January 18, 2010

Service With A Smile

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Last October,
I started looking for a way for our family to serve our Community during the Christmas break.

All the shelters I called had more help than they could use
because that is the time of year everyone gets into the spirit of giving.

Which is a good thing.

I had a couple of other leads that didn't pan out either,
so Christmas came and went and we never helped out.

Service is like that,
sometimes I pat myself on the back for just wanting and trying to serve.
But, making it actually happen, is the true test.

Being an active member of the LDS Church provides constant opportunities to serve,
but even with that, I feel the desire to contribute more service to my Community.

Then along came "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day". You've probably seen the commercials.

Yes, if you serve a day in your community, you get a free ticket to,
my favorite place in the world,
Disneyland.
But that isn't the only reason I signed up. I promise.

In the process, I learned about many, local opportunities to serve in all kinds of ways.
Really cool stuff, like doing yard work for deployed troops, or walking and socializing puppies.

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I signed up our family to help an organization called Hill Country Cares.

One of their many projects is providing a very nice discount shop in the little town of Kerrville.


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Families in the local homeless and battered women shelters are given vouchers

to purchase much needed clothing and household items in the shop.


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We worked in the warehouse, helping with a clearance sale in the morning

and after lunch, we boxed unsold items to be donated to Habitat For Humanity.


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We had a good time and felt like we made a little difference.
It was a chance to put things in perspective and appreciate the bounty we enjoy
while helping others who are in need.
It was a fun and rewarding day and we want to sign up to help again.

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Diane Freeman, you've just spent a day helping others, what are going to do now?

"I'm going to Disneyland!"



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your last 2 lines made me laugh!

I'm so glad you took pix of the day. Now in a few years we can reminisce with photos.
What a good charity program. Not only did the people buying the items get a great deal (every item was on sale for a dime) the money helped battered and abused families. I like that!

Chrissy said...

Agreed, the closing was great. We should have yelled that as we left the warehouse! haha

Marci said...

It is definitely a win-win situation! I think it was a great idea for Disney (and very generous considering the cost of a ticket)!

Brittany said...

What a fun day! Service like that really is enjoyable and a day with Mickey is a nice bonus. Cute tag line!

michele cabiness said...

Ok you have convinced me. I have been thinking about taking advantage of that program ever since I got an email about it from Disney last year. After reading your post, I finally signed us up last night!

Diane said...

Yay Michele! you'll be glad you did.

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About Me

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I married my high school sweetheart 34 years ago in the LDS Temple. I have 4 children (3 married, and a 14 year old) and 6 grandchildren. I lived my entire life in California, until 6 years ago. I now reside in San Antonio, Texas. The most important thing to me is my family; I have invested the most in them and it has paid great dividends. I love doing anything creative that beautifies my surroundings and I love nature. I minored in Art and majored in Interior Design at BYU, yet, my profession is a Tax Preparer.

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