Back to School 2012

Helping those that can’t help themselves….isn’t that what giving and spreading joy is truly all about?

Y O U are awesome at just that.

Y O U were instrumental in giving away 251 backpacks over the course of 3 weekends to children that may grow up to become Pastors, Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Nurses, Business Owners,  etc.

They would have gladly ran up and hugged you and said thanked you personally, (well, the shy one’s would have quietly whispered thank you while looking down at their feet…but know that their hearts were soaring) but they couldn’t, so I’m using my voice to thank you!

The laughter, giggles and listening to them exclaim with delight as they picked out their favorite color was great fun!

Because of your heart, your giving spirit and your willingness to do what you can, where you are with what you have; these children went back to school with a huge smile on their face and joy in their hearts.

Here are the items we included in each bad for the kids: 

• 3 Spiral Notebooks
• 1 package of loose leaf paper
• 1 Package of pens
• 1 package of pencils
• 1 box of crayons
• 1 package of colored pencils
• 1 bottle of glue
• 1 glue stick
• 1 highlighter
• 1 eraser
• 1 pocket folder
• 1 pack of snack crackers
• and ONE Package of Reese's Cups!

Thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough, but it comes wrapped with great love and gratitude!

Thank you to those who had a desire to give big, but finances didn’t allow them to, so they used their voice!

Thank you to all those who gave financial gifts so that we could go out and purchase the items needed to help get their school year off to an amazing start!

Thank you to the volunteers for making this event go as smoothly as it did!

Thank you to New Grace Baptist Church for allowing us to host the main event at your fellowship hall.

Thank you to those who went shopping with me and for me, when I had went to every store within an hour’s drive and still came up short for what we needed.

Thank you to Pastor Williams and Pastor Paul for your part in sponsoring this event and partnering with us to bring hope and joy to these kids!

Thank YOU – without YOU, we wouldn't be helping the shy kid that quietly asked for purple or the excited kid that loudly proclaimed he wanted green and all the other kids in between that shared ideas on how THEY can make a difference too! Also, without YOU  there would be more mom’s in tears, wondering what they are going to give up so that they can simply get the basic supplies for yet another year of school.  

Thank you for helping 251 less moms shed those kinds of tears this year!

Y O U are awesome at spreading JOY!

 Thank YOU

Demonstrating the Love Of God

Pastor Michael Harrison of The Community Fellowship in Collinsville VA invited me to come and see what was happening in their community for Back2School 2011. I was honored with the invitation and decided to make the trip to see what was going on in his corner of the world. What I saw and experienced was nothing short of amazing.

The entire event was very well laid out, from beginning to end. People came at their designated times, signed in and went to the story area. They were told about Christ and about washing feet/serving and how we show love for each other by serving and helping. The next station was where all the children received free haircuts if they choose to. People from his church, community and others that wanted to help make the day special volunteered to cut hair. Even though it meant standing much of the day, these volunteers were very professional, giving these children great cuts to start their school year off with.

Then the children moved on to received their new shoes and a pair of socks. I had the honor of working in this area. There were about 25 chairs set up for the kids to sit in and we (the workers) sat on the floor in front of them. We removed their shoes, sock and told our runner what size we needed. As we washed their feet, we chatted about what they wanted to be when they grew up and anything else that came up. 3 of the children that I served were enjoying their birthday that day.

I'd LOOOOVE to have a pair of these!!

The best part was when the new shoes came out and their eyes would light up. From girly pink converse, to sky blue and then the one’s that had hope, JOY and love on them. Some of the shoes lit up, some had Speed Racer and the Mach 5 on them, but ALL of them brought mile wide smiles from the kids as well as the parents and grandparents. I was blessed to be able to pray with each and every child that I served. Talk about an honor. Several of the children gave me the biggest hugs and thanked me before leaving. I smiled and said you are welcome and invited them to come and be part of this awesome church, knowing I was just a visitor for a day and that the thanks belonged to a church with a huge heart for others.

They left that area and went on to receive 5 articles of clothes. This clothing area was nothing like I’ve ever seen. They looked neatly pressed. I had the chance to speak with Nancy, who heads up the clothing closet and she told me that 25 precious ladies help keep it neat and in order by volunteering their time each week.

Once the kids received their clothes, they were then able to receive their brand new backpack filled with various school supplies.

I pretty much stayed in the one area from 9:45 am to 5:30pm. My husband worked in various places through the day. They started at 8am and I have no clue when the cleanup ended so that services could take place on Sunday morning.

Washing Feet

I can’t imagine the work that was put into this event through the entire year and invite Pastor Harrison to share in the comments below anything his heart desires.

The ladies I worked alongside of were simply wonderful! Everyone was super nice and had no idea I was from so far away, not that that mattered, as we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

I felt at home there, serving with them and look forward to going back next year and even helping where we can before then.

It’s my honor to support them financially, to be a voice for them and to do what I can to help.

I went there to spread some joy and be a blessing to Pastor Harrison as well as to see how they are making a difference in their community so that maybe one day, my community can reach out to others in the same fashion. I received a wealth of information on making a huge event like this happen as well as back2school supplies for my own upcoming event. Unbelievable!

If you are in the area, I invite you to check them out. If you are on twitter, I invite you to follow @michaelharrison and his church @the_community.

Thank you Pastor Harrison for the invitation and the opportunity to serve your community!

Please visit the following

The Community Fellowship – church link

Pastor Harrison’s Blog

Information on the Dream Center in Collinsville VA

Here is a link to Pastor Harrison’s Summary – in short 938 students came to the event and when you include adults over 2,000 people showed up. Over 400 haircuts were given, and over 230 volunteers helped to ensure this event was the best it could be.

Amazing. Completely Amazing.

More than Supplies

Back to School 2011 was a huge success thanks to YOU! In addition to JOY and HOPE -- There were 310 backpacks full of supplies given out this year. We were excited to be able to place the following items in the bags.

• 3 spiral notebooks
• A pack of 10 ink pens
• A pack of 10 pencils
• A pack of loose leaf paper
• A box of 24 crayons
• A box of 12 colored pencils
• 2 pocket folder portfolios
• A bottle of glue
• A glue stick
• A pack of Lance Peanut butter Crackers
• A pack of gummy snacks
• A pack of Reese Cups

Big Smiles

We invited 300 people to the event. We went and picked up many of the families that didn’t have a way to get there. Hotdogs were prepared and served along with chips, drinks and cake for desert. They enjoyed a free meal and then were invited to receive their backpacks filled with some of the necessary supplies for a successful school year.

I loved hearing the oooo’s and aaahhhh’s of the kids as they looked at the rows of backpacks that would soon be given to them. The workers and I completely enjoyed the shrieks of happiness as the kids opened their backpacks and pulled out the Reese Cups. This thrilled my heart to NO end!

I was thrilled to see several of the kids from my own neighborhood there. One of the parents told me thank you and expressed how helpful this was as the expenses of going back to school were growing each year. Even though he works all the time, it’s still hard to make ends meet.

One lady was telling my sister that she couldn’t believe she forgot to invite her neighbor and wondered if there would be enough left so that she could take some to her children. As they were having this conversation, the neighbor actually walked through the door and I hugged her, not knowing what was being discussed by the others. I had “met” the neighbor as I was shopping the night before. I had a buggy full of hotdogs, buns, chips and other things and had invited her to come, bring her kids and enjoy a meal & a free bag. This was very cool that the need was met in this fashion.

Thank YOU for the gift of giving!

Many people expressed an interest in doing this with their church & members. I told them that I’d be happy to come and help them with organizing this. I have lots of ideas and when you have an entire church behind you, the possibilities are limitless. I can already see great things for the kids in those churches for next year!

If you are in NC, SC, VA, GA or TN – I can easily make a day trip out to help with ideas for this. Fundraising, organizing and other things can be discussed. We can also discuss other ways of encouraging your group to do more, remove their focus off of what you can’t do, don’t have and move the focus on the amazing opportunities that await you. I can help with finding joy!

I want to say a huge thank you to those who supported this event financially. Without your gifts, we would not have been able to give out bags of hope and joy. You are a unique kind of hero! One that steps up and helps, doing what you can with what you have. I’m honored that you’d choose to help Spreading Joy give back in such a huge way.

Thank you to those that wanted to give financially but couldn’t so you chose to use your voice, tell others and helped in that way! Never discount the power of your voice!

I also want to say a huge thank you to those that came and helped with packing the bags. This was done in a matter of a few hours with the assembly process we had. Amazing!

Thank you to those that came and worked on the actual day we handed out the bags and meals. There is no way this could have been done without you.

Thank you to my sister in law who made the cool shirts for us to wear. I love them.

Thank you to Pastor Taylor and the members of New Grace for allowing me to use your wonderful facility and to those who volunteer your time to make this happen. I’m honored that you’d help and support our back to school efforts.

A special thanks to my Mom, Stepdad, Angie & her family and my bestest friend and her husband for always supporting, helping, praying and assisting in any way possible. I love you and you make my world a much brighter place!

THANK YOU!!!

And a HUGE thank you to my precious family -- Steve, Todd and Megan. For allowing me to ignore household duties, for running errands for me, making deposits, picking up things, unloading 2 carloads of supplies in the blazing heat, loading them BACK a few days later and tolerating me getting up at 4:30am (I’m not the quietest in the world) to be at walmart by 5am to do shopping among the many other things, including but not limited to endless excited chattering, tired whinyness and the bratty little girl that poked her head out every once in a while -- that you endured for back to school. Without your love and support I wouldn’t be spreading much joy at all. I’m thankful for such love from you guys.

I’m honored to be used to help others, encourage others and to able to be Spreading JOY and giving back. I know that there is no way it can be done alone and am thankful for your heart for spreading joy!

Thank YOU!!

If you were involved in this event, I invite you to leave your comments below. If you received a backpack and want to say thank you, I hope that you will. Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts below!

{{{HUGS}}} yall

photos: courtesy of mary whisonant

I received this thank you in my email box and wanted to share it with YOU:

MY GRANDSONS AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THE BACK PACKS AND SCHOOL SUPPLIES.

ALL THE CHILDREN WERE DELIGHTED. SOME EVEN SAID THEY WERE EAGER TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.

MY 5YR OLD GRANDSON STARTS KINDERGARTEN AND WAS PLEASED TO RECEIVE HIS RED BACK PACK.

HE SAID, ” NOW I AM READY TO GO! THANK YOU JESUS!”

GOD BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELPING KINDNESS.

A HANDS ON GRANDMA AND SISTER IN CHRIST,

KATHERINE

Interview with a Cowboy

Robert Wilson, @CwbyWsdm on twitter was kind enough to interview me on his blog talk radio. This act alone is an amazing way of spreading joy as it allowed me to get the word out to many that I could not have reached without his help.

Cowboy Wisdom NLP Coaching energizes personal expansion spiritual enrichment with common sense. I am Hypnotherapist Neuro-Linguistic Speaker Published Author.

Cowboy Wisdom

Cowboy = Common sense savvy and fundamental life know-how

Wisdom = My Inner Lore that provides you with a saddle to ride through your journey of growth in all facets of your life.

I am an everyday life coach, brimming with common sense and wisdom for constructive fundamental change. Straight forward thoughts parallel an uncomplicated life with a positive lasso thrown to the Universe for visible results in your life. Cowboy Wisdom is fundamental life coaching with you focusing on your intentions, triggering a domino effect of positive changes in your life.

Your wagon train is beginning right now to the new frontiers of your life. Are you ready to saddle up and start?

Here is the link to the Blog Talk Interview! Enjoy

Spreading JOY Blog Talk Interview

Thank you, Robert, for allowing me to talk about my passion of Spreading Joy and encouraging others to make a difference where they are, with what they have. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell others that "There's No Joy like Spreading Joy!" and Thank you for always starting my day out with a smile.

What do you think of the interview? Do you think we could be spreading joy across America? Do you think we'll be able to raise $20,000 for our Back2School project?

Do you realize that the little things you do adds up to be HUGE rewards, return and will continue to grow in the hearts of those you touch?

{{HUGS}} Yall

Back 2 School 2009 Event

Going to school should be an exciting time for every child. Spreading Joy Corporation is pleased to announce that through the giving of a few corporations and many individuals, we were able to spread some back to school joy to 800 children and teens, thus making our Back 2 School project a complete success!


Your compassion towards children you have never met has touched my heart and blessed me deeply. These children will never be able to thank you personally or repay your kindness but you need to know the gift you provided will have lasting effects on their hearts.



There were 4 separate events of giving out back to school supplies as well as several neighborhoods that were covered door to door.

Each bag contained at least 2 spiral bound notebooks, pen, pencil, eraser, glue stick, bottle of glue, ruler, pocket folder and box of crayons. Ten items total.





In this economy, when people need help, many tend to head to a local church for immediate help. One of the events was at a church where their members have a heart for kids and they were able to add to these items. They added 1 inch binder as well as a mechanical pencil, 5 more pens and pencils. The members also gave out 24 completely filled book bags as a special prize.




There is no way to describe the joy and happiness of watching all the children walk away with a bag full of school supplies. The love and compassion from so many people that gave and prayed and told others about the project was very evident as the eyes of the children lit up with sheer delight while rummaging through their bags.









The joy of shopping, bagging and watching the children get their bags was such an honor.

The store associates had such wonderful attitudes as they rang up thousands of items for us. One even joked with me about help for my glue habit! (At least he didn't see me sniffing the crayons, he would have truly wondered then!!)


I'm grateful to my wonderful friends Dale and Jeanne Strickland who helped with the shopping, delivering and was the extra car that we loaded up with goodies. They endured hours of searching, counting and loading the buggies as well as unloading to the car. Not to mention the silliness that comes from just being near me sometimes when I'm tired. They deserve medals for that much alone.




So many people donated their time to bag at the church as well as my family who spent a day helping to bag at our home. Todd had to keep me in line and make sure I was productive - using a ruler to "whip" me back into shape. (I promise I did not take it when it disappeared son, I have NO clue where it when...honest!)


A million thank you's for your generosity could not even begin to cover how I feel for what you've done!

May you always remember that there's NO joy like spreading joy!

You have not lived a perfect day, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.--Ruth Smeltzer