Life always wants to get in my way! So the pickups were random and I was sometimes a mess. No one cared. The t-shirts I had placed neatly in piles by size were tossed into a wicked frenzy by my thank-god-he's-cute baby fireball Henry. They waited patiently while I fished out for sizes. They pretended not to notice the crushed Cheerios on the floor. Gave me hugs. Those that weren't able to pick up, I connected with over the phone. For the most part I dred talking on the phone, but because the reason was bigger than myself I picked up and connected and had funny and heartfelt conversations. Maybe I'm too Pollyanna but I would not have recognized their greatness as clearly if it had all gone according to plan. You can bet I would have clearly recognized my greatness:) It's easy (and believe me I wanted it to be easy), to come into an organized beautiful space with a well rehearsed hostess and be comfortable. They walked into chaos and treated it like an ashram and me like the head monk.I would call it what one of my friends has told me is the language of the heart. A connection we all have to each other that defies all boundaries. A feeling of kindness. What it means to be kind and to receive kindness. It's not affection, it's a connection. There are so many good and generous people out there. I wouldn't know it if I only watched the news. But what the news this time gave me was a call to action. As you can see by my thought process in creating this drive there was nothing noble in it. But what it gave me is a gift of grace. I feel peace. I understand more that we are not responsible for the result but the effort. I understand more that although I prefer it when life goes according to plan, especially according to MY plan, it's better when it goes according to His plan. That is a miracle. That is the gift of giving. Plus we raised a pretty decent chunk for a family I can't imagine could use it more.
I had the best Valentines Day 2013, I hope you did too. <3
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