Pay It Forward

Today we had the neat experience of "Paying It Forward". There was a writing assignment at school and the kids had to write "If I had $1000 I would..." their instructions were that they couldn't spend it on themselves. Whitney wrote about doing something for an orphanage. I haven't gotten to read her paper, but we were contacted that that her writing was chosen and that they were going to "Pay It Forward" to a local Children's Home in Keller. We did an Angel Tree at school with kids from the home. My kids had a blast shopping for the kids. Whitney scoured the tree and found THE one she wanted. The girl asked for "shampoo and conditioner for a girl with blond hair". Whitney said "yep, that is the one that I want". It was such a neat experience. Our school also collected toiletries for the home. There are 40 residents there. The director talked to us and told us about the circumstances which they come from. (ie parents are in jail, parents have died, parents are homeless, parents have made bad choices). It was very eye-opening for the kids. (and for adults too) We had a local barber shop come and do boy haircuts, and a cute girl salon do the girls hair...all FREE! And our kids painted the kids' fingernails and helped them paint Christmas ornaments. The kids were so cute and our kids were so sweet and helpful. Blayne and Whitney even helped sweep the hair off the floor (sweet!) A local news station is doing the story. Whitney didn't get interviewed, but her friend, Farah, did. It is supposed to air on Friday night. I will keep you posted. Here is a slideshow to enjoy: