More than Supplies

August 17, 2011 By 9 Comments

More than supplies fill these bags!

Back to School 2011 was a huge success thanks to YOU!  In addition to JOY and HOPE -- There were 310 backpacks full of supplies given out this year.  We were excited to be able to place the following items in the bags.

  • 3 spiral notebooks
  • A pack of 10 ink pens
  • A pack of 10 pencils
  • A pack of loose leaf paper
  • A box of 24 crayons
  • A box of 12 colored pencils
  • 2 pocket folder portfolios
  • A bottle of glue
  • A glue stick
  • A pack of Lance Peanut butter Crackers
  • A pack of gummy snacks
  • A pack of Reese Cups

Big Smiles

We invited 300 people to the event.  We went and picked up many of the families that didn’t have a way to get there.  Hotdogs were prepared and served along with chips, drinks and cake for desert.  They enjoyed a free meal and then were invited to receive their backpacks filled with some of the necessary supplies for a successful school year.

I loved hearing the oooo’s and aaahhhh’s of the kids as they looked at the rows of backpacks that would soon be given to them.  The workers and I completely enjoyed the shrieks of happiness as the kids opened their backpacks and pulled out the Reese Cups.  This thrilled my heart to NO end!

I was thrilled to see several of the kids from my own neighborhood there.  One of the parents told me thank you and expressed how helpful this was as the expenses of going back to school were growing each year.  Even though he works all the time, it’s still hard to make ends meet.

One lady was telling my sister that she couldn’t believe she forgot to invite her neighbor and wondered if there would be enough left so that she could take some to her children.  As they were having this conversation, the neighbor actually walked through the door and I hugged her, not knowing what was being discussed by the others.  I had “met” the neighbor as I was shopping the night before.  I had a buggy full of hotdogs, buns, chips and other things and had invited her to come, bring her kids and enjoy a meal & a free bag.  This was very cool that the need was met in this fashion.

Thank YOU for the gift of giving!

Many people expressed an interest in doing this with their church & members.  I told them that I’d be happy to come and help them with organizing this.  I have lots of ideas and when you have an entire church behind you, the possibilities are limitless.  I can already see great things for the kids in those churches for next year!

If you are in NC, SC, VA, GA or TN – I can easily make a day trip out to help with ideas for this.  Fundraising, organizing and other things can be discussed.  We can also discuss other ways of encouraging your group to do more, remove their focus off of what you can’t do, don’t have and move the focus on the amazing opportunities that await you. I can help with finding joy!

I want to say a huge thank you to those who supported this event financially.  Without your gifts, we would not have been able to give out bags of hope and joy.  You are a unique kind of hero!  One that steps up and helps, doing what you can with what you have.  I’m honored that you’d choose to help Spreading Joy give back in such a huge way.

Thank you to those that wanted to give financially but couldn’t so you chose to use your voice, tell others and helped in that way!  Never discount the power of your voice!

I also want to say a huge thank you to those that came and helped with packing the bags.  This was done in a matter of a few hours with the assembly process we had.  Amazing!

Thank you to those that came and worked on the actual day we handed out the bags and meals.  There is no way this could have been done without you.

Thank you to my sister in law who made the cool shirts for us to wear.  I love them.

Thank you to Pastor Taylor and the members of New Grace for allowing me to use your wonderful facility and to those who volunteer your time to make this happen.  I’m honored that you’d help and support our back to school efforts.

A special thanks to my Mom, Stepdad, Angie & her family and my bestest friend and her husband for always supporting, helping, praying and assisting in any way possible.  I love you and you make my world a much brighter place!

THANK YOU!!!

And a HUGE thank you to my precious family -- Steve, Todd and Megan.  For allowing me to ignore household duties, for running errands for me, making deposits, picking up things, unloading 2 carloads of supplies in the blazing heat, loading them BACK a few days later and tolerating me getting up at 4:30am (I’m not the quietest in the world) to be at walmart by 5am to do shopping among the many other things, including but not limited to endless excited chattering, tired whinyness and the bratty little girl that poked her head out every once in a while --  that you endured for back to school.  Without your love and support I wouldn’t be spreading much joy at all.  I’m thankful for such love from you guys.

I’m honored to be used to help others, encourage others and to able to be Spreading JOY and giving back.  I know that there is no way it can be done alone and am thankful for your heart for spreading joy!

Thank YOU!!

If you were involved in this event, I invite you to leave your comments below.  If you received a backpack and want to say thank you, I hope that you will.  Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts below! 

{{{HUGS}}} yall

photos: courtesy of mary whisonant 

 

I received this thank you in my email box and wanted to share it with YOU: 

 

MY GRANDSONS AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THE BACK PACKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES.

ALL THE CHILDREN WERE DELIGHTED. SOME EVEN SAID THEY WERE EAGER TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.

MY 5YR OLD GRANDSON STARTS KINDERGARTEN AND WAS PLEASED TO RECEIVE HIS RED BACK PACK.

HE SAID, ” NOW I AM READY TO GO! THANK YOU JESUS!”

GOD BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELPING KINDNESS.

A HANDS ON GRANDMA AND SISTER IN CHRIST,

KATHERINE 

 

The Assembly of the Back Packs!

 

The Day of the Big Event!

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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Back to School 2010

September 3, 2010 By 6 Comments

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.

Sharing this IS spreading joy

Filed Under: back2school, encouraging, giving, goals, passion, Spreading Joy, thanks, twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Back 2 School 2009 Event

August 26, 2009 By 2 Comments


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

Sharing this IS spreading joy

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