Please HELP us HELP our mother
Donation protected
On Tuesday, December 20th, our mother's home in Philadelphia was broken into and robbed. One of the most frightening aspects of this is that she almost walked in on the perpetrators, who must have heard her entering the house and departed. She came home to find the house ransacked, her Christmas spirit dashed and her sense of security in shambles.
Among the items taken were jewelry given to her by our deceased father (her best friend), items belonging to our grandfather, who was living with our mother and being cared for by her until he only recently passed away on December 9th, (two weeks to the day), medication, and over $1000 in cash that was unfortunately already placed in Christmas Cards to be given to her friends and family in the coming days plus a few gift cards. Even more sickening, an additional $1,100 in cash was also stolen, which she had been saving for the past two weeks to pay towards the $2500 she owed for funeral expenses for her father. BTW- Homeowners Insurance DOES NOT cover cash and gift cards:(
Our mother has lived in this same home for the past 30 years and it kills us that it's something like this that may finally force her to leave, even if it's something that we have been wanting her to do since our father passed away back in 2003. Nostalgia has kept her in this home, and fear is what will drive her from it.
Our mother is someone who is caring, loving and giving of herself beyond all reason. She has been a waitress, one who has built lasting relationships with her customers, for over 40 years and at an age when some people are able to retire, our mother continues to work, on bad knees, because that is all she knows how do. She was on the cusp of financial woes before this, yet still insisted year after year on being generous during the Holidays. Generous in ways that may have even exceeded her means. We have begged her for years to stop giving us so much at Christmas and on our birthdays but she is relentless. And as generous as she is to us, she is even more so with her friends and the rest of our family.
This burglary, which comes directly on the heels of the financial burden placed on her and other members of our family after her father just passed away two weeks ago, has taken away a bit of her spirit, so all that remains is her pride. So we ask that you offer some sense of hope that the world is not as terrible a place as it surely feels to her at this very moment. Our mother has provided to others all that she has, and we would love nothing more than to see her realize that sometimes the world gives back.
As mentioned, our mother is too proud to ask for charity. We, ourselves, are normally too proud to ask for charity. But we think that our mother deserves it in this case and we, unfortunately, are unable to give her in return all that she deserves. If there is anything you can offer to help show her that what goes around comes around -- that even though this may have shaken her spirits during the holidays -- there is nothing that is more powerful than the overwhelming support of people who love you and care for you, and that sometimes when you think you're at your lowest there are people "“ even complete strangers "“ waiting to help lift you up. Ohhh, and friends...please keep this a secret from her until we raise our goal of $3000, she would stop us from doing this. Please PAY IT FORWARD this Holiday season.
Thank You & Bless You for your Generosity,
Marc & Lindsay Lombardi
Among the items taken were jewelry given to her by our deceased father (her best friend), items belonging to our grandfather, who was living with our mother and being cared for by her until he only recently passed away on December 9th, (two weeks to the day), medication, and over $1000 in cash that was unfortunately already placed in Christmas Cards to be given to her friends and family in the coming days plus a few gift cards. Even more sickening, an additional $1,100 in cash was also stolen, which she had been saving for the past two weeks to pay towards the $2500 she owed for funeral expenses for her father. BTW- Homeowners Insurance DOES NOT cover cash and gift cards:(
Our mother has lived in this same home for the past 30 years and it kills us that it's something like this that may finally force her to leave, even if it's something that we have been wanting her to do since our father passed away back in 2003. Nostalgia has kept her in this home, and fear is what will drive her from it.
Our mother is someone who is caring, loving and giving of herself beyond all reason. She has been a waitress, one who has built lasting relationships with her customers, for over 40 years and at an age when some people are able to retire, our mother continues to work, on bad knees, because that is all she knows how do. She was on the cusp of financial woes before this, yet still insisted year after year on being generous during the Holidays. Generous in ways that may have even exceeded her means. We have begged her for years to stop giving us so much at Christmas and on our birthdays but she is relentless. And as generous as she is to us, she is even more so with her friends and the rest of our family.
This burglary, which comes directly on the heels of the financial burden placed on her and other members of our family after her father just passed away two weeks ago, has taken away a bit of her spirit, so all that remains is her pride. So we ask that you offer some sense of hope that the world is not as terrible a place as it surely feels to her at this very moment. Our mother has provided to others all that she has, and we would love nothing more than to see her realize that sometimes the world gives back.
As mentioned, our mother is too proud to ask for charity. We, ourselves, are normally too proud to ask for charity. But we think that our mother deserves it in this case and we, unfortunately, are unable to give her in return all that she deserves. If there is anything you can offer to help show her that what goes around comes around -- that even though this may have shaken her spirits during the holidays -- there is nothing that is more powerful than the overwhelming support of people who love you and care for you, and that sometimes when you think you're at your lowest there are people "“ even complete strangers "“ waiting to help lift you up. Ohhh, and friends...please keep this a secret from her until we raise our goal of $3000, she would stop us from doing this. Please PAY IT FORWARD this Holiday season.
Thank You & Bless You for your Generosity,
Marc & Lindsay Lombardi
Organizer
Lindsay Lombardi
Organizer
