Stop and Think….

Growing up my parents always said to me “Anthony Stop and Think” about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and if good or bad will result from the decision you’re making. I lived my entire life by the “Stop and Think” principle. A few years ago I decided to start giving back and helping children during the holidays. I literally “Stopped and Thought” about what good would result from me helping these kids? Would they have a better self esteem because they wouldn’t be the only kids in school that didn’t celebrate Christmas? Would they be more compassionate as adults when they realized that someone that didn’t even know them was willing to help them out? Honestly what good comes from giving back to children at Christmas aside from just the joy of knowing they got gifts and presents on Christmas morning? I realized that so much good can and will come from giving back so I started a charity called ChristmasForKids in 2006.

Fast-forward two years to 2008. I’ve grown so much as a person because of the charities I have been involved in over the past few years. It’s a great feeling to know your helping someone in a way that they desperately need to be helped. This year our ChristmasForKids organization is going to reach out in many different ways to help children. Our first event was with the Burn Center in Mississippi. Each year this burn center brings in the kids that have been burned and simply can’t afford their medical bills let alone Christmas gifts. I was so touched by this I decided that we would help. So we spent our Friday night at Target with about 20 wonderful kids of all ages who were dealing with so much in their lives already, and it was great to see their faces light up at this event.

We took each kid shopping at Target for presents of all kinds really just anything that made them smile, and helped them forget the horrible event they had just been through. I was joined by my brother Adrian and his girlfriend Kaci, my sister Brittain, COO of Affiliate Income, Inc. Josh Siegal and his girlfriend Susan, as well as Greg Holloway, and Randall Saxton. The ChristmasForKids concept is simple we don’t care who you are your always welcome to help, and we certainly appreciate these guys and girls giving their time to shop with these kids on a Friday night.

This year we are filming a documentary on our “giving back” during the Holidays. I hope that it will inspire YOU as well as millions of others around the world to think about others and always give with an open heart.

Below are some pictures from our night at Target with these kids.