How we work

We are an online community of kind-hearted individuals who directly donate gently loved children's clothes to mothers who could use a little kindness. The wonderful donating mothers lovingly box up the clothes that they once loved their own kiddos in and send them for another mother to love on her children via the US Mail - Parcel Post. If you are in need, know someone in need or want to help by donating, please contact us at kindness@passitonbaby.com. If you can't do any of these but would like to spread our message - thank you kindly! ~ Elizabeth & Heather

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

And It All Goes Around....

Please note: If this is your first time visiting our blog, please click here to hear the premise of Pass It On, Baby! and how it all began.... Pass It On, Baby!

Each time you help someone in need, it is bittersweet. You feel wonderful for actually helping another person on the way, but at the same time, you know that the person or people that you are helping are struggling. They are dealing with the struggle, itself – not to mention all the emotions that go along with it. I don’t know how aware I was of this, until recently, when I found myself in a conversation with a friend. She has been having a rough go of it. They had some problems with a business they owned that fell on hard times and they were just at the point of beginning to dig themselves out of a bad financial time. She was telling me how she was recently hit with two fieldtrips in two weeks for each of her two children and that the cost would be a total of $120. Now that’s expensive for anyone, but when you are handling current expenses on top of past expenses, that becomes impossible. So, as hard as it was, she pushed down her pride and called the school and explained her situation. The school was great about it and even contacted another agency on her behalf to offer help with Christmas for her children. She was SO thankful for the help and offer, but like any of us, was struggling with her pride. Every Christmas, she had been the one that picked the angels off the trees at Target and other stores and donated toys to children in need. How could she reconcile that she was now the one in need?

Let’s be honest – it’s HARD to ask for help. It’s hard to be honest when you are struggling. For whatever reason, we’ve somehow tricked ourselves in to thinking that our financial success or hardships are the same as our worth. Soooo not true, but that doesn’t change the fact that for many of us, taking a hit to your paycheck or family income is the same as tarnishing your self-esteem and how you feel about your world. And so it was for my friend. Not only was it hard asking for help in the first place, but when additional resources were offered, it was equally hard to accept.

You know in life, as the old saying goes – “Sometimes you’re the bat and sometimes you’re the ball…” and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. When you’ve been the one on the receiving end of charity, it means a lot more to you when you do have the opportunity to give back. You know, firsthand, what those families may be dealing with. It becomes less about yourself and how proud you are of yourself for giving, and becomes truly about helping the other person on the other end. Why? Because you’ve been there. I thought it was a great thing that she was accepting the help…she needed it and she would be someone to put that kindness right back in to the world – the way we believe it should be.

Times are less than ideal right now for so many people – so if you are fortunate enough to be able to help out – the timing has never been better. Whether its Pass It On, Baby! or another of the many, many worthwhile charities, make a difference. If money is tight for you, drop off some Halloween candy at a local food pantry or gather some neighbors together to send some Halloween candy overseas to our soldiers. Volunteer to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a Shelter. Visit the dollar store and pick up some coloring books to drop at a local shelter or church – rest assured, you are making a difference. And if you happen to have children, make sure to do it while they are watching. These little moments build together to form their character. And these little characters we build in turn, become our future society. Its your daily chance to change the world….. =)

In love and kindness,


Email Elizabeth & Heather

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