The Crosby Crew: Christmas Cheer

Over this past Christmas I met this woman who was new to our ward during a rehearsal for our Christmas program. She briefly explained her story of being a mother to a beautiful daughter and handsome son of which their father had passed away a year ago leaving her with nothing. I only got her name and that she lived close by. A few weeks go by with her constantly on my mind, and I hadn't seen her since that night. We talked to our bishop since we knew she literally had nothing, furniture or anything, and we wanted to go visit her to see what we could do to help and what she needed. After much consideration and thought, Steven and I decided to go visit her and bring her our little futon we have sitting in the other room. That futon has come handy numerous times with friends and family staying over, but we decided that in this case of someone having nothing, we would feel guilty of keeping this luxury and having it just sit there in the other room as months go by with no one visiting, also eventually it will have to go if it is to be filled with a child if we get to that point soon ;)

After visiting this woman and meeting her teenage daughter and 10 month old son, we wanted to still help. That night I sat at home thinking how I could possibly do so? I'm not loaded with money, we're still in school and beginning our careers trying to figure things out. I decided well, maybe friends have some extra items on hand they could also do without. I knew it was a long shot and wasnt expecting the outcome that we got. I posted on my Facebook status asking for help with anything from anyone. I had friends quickly respond that were from both in and out of the state with ideas or saying they had friends who might be able to help. The word got out and within a few days I had numerous emails from people I have never met but were friends of my friends saying they wanted to help and had extra things they wanted to donate. There were families that were going through hard times themselves that wanted to help with the few extra items they had. I couldnt believe it, and to this day I still cant. My garage was full by Christmas Eve. My younger brother who lives in Provo was staying with us for the holiday so the night before Christmas we sat in our living room digging through garbage bags and bins full of clothes,toys, and blankets people had donated and sorted through them. There were about 7 huge boxes of diapers and wipes about a dozen or more huge cans of formula, 3 big cases of toilet paper from costco a brand new carseat! a jumper and so much more! We had so much that we were able to give some things to other families in the area! We finally packed up the car and delivered a christmas surprise that brought tears of happiness to these families. Words cannot express how thankful I am for those who have helped and participated in getting the word out for help. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to serve another family in need. Since then I have felt so foolish catching myself saying,"I want this" or " I wish I had this". I have so much to appreciate. Here are some pictures to show you how much "Christmas cheer" we were able to spread :)