Send Michael to Michigan

And yet again...I love my company and how we all come together as a department.  This just might have topped Christmas, with being the most rewarding and amazing day.

I have a co-worker, Michael, who has a brother in Michigan that has a brain tumor and is going through some really hard times right now.  Since we are a CareMore family, Michael will every so often send us updates on his brother and ask us to keep his family in our thoughts and prayers.  Michael is someone in the department that everyone knows and loves.

Christa and I were talking about Michael and how we wished there was something we could do for him and/or his family.  Christa came up with the brilliant idea to send Michael to Michigan to see his brother.  Right then Christa and I sat down and wrote out an email to send out to the department.  We wanted to surprise Michael with this gift so we made sure the department kept it a secret.

After two weeks of collecting money, we raised $840 for the "Send Michael to Michigan Fund." I love themed baskets so we spent some money to put one together and then had an envelope of $790 in cash for him for his plane ticket and other travel expenses. 

Below are pictures that tell the story of us giving Michael the basket and money.  There was not one dry eye from anyone that was around and watching what was going on. 

Walking up and telling Michael not to take a call.  He knew
something was going on when we walked up and then
all of a sudden there was a crowd around his desk

I'm explaining what we did and showing him the envelope that
had $790 cash in it

His reaction

Michael giving hugs and thanks.  I had kept it together until
this point. No one in our department deserves this more than Michael

There was not one dry eye around.

Michael sent out an email yesterday letting us know that him and his girlfriend are flying to Michigan this weekend to surprise his brother. I'm so excited for him and I can't wait to hear how his trip went

Preview Of My 8 Night Cruise

Just to get you a little excited about the post to come.  I pretty much had a rough life for a week traveling through the Eastern Caribbean.  :) I got to dance on chairs and tables, spend every day in the sun, dance until my heart was content, go on excursions with such amazing people, and  laugh until my abs hurt.  This was one of my favorite vacations I've ever had!

Secret Santa

I wrote this post back in December and somehow it got erased.  This post isn't as well written and doesn't have as many details, but at least I have it to look back on.

I know I've said this before and I'm sure I will say it again many more times, but I work for such an amazing company!! They truly do CareMore :)

 My department got an email sent to us about a mother and her two 2 autistic boys (ages 3 and 7) who had recently lost their home.  The email was sent from the principal of the school where the mother worked, and the boys attended school. "We have a family here at school that has been severely impacted by the economic situation for a while now. The mom is an aide that works in our school and she has two children, both of which attend our program. They lost their living arrangements quite a while ago and the mom has moved everyone into a local motel that she pays day to day. They are all living in one room and she is doing the best she can to keep a roof over their heads. She chose a motel close to school so they could walk over in the morning to save gas money. She only has a microwave so preparing food is a problem on a daily basis. They were recently taking their clothing to get washed and the bags were in the back of the truck. They stopped at a food store to pick up a few things and when they returned the bags were gone.  In spite of everything she comes to work with her children, drops them off and then works as a 1-1 aide for one of our most severely impacted young ladies with patience, warmth and persistence. Thank you for considering this family".

After getting this email my department was asked if they were in a place to help donate, we were going to try to stock an apartment, that the VP had already paid the rent and all utilities for a year.  We needed beds, food, clothing, furnishings, and Christmas gifts for the family. This is where I came in...I was told that I was in charge of this project that ended up being the most rewarding project I've ever been a part of. After we got the keys to the apartment it was my job to take inventory of what had been donated, figure out what we needed, do shopping for things we still needed, and then head to the apartment to furnish it. 

After many days of furnishing the apartment, shopping, more shopping and yet again, more shopping I was exhausted, but so excited to hand the keys over to the new family. I'm so glad that I was able to work with so many amazing people during this project and be able to make someone's life better.

Mom's room.  Her closet was fulll of clothes, purses, shoes, and
Christmas presents for her

Bathroom.  Stocked with toilet paper, toothpaste,
toothbrushes, soap, shampoo and conditioner to last them
a long time!

Boys room. Their closet was also full of clothes and toys

A full fridge right after I went grocery shopping

All of this food was donated from the department.
This was just one cupboard of many that were full.
We filled the whole entire kitchen

A sign a made for the family to come home to.  On each letter
everyone from the department had written welcome home notes
and words of encouragment

A few of us who had worked on the apt together with the family
right before I handed them the keys to their new home.