Giving and Getting

Today I loaded up the back of our Hyundai with several items for the Columbus YWCA family shelter. My goal was to pay forward some of the generosity that an anonymous friend had passed on to me, and so with a handful of $20’s in hand, I went to Target yesterday and bought as much as I could.

diapers and formula = expensive

I also added a Mrs. Goodbee dollhouse. When I did a review for this dollhouse, I was sent two of them, with the intention that I would give the second away to an organization that can use it. The YWCA has an on-site childcare center and the dollhouse will be a perfect addition there.

Finally, knowing they were in need of all baby items, including basics like baby shampoo and lotion, I thought I’d send a quick request to Johnson & Johnson to ask if they would like to donate anything. When I went to their Camp Baby event in April, I was impressed by their presentation about J&J’s involvement in community projects and charity works. Asking for a donation was worth a shot, right?

Totally worth trying.

And they didn’t disappoint – despite the distribution center being in a blackout period, Lori and Alex put together a box full of J&J baby products and sent it out quickly so I could add it to the donation. They have my gratitude for taking the time to support this family shelter, all at the request of a B-minus-at-best blogger. (BTW, J&J has a blog, too.)

When I brought everything to the shelter today, it was full of residents spending time in the community area. Kids aren’t in school right now, so several kids were trying to run off their energy as best they could indoors. I heard babies crying from all corners of the room.

As one of the shelter workers helped me bring everything inside, a few boys caught sight of the dollhouse and came running, their mouths and eyes open wide in amazement. Several people gave soft cheers as the diapers and formula wheeled past them. Each person I saw met my gaze with one of equal kindness and warmth.

The staff were thrilled to see the J&J box and told me the diapers were needed right away. They were very busy, so I quickly filled out the necessary paperwork, shyly accepted one more round of thanks, and left. Had I the time, I think I would be content to spend an hour or two there chatting with the residents, but sadly my day was far too busy to stay today.

I think the YWCA family shelter will be seeing more of me – I’m adopting it as my charity for the next year, and will do what I can to help provide supplies.

Thanks again to J&J and to my anonymous giver – you helped me make this cold month a little better for so many others, which is one of the best gifts I could give – and get.

(And that feeling of goodwill helped dull the blow that came later in the day when I found out our girls are losing their health insurance. Aaron’s contract job makes more than the monthly limit to qualify for the state’s children’s health insurance, even though it’s only a 2-3 month contract and if you look at our yearly income we’ll more than qualify. Once the contract ends we can go through the reapplication process. Bureaucracy can #suckit.)