Just before Thanksgiving, we held our Giving Thanks Draw at Washin Golden Springs Coin Laundry. It was a great success. We had over 500 adult tickets in the draw and around 100 kid’s tickets.
The staff had a lot of fun helping with the draw and recognizing the names of the winners as we pulled them out. We had most of the prizes picked up within a couple of days.
The excitement of the winners never gets old. Hearing the stories of people that say they never win anything and how much the Winn-Dixie Gift Card will help out with Thanksgiving dinner, or how excited their kids were to win a new blanket that is their own.
I was at the store when the mother of one of the winners came in. Her teenage son won one of the Old Navy Gift Cards. She said he had been feeling a little down and got so excited when he won. He likes to buy most of his shirts at Old Navy so it worked out great for him.
It’s amazing the feeling you get giving to others. Whether it is through a draw at a store, a donation in front of a grocery store or donating to a food pantry.
I was at one of my stores a few months back with a couple of my early teenage kids. As I was filling the change machine a lady entered the store and was loading up a couple of the washers. I gave each of the kids $2 in quarters and asked them to go over and pay for the lady’s washers. They did this and we finished up and got in the car. They were so amazed at how thankful the lady was for the free washes. One of the comments was “But it was only $2”. I explained that you don’t know the situation the lady is in. She may be having a hard time paying all the bills and getting the laundry done is tough or maybe she was having a bad day and that free wash was the break she needed to put a smile on her face. Never underestimate the difference that a small donation of money or time can make.
Now that we are moving quickly into Christmas it’s time to give some more things away. And Yes I said Christmas.
We have already begun to collect tickets for the draw. Stop by the store at 1304 Greenbrier in Anniston and make sure to ask Vanessa, Chelsea or Brittany for a ticket.
If you have any comments please post them below.
See you at the store
Ken Barrett
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P.S You can find this and my other comments at KenBarrett.us
