A friend in need...

I received an email from my friend Eryn last week, explaining her efforts to raise money for her father, Bob Montgomery. Here is the back story:

Last year, Bob was in a terrible car accident. A tree fell across the road in front of him and he couldn't stop in time; he later said he knew the second his neck broke. He was in the hospital for quite some time, and it's a wonder he even survived, as not only did a machine have to breathe for him, but his lungs kept filling with fluid causing more problems. Through all the months of medical procedures, tests, and therapy, he kept a positive outlook, and was even able to joke with family and friends who visited.

He continued to improve and was finally allowed to move back "home" -- though the family had to sell his and his wife's house in order to buy a home that was handicap-accessible. (He's paralyzed from the neck down.) Through all this, the family never asked for anything more than prayers for his continued recovery.

Since he's been home, the family has relied on a van service to take Bob in his wheelchair to his medical appointments. It's not only costly, but also allows for no spontaneity in their lives -- everything has to be scheduled.

When Eryn emailed last week, it was to say that she and her siblings are trying to buy him a wheelchair-accessible van. Eryn explained that her Dad has never asked for anything in his life - and would NEVER ask the family to do this for him. But they wanted to do it as a surprise for him, to help improve his quality of life so that he could do things like go to the park on a nice day, go to church, or go to the zoo with his granddaughters.

I've never met Bob, though I feel like I've gotten to know him somewhat through all the updates that Eryn has provided since the time of the accident. And while I don't know HIM, I know that Eryn is one of the sweetest people I know -- always a smile on her face and a sunny disposition -- which I think she gets from her dad.

Tim & I wanted to help out, and make a contribution towards the van, but realized that we can't give as much as we'd like through our personal finances. And while we always prefer to do any of our charitable donations quietly, in this case we thought it would be worthwhile to open the doors to anyone else who would like to help.

And so we've decided: For the month of July, we will donate 15% of all our sales receipts to this effort. We're not asking anything extra of any of our customers. We just want you to know that any orders you place will be a help to someone who could use it. And if you've been eyeing our stamps, but have put off ordering, perhaps you'll see this as a good time to get that order in.

Eryn has no idea that we're doing this; we want it to be a surprise to her, just as her fundraising efforts are a surprise to her dad.

And if there is anyone who would like to help but doesn't need any stamps at this time, there is actually another fundraiser going on which might interest you more. Eryn is heading up this one herself, and involves orders through "Home & Garden Party." I won't post the special order link here because I don't want the third-party demonstrator to be overwhelmed, but if you'd like to know more about this effort, please email me and I'll send you the link and information.

We thank you all for your time in reading this, and welcome your prayers on their behalf too! :)