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| 2019 startin off great |
For the last year it has been a blessing to volunteer at Kari's Heart Foundation with Jennifer Schoondyke, a woman that I greatly admire. She is funny,. Actually a better description of her is hilarious; a woman who heart is more compassionate than any other I have known! And she also gets this 'thing' about me...she knows what it is like to live through the tragedy of a child that has died. Jennifer and her husband and two grown kids are the driving force of Kari's Heart Foundation since it's inception in 2009 . See more about Kari's Heart Foundation. Read Kari's Story, and tell me what an amazing group they are!! Their foundation helps families of hospitalized children. What Jennifer does as director of KHF is no walk in the park. Yet there are days you'll find her skipping all over the place when she hears of a good report about a kiddo and their family that KHF has helped.
Why do their do what they do? I think Dr. Schoondyke said it best when he said these people are my neighbors, and they are your neighbors. The tag line of KHF is "Inspired by one to benefit many" and you can ask any family that has received assistance from KHF what it means to them, and they are almost at a loss for words. Yet they find a way to convey how truly grateful they are to KHF.
So since I was going alone to this Gala on New Year's Eve 2018 I finally told myself, that I came last year in 2017 and had a good time with several friends from a Bible study for Mom's who had lost a child. We all sat together at a table and laughed and had a wonderful time.This year I was fortunate to sit some friends that I get to rarely see, the Gilcrest's and Deanna Gragg and her husband, Rob. So when I had a chance I went out to my car to get some money to buy a 50:50 raffle tickets (50% of total ticket sales goes to KHF ad the other 50% to the ticket holder--but you had to be present to win.) One ticket was $10. When I went out to the car I had some cash from Christmas gifts in the amounts of $9 and $100 . So I thought... my odds of winning this raffle only get better with more tickets, and after all, it was for a great cause! So I took my $100 that was gifted to me, and gifted it fKHF for 12 tickets for a $100 donation.
So midnight came and went and as I stood there waiting for them to possibly draw a ticket with my name on it first and collect half of around $3800, I prayed and asked God to show me that 2019 was going to be a good year for me--cause I felt I could use a year better than 2018 for many reasons.
There's one tradition I learned about last year... it is that the recipient of the 50/50 raffle typically gifts thier winnings back to Kari's Heart Foundation. So I thought "That is cool, I want to continue that!" I don't need extra money to get a blessing from winning, but I really could get a fantastic blessing from giving back something that got multiplied 17 times.
Now I must admit I have never won too many things, especially not cash, but I felt like surely one of my 12 tickets would be pulled. Well the first ticket was pulled, and they called a lady's name but she was not there.....so they called another name, this time a man's, but he wasn't present either. And then MY name was called, and they made me come all the way up front where I celebrated with Jennifer and was able to continue the tradition of giving all of the winner's 50% back to KHF!
It kind of feels great to keep the tradition alive. The theme of his year's gala was "A Midnight in Paris"...so who knows??? Maybe a trip to Paris is in the 2019 picture. IF it happens I will be sure to let you know!!
Jennifer, how does that sound for an adventure?
Now I've got to finish that sweet tea and hit the sack! Happy New Year Everyone!!!!
Judy 1/1/2019
