Lot of Love
Donation protected
When my family and I first started this Christmas tree lot, the idea behind it was to gather together with our community and create an environment of hope being met. While Christmas is meant to be a time of great hope, it often turns into a season of upset, of lack, and of hope being lost. For every one thing we have the time and funds to make happen, there are ten more things that we cannot. It creates this perpetual cycle of not fulfilling all the things we had hoped we could accomplish. But when you take a step back from that cycle and look at what it becomes, it looks a lot like gathering and storing up, and a lot less like actual giving. Rather than add to the lists of things we need to make happen for ourselves, leaving us hopeless, maybe there was a way to get hope back, by giving it.
But what my family and I had not anticipated at the founding of this event, was 2020.
There is so much to be said about this year, but I don’t need to tell you about what type of year this has been, because you lived it. And while it has been a year of turmoil and strong opinions, what we all can agree upon is that this year has been debilitating. For the last 300 and something days we have all woke up knowing, most likely, today would bring something worse than the day before. And above all, what has not been in any room we have entered, is hope.
Which may be why my family and I feel that this Christmas tree Lot of Love is more important this year, than ever before. Because it puts us all in a place to challenge the idea of question, what is hope, exactly? And how could we possibly give it, when we can’t even find it in ourselves?
My mom told me once, “Hope doesn’t exist only when there is evidence of it being met. Hope exists when we do the thing anyways. Because even when there feels like no reason, even if you don’t believe in something bigger, there is hope in the act. Because when you move forward, that alone is an action of hope for more.”
So what that taught me, is that when hope feels lost and we can’t even see our own hands in all of the darkness, the only thing to do is to move forward. Or to simply move, at all. So this year what I’m asking you to do, is despite the spirits and enthusiasm and bank accounts running low, move anyways. Even though we feel we have absolutely nothing left to give because too much has already been taken, give anyways. And regardless of the truth that we do not know if or when the troubles of this year will fade, hope anyways. And maybe, just maybe, if we help someone who is at the end of their rope, in return we will gather some strength to climb a little bit higher up our own. And maybe, just maybe, we can leave this year better than in the chaos and hoarding of which we found it.
For those who do not know, 2 years ago my family and I reached out to our community and asked, if we could get the trees to create a make-shift Christmas tree lot in our own yard, would they donate what they could to help give a few families in need a Christmas we all would want ourselves. For the last 2 years, our community has not only stepped up to the plate, but completely hit the ball out of the park. & While this year is going to look different, the sentiment remains the same. the GoFundMe is for money donations which will be appreciated and preferred this year above any before. If you have any questions do not for a moment hesitate to reach out.
But what my family and I had not anticipated at the founding of this event, was 2020.
There is so much to be said about this year, but I don’t need to tell you about what type of year this has been, because you lived it. And while it has been a year of turmoil and strong opinions, what we all can agree upon is that this year has been debilitating. For the last 300 and something days we have all woke up knowing, most likely, today would bring something worse than the day before. And above all, what has not been in any room we have entered, is hope.
Which may be why my family and I feel that this Christmas tree Lot of Love is more important this year, than ever before. Because it puts us all in a place to challenge the idea of question, what is hope, exactly? And how could we possibly give it, when we can’t even find it in ourselves?
My mom told me once, “Hope doesn’t exist only when there is evidence of it being met. Hope exists when we do the thing anyways. Because even when there feels like no reason, even if you don’t believe in something bigger, there is hope in the act. Because when you move forward, that alone is an action of hope for more.”
So what that taught me, is that when hope feels lost and we can’t even see our own hands in all of the darkness, the only thing to do is to move forward. Or to simply move, at all. So this year what I’m asking you to do, is despite the spirits and enthusiasm and bank accounts running low, move anyways. Even though we feel we have absolutely nothing left to give because too much has already been taken, give anyways. And regardless of the truth that we do not know if or when the troubles of this year will fade, hope anyways. And maybe, just maybe, if we help someone who is at the end of their rope, in return we will gather some strength to climb a little bit higher up our own. And maybe, just maybe, we can leave this year better than in the chaos and hoarding of which we found it.
For those who do not know, 2 years ago my family and I reached out to our community and asked, if we could get the trees to create a make-shift Christmas tree lot in our own yard, would they donate what they could to help give a few families in need a Christmas we all would want ourselves. For the last 2 years, our community has not only stepped up to the plate, but completely hit the ball out of the park. & While this year is going to look different, the sentiment remains the same. the GoFundMe is for money donations which will be appreciated and preferred this year above any before. If you have any questions do not for a moment hesitate to reach out.
Organizer
Tommie Brown
Organizer
Menifee, CA
