This winter has been hard on many of our Ashe County folks, as always it seems the elderly and disabled are the hardest hit.. although young families are also feeling the added financial pressure of this cold, wet winter.
Heating fuel, car repairs, electric bills.. we’ve helped so many people who were in a pinch this winter that we are just about broke.. we kind of stay that way anyway, because we give so much away.. but man, this winter seems like it’s been harder than usual. We have not been able to help even a third of the folks we wanted to.
But wait! There’s more!
Enter stage right.. angels upon angels!
Amazing, phenomenal, awesome…I ran out of adjectives to describe these Angels so here’s a screenshot from Roget’s Online Thesaurus. All of these apply.
We can put a post on Facebook asking for help for someone, and quick as a blink, there are ordinary people saying, “What can I do to help?” It’s humbling, to say the least. And the most incredible thing .. most of them don’t want credit, they wish to remain anonymous.
Again and again, it happens. Food for the Stash, a vehicle for someone who is without, a school trip paid for, girl scout uniforms, electric bills, roof repairs, heating fuel… I could go on for pages.
This, y’all, is the heart of people who are walking in the footsteps…
Blue Ridge Energies has this awesome program where they average your bill so that you pay the same amount each month. It’s great.. unless your usage is more than projected and you get a bill for the difference in January!
This is what happened to a local mechanic who cares for his 97 year old mother and developmentally disabled brother. Both dependent on oxygen, with other health issues.
Within 3 days his bill was paid, with a $536 dollar credit!
Now if that won’t give you the Warm Fuzzies, I don’t know what will!
Ordinary people, giving mostly ordinary amounts.. we call these people Angels. This is what it looks like to be an Odd Fellow.
We are having a round table, brainstorming meeting Thursday night. It will be so much fun to get our fundraising sorted out, make committees, hear everyone’s thoughts on how to make our lodge even better. Sometimes I think folks are shy about speaking up when we are in an official business meeting, I hope we can create an atmosphere that people feel comfortable sharing ideas in. (This is a meeting for members only)
Saturday, January 19th at 5pm we will have our monthly Odd Fellowship Potluck and Birthday Party.
Brother Thomas Wildey isn’t the only January Odd Fellow birthday! We’ll be celebrating Bryna Grig, Kevin Gentry & George Martin.
I hope all our new applicants and the Angels who have supported us in so many ways will bring their families and join us for an evening of fun. I think we might even have a guest speaker.. stay tuned!
There’s a link in the menu of this page. “How Can I Help?” If you’d like to make a donation to the Jefferson Lodge, you can find out how there!
Keep it Odd my brethren!
In Friendship,Love &Truth
Nancy Weaver
Ancient Links 