The Gift of Giving

Dan

Thank you for allowing me to participate in your wonderful idea of The Gift of Giving. The gift supported a cause that is near to the hearts of some friends of mine called Love in a Box. The program runs through Clebe and Diana McClary, who have a ministry focused on helping soldiers returning from combat maintain and rebuild their marriages, which is a major issue for veterans of combat who return with a traumatic injury. Clebe was severely wounded in Vietnam and has since inspired many with his Christian faith and journey.

One of the ministries the McClary’s also organize annually is Love in a Box. Love in A Box provides a Christmas box of goodies to soldiers across the world who would not likely receive anything for Christmas. Many of these soldiers may not even be able to tell their family where they are and, therefore, struggle to get any gifts or have any sense of Christmas. Love in a Box takes boxes, packed full of gifts and other items the soldiers need, and sends them to soldiers around the world so they can open a Christmas gift. We had the opportunity to pack up 29 boxes this year, full of toothpaste, socks, footballs, snacks, magazines, puzzles, deodorant, cards and Christmas greetings, and a variety of other items. Once packed, the boxes need to be shipped to the Love in a Box organization, where they will then ship them to the soldiers in combat around the world. Each box costs about $20 to ship, which is where Lake Norman Smiles comes into the giving. The Gift of Giving was used to ship one of the boxes to a soldier serving our country in combat. It will allow that soldier to receive a Christmas gift this year.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to participate in the LKN Smiles Gift of Giving project. It is a wonderful idea, and I wanted to share enough information to let you know how the gift was used and the blessing it will create.

God Bless and Merry Christmas.

Jeff

My wife and I annually focus our holiday contributions to organizations supporting those less fortunate than we are. While I had thought about how I would use your gift of giving, I did not want to just include it as part of our giving to organizations we support.

Shortly before Christmas, my wife and I went out to dinner, and on our way into the restaurant, we passed by an older gentleman confined to a wheelchair who required the use of an oxygen bottle to breathe. Given his condition, we were amazed at how friendly and upbeat he was. It was then I turned around and matched your Gift of Giving. I walked back to him and wished him Merry Christmas and handed him his gift. He looked up at me and with a very somber expression and said God Bless You. It was very rewarding to be able to help a complete stranger make his life a little brighter.

Thank you for giving me the incentive to get personally involved.

Peter and Kathie

Hope everyone’s Christmas season was filled with wonderful memories and delicious treats.

Dr. Drouin should have received a special card from Gideons International that acknowledged a monetary gift was made in his honor this Christmas season. This donation was done in response to the Gift of Giving card Peter received last month at your office. This gift enabled the purchase of
bibles that would be distributed throughout foreign countries around the world. We believe that the sharing of God’s Word would lead to people being blessed.

We thought that this idea was wonderful for it truly is more blessed to give than to receive.
Thank you for reminding us of this beautiful truth.

Donna

I gave your envelope to someone that had an unusual accident. Her car slid off of the road during bad weather, and when she went back the next day to see if she could remove it from the ditch, she found it turned upside down. It was totaled! She had been the victim of a hit and run. She was in need of a car and really feeling the stress of the situation.

I had only met her briefly a few months earlier, and when I shared your gift, that opened up the opportunity for me to be a witness to her.

I think your envelope was a wonderful way to share what God has blessed you with! Thank you for sharing your blessings with me so I could pay it forward!

Anonymous

Thanks for the opportunity to share in the Gift of Giving. I must admit, when my husband came home and shared it with me, I thought, “Great, one more thing to try and fit into this busy week.” Then the opportunity fell into our laps (as those things usually do). Our daughter’s best friend had moved away just before school started due to a nasty divorce. Visits back here with her father never go well, and she was coming to town on Christmas Eve. She and her brothers were nervous about the visit with their dad, so my daughter decided she would take them to lunch before they went to see their dad. She was trying to figure out how she would pay for her friends and herself when we remembered the “Gift of Giving” money in the envelope.
As is always the case, the Lord intervened and made this Christmas Eve a little sunnier for these kids.

We are so thankful for you all! Keep up the great work of blessing people beyond your office.

Dylan

I wanted to thank you guys for the money and helping people with the gift of giving to others!
I used the money to get a gift card for my grandparents for Olive Garden.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Iris

Hello, and I pray everything is well. We gave the cash envelope away Wednesday night after church. There is a lady in our church that is on disability in her mid- to late-fifties that is raising her 11-year-old granddaughter and cares for her autistic son. We gave her the envelope and added enough so she could buy Christmas for her family. She was so thrilled, and she cried and said thank you so much. She is a godly woman and depends on the Lord for everything she needs. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

Thank you for having such a generous spirit.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and to you staff.

Greta

My dad came home from your office with a little envelope: The Gift of Giving. We decided to give the money to Save the Children to buy a rabbit, and we added some more money to buy a goat. This donation benefits people who need milk and a pet to help the kids who need more support in their
life.

Happy Holidays

Amanda

Hi! Merry Christmas! I wanted to let you know that the kids and I blessed someone tonight with the money given by your office. This was such a great idea, and I have been so excited about it. I told the kids about it that evening after my appointment and got them on board too. For weeks, we have carried the money around everywhere we went, and the kids have been praying every night that it would bless someone. Tonight, we ran into Shiki to pick up dinner, and as we were walking out, a couple walked in. He was an elderly gentleman wearing a Vietnam Vet hat, and I’m not sure if it was his wife or daughter with him, but they tugged at my heart. We waited on them to order their drinks and went over. We started by thanking the gentleman for his service then went on to explain how I was given this money to bless someone, and we wanted to bless them. The lady cried and hugged me. It was such a wonderful experience for everyone, one I’m sure we will never forget. Thank you for being so thoughtful and generous, and especially for allowing your patients to be part of this blessing!

Love you guys!