GIVING IS ALWAYS BETTER |
LORI RENN |
Lori Smith Renn was searching for a way to make a difference in the lives of others. She was dealing with some rough patches in her own life and felt she needed to take the focus off her problems. Her solution was to focus on giving a memorable Christmas where it might be needed. Eventually she located a small orphanage in Cat Key in the Bahamas. "The orphanage is called the Brighton house and I learned about it through one of Bob's friends in the Key Rat chat," says Lori. "It took me four months and I eventually got the names, ages and sizes of the children in the orphanage. During that time I collected so many donations that I filled up my whole truck." She then drove it to a cargo company and was actually able to fill a whole pallet. The difficult part of this she said was: "I had to Inventory every single piece and list it on each box." She was thrilled that the supplies made it to their destination the day before Christmas. A letter of thank you soon arrived at Lori's address. She was filled with gratitude that the entire project had been successful and then was overcome with tears of joy when she read the lovely note. "I received the most beautiful thank you letter from the couple that ran the orphanage and they told me they were so overwhelmed by what I sent over that every child was beyond being thrilled." Lori had let her own children know: "your presents were donated to the Orphanage." Perhaps 2013 had been a tough year for Lori Smith Renn. However it did not end on a negative note. She said, "It was one of the best Christmas's ever. I truly think that giving is far better than receiving. I only wish I could have been there to see the faces of all those children, Christmas morning."
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