2013 Thanksgiving Project
A boy at age 11 was hungry on Thanksgiving Day. There was no way his family was going to have any means for a Thanksgiving meal. When suddenly there was a knock on the door and there was a man at the door with a basket full of food. This young boy was so excited to see food, but his dad reacted differently. He felt it was a charity case and took it personally as failure to provide for his family. A couple days later, he left that family because he felt inadequate as a father.
Instead of taking this experience to heart, this young boy used it as a catalyst to motivate himself to help others. He saw the event as a blessing in disguise. He saw it as a signal that strangers did truly care about him and his family and as such, he vowed to succeed in life so that he could return this favor some day.
The first act of returning this gift occurred at age 17, and he was able to give back to 2 families. He took the earnings from his job and purchased as much food as he could afford and then dressed up as a delivery boy so that there was no personal acknowledgment, but the reward would be to truly see their faces and reactions.
One of the families that he reached was a woman with 5 kids and what he did not know was that 3 days ago, her husband had left her and there was no way, short of miracle to be able to give the children a Thanksgiving feast. And as deja vu, a miracle appeared at her door.
This young man is named Tony Robbins and today thru the Anthony Robbins Foundation's International Basket Brigade, they are feeding approximately 2 million people annually. Project HOPE is partnering up with this foundation during the Holidays to spread some blessings within our local communities.
Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger. These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days. Consequently, more than 1 out of 5 children lives in a household with food insecurity, which means they do not always know where they will find their next meal.
The holiday season is a time for family. Of course, family is not always created by blood. There are many people who have created their own family from friends, associates and service groups. Emotionally, the members of the family are bonding, uniting, and supportive of each other. Without family support, humans feel lonely, isolated and lost, our hope is for you to feel JOY all year round.
J ust allowing yourself to feel abundance. Life will bring
O pportunities, big & small
Y et without gratitude in our lives we often forget.
Can one person truly make a difference? No, but did you know that our combined efforts helped provide Thanksgiving dinner to feed 155 mouths (49 adults and 106 children). Many of which were
single-parents or experienced unexpected job losses or cuts to their food subsidies.
Thank you for the communities' generosity. We gained more helping hands and formed a circle of hope with the assistance of:
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Our Daily Bread
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Vienna Presbyterian Church
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Committee for Helping Others
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Tony Robbins Basket Brigade
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Mojo Life Coaches
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Gainesville Holistic Health Center
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Freddie Mac
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Vienna Moms Group
