Spreading Joy

There is no denying that I dream lofty dreams of giving big.  With the help of many awesome people from my twitterverse and a foundation with a huge heart for others, Spreading Joy Corporation was able to distribute 300 backpacks filled with some basic school supplies.  Did that come close to the goal of 1000 backpacks? No, not even close.  Am I discouraged? NO….far from it actually.  I’m encouraged in the fact that we were able to help 300 children start the first day of school with their head held high and their heart full of hope that this school year would be an amazing one!

These backpacks went to a few local churches that ministers to neighborhood children, to Amy’s House – a battered women’s shelter and a school received some as well.

I’ve received a couple of Thank You’s and want to share them with you here.

This letter is being sent to you to express the appreciation for all the book bags and school supplies you donated to our children in the church for their back to school supplies.  The book bags were extremely nice, and the assortment of school supplies inside them were wonderful.  This will be a great help to the children who would not have had the privilege to purchase these items for themselves.

Dr. Jerry Taylor Pastor

Putting it ALL together!

I teach at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in Mt. Pleasant, NC.  I received bookbags filled with school supplies from your organization last week.  I can’t thank you enough for your kindness and generosity.  You have made starting back to school more exciting for our students.  There is nothing like a new bookbag and supplies.  I am sure you will be blessed  many times for the kindness you have shown towards others.  Keep spreading your “joy” to those in need.

Thanks again,

Susan Airheart
First Grade Teacher/MPES

Basic supplies included in EACH Bag!

I also had the wonderful honor of hand delivering some of the backpacks to some neighboring homes down the road from where I live.  The smiles and thank you’s can not be expressed in words.  I didn’t tell them who I was, nor how they can thank me, as I believe giving in “secret” is such an awesome thing to do.  My heart was flooded with unbelievable joy as I walked back to my car, smiled and went on to the next road.  Events like this is why my heart screams “There is NO joy like Spreading JOY!”

I’d like to thank Fred’s for giving me such a great price on the backpacks! The district manager even went to his local stores and gathered them for me so that I could easily pick them up from my local store in Lincolnton, NC.

I’d like to thank New Grace Baptist Church for the use of their fellowship hall to spread everything out and organized the backpacks, as I would have never had enough room in my tiny home.

There is no way this could have been accomplished with out the hard work of so many wonderful people.  My family Steve, Todd, Megan and My Mom and Step Father and of course my great little sister, Angie and her children.  Friends that have huge hearts for others – Kevin and Sonia Neal and their daughter Kayla.  Ms. Phyllis, Myra and Vern- Thank you as I could not have done this without you!

Vern & My Step Dad, supervising the project (Ohhhh they are going to shoot me for this!)

We had a lot of fun as well as our challenges.  But when you are trying to make a difference, look for those challenges and work past them.  Don’t let them discourage you or stop you.  The day we were putting the backpacks together, Todd was rear-ended as he was trying to bring items to the fellowship hall.  Much of the unloading had been done by the time I got there and I felt really bad, but we worked through the issues, had fun doing it and our hearts soared because YOU made this possible for 300 wonderful Children!

If you gave towards this project – Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a Spreading JOY hero that is completely in the background.  These children can’t thank you, but know that the difference you have made will have limitless possibilities in their future.

If your heart was crying out to give and you couldn’t afford to financially, but you used your voice to help spread the word of our project, I THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart too, as your voice was heard and you made a difference using what you had!  I know for certain that there were people who gave because someone used their voice to spread the word.

Here are 2 videos from the day that we assembled the backpacks.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed putting this project together.

Going to school should be an exciting time for every child. Spreading Joy Corporation is pleased to announce that through the giving of a few corporations and many individuals, we were able to spread some back to school joy to 800 children and teens, thus making our Back 2 School project a complete success!

Your compassion towards children you have never met has touched my heart and blessed me deeply. These children will never be able to thank you personally or repay your kindness but you need to know the gift you provided will have lasting effects on their hearts.

There were 4 separate events of giving out back to school supplies as well as several neighborhoods that were covered door to door.

Each bag contained at least 2 spiral bound notebooks, pen, pencil, eraser, glue stick, bottle of glue, ruler, pocket folder and box of crayons. Ten items total.

In this economy, when people need help, many tend to head to a local church for immediate help. One of the events was at a church where their members have a heart for kids and they were able to add to these items. They added 1 inch binder as well as a mechanical pencil, 5 more pens and pencils. The members also gave out 24 completely filled book bags as a special prize.

There is no way to describe the joy and happiness of watching all the children walk away with a bag full of school supplies. The love and compassion from so many people that gave and prayed and told others about the project was very evident as the eyes of the children lit up with sheer delight while rummaging through their bags.

The joy of shopping, bagging and watching the children get their bags was such an honor.

The store associates had such wonderful attitudes as they rang up thousands of items for us. One even joked with me about help for my glue habit! (At least he didn’t see me sniffing the crayons, he would have truly wondered then!!)

I’m grateful to my wonderful friends Dale and Jeanne Strickland who helped with the shopping, delivering and was the extra car that we loaded up with goodies. They endured hours of searching, counting and loading the buggies as well as unloading to the car. Not to mention the silliness that comes from just being near me sometimes when I’m tired. They deserve medals for that much alone.

So many people donated their time to bag at the church as well as my family who spent a day helping to bag at our home. Todd had to keep me in line and make sure I was productive – using a ruler to “whip” me back into shape. (I promise I did not take it when it disappeared son, I have NO clue where it when…honest!)

A million thank you’s for your generosity could not even begin to cover how I feel for what you’ve done!

May you always remember that there’s NO joy like spreading joy!

You have not lived a perfect day, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.–Ruth Smeltzer