December 2019 Newsletter 
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It was December 26, 2002, my wife and I woke up and started our day. I went outside to clear the overnight snow from the front edge of our driveway. As I worked, I noticed Diane walking toward me from the front door. It looked like she had been crying. She didn’t need to say a word I knew; mom was gone. Dad said she passed late last night. Christmas night.

In that moment, every Christmas memory had been wiped away and replaced with “the day mom left.” The thought of baby Jesus being born was replaced with the day mom died. I was hurt, mad, and every December became painful to endure, every Christmas another tug at the scab on my heart.

Then, early in 2007 a customer came into our Deli, Valerio’s Kitchen. She was the last customer of the day and in fact, we had already closed for the day but…we let her in. While she waited for her “Italian All the Way” we began to talk about her plans for the evening. She was going to church, to a healing service. She invited Diane and I to join her. We thought about it for a minute and decided to go.

In that sixty minutes, my world was changed, Annie’s Angels was born! I had no idea what was about to happen to me, my family or the rest of my community.

In the years since, a good and gracious God traded mom’s pain and my broken heart and showed me that with a giving heart, everyday can be Christmas, everyday can be a day of joy and happiness. In the years since, I’ve given more than I had and always found more to give and, in the years since, I’ve seen miracles happen to families that had lost all hope.

As we enter 2020, join me, join a caring community, Annie’s Angels. Become a beacon of hope, become someone’s miracle. Consider making a monthly donation. Choose a family to help, choose a program that touches your heart or let us put the money where it’s needed most. In this way, you become a connection neighbor to neighbor; friend to friend or business to business and you become part of a caring community, you can help make miracles happen.

It's December! In my home, that means Christmas so I'll say Merry Christmas to you all! If you celebrate one of the other 29 holidays that take place during this time of year, I hope you have a happy, healthy, joyous day as well!

November was a busy month. Thanks to you, Annie's Angels was able to fulfill 28 requests for assistance. We helped with groceries, fuel, other home expenses, as well as helping a young man get dentures, an elderly lady get special shoes so she can walk and a double amputee get his heat and hot water furnace fixed. 

A young man came to us as a referral through another agency with serious dental issues including infections and abscess. His state/fed funded insurance covered the extraction of all his teeth but would not cover the replacement dentures. Go figure...who thinks this stuff up? We'll take them out but you can never chew again! UGH...Partnering with the NH Dental Society, Annie's Angels was able to get this man new dentures that gave him back the confidence to move into a bright future.

A 72-year-old needs special shoes to be able to walk. Throughout the summer she walked mostly barefoot, not finding shoes that fit her swollen feet comfortably. Her doctor advised her that she needed to protect her feet and prescribed her orthopedic shoes but after trying on a few different pairs, none fit her comfortably and unfortunately, they weren’t covered by Insurance. She reached out to Annie’s Angels. I sent her to Red’s Shoe Barn to find similar shoes that she could try, and she found a pair that fit her, and she can walk in! She complained that with winter setting in, her apartment was drafty, and her feet were always cold. I sent her back to get slippers as well. Our total distributed was $100.00 and she can get around comfortably!

I was fortunate to be introduced to a young, active man, who also happens to be a double amputee. His case manager visits with him regularly. With warmer weather through spring and summer he never mentioned that his furnace was broken. Now with the colder weather moving in the case manager noticed there was a problem with the furnace at which point the man admitted he’s been simply struggling with no hot water for months. He has a quote for the repair but cannot afford to pay it. Through this all, he has been in and out of the hospital and is having to enter a dialysis program. The case manager reached out to Annie’s Angels to help him fix his heat and hot water before the cold caused more damage to his already frail body. Working with a local repair company, Annie’s Angels was able to get his heat and hot water repaired!

All these things we do, we are able to do because of you. You connect, you support, you provide what we need to keep us moving forward.

On November 14 we held a special invitation gathering at Sea Dog Brewing in Exeter. It was called, Unlock the Mystery, Unleash the Magic.The room was packed with 50 corporate and small business owners. We ate thanks to Sea Dog Brewing, drank thanks to our friends at EnviroVantage and networked as Adam Wilber performed his magic, followed up by his 30-minute stage show. I gave a 5-minute introduction about Annie’s Angels, who we are, and what we do, to unlock the mystery of Annie's Angels. This was followed by Mike Welty asking those in attendance for their support in 2020 through various sponsorship opportunities, unleashing the magic of community service. While we didn’t ask anyone for money that night, people did donate more than $5,000.00! We also got a commitment from a local business to sponsor our Motorcycle Rally in September!

I am very excited for 2020, maybe more than any other year. I hope you share my enthusiasm. Let’s dream big, let our actions be big. Lets not simply talk about being a beacon of hope lets show our community we are a beacon of hope!

Again I say, thank you for allowing Annie's Angel to be a beacon of hope for so many. Please help us continue our mission by making a recurring monthly contribution on our website, A nniesAngels.org

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Thanks to YOU we are able to ease some of the stresses that come with a doctors diagnosis. We justcan't do this good work without YOUR support. I ask that you please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Annie's Angels or visit  the  Our Families tab on the website and select a particular family to help. Get updates about "your family" on the website or follow them on social media to see how your contributions are working, and thanks again for your continued support.