<p>Its the time of year when at the mall or even the grocery store there are trees with notecards tied onto them from kids or even adults asking for a gift card from Safeway or for a pair of new sport shoes.</p>
<p>I imagine that many of us stop and look at those & may pick one out or not- but I wanted to share my own experience.</p>
<p>about 12 years ago, my husband and I were seperated for over a year, and money was very , very tight, especially at Christmas, and neither of our families were supportive, in fact they were hostile.
It got to the point where I had to register at a food bank, even though most of the time the food seemed spoiled ( I never did figure out the best day to go) and I was too picky to feed it to my girls, I would rather pay the gas ( and the water)bill late.
Because it was the holidays, they also asked me what the girls would like, I didn’t really want to ask for anything, since I knew there were many people much worse off than I was, but I asked for mittens and a hat for each of them, because that was always needed ;).</p>
<p>A few weeks later, some beautifully wrapped presents arrived on my porch, in it were the mittens and hats, but also some gorgeous books that were well loved by each of them.
It really made a huge difference to me then ( and now) that a stranger could care so much that my girls got something nice at xmas & I just wanted to let people know, that although it might seem that you get asked to donate every time you turn around, that what you are able to share, is very much appreciated.
Feliz Navidad :)</p>