With the holidays upon us, many of us like to take this time to spend it with our loved ones and share in the love and joy of simply being able to do so. We often forget how important it is and how fortunate we are to be able to do so and tend to take it for granted. Today I was once more reminded of how fortunate I am, as so many of us are, to be able to be with my husband and daughter when I received an e-mail from Sheena Eizmendiz, one of the practitioners at the Miami Hypnosis Center.
The following is the e-mail I received:
Ladies & Gents:
Im writing to you because there is a family that needs help for the holidays. This is an elderly lady who is raising 5 children, ages 2, 6, 8, 14 & 16 years old. Her daughter is in a federal prison for driving a van with illegal immigrants to this country. She was helping bring people from Mexico and other countries so they can have a better life & was caught. She was sentenced to 4 years in prison. When she went to prison, she was pregnant with her 5th child. She hasn’t had the opportunities many of us have had & she had no education. She gave birth to her son on a Friday & was asked to surrender him on Monday morning. She has since only seen her 2 year old twice because her family, which in this case is her mother, cannot afford to travel to see her in Coleman, Florida. Her mother is raising these 5 kids all by herself & with ZERO government help because she is afraid that if DSF finds out, they will take the kids and place them all in foster homes. She loves her grandchildren.
I can attest that this story is true. I met the mother, the grandmother & witnessed the conditions in which they live. I am asking that this holiday season you are compelled in helping this family. I would love to get toys for all the kids. They are all boys except the 6 year old, she is the only girl. Please do not read this email and just put it behind you. This is a family that cannot afford anything. These kids are growing up without their mom. She loves them so much that she crochets for them from prison all the time so they dont forget she loves them.
I would like to deliver these next week with I Am Equilibrium & My Vida Spa who are collaborating with us (Miami Hypnosis Center) on this. If you cannot go buy them a gift, please mail a check payable to Alma S. Chase (this is the grandmother) and i will give it to her. Mail the checks as soon as possible or give them directly to me next week. You can drop off at my office or mail to me ASAP!!!
Thank you all so much for this, you cant imagine how much it means to me to help this family.
I ask you now to please find it within yourself to, as Sheena’s letter asks, help out the Miami Hypnosis Center, I Am Equilibrium and My Vida Spa Center in their joint venture to help this family during their time of need. These children are already dealing with the lack of a mother to comfort them and share in their daily lives, please help to at least give them something to look forward to this holiday season. Material possessions cannot take the place of a mother’s warmth, but it can bring a smile to the faces of these children who have so little to smile about.
I’d also like to applaud this poor grandmother in her fight to keep her grandchildren together. It is a reminder of how deep the bonds of family can go when a grandmother will take charge of her grandchildren with what little she has and refuse to risk having them separated and thrown into a system in which children are so often tossed around and juggled from one home to the next. It would seem a lot easier to simply ask for government help and let it run its course, but her love for these children outweighs the thought of easing her plight by those means.
Remember, any little bit that you can do helps and makes a difference. We oftentimes will hear about situations like this where families are in dire need of help and will not do anything because we feel that we don’t have enough to give to make a difference. Don’t do the same with this…
Please make sure if you are going to be giving a check towards the cause that you make it out to: ALMA S. CHASE, the children’s grandmother.
You may, as Sheena pointed out, mail out any checks to:
Attn: Sheena Eizmendiz
Miami Hypnosis Center
1000 5th Street, Suite 407
Miami Beach, Florida 33139
Or if you can, stop by and drop it off.
You can also drop off any new unwrapped toys that you can for the kids at either of the two locations:
Miami Hypnosis Center My Vida Spa & Wellness Center
1000 5th Street, Suite 407 5887 Sunset Dr.
Miami Beach, Florida 33139 South Miami, FL 33143
Remember we are trying to get this all together for distribution to the family on Monday, so please contact us as soon as possible.
You have no idea how much this can really mean to those children and that grandmother. This holiday, share the love and do something that not only will feel great, but will also help those who need it.
Roz in Focus 