The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness

Each culture and each person expresses gratitude uniquely, from the exchange of greetings and gifts to the celebration of special ceremonies and holidays.  In our culture, we often express our gratitude by caring for those who cannot care for themselves; so as we begin 2017, all of us here at St. Vincent Meals on Wheels want to offer a huge THANK YOU to every one of you who have celebrated your unique traditions by sharing your gifts so the good work we did in 2016 was possible. Each of you played a part in helping deliver nearly one million meals to our very neediest neighbors throughout Los Angeles. We are so grateful.  Can you imagine how many lives you have changed and how much love you have shared with our seniors?  And how much gratitude has been expressed? I know you can’t hear from all our seniors all the time,  but I thought you might like to hear from just

#Impactofadonation

one,  86 year old Guy.  “I like the meals and eat everything they send me….My family and friends tell me I look so much better…St. Vincent helps me rest assured that I have a balanced diet.  I hope and pray that everyone keeps donating because helping other people matters…”   What a beautiful expression of the kind of gratitude that turns a stranger into a friend, and a hungry senior back into a person with hope and health. Guy knows he can count on you and on me and all the others who deliver our mission with care and compassion. Our interconnectedness is the living expression of gratitude.

And guess what? Gratitude is contagious and multiplying.  We are filled with gratitude for the many blessings we experience every day because you help us deliver love to our clients.   Every donation creates its own special miracle with a healthy serving of gratitude.  Every donation counts every single day.   And this week, in addition to receiving so many extraordinary donations from supporters, we also received one from a very unexpected source – Drum roll please. Twitter!!!

We are filled with gratitude over this new resource.  We hear much about the misuse of social media and are happy to be part of the “use for good” camp. St. Vincent Meals on Wheels entered an online contest entitled #ImpactofaDonaton. Well, guess what, because our social media guru and ardent supporter, Rachel, did such a great job  telling the St. Vincent Meals on Wheels story, we received $2000.00  We express much gratitude for this.  That extra $2000 will help us feed another 250 seniors for a day!  I think we can say this is surely  kindness being returned and gratitude expressed.  Take a moment to read the story of St. Vincent Meals on Wheels through the photos Rachel posted.  The beginning the middle and the end all express the same emotion – gratitude for all that you, our donors, make possible.

Happy New Year.