Where to begin...? I sat in the church pew one Sunday morning and received my envelope with cash and an instruction card. I had $5.00 dollars. What on earth do you do with $5.00? ...I phoned a friend. Angela and our families pooled the money we received and decided to have a basketball shootout fundraiser benefiting Operation Smile. We used our money for advertising and small plastic basketballs.
Operation Smile provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformities for children around the globe. For as little as 240.00 dollars you can provide a surgery that will change a child's life and take as few as 45 minutes.
Angela and I enlisted the help of Dan and Adam. They were our entertainment. We started our project one Wednesday evening at supper in Clayton Hall. The dining room was decorated with balloons and jars for people to put in their spare change...our slogan "Be the Change you want to see in the World". I was thrilled to see our friends empty their pockets and give generously. We showed a video of a successful surgery, and then went to the gym for the basketball shootout. If you missed it....you really missed a show! Lane provided the hilarious outfits for Dan and Adam. Dan "The Preach" didn't miss a free throw and Adam "String Bean" was shooting 3 pointers.
The kids participated in a free throw contest and put in their dollar bills for the cause. In the end, it didn't really matter how much money we made, although it was enough to send a smile --$350.00. It was the generosity pouring out of pockets from young and old to help a child across the world they would never get to see.
Eleanor said, "What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God." That day I know the Lord above was surely smiling!
Susan, Angela and families
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