Getting on Your Path to Purpose

Have you ever had a moment when your purpose came knocking? In 1988 I was a stay-at-home Mom. I had a 2-yr.-old and a 6m-old at the time. Within a few years, we’d have two more. We lived in the suburbs in a home my husband built with his own two hands. He had learned the construction business literally on the job, barely out of high school and he was damn good at it. I am still in awe every time we drive around and look at the hundreds of homes he built all around the community from the ground up.

We loved it. It was a beautiful location in a quiet little horse-town, with the sound of birds all around. We would regularly see wild deer, turkey, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, possums, fox, and coyotes around the house. It was a really peaceful place to raise a family. We were incredibly blessed to live in such a beautiful community and even more blessed that I was able to stay home with the kids.

Until the birth of my kids, I had always worked 2-3 jobs, so being home with babies left me feeling restless. I was always doing something to bring in a little money and feel I was 'contributing' but I had a nagging feeling that there was something more meaningful I should be doing. Don't get me wrong. I loved being home with my kids and know just how incredibly fortunate we were to be able to make that happen, because too many other families don't have that option. And now that my kids are grown, I know how much it meant to them and how much they appreciate it as adults. So there’s that….

Anyway, one day I had what I would call an Epiphany. It literally came out of nowhere. Now, as a spiritual person, I know it didn’t really come from nowhere, but I was with my girls in our living room, playing on the floor when I had the sudden idea that I should start a collection to help the poor. Just like that.

Don't forget, we lived in the suburbs. I wasn't driving past homeless people or soup kitchens on a daily basis. My kids weren't in school yet. I barely knew other families in town and had never done anything like this before. I was literally on the floor playing with my kids when I had a sudden realization that this was something I needed to do.

So I called the Town Hall and asked if I could place some collection boxes there to collect toys. They said yes. I then wrote a tiny notice about what I was collecting and when and sent it off to the local paper. I wasn’t even sure where I was going to take them but I got to work and started anyway. Boxes were put in place and soon they overflowed.

People donated their used toys in droves. I washed them all and delivered them to a homeless Family Shelter in a nearby city. People in town were incredibly generous and the Shelter was incredibly appreciative. The kids and the families were delighted! The social workers looked forward to our deliveries and eagerly helped carry in each load. People who lived around the shelters were also poor, and would often approach us to see if we had any childrens’ clothing or food. We always did.

That first, small collection led to another, and another, and another. I collected clothing, food, toys, housewares, even furniture, delivering it all to grateful families at the Homeless Shelters and housing projects. It wasn't long before local papers, organizations, schools, and churches were reaching out to see how they could help. People offered to volunteer, helping pick up, sort, and deliver donations. The local school adopted one of our families and the kids collected items especially for them. All they knew was there was a family with a little girl and a little boy in the community who were in need and they were excited to help.

Once while delivering Christmas gifts, a woman in her 50’s leaned out a third-floor window to ask if we had any extra toys. We told her we did so she came down. As we loaded her up with toys, she thanked us profusely and told us this would be the first time her grandchildren had ever received a Christmas gift. On another occasion, just dropping off a load of donations at the main shelter, a woman and her son were on the sidewalk in front. The boy was around 11 or 12 years old. We started chatting a little as we unloaded the donations and his mom told us they had a fire at their previous home and had just arrived at the shelter. We offered her a bunch of clothes for her son which she gratefully accepted. She then turned to him and said, “See? People DO care.”

It didn’t take long before donations started coming to us. Bags and boxes would show up every day. At one point the entire third bay of our garage was filled with donations, literally 6-feet deep! We delivered most items directly to the shelters or the families that needed them on a regular basis. But there would be times when a family reached out for help and we didn’t have the items they needed anymore. We would have to put out a new call for items they needed. Not a big deal…someone always came through for us, but if the need was urgent, the family would have to wait.

We contacted a local storage company that agreed to donate a unit where we could keep some items on hand for families that needed them. We kept a unit stocked with donated sheets and towels, household items like pots, pans, and dishes, new socks, underwear, pajamas, school supplies, small furniture items, and more to help families once they found permanent housing or when we needed additional gifts for the holidays. When the owner of that facility was no longer able to donate the space, another quickly stepped up to help and the donations kept pouring in.

Local churches and organizations started referring families in need to us to help with their specific needs; back to school clothes, supplies, food, housewares, even help with utility bills… and we helped them all. It wasn't long before we started getting referrals for families in surrounding towns from other agencies, eventually serving thousands of children and families in 7 different cities for 30+ years. There are social service agencies that offer a wide variety of resources, but most required a lengthy application process or waiting period before they could receive help. We had no red tape. If a family had no food, we brought food. Done.

The list of people we helped serve soon included the elderly and sick; helping with grocery shopping, errands, cleaning, and even small home repairs. A local Boy Scout troop volunteered to clean up a senior’s yard. The local Senior Center would refer shut-ins that needed help or seniors that just needed a friendly visitor. We had people that WANTED to help. All they needed was the conduit. I was that conduit.

Each Christmas we would gather the names, ages, and wishes of all the kids in the shelters and families that had been referred to us, and we’d match them with volunteers who would shop for that child. Employees from Bic joined forces and became our Holiday partners, helping make the holidays special for families going through trying times. Year after year, many of these generous donors would choose the same child or family to follow them on their journey, especially the children with disabilities, who held a very special place in their hearts. Donors were especially generous, reaching out to us months in advance to find out if the list was ready! They couldn’t wait to do their shopping and bring some holiday joy to the families at the shelters and those throughout the surrounding communities.

But they didn’t stop at just buying the gifts on each child’s list. They would hold collections of household items, clothing, extra toys, gift cards, and small, generic gifts to add to the list. In total, donations would pour in for up to 225 kids and their families for each holiday. The company would contribute boxes of new Bic products that we were able to share with the families and the shelters every year, giving us lots of free goodies to round out the gifts with.

We would make baskets of special treats for each family; things like holiday cookies, ornaments, lights, and decorations that their budgets didn’t allow to help make their holiday a little less bleak. Volunteers lined up to help assemble baskets and wrap extra gifts that had been donated to be given to the children who moved in just before the holidays. We would play Christmas songs and have wrapping parties while laughing over hot cocoa and cookies. Our Jewish friends and neighbors looked forward to participating in the festivities.

Over the years we helped thousands of families and delivered millions of dollars of in-kind donations, all with a volunteer staff. But anyone who’s done volunteer work in the past knows you get more from the giving. Even though trying to pull it all off every year was stressful and a logistical nightmare, we couldn’t stop. Helping others is addictive.

When our family moved south, I left my volunteer work behind. But the desire to help others didn’t go away. The idea of running another all-consuming non-profit wasn’t exactly on my husband’s wish list and as much as I loved helping people, one on one, I wasn’t ready to start a whole new organization in a new state.

So I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if I could help OTHER people help other people? I knew I couldn’t be the only one who wanted to make a big difference in the world. I knew from my non-profit work that there were people clamoring to do more soul-satisfying, meaningful work above and beyond their day jobs. What if I taught other business owners how they could use their success to help in a bigger way? What if I became a conduit to THOSE people who were looking for a way to serve their PURPOSE? Think of how much good we could put out in the world!

Are you following me? If you read this far, you know what I’m talking about. You have a bigger vision. You know you have a calling…a purpose…something you are here to do. You have a cause that you’re really passionate about….one that’s near and dear to your heart. You have gifts to share, lessons to teach, a message that you KNOW can help others! And MY mission, my PURPOSE is to help you do it!

Know how I know? Because I've done it and so can you! If you need help fleshing out a plan, clarifying your idea, or just looking for some feedback, comment here and/or DM me!