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Ask for help...you just might get it
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A Crenshaw High school student that had won a scholarship to the Oxford Tradition 2009 program didn't have the airfare needed to get there. After an article in the LA Times and a fundraiser, she's going to Oxford.
An LA blogger lost her 17-month-old daughter, Maddie. Bloggers across the world added the March of Dimes button to their sites. The family's goal had been $3,000. Over $34,000 has been raised in Maddie's name.
One does not have to a blogger or star student in order to ask for and receive help.
When I first moved back to LA after leaving my husband, I had nothing. He'd wiped out my checking account, I had no car, and lived with my parents. After I got a job, and saved enough money, I was ready to move the girls and I into our apartment. But I had no household items. No furniture, no kitchen utensils.
After some prodding from my co-workers, I emailed everyone I knew in the company, and asked for help. Suddenly, I had all the kitchenware I needed, I had a bed for myself, and end tables and practically everything to make a home for me and my girls. Most of these things people had in their homes and no longer needed. They were happy to give them to someone who did. My department adopted my family for Christmas that year. We received grocery gift cards, and Target gift cards to complete our home. Since then, other needs have come up, and have also been met. Once, I received an envelope from an anonymous giver with $100 cash.
It was not easy for me to ask, and I only accepted it all because it was the only way at the time. I do not receive the child support I'm due from the girls' dad. Still, I felt a responsibility to care for these girls on my own.
And then I realized, I am. These gifts were given because people wanted to do what they could to help. Most of them are working parents, and know that it's not easy, even in the best of circumstances. So they offered what they could.
I have a friend who needed help getting through her birthday. Single moms don't always get their birthdays (or Mother's Day) acknowledged. It's silly to pay for your own brunch, and there may not be anyone else around to help the kids shop for presents. Her friends knew that she was feeling down, and so we all reached out and did what we could, sending e-cards and passing on gift cards, and writing emails to let her know that she was indeed appreciated and should be celebrated.
Single parents, reach out and let people know you need help. Friends and loved ones of single parents, just a simple email or phone call to acknowledge a single parent's birthday or Mother's/Father's Day actually can make all the difference.
We human beings can be pretty amazing sometimes.
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