by school counselors and social workers.

these families meet with volunteer shoppers

to help with the process.

all of the money raised

goes directly to purchasing clothing,

with no administrative costs

subtracted from the donations.

i am one of the volunteers who take the families shopping

and never fail to be amazed by the people i meet.

on my shopping trip this year

i met a single mother whose husband had died

raising sons, 12 and 16

supporting them by working at mcdonald’s,

her oldest son works at taco bell

 she’s had a rough time of things lately

extra money has been harder to come by

both sons are in school, play football, and do chores at home.

when i asked how she was able to do it all

she told me, “life goes up and down. you just do what you have to do.”

 after we shopped for her sons’ winter clothing

we made our way to the register.

 just ahead of us in line

 another family was checking out

who were also program recipients.

after being rung up, it was discovered

that they had gone just a bit over their allotted budget

and were going to have to put something back.

immediately

the mother i had shopped with

reached into her purse

and gave them the $1.89 they needed.

what an incredibly generous act of compassion

from someone who had so little herself

as she helped someone else to warm their children

when we checked out and went to leave

she hugged me and said,

“thank you so much, i always pay it forward.”