A Beautiful Donation
About 10 years ago someone gave me a nightgown and robe for Christmas that was (to put it tactfully) not my style. I had arranged to spend the day volunteering at the local soup kitchen so I rewrapped the gift and took it with me. I gave it to the shelter manager and asked her to pass it along to anyone who she thought might appreciate it, just telling her that it was a Christmas gift from her (it seemed more personal than saying that it was a donation). A couple of hours later as I was serving lunch, a very sick looking woman came through line, beaming from ear to ear. She stopped each of the volunteers and showed them the “beautiful” new Christmas gift that she had been given by the shelter manager. Sure enough, she pulled out the gown and robe that I had donated. Apparently she was scheduled for surgery the next day and was absolutely terrified. She related to me that this was the first new article of clothing that she had ever owned. She began crying there in the soup line, explaining that this was the best Christmas ever because someone had cared enough to give her a gift.
Ever since that Christmas, I think about that woman as soon as I wake up on Christmas morning. I feel blessed for the abundance with which I have been graced and humbled by the overwhelming effect that something so simple (donating a nightgown that I didn’t want) can have on another person’s life.
— Katherine
Posted 8 November 2004