Jan 13, 2021
We have been so inspired over the past week by all of your many acts of goodness and love by so many people throughout the country in lifting people up. It is our sincere desire that #liftupyourcommunity2021 be shared and multiplied in every community.
We humbly invite and plead for people in every community to duplicate and multiply this movement. Yes, that includes YOU even in a small way! 
The call to action is for a business/charity/organization or a few individuals in each community (some communities have already done this) to create an online communication portal/hub to share the following (we have created the hub in the greater Ruther Glen/Caroline county VA community but we feel that one is needed in every community)âŚ
1. Identify individuals in need and then appropriately coordinate and execute how they can be lifted up.
2. Communicate volunteer and service opportunities in your community.
3. Spotlight individuals/charities/organizations/etc⌠that lift people up and encourage all to follow their lead.
4. Invite and inspire all members of the community to get involved.
5. Use #liftupyourcommunity in your communications to spread the word. We ask that all members of each community get involved by linking themselves to their community portal/hub and sharing the content as it becomes available so individuals can be made aware and inspired to get involved.
We also invite each member of every community to use their individual platforms to share this movement. Many lives will be blessed throughout the world as a result. Letâs lift up the world by actively engaging in this exciting work in our communities and make 2021 and beyond the best world, we have ever lived in! Please share with your friends and everyone you come in contact with. God bless!#liftupyourcommunity.
Jan 12, 2021
We are aware of an experience that took place in our community that we would like to share… An 11 1/2-year-old, young man named Cooper was given $150.00 as his gift for Christmas so he could go and pick out the Christmas present that he really wanted. Sadly when he went to the store to pick out what he wanted to buy⌠somewhere along the way he lost his wallet and the $150.00 he had been given for Christmas. He was extremely upset and looked everywhere but was unable to find it. In passing, his grandfather mentioned what happened to Cooper to an individual of the community. That individual (who Cooper barely knew) felt inspired immediately to lift him up by going to their house and giving $150.00 to Cooper and told him âMerry Christmas and to go pick out what you wantâ. We were so inspired by this experience we wanted to share it with you. We invite everyone to look for ways to lift up the individuals in your community.#liftupyourcommunity
Jan 12, 2021
Mr. Day is an associate at Costco in the Spotsylvania Mall and most of the time he greets people as they enter the store. My family has been going there for years and we always look forward to seeing him because he brightens our day, lifts us up, makes us feel special, and inspires us to be better.
This is the type of guy he is⌠When I went to meet with him a couple of days ago to thank him for everything he does and for lifting us up and spreading goodwill, we told him we would like to spotlight him and he was extremely humble and excited and said he would be honored. As I was meeting with him for approximately 15 mins a ton of people were coming into the store and he would say hi and uplift every one of them.
For example, there was one senior lady that came in by herself that looked to obviously be having a bad day, was not feeling well and/or didn’t appear to be in the best moodâŚ. He said to her something like this in the most sincere, enthusiastic, loving, and genuine way, âmaâam, it is so great to see you today, thank you for coming in, you have brightened my day, you are such a wonderful person.â She reacted by changing her entire demeanor and put a large smile on her face and looked at him and said, “thank you” and continued into the store with an upbeat attitude that had completely changed.
That is just one of the many people he greeted and lifted up while I was there. There must have been 25+ people come into the store during the short period I was with him. He treats everyone the same as they enter Costco.
This is what I found out about Day McCall while I was meeting with him and asking for details for his spotlight.⢠He has lived in the Fredericksburg area his entire life.
⢠Has 2 sons (ages 18 & 16) and 2 foster children (ages 13 & 11) that he is trying to adopt. He has been fostering children for 3 years.
⢠He has been working at Costco since 2008.
⢠He was homeless and living under a bridge in 2008 when he went to work for Costco. He said he had a bunch of bad things in his life at the time and got rid of all of them.
⢠When I asked him what inspired him to lift people up and spread goodwill and love every day he said⌠âJesus Christ!!! And the Holy Spirit that lives in me.â He said that he feels like the most blessed person in the world!
⢠During our conversation a co-worker overheard what we were talking about and pulled me to the side and let me know he also takes homeless people into his house frequently and is a preacher amongst many other things. She said that he is such an amazing person with how many people he touches/helps all the time.
Thank you, Day for lifting us all up and inspiring us every time we see you. You are a true example to each of us and we hope that we all will follow your lead.#liftupyourcommunityThanks to Rachel Brandt (our office knows her a little bit 
) for nominating him.
Jan 12, 2021
A local Spotsylvania mother was kind enough to share her story and we felt it important to share with all of you – with her permission. Jenna Perrin is a mother to a 6 year old son. She is a paramedic, but had to ultimately take time off as she is currently battling chronic pancreatitis and is of higher risk for battling COVID. Because of taking time off of work, her living situation has become unreliable. Jenna was also the victim of a gruesome assault in September, which left her in the ICU for several weeks after undergoing two emergency surgeries and resulting in a period of time in the rehabilitation hospital. Both of these circumstances have resulted in Jenna having to put her important transplant surgery on hold. As a part of our #liftupyourcommunity we feel it is important to make our community aware of where help is needed and ask that anyone familiar with Go Fund Me or something similar and that is able and willing to take on this important cause, please do. Please reach out to us privately and we will provide more details on how to can contact her. We also ask that our community lift up this family in need in any way possible and to keep Jenna and her son in your thoughts and prayers! Also, if anyone is aware of any other individual/family/charity in need please share with the rest of us so we can help lift them up too. Thank you.https://www.facebook.com/jenna.perrin.5
Jan 12, 2021
We look forward to the people we will meet, what we will learn and the experiences we will have. We will each post about how itâs going frequently throughout the year online. We encourage everyone to look for ways you can volunteer. As we embark on this our team will follow all COVID guidelines and restrictions. We also believe there are many ways to volunteer and lift up remotely without leaving your home or having physical contact during COVID. Stay safe and let’s lift up the community!#liftupyourcommunity
Jan 12, 2021
Each of the 5 members of the Matt Brandt State Farm agency is excited and committed in 2021 to set aside 2 work hours per month (total of 10 hours/month & 120 hours/year from our entire team) volunteering in our local community for something we are individually passionate about.
