Read the heartwarming story told by –Noah Skocilich a Resident of Plano

—- A week or so ago, when the extreme weather down here was just subsiding, I posted something on NextDoor asking if anyone just needed help with anything at all.

A few days after I posted it, a woman named Lisa replied and said that she had missed a few days of work due to the extreme weather, and that her husband had been hospitalized for some time, and that between those two things she was having a hard time making it through the month, and could really use some groceries and dog food, and toiletries and a few other things.

So, I was preparing to just go and buy maybe $50 worth of groceries and bring them to her, but without anything else being said on the thread, several other neighbors sent me around $200 which I then used to purchase a lot more groceries than I would have otherwise. And another neighbor prepared a bunch of frozen meals, and bought a bunch of other things for her too.

It was a really wonderful day that made a lot of people feel really happy and created some wonderful new relationships in the area.

This morning then, someone else sent me a private message on NextDoor.

She said that she had seen what had happened a week or so ago, and said that she could use some help as well if that were possible. She didn’t share her story publicly, so I won’t share it here either, but for a number of intersecting reasons she’s also having a hard time getting though the month.

So, I sent her $75 that I had been sitting on from a previous mutual aid pledge for something else, and said I would ask about getting more.

An hour or so later I posted something on NextDoor again saying that there was someone else in our community needing help, and shared just a little about her story, and lo and behold, gifts started pouring in. At this point there is now more than $600 dollars that has been sent to me via PayPal and Venmo that is for this person, and that I will give to her tomorrow minus the cost of a few specific needed items that I said I would pick up and personally bring to her.

Really just an incredible day. To be sure, it sounds like the person in question here has some long term challenges ahead, but I think this will help get them through the worst of it, or at least make the next couple weeks a bit more bearable, but when I messaged her earlier tonight to let her know how much had been gifted she texted back to say she was in tears, and needed a moment to gather herself.

Similarly, some of the messages sent from people who made gifts were very touching as well, and it seems like the act of gifting like this was a gift in itself to a few people. For my part, I didn’t (or haven’t yet, at least) given any of my own money, I’m just acting as a conduit here, and doing the legwork, but it’s a pure joy for me as well. A kind of joy that nothing much else can really touch.

Oh, and one of the people that gave a gift today was Lisa, who the community came together to help the last time.

That one, and the message that came with it was maybe the most touching of all.