Back to School 2010

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

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

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!

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.

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