My sister sells Gold Canyon Candles. She has for a long time now. Gold Canyon supports The Prayer Child Foundation, which help children with medical costs and/or necessities. David was a recipient of theirs back in 2008 when we got his sleep safe bed. Mandy and I had recently been discussing my hopes to one day get David a push chair (a lightweight stroller designed for handicapped children). His wheelchair is very difficult to lift in and out of the van. We do not have a lift van or a ramp to get David's wheelchair into the car. David still rides in an adolescent car seat, which I believe is the safest way to transport him at this point. Which means we lift David into the van and then the wheelchair gets hefted into the back. Anyway, Christmas morning, David had a special gift under the tree from The Prayer Child Foundation. Mandy had nominated him for assistance towards a push chair and they blessed us with a $750 check. The chairs that I've looked at cost anywhere between $2500-$4000, so this was a wonderful start to a push chair fund for him!
After Christmas, Mandy still wanted to help us raise more funds. She decided to host a candle party and give David 100% of her commission to put into his fund. Her goal was to have enough sales to get us another $250. We both posted the event on Facebook and had several people order online. My friends, who don't always have a lot of extra to give, rallied behind us by sharing the link time after time or getting their family members to place orders. I had someone from high school send me a check for $100 (which had me in absolute tears of appreciation and joy). Another friend ordered candles and wrote her check over and told me to keep the difference. I was overwhelmed.
I posted yesterday that it was the last day to place an order, and then had another surplus of orders and sharing the link again. I learned a lot about the people that I have met in our small community. They really supported us in this. My heart was warmed and it made me joyful.
My friend has an organization set up in her daughter's honor (who suffers from a rare, terminal brain disease called Batten's Disease) called Mabel's Able. She texted me yesterday to let me know that Mabel's Able would like to match the commission earned by my sister's candle sales. I cried. It's been an emotional whirlwind of a week. Please go on Facebook and learn more about Mabel and children with other rare or unknown disease. You can look them up under Mabel's Able. Please like their page to support all of these kids.
PS-We surpassed our goal by over $200. And that does not include the donations that came in :)