Becky Reel, executive director of For Papa’s Sake Home Care in Arlington Heights, IL, which recently held a gift card drive, personally knows that simple generosity can make a big difference during the holiday season.
“I grew up with a single mom barely making ends meet,” Reel said. “What I love about the gift card drive is it allows parents who are trying to get out of poverty and trying to make their lives better to go pick out their own gifts for their kids and give them a sense of pride and independence that they don’t normally have. That’s what’s special and unique about this to us.”
For Papa’s Sake, an agency that provides personal and companionship care, hosted the third annual gift card drive this year with funds going to FamilyForward, a local nonprofit organization that helps low-income, working parents. Local families in the program are anonymously sponsored by other community members and receive gift cards to retailers of their choice. For Reel and the rest of the For Papa’s Sake team, it turns out that the third time really is the charm.
“Last year was the first year we matched donations and we raised [around] $5,500 so we were able to give them a little over $11,000,” Reel said. “Our goal this year was really just to match that because I thought last year was such a huge success. I was floored when we were able to get over a $13,000 donation. We matched it and were able to get $27,000.”
The final donation total was $27,060. Reel attributed this record-setting number to a hugely successful word-of-mouth campaign in the local community and an outpouring of support, both monetary and emotional.
“We have clients that we have one day a week who we barely service,” she said. “They called one of one set of particular calls and just wanted to write us a check for $1,000. That’s more than his invoices for over a several month period. I’m very emotionally charged by it. I think it really brightens everybody’s day having such generosity out there. We’re all hit with negativity so to have that positive side happening was very uplifting for all of us.”
It’s more than just a drive for Reel; it’s a chance to pay it forward. It’s also an opportunity to witness random acts of kindness from any walk of life.
“Coming from where I come from growing up, [it’s most rewarding] putting myself in the family shoes because I can so easily relate to that,” she said. “Every time, whether it was a $10 gift card or $100 gift card, the emotional impact of this is literally going to take care of one of the children’s Christmas gifts. Even our caregivers who make an hourly wage, who are themselves barely making ends meet, or our clients who are on a very fixed budget, still found a way to make a donation. That to me was so eye-opening; it always shows you that somebody has it worse or there’s always something you can give somebody else.”
Home Sweet Home is a feature appearing Mondays in McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. The story focuses on a heartwarming, entertaining or quirky happening affecting the world of home care. If you have a topic that might be worthy of the spotlight in Home Sweet Home, please email Foster Stubbs at [email protected].
