How Marilyn was Moved to Start a Movement to Help Others
It touched my heart when I saw an elderly lady at a local grocery store put her bread, milk, eggs and a few other food items on the checkout belt. She asked the cashier to check the prices of the next few items so she would have a subtotal cost before paying. Those items included a bar of soap, a bottle of shampoo, dish washing liquid and a small assortment of other things I can’t remember offhand.
As the clerk would scan an item and tell her the new total, the lady would say, “No, I’ll have to put that back” and the cashier would put it behind her register. This went on for the next few items. I began to realize what was happening. The little lady just kind of laughed it off as to say, “That was just extra, I will get that next time”.
Something from deep inside me spoke and said “you have a laundry room full of ‘extra’ items she and others like her could use”. We take so much for granted and there are some who consider it a luxury just to be able to buy basic household necessities.
As I paid for the “extra” items that I already had so many of at home, I realized I had to do something to help those who can’t afford them for themselves, so I bought some bright green laundry baskets and went searching for those with a need for the “extras”. I found some right off the bat with the help of a good friend named SaDonna, and I’ll never forget the looks on the people’s faces when I dropped off a basket at their home.
I mentioned my new mission on Facebook and the positive response from my friends was overwhelming. Many of them asked what they could do to help, so I created a Facebook fan page for Laundry Baskets Full of Love to give me a place to spread the word and report on the lives that have been affected.
Since then, I’ve had so many people contact me to donate items and food that I registered LBFOL as a non-profit organization with the Missouri Secretary of State so the contributions would be tax-deductable. Now the shelves in my garage are steadily filling up with supplies. With the help of friends, I learn about people who are in need, and fill up laundry baskets for them.
If you would like to help in this effort to help out people who are genuinely in need of the things that you and I take for granted, please visit our page called How Can I Help?