Over the weekend the girls and I cleaned out the closets and the basement. We found lots of books, games, clothes and toys that were no longer needed but that still had lots of life left in them. "Let's bring these things to the Food Pantry, Mama. This way we can share what we have with people that really need them." suggested Grace. Emma agreed. I'm sure that I don't have to say how much I loved hearing that!
So, yesterday we headed over to the Community Cupboard to do just that. We dropped off three big bags of stuff, along with the doll stroller that now looked teeny tiny as Emma was pushing it on our way in. The ladies at the Cupboard were thrilled to see all the items that we had brought them. In fact, they were so over the moon that they offered the girls a thank-you gift. This was so not something that was on our radar as we have made many donations over the years and this had never been offered before. And I have to admit it through me off a wee bit. Reflecting on this later I couldn't help but feel that we should have graciously declined. "The act of giving should be reward enough" I keep thinking. I wish I had thought of that sooner. Regardless, we accepted their invitation and two craft kits were chosen. A paper doll one (pictured in this post) and a 3D card kit (which I am sure we'll explore very soon).
On our way to the car Emma remarked "that was really kind of them to let us choose these new things, Mama. Can we check them out as soon as we get home?" And that (as you can see) is exactly what we did!
The girls spent close to two hours tracing and cutting and decorating and working together. It was lovely and truly a great reward for their generosity.
I am so proud that the girls have such giving spirits! I love that they never fuss or argue about passing items on that they no longer need or use. I love that they love helping others, always making sure that everyone has enough.
And I just love how grateful they were to be given such sweet tokens of thanks. It was not at all expected though very much appreciated!
I love this post, I am hoping to do this with my girls when the time comes to pass things along,and plan on doing some volunteering. Your girls are so sweet.
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