Thank You from the Bottom of my Heart

12/19/2011

One of my absolute favorite passages in all of scripture is Matthew 25:31-40.
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

About two weeks ago, I asked your help in covering the cost of food for a meal at Ronald McDonald House.  I had no idea that my readers would come through so incredibly generously.  Because you were a part of this special night, I'd like to recognize you by name.

A big thanks to:
  • Eddie & Paula Petmecky
  • Kitty Petmecky
  • Kristen Horton
  • Anonymous
  • Roy Bassett
  • The Rieckhoff Family
  • Katie Kim
  • Matt Musselman
  • Steve Miles
  • Meredith Bray
  • "AJ"
  • The Koller Family
  • Steve Moss
  • Matt Bumstead and United Supermarkets
  • Chad and Heather Henthorn
  • Clay and Marcy Erwin
All of you made this possible.  Eddie texted me less than 20 minutes after I posted my appeal, and brought me a check that same night.  His brother Erik, who was a friend to all, passed away earlier this year, and Eddie shared with me that he was doing this to honor Erik's legacy.  That meant a lot to me.  God bless you, Petmecky family.

United Supermarkets already donates a great deal to food ministries, especially this time of year, but when I asked Matt if he could help me, he gave me a very generous gift card to use in their stores.

I know that for each of you, there was something else you could have spent this money on, or one more present you could have put under the tree with it, so thank you for choosing to help me.  All of you fed a stranger today; all of you looked after "the least of these my brethren."  God bless you, and thank you so much.

Thank you, too, to Rudy's BBQ.  As I mentioned in the post where I talk about the meal, Rudy's not only smoked our briskets, they did it for free when I told them it was for Ronald McDonald House.  If you are going out to eat sometime over the holidays, perhaps you'd consider giving some support back to Rudy's?  And if you happen to see a manager named Mr. Anthony Davis, would you please shake his hand, tell him that you heard about how he helped, and let him know that it was noticed?

Thank you to my mom.  She not only made the single largest batch of macaroni salad she's ever made, she was also responsible for donating dessert.  Each year, Meals on Wheels has a fundraiser where they give you a coupon for a free frozen pie from United with a $5 donation.  Each year, she gets like 40 and puts them in Christmas cards.  This year, she gave me enough of them to make sure that everybody at Ronald McDonald House got to have a piece of pie after dinner tonight.

Now, as promised, here is a summary of the donations and expenses.  I'll scan in the receipts tomorrow so that I can post them here.  For items where there was extra leftover (spices, foil, Ziploc bags, etc.) the extra portion was given to the House to put in their pantry.

DONATIONS THROUGH CASH, CHECK, & PAYPAL     $420.00
DONATION OF UNITED SUPERMARKETS GIFT CARD     $100.00
TOTAL DONATIONS     $520.00

MARKET STREET      $19.16
MARKET STREET    $153.11
SAM'S CLUB      $97.91
RUDY'S BBQ (sauce)      $34.00
PAYPAL TRANSFER FEES       $5.00
TOTAL EXPENSES    $304.18

That left me with a difference of $215.82, which I added a few dollars of my own to, and donated a check for $220 to Ronald McDonald House tonight.  We not only fed them a great meal, but had enough left over to donate $220!

Thank you, everybody, for your support, even if it was through kind words and prayer.  This was a proud night for me and for you.

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