A few days ago, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw a banner at the top of my computer screen that said "Congratulations! An Anonymous Benefactor has given you a lifetime subscription to Daily Kos"
I was stunned, and didn't really know what to think. I was, frankly, embarrassed. I knew how much a subscription cost, I knew that there were numerous people in the community who did NOT receive a gift sub yet, who were frankly much more deserving of one than me. I have only been a member of this community since July (although it feels like much longer) and I have only written a handful of diaries (not all of them good!)
My immediate reaction was to give it back. I felt guilty. I wanted to give it to someone else. But eventually, I came to terms with the fact that whoever bought this gift for me obviously wanted ME to have it. For whatever reason. So, I decided that instead of feeling guilty, I would pay it forward. So, follow me beneath the squiggle to find out what I did.
So, I am in a unique position here- I do not have any disposable income. In fact, I have no income, period. For the past 2 years I've been living with my parents while I've been going to nursing school. I have worked on and off throughout that period, and just finished a term with Americorps. 100% of my paycheck gets turned over to my parents. In return, I get a roof over my head, and food, and the luxury of not having to worry about paying bills. But the tradeoff is that I have no money. Literally. Zip, zilch, nada. I'm not complaining though-I consider myself lucky to have this much support from my family as I try to make a better life for myself and my daughter. I have experienced the alternative- being a single mom living paycheck to paycheck- and I would never want to go back to that.
So anyways, the one thing I DO have is my daughters stuff. And goodness, she has a lot of it. As the only grandchild on both sides of the family, you can imagine how much she gets spoiled. And in the past, that has provided me a modest income stream- I take really good care of her things-be they toys, furniture, or clothing- and once she outgrows them I resell them. Sometimes, selling them on eBay I actually get back MORE than their original value. Don't ask me why- people go a little crazy when they bid on stuff.
So I cleaned out my daughters closet last weekend, and when I saw what was in there, dollar signs flash before my eyes- She had so much stuff, a lot of it never worn and still with tags, that I knew I could get a decent amount of cash for. We also went through the yearly ritual of going through her toys and getting rid of the ones she didn't use anymore, in preparation for the new ones she would get during Christmas and Hanukkah (yes, she celebrates both- I told you she was spoiled!) and there was a pretty good stash there too. I was all set to put them up on eBay or take them to the consignment store that gives you money in exchange for goods.
But then, I started to feel a little guilty. It's true, I could use the money, but it was also true that have so much already. And that there are a lot of people are not as lucky as I am, and that so many are suffering in this economy. And the hardest hit are often children.
I went back and forth, a lot. It was a battle between my greed and my better angels.
And then, I got a gift. A gift that was worth more than what I would probably get for the items. And so, inspired by that act of generosity, I finally made up my mind to donate them.
I immediately found a place that was happy to take our items. Unfortunately, after doing some research I found out it was an organization with a history of discriminating against our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, so I decided to take my donation elsewhere. I made numerous phone calls and researched throughout the day, and became increasingly frustrated as I was given the runaround, left numerous messages and no one called me back. I had no clue how difficult it was to actually donate something! Finally though, I found an organization that called me back-and one that had an excellent reputation to boot. It was called Gifts of Love, that gives items directly to families in need. The one caveat was they would not take toys, or out of season clothing. They simply didn't have the room for it. But they were more than happy to take all of the winter clothing off our hands.
So, with our donor finally chosen, my daughter and I set to work. Here is a photo diary of our day:
It started off a little rocky...she was a little upset about losing some of her things. Is it just me or is she flipping me the bird?
But, once I sat her down and told her about how much her items would help other kids, she got excited. And we got to work:
Before putting the clothes in the box, she wanted to pose with each item and have me take a picture of it, so she could always remember. I will spare you the 68 pictures that entailed, and show off some of the nicer items that were given away:
Our total was: 3 pairs of snow boots, one pair of rain boots with matching rain jacket, 2 heavy winter coats with matching snow suits, 1 light winter jacket, 8 hats, 12 pairs of mittens, 2 scarves, 3 sweaters, 2 hooded sweatshirts, 4 fleeces, 12 pairs of pants and a puffy vest.
As you can see, we filled up the box pretty good:
Of course my daughter HAD to pose in front of the box
Lord help me, she is just too much
Here we are at "Gifts of Love".
I didn't take any pictures inside, because we were very late. I got stuck in traffic and my daughter was sure to let them know "mommy said lots of bad words in the car!!" But they were very gracious, and excited to get the items. They said there was a huge demand for winter clothing this year- a huge demand for everything, really- bigger than they have ever seen.
So, whoever my anonymous angel is-I hope you read this, and can feel good inside knowing that somewhere in Connecticut, there will be little girls dressed to the nines and nice and cozy warm soon, thanks to your random act of generosity.
(I know this is impossible to read so here's the translation:
Thank You Secret Santa, and Daily Kos Community
❤
SwedishJewfish
P.S. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, and Flying Spaghetti Monster Day!
UPDATE:
Just a small but very important update to let everyone know, if YOU want to Pay it forward, there is a list of Kossacks who still need a sub in Nomandates diary.
Also, the Lakota Nations desperately need help to keep from literally freezing to death this winter, and there is a huge 3 day sale going on right now for propane heaters. NMRed has an amazing Challenge Diary- you need to see this challenge to believe it, his kindness is amazing! He will be giving $120 for every 120 rec's he gets in the next 24 hours, among other things. So even that one small thing you can do, rec his diary, can make a difference!
PS- I will crochet a scarf for anyone who buys a heater over the next 3 days, if you are comfortable with giving me your mailing information.