It’s stories like this — the ones I never knew were even possible — that makes this whole damn thing so worth it.
For those that might be unaware of how things at Friends With Hearts Hamilton works — when all the gifts are wrapped, they are then placed in a room where social workers from Good Shepherd will come in and put together packages for the kids they are responsible for. Those gifts then go to the parents where they can attach gift tags of ‘To ______, Love Mom & Dad/Santa Claus’ or however the parent/guardian sees fit.
Now… two years ago we were told of this story: A social worker who was looking after a senior couple, aka grandma and grandpa, found out that they were tremendously saddened knowing they didn’t have any funds at Christmas to buy their grandkids gifts. So, the social worker was able to take some wrapped gifts from FWH Hamilton and hand them over to this couple where they then attached labels saying “Merry Christmas, Love Grandma and Grandpa”. I was almost in tears when I heard that story. They were now able to provide for their grandkids but it’s what happened last year that actually put me to tears.
The same thing would occur once again but this time with a twist. Not only did a set of grandparents not have any money to put gifts under the tree for their grandkids but they had been avoiding their family Christmas dinner for the last few years because the other set of grandparents would always show up with gifts. The embarrassment they felt caused them to avoid spending time with their family altogether. Incredibly heart-breaking. As much as FWH provides gifts for the kids, we 100% know that it’s more about the love over the holiday season and spending time with those that mean the most to us. So here’s what happened. The social worker found out about this, gathered up some gifts for the grandkids and not only were grandma and grandpa able to provide this year, they also attended the family dinner they had been avoiding for the last few years… and had a great time.
Guys, your donations brought this family back together and I can’t thank you all enough. We did this as a team, we did this as a community, and every single one of you who donated your time and/or money made this happen. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
Here’s to #FWH2019
J
