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| My Mom even made us all name tags. Charlotte proudly sticks hers on her belly. |
My mom and her husband Lysle had the great idea of hosting a "Family Helping Charlotte" yard sale at their house. They worked hours and hours gathering things from their house and sorting through donations before the big day. We made up a banner and poster, had balloons, and put up signs. My mom made many kinds of cookies and muffins, my nieces made brownies, and we also got donuts to sell. We had hot coffee and tea. We had helpers move furniture and tables for us. Then there were the helpers that day- helping customers, watching the kids, and making it happen!
The day started off cloudy, but as the morning went on, the raindrops started falling. It was chilly and wet, and we had to cover up the tables with tarps. But still, the people kept coming. Once folks learned about Charlotte, they couldn't help but bring something home, and most people gave us more than we asked for. I'd like to share some of my favorite stories from that day.
One man came up to me holding a maraca in his hand, and said, "how much?" I stood there a second, thinking I should just give the old thing away- what would it be worth? Ten cents? Finally I laughed and said, "Whatever you'd like to bring it home for!" He then asked, "Nine?" In my head I'm thinking, nine cents? What? He then hands me nine dollars and walks away. Nine dollars for an old toy maraca?!
My grandmother was helping a lady with a boy who wanted to buy a toy. My grandmother asked for a dollar, and the mother gave her one. Then the little boy held out his five dollar bill to Gram. She told him, "You're all set, your mom just paid for your toy." Then he nodded and said, "I know. This is for Charlotte."
Another young man was looking at our poster that had Charlotte's photo on it which explained that she has serious digestive issues. He asked what she could eat and my grandmother told him meats and green beans. He left, and returned awhile later with three cans of green beans, as well as some things he had at his house that he said he didn't need anymore and we could sell at the yard sale. This guy might have been 20, not much older.
Even though Charlotte can't tolerate green beans anymore, we will keep those green bean cans, as a reminder of his kindness and how God worked in the hearts of people that day to give and care for us. If you come to visit us, Parker might just proudly point out those cans above our kitchen cabinets.
At the end of the day, we still had a ton of stuff left. I had no idea how much money we might have raised, so when Lysle told me I nearly fell over. We raised $940! Praise God! We are so thankful to everyone for helping us with this fund-raiser!
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