Most of you have heard this story before from the Church Celebration or from Linda's food pantry stories. But like the Gospels, each one has their own story to tell!
Linda Hardin brought a little family over to the Clothes Closet from the food pantry. I happened to be there sorting clothes, and was so happy to have a great supply of childrens clothes to help him with. The dad was loving, and kind. His little girls, one 5 months, and one 4 years, were dressed in his big t-shirts. It was cold and windy outside, and the shirts hung off their tiny shoulders. He mentioned that the girls had been sick with a stomach bug, and they couldn't do laundry right now, and everything was dirty. (Later, Garth mentioned to me that it looked like they were living in their truck) Linda and I were able to find quite a few clothes in the right sizes for them. And each child left with a bag of clothes. The dad was able to find a nice jacket, that was all he asked for. I asked if it would be ok to dress them before they left, and he said that would be just fine. The five month old left in a cute onesie and pink jacket. She never stopped smileing the whole time. The four year old, who was talkative, sweet, and polite, left in an adorable tie-dyed long sleeve shirt and pull on pants. We happened to have a lot of toys in there that day, and the dad said the little girl could pick one toy. She first started asking about the toys that required batteries. The dad said that she would need to pick something that didn't need batteries. (I'm sure buying batteries was not an option for him) Instead of choosing a stuffed animal or doll, she chose a gold plastic bear on a black string necklace. I thought a lot about her choice that day, because we had lots of cute, fluffy animals and beanie babies, some even new. I thought about how she was living, and realized that the bear necklace was something that she could have on all the time that would be hers, it wouldn't get dirty and thrown away, or take up much room. Before they left, I asked if he needed diapers, and his eyes literally lit up! "Yes, please that would be great, he said". We also had a few cans of formula that Diane Newhouse had brought over from the food pantry. He looked through them and said we didn't have the right one. So he left, but came back a few minutes later, after talking to his wife in the car, and he chose a large can of formula, and said "this isn't quite the right one, but it's better than water all day".
Your donations of clothing help people in big ways! We are low on childrens clothes again. Please consider cleaning out your kids closets of clothes they have outgrown!
