COMMUNITY COMES THROUGH FOR FAMILY
Donors dropped off goods after prompt from online yard sale group
A Facebook post last Sunday afternoon has turned out to be life-changing for a local woman looking to get her family back on their feet.
“I cannot believe it. A week ago, I thought I was going to be in an empty room, with nothing, with my kids on the floor, literally sharing my one blanket,” said Sara Emily Sanders.
At 2:19 p.m. Sunday, Sanders posted on the local “Lansdale Online Yard Sale” Facebook group asking for help, any help, from the community.
“If anyone has any furniture they are throwing away or getting rid of, kids clothes and items, or anything you’d need for an apartment, or selling for cheap, PLEASE PLEASE message me,” Sanders wrote. “I am moving into an apartment next month from a homeless shelter, and have literally nothing but the clothes in my car for me and my younger boys. I will take ANYTHING, any condition.”
Within minutes, the responses started coming, over 130 as of Friday night, offering dishes, toys, clothing, furniture, televisions and more. Sanders met the donors she found through the Facebook group outside Lansdale Borough Hall and po-
“This is absolutely amazing. It’s like one mom helping another mom — we all need help at some point.” Danielle DiDomizio
lice station Friday evening as they dropped off a sofa, a dresser, a crib, a booster seat, and bags full of bedding, toiletries, and toys for her boys.
“I saw her Facebook post, and there was something about her that struck me. I thought, ‘You hear so much about the opposite,’ so it’s nice to see,” said Jessica Woehr, who brought bedding, toiletries, toys and stuffed animals. “Facebook is an avenue for negative things, but here’s an example of something great.”
As she met and thanked those dropping off goods, her friend Jimmy James Short helped load the boxes and bags into their two cars, and borough Mayor Andy Szekely stopped by to drop off a Lansdale hat.
“This is the kind of thing the community should embrace, and be proud of,” Szekely said.
Laurie McMasters of Towamencin said she and her husband, Steve, helped spread the word through the hair salon where she works and compiled a shopping list of items Sanders could have that her family didn’t want or need anymore.
“All of this stuff, I already collected. It’s at my house, on my dining room table, everything is piled up like a mountain,” she said.
Danielle DiDomizio of Lansdale said she saw the Facebook post too and wanted to help out, as her son Kayden Haitz played with toys they dropped off for Sanders’ three boys.
“I told him he had to put his toys in a bag, and everything he didn’t want, he had to give to Mommy. Everything he didn’t want, we set aside (for Sanders’ children),” DiDomizio said. “This is amazing. This is absolutely amazing. It’s like one mom helping another mom — we all need help at some point.”
Sanders said she and her sons had been living in a local shelter until recently, and plan to move into a new apartment soon.
“I really, really hate asking for help, but I had to put my pride aside and ask for my kids,” she said.
After a week of catching up with posters willing to help her and her family, Sanders said she and her sons wanted to thank the community for its generosity.
“I didn’t realize I’d get so many responses. I literally thought nobody would respond at all, and that it was a long shot to post, but I am overwhelmed with gratefulness to see how many complete strangers are wiling to help me and my boys. God is so great,” Sanders said.
Several who dropped off bags or boxes Friday night said they’d stay in contact with Sanders, once she has her new home squared away and has a better idea of what she has and still needs. As her friends stuffed two cars full of boxes and bags, Sanders said she was grateful for all of the donations, and said she hoped to pay it forward herself someday.
“I’m so hopeful and thankful right now for me and my boys. The Lansdale community has its ups and downs, but they are giving people,” she said.