Giving Back in 2018 – Trisha Lamb

Sprinkling Kindness through the Holiday Season

Some families struggle to put food on the table or even to find a safe place to sleep at night. When the holiday season comes around, it’s no surprise that many of these families go without gifts and presents for their children and loved ones.

Philly Marketing Labs gave my family and I the opportunity to donate $500.00 in any way we wanted. As soon as I heard this amazing news I knew exactly how my family and I would like to sprinkle kindness through the holiday season. That same day I called my children’s school and spoke with the school counselor and told her we would like to adopt a family in need.  The counselor was very helpful and guided us on what to do. She had a family in mind and gave us all the details on age, size, and items on the children’s wish list.

The family had three little boys ages eight, nine, and eleven. One of the boys said, “all he wanted for Christmas was for his mother to have pots and pans”. He also mentioned that she had not had a gift for Christmas in two years. We knew that we would absolutely be buying pots and pans for Mom.

My mother-in-law retired from JC Penny’s and still gets a pretty awesome discount. During the weekend, my Mother-in-Law, my children and I got together and went shopping. With her discount we were able to get Mom pots and pans, each boy 2 shirts, 2 pants, P’Js, a winter Jacket, and a new pair of gym shoes. After that we went shopping for special toys on their wish list. Each Boy got a nice Lego set as well as another toy from their list and a stocking full of goodies.

While shopping I noticed how much both of my children were getting into the spirit of giving. They were looking for sizes and making suggestions on what the boys might like. I asked them how being able to do this for a family made them feel, and they both said “it made their hearts warm with joy and very appreciative to be able to do this for a family”. Both of my daughters asked if we could do this every year! At that moment, my heart was warm. I knew that this was such a teachable moment for them. I also shared my experience with some friends on Social Media and the giving was contagious. I had so many people reach out to me and ask how they could also adopt a family!

Thank you, Philly Marketing Labs, for this opportunity and giving the gift of Love.

 

written by Trisha Lamb