It almost didn’t come to be, but thanks to the internet and my many friends who I’ve had the privilege of meeting through it, there are 40 bags being delivered tomorrow morning to the moms who attend a busy babies program in my city!

There are a lot of programs out there for those in need at Christmas time, but all of them (that I’ve found) are focused on the kids. Don’t get me wrong, each kid deserves to open something on Christmas morning, but who helps put a smile on the mom (or dad) doing this all on their own? Who stuffs their stocking? 

After my sister’s abusive marriage ended in 2010, she experienced Christmas alone for the very first time. If it wasn’t for the selfless generosity of her 16 year old daughter, who didn’t want her mom to feel left out, she wouldn’t have had anything to open for herself at all.

There’s a huge difference between, “Oh, I don’t need anything for Christmas” (like we’re doing as a family this year) and “I don’t get anything for Christmas.” For us, it’s a choice.

I wanted to help single moms this year,  they’re just as special as their kids and deserve to have something special to open on Christmas day.

Putting together 40 bags seemed easier than it was proving to be. I was prepared to spend my December baby bonus and then my car broke down… again.  I thought surely my contacts in the brand world would be able to help out, but out of the few dozen I emailed, only a few responded.

A special thank you to Karina from Maple Leaf Foods, Deb from Adult Essentials and Tracey from Today’s Parent! And a special shout-out thank you to TheLoop.ca for letting me keep some of the bags from BlissDom Canada!!

Last week I started feeling blah about it all, thinking I wouldn’t be able to do it, maybe I bit off more than I could chew.

I posted on my personal Facebook wall what was going on and suddenly a #LoveFlashMob happened! Within a few hours I had enough money in my PayPal account to go shopping and friends in town started dropping off items to add to the bags!!  I am overcome with deep gratitude.

Thank you to all who were able to donate or bring things over and especially to those who came over last night to hang out and help stuff the bags. It’s amazing what we can do – when we do it together!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!