Contest Entries
My best friend lost her father in Sept. 2006 to cancer. If I had an extra 300.00 I would love to surprise her with a get a way weekend for her and her mother so they could just get away and relax. The holidays were very rough for them this year and with spring right around the corner...a night out in a nice hotel where they would have no worries and a nice dinner I think that would be an awesome treat to bring in the new spring with some relaxation.
My mom is my best friend. She doesn't know it because I've never told her. I should. She is in her late 70's. There are six of us (siblings) and she has always been there to help any one of us at any time. She would use her last dime to give to anyone who needs it. Sometimes she would take a loan out to help. I
have one sibling who has been a drug addict most of her adult life. My parents have supported her too through all the turbulence. She has always worked full time so she never had the opportunity to stay at home with any one of us. Now she is retired and is still there to help even though she and my dad have very little money each month. My dad had a stroke a few years ago and has been on multiple medications. The cost of his medication eats their monthly Social Security income.
Bottom line is, she never has any money for herself to do anything she likes to do. If I win this contest, I want to take my mom to
Reno, one of her favorite places. They don't drive except for short distances around their neighborhood. She loves to play the nickel slot machines (the old fashion ones where you pull the arms). That would give her a few
days of happiness and enjoyment.
If I had an extra $300, I would give it to my BEST friend in the whole world, my Mother. She's been there for me during the worst and best times of my life. She currently lives alone, has a very stressful job and lives over 10 hours from me. Needless to say we don't see each other very often. I would use the $300 to pay for a moving van to move my Mother from Louisiana to Tennessee so we could be together again. She's nearing retirement age and needs less stress and more family in her life. If I could get her up near me, I'd also try to start our family and give her a grandchild. Her remaining years would be happy and well spent surrounded by loved ones and future generations of our family.
Please choose me as your winner - I really miss my Mom and give her a gift that I couldn't normally give to her.
I heard somewhere that it's better to give than to receive; well I found this to be true. There is a woman who lives in Chicago and is one of the finest, nicest people I've ever met. I fell on hard times after suddenly losing my job and my dear friend helped me in any way she could. She constantly called me to see if I needed anything and sometimes I would say no but she would give it anyway; I guess she could tell that I wanted to say Yes but didn't want to seem bothersome. This lady was unselfish of herself, her finances, her home, her car and most importantly, her prayers. She would pray for me before she prayed for herself so if I had $300, it would have her name on it without a doubt. I could never repay her for her kindness but I could try. Oh, by the way this lady is my Pastor.
My husband and I met our friends Jimmy and Marie about 5+ years ago. We met them at church and they have been such an encouragment to us. Being new to the church and young in our faith, they have helped us along the way so much by just being our best friends and being there for us whenever we need them. Jimmy works one full time job and 2 part-time jobs to help make ends meet. Marie has never had a job that paid more than $6 or $7 an hour and never had any benefits. They live in an older mill house given to them by his parents. They work so hard to pay their bills, yet have never had much money left over for alot of extras. The house is older and needs alot of work. THeir teenage daughter fell through a hole in her beedroom floor a couple of months ago and thank goodness was not seriously hurt. They had to spend a good bit of money to repair the floor so it wouldn't be dangerous. They are trying to replace the old windows in the house a couple at a time - and the whole house is a fire waiting to happen. It needs desperatley to be completely re-wired for their safety - but, they simply cannot afford it. Marie doesn't have a dryer because the house and wiring is so old, it cannot support one. They do not have central air or heat in the house - they use window units and last summer whenever the window unit in their daughter's room would come on, it would trip the meter box . I am so scared their house is going to burn up one day and someone will be hurt or even killed. Even if they weren't hurt, they could lose all that they have. If I had the $300.00, I would give it them to help with the cost of getting their house re-wired to be more safe for them. They are just precious people and would do anything to help anyone and I would love to help them along the way.
