Dear Family, Friends and Website Visitors,

Well, its a done deal! As you can see by the pictures, it was hard to find a place to sit in my house before packing up our cars Thanksgiving morning!! Thanks to all your efforts, more than 300 know that there are those who care.  Sometimes that is all it takes to help turn their lives around.

Now to the business at hand.  I spent the majority of November finishing up my bags.  The week of Thanksgiving though was chock full of last minute donations of snacks and supplies.  Someone even had t-shirts made up for myself and family.  We wore them on Thanksgiving day as we passed out our gift bags.  That same person also donated 30 dozen ready to bake cookies to share at the dinner.  Thanks to NJHS of Desert Valley, once again, for baking and packing them up for me.  They have done so much to serve the needs of others.  My heartfelt thanks and appreciation goes to them for their efforts this year and for wanting to include My Ministry as part of their annual public service.

And, the day before Thanksgiving, it was like someone made an early Christmas delivery to my house when someone dropped off 6 large bags full of stuffed animals.  These added donations allowed me to extend My Ministry to a shelter for battered and abused women and their children.  I was able to set up an extra 100 bags for them.

You have probably noticed that I have not included pictures with this letter.  Although the web is a wonderful place for information and communicating, it has also become of place of caution.  That being the case, I have decided not to publish any pictures on my website.  I will however be happy to share these pictures with you through e-mail.  Please let me know if you would like to see any of them by clicking here.

In closing let me just say that the reality of what we have all been involved in this year has only been enhanced by the heart prints left along the way.

Thanking you again and hoping you will want to continue being a part of

HANNAH'S HATS OF HOPE

                  AND

CLAIRE'S CARING COMFORTS

With Love and Blessings to All,

Lauren

 

"Today is November 24, 2006. Today is not only Thanksgiving day, it is also the day that my sister, Lauren, has worked so hard for all year. When I spoke to her this morning as she got ready to leave for the soup kitchen, the excitement in her voice was unbelievably inspirational. She was a mirror of God's Love!
Lauren, you have touched more lives than you know and created and grew a ministry that has brought many people closer together and closer to God. I am so very proud of you and what you stand for."
We love you,
Lori and Lindsay
 

"This is an exciting and joyful day! Today, this day of thanksgiving, you get to share the fruits of your labors. My thoughts are with you as you do the wonderful work of making so many others so happy!"
Happy Thanksgiving,
Love,
Linda and family
 

Hi Lauren,
"I know this is the day you've worked all year for. Your God's tireless servant. I really think He knew just the right person to give this responsibility to, and I know the people your helping will remember it for their lifetime. How awesome is it that you can have such a loving impact on so many lives. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you, and how proud I feel to be your brother."
We love you,
Lou, Pat and family
 

Lauren --

This is one of the most amazing things anyone in this family has ever done.
What a wonderful show of faith and love. Your hard work all year will make this day that much better for all those you help -- it's an act of goodness that will ripple out. We are unbelievably proud of you. Congratulations on an important job well done and done with caring and compassion.

All our love,
Lisa, Marli and Mark
 

Lauren –
"We are all so incredibly proud of the wonderful work you are doing with Hannah’s Hats of Hope and Claire’s Caring Comforts. This is a wonderful example of a selfless love you are giving to others without expecting anything in return. The work you are doing here demonstrates wonderful Christ-like attributes: compassion for others, courage to take on a God-sized task, and an unconditional, agape-like love for those you minister to."

May the Lord richly bless you in all you are doing with the ministry, Lauren; we love you very much!

Lonnie, Patty, Briana & Trevor