She turned grief into a ministry of love & hope!
When an anonymous friend left a jar filled with coins on Julie Anderson’s porch, the new widow felt both grateful and loved—feelings she now shares with other grieving spouses who need a helping hand!
Julie Anderson sighed heavily as she neared her Roy, Utah, mobile home. Julie’s husband, Les, had recently died from an aortic aneurysm, and the shock and pain of loss was still raw for the 48-year-old. But as she stepped onto the porch, Julie couldn’t help but smile. Someone— there wasn’t a note—had left a huge pickle jar f illed with coins.
Julie and Les had struggled f inancially for years, and even with help from her church and family, Les’s funeral costs were devastating. Julie was grateful for the gift— over $350 — which she used to pay bills. But even more, she felt blessed to be in the thoughts and prayers of her community. Somebody cares about me, she thought.
Gradually, Julie regained her f inancial footing and, with support from a Facebook group for grieving spouses, she worked her way through the fog of grief. She even went on to adopt a 16-year-old girl, Sophie. But she never forgot that kindhearted stranger who had left the jar of coins. And reading the many posts from other widows and widowers in her Facebook group, sharing their own f inancial struggles, she longed to help.
We need to start a fund to help out in situations like this, Julie posted, and soon, she and several others began helping group members in need with groceries, car payments and holiday gifts for their kids.
Wanting to help even more, in late 2019, Julie established a nonprofit, WW Ministering Angels (Ministering Angels. org) the t wo W’s standing for widows and widowers.
One of the f irst people they helped through the new foundation was Mary, the mom of several special needs children. She had no air conditioning, and whenever it got too hot, her daughter would pass out. I can’t even af ford a window unit, the woman wrote, and while group members collected cash, Julie found a local contractor who agreed to install whole house air conditioning at cost.
“You don’t know what this means to us,” Mary thanked Julie and the others.
“We’ve all needed help of some kind,” Julie answered for the group. “For some of us it’s emotional, for others f inancial.”
Over the past four years, WW Ministering Angels has helped dozens of widows and widowers with overdue rent and utilit y bills, funeral expenses and home repairs.
“When you’re struggling with grief, the last thing you need is a repossessed car, broken appliances or leaky roof,” Julie notes. “I’ll never forget how much love and hope was packed into that pickle jar along with the coins. It’s a feeling I want to share with grieving spouses every where.”