George and I went into the store to catch up on a Sunday. As we were debating what to do with all the clothes that didn’t sell even after we lowered them to 75% off for several weeks, a family walked into the store. (George likes to “open” anytime we are there). We told them anything on that rack was free as we were getting ready to bag it up and give it to Community Aide. They asked if we were sure, we told them we were.
There was a hesitation and some words spoken in a language we didn’t understand. The gentleman asked if we had a limit to what they could take. Knowing it was going to take a good hour or more to take everything off the hangers and remove tags, we said we were happy for them to take as much as they wanted. This included the racks of shoes that had sat on sale for a long time as well. Some more excited words passed between the couple and their two sons.
The couple then explained to us that they had immigrated from Nigeria and that whenever possible, they send boxes of clothing to their homeland. They do this on their own dime, not in conjunction with a church or organization. They have family there that will distribute the clothes to the local community.
George and I were thrilled to help them with this! Christian, Grace, Odahia (16), and Promise (14) then spent the next hour removing the tickets from the clothing and the clothing off the hangers. The parents had huge smiles on their faces the whole time. The teenage boys were not quite as thrilled…showing us that teenagers around the globe are more similar than we might expect!
In the end, we were able to help them send over 50 pairs of shoes and over 250 items of clothing to Nigeria. Even as they took a break to play ping pong for awhile, Christian said many times “The children will have a great Christmas this year!”
The older I get, the more I do not believe in coincidence. I feel that things happen for a reason, and we were there that Sunday and George “opened” the store because we were able to help! This is what C-Luv is all about! It’s our vibe! – Mary
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