The K. Lewis Family

Our family had Michael, Trevor, Rhys, Miranda, and Kat as our names for our Christmas service project. While we didn’t specifically say, “This service project is being done because it’s something ____ would do or like,” we felt that each project was significant in its own way and made a difference in someone’s life, and I am completely open and interested in doing it again in 2015.

Our first project started in the summertime. We made a visit to my mom and found that she and her church had been saving aluminum can pop tops to donate to the Ronald McDonald House for a fundraiser. We felt that this was something we could easily contribute to in our house, but could also take a step further. After my experience staying at the Hope Lodge during my cancer treatment, knowing that we could do something to help those staying at the Ronald McDonald house was a pretty intriguing idea. We began saving tops at home, which took only a little extra effort on our parts. But we didn’t stop there. Austin dug through trash cans at work, and Annah and I made announcements at school events that we attended that the tops needed to be saved; we even told a little about what we were doing. It was fun. By the time we turned them over to my mom to pass on, we’d saved well over 500 tops. We’ve decided to continue to save them and donate to the Ronald McDonald House throughout the year.

Our second project didn’t really start out as a project. We saw a need and acted on it, and it was only later that we realized that it was something that we could and probably should write down as an act of service. I had the opportunity to meet a young man through my substitute teaching that was desperate for attention. Interestingly, he has an aunt that is a member of the church who is bedridden and whose visiting teachers are diligent in visiting her. Through them, he had actually attended church once or twice and recognized me when I substituted in his class. We began a conversation and I found that he was interested in attending Scouts. Since he is older than most kids in his class, he wasn’t eligible for Cub Scouts, but I got him set up to go to Boy Scouts. His home life isn’t very stable, and his father isn’t in his life. He had no ride to Scouts, so we started picking him up every week. It didn’t take long before he asked if he could go to church with us, so we started picking him up on Sundays as well. Things progressed to his coming over for long days and some overnights, and then weekends. We wound up getting another bed so he’d have his own spot in Jonathan’s room when he came over, and since his mom didn’t have the money – or the desire – to get him anything for scouts, we set him up with a uniform, backpack, book, and supplies. He went Trick or Treating with us on Halloween; it was the first time he’d ever been. Sadly, after a while, his mom stopped letting him spend so much time with us, but he still goes to Scouts and church with us every week. He’s expressed a desire to be baptized, but his mom says that he can’t unless he gets and keeps his grades up. It makes me very sad. He really will do anything for attention, will say anything, and that’s scary…..but he is a child in need, and it breaks my heart not to help. I’m grateful to have been put in the position to be there for him.

Another service project that we did came about without planning at all. At the beginning of the year, we started a “change jar.” All of the coins we got, we would throw in a jar and save. We decided that at the end of the year, we would donate it to someone who needed it. I just didn’t expect it to go quite the way it did. One of the ladies that I work with at the afterschool program is in her sixties. She and her husband live in a small travel trailer. She has a daughter who is constantly in trouble with the police, with drugs and alcohol, and everything that goes along with those things. Two months ago, she found out (after not seeing her daughter for several months) that her daughter was in jail, and was about to have a baby – in just days. The daughter was possibly being charged with other crimes and could possibly deliver the baby in custody, which meant that my friend might wind up with the baby. They had no money, no space, and no supplies. Upon finding this out, I was immediately inspired to go home and get our change jar. Annah and I counted it all out, and after finding some extra money in a coat pocket, we were able to give a total of $70 to this sweet lady in need. She did indeed wind up with the baby most of the time; not because her daughter is in jail, but because sadly she just isn’t cut out to be mother material.

The fourth service to others project that we completed was done on Annah’s part. She has long looked up to Melanie’s selfless example of donating her hair to Locks of Love, and Annah decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to do the same. This week, I took her to my hairdresser and she cut more than 10 inches of her beautiful hair and packaged it up for someone else. I am so proud of her  and her grown-up decision.      

Our final project is one that we have been planning all year, and one that we did on Christmas Day last year as well. Camden has a large number of homeless and needy individuals, and after participating in servicing a Christmas Day meal to those in need last year, all of us, including Malew, decided that we definitely wanted to participate again. Last year the meal was served at the Lyttleton Street United Methodist Church, and while it was a great opportunity, I really felt we could have done more. This year, we partiticupated in the meal at the Kershaw County Recreation Department, and it was one that I am really looking forward to doing again next year, and hopefully be involved in the planning part of as well. The look of happiness in my children’s eyes as they dished out beans and cranberry sauce was sheer joy at helping, and the responses to Jacob’s greetings of “Merry Christmas!” as he ran around the room to the different people eating their Christmas meal was overwhelmingly kind and very well received. When we first got there, I wasn’t sure that we were going to be of help, because there seemed to be a lot of volunteers, but I soon realize there was plenty to do and plenty more people to feed. It was a really fantastic time out from the hustle and bustle of presents and Christmas lights and music….it allowed us to get back to the basics of the truest gift of Christmas; the love and kindness of one person to another.

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed our year of service. I haven’t read everyone else’s posts or letters yet, and I intentionally waited til after I was able to post to do so. I’m sure that our acts of service are not as well planned or thought out as others, but nevertheless they are acts of service that were done with good, honest intentions of kindness and hope and love. One final thing that our family did this month was, not as an act of service, but as acts of kindness…..we intentionally did something nice for someone every day in the days leading up to Christmas. It was amazing to see the looks on people’s faces as we took hot chocolate to the trash men, or cookies to the firemen at the fire station, or to see the responses to the uplifting text/email that we sent out some mornings simply telling people that we loved them and how we felt about them. Truly serving others, even in small ways, is living as the Savior, Jesus Christ would have us to do, and I hope to be able to continue this more regularly in my life. 

Merry Christmas family. We love you all!  - Stacy and all of the Austin Lewis family