We are CHANGING lives ONE donation at a time!

My dearest Mattias...about age 1. Not a chubby boy at all..lol..not like Ben or Sam. He is more like Joe and his Dad. Slim Jims! And when I look at that funny, thoughtful face I fall in LOVE all over again. We all love our kids and fight tooth and nail for them. Go without so they have more. We want them to have a better life than we had...and let me tell ya...they DO! My kids have no worries....no reason to not have a good nights sleep. They are well fed, well educated, well travelled and can play any sport or instrument they want. I was not so lucky...and know what it is like to have dry puffed wheat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Those were different times. There were few food banks and with my parents being home owners did not have access to any services. The same is true today. You can get an emergency this or an emergency that but you have to jump through hoops to do it. If you are working many jobs or have crazy hours that makes it harder.

The Do-Jo Exchange Society is officially official! We got approved by the government and opened a bank account and will soon have a web page! Can you believe it? In just over a month we have given 23 families food hampers...by donation only....been approved as a Society..have a Board of Directors..have a place to keep the inventory..keep track of inventory...including a fridge and a deep freeze. The families we have helped are so GRATEFUL!. When you see the faces of those children how can you not try to help?

Our mandate is helping the working poor but we never say no to anyone with a child. I could care less if you are a crack addict with 6 kids...I'm going to beg and borrow and steal to get your family some food. The kids didn't ask for starvation...they are the innocents in this world and the 79 volunteers in the Do-Jo agree. We are NOT judge and jury. Most of the families we have helped are working, have had an unexpected cost in their budget and needed the top up of food until the next pay cheque. That is our MANDATE. Help those that are working get ahead. BUT...we have had a few that are on welfare and had their own unexpected situations. The kids got to go to sleep with FULL bellies! THAT is what the Do-Jo is about. The children!

Not to say if a single person needed help we would turn them away...on the contrary...we would help that person too...they just would not require the volume of food we do provide for families. The next board meeting is tomorrow night at my home but the general feeling to try and provide TWO WEEKS of food for the families so that they are one pay cheque ahead. And that is what we have done for the most part. 20 of the 23 families we have helped in the last 6 weeks have gone away with all basic staples, meat, cheese, milk, eggs, bread, fresh fruit/veg etc. The complete package required to get ahead. One Mom said she has NEVER had this much food in her house with two kids. Another cried her eyes out at the sheer KINDNESS of people and promised to give when she could. Another had her two year old squeal with delight that he got fruit cups.

It's the little things that count. A simple kindness to donate a few cans by many to create a food hamper to last beyond tomorrow. Our network is AMAZING! The most giving and thoughtful people in this little town in Canada. We are changing lives! One donation at a time. And those that receive can`t wait to give back when they can. They get that to pay it forward is what it is about. And a little kindness today makes it easier to do that. We are a community. A VILLAGE amongst ourselves. In this global world that makes me so happy!

Creating change one step at a time Big Momma LOVE to you all! XO