A few weeks ago, Crossroads Community Church contacted Single Mothers Outreach because they wanted to raise money to give a mom a car for Christmas.

We wondered, how do we choose one from the almost 250 families we serve? Because a car is a significant expense, we decided that we would limit our search to our financial training graduates. SMO’s financial training coordinator, Kristin Drucker, had recently conducted a survey on how much graduates had saved and paid down on their debt. She also asked what turned out to be a significant question: “Currently, what is your biggest area of concern?”

Two parents listed transportation as their biggest challenge and also indicated that they borrow a car from friends or family members. Of the two, one indicated she had saved $800 and paid off $350. She had also taken another financial training class that teaches parents how to teach their children about money. We knew then we had found the right person.

When she arrived to pick up her Adopt-a-Family gifts with her daughter, we invited her daughter to help us distribute gifts while staff took mom to another room to ask if she would like a car for Christmas. Carolyn Olsen shared later, “after we told her about the car she began shaking and crying.”

When our mom collected her child and her gifts, we overheard her say to her daughter, “I have good news to share.”

“It is parents like this who deserve our generosity. Our staff is proud to serve as a bridge between citizens who want to make a difference and hard-working single parents who need our help so they can become self-sustaining. We want to thank the whole Crossroads Church community for their generosity. Our mission is to help more single parents to become independent and currently have our annual gift giving campaign,” said DaAnne Smith, executive director for SMO.

You too can help by donating via http://singlemothersoutreach.org/strong-families/