It’s traditional for school children to write an essay about their holiday activities. And since I am a teacher, tradition dictates that I do something of the sort. However, I can’t assign homework to anyone else, so I’ll do it myself.
We met a woman named LaToya. She came in through a card handed out in Columbia, SC by one of our volunteers. I mentioned her in our last blog briefly, but I want to talk more about LaToya and her story. LaToya did not come to us for herself. Instead, she came to us for her 10-year-old son. She had been laid off from her previous job, was living in a shelter, had been denied food stamps and wasn’t receiving unemployment yet, so Santa wasn’t going to be able to bring her child anything.
LaToya was homeless, had no income, not even food stamps, but didn’t come to us for herself. She came asking for presents for her child. How could we turn her away? He wanted Legos and art supplies. So he could create comic books, LaToya said. And she really wanted to give him something. She told us he is a straight A student. So we got some things together and were able to send her the gifts. We were able to get them to her on the 23rd, just in time for Christmas.
But that’s not all to LaToya’s story. She sent us another text on New Year’s Eve. She had a job interview on New Year’s Day and told us she needed a ride. Again, how could we turn her down? We went online and got her a Lyft gift card, enough to get to her interview and back. And at 2:30 in the afternoon on New Year’s Day, she sent us a text saying she got the job!
These are the stories that we can make happen at $O$, but in truth, almost anyone could have. We spent less than $100 dollars on LaToya to give her a Christmas she will never forget, and enable her to help herself. All it took was a bit of money and human kindness. It could have been you. We just happened to be the people who were standing in the right place at the right time.
If you want to make stories like LaToya’s possible, you can help us by going to http://www.s0s.app/donate, or you can look for the little opportunities to make a big difference. It doesn’t take much to change a life.
