Jan 15, 2021
An anonymous member of our community (thank you for sharing) just reached out to us about Emmet and his fiancé that are in need.
Emmet (different from the Emmitt that was recently in need of a bathroom renovation and wheelchair ramp) and his girlfriend at the time moved from Northern Virginia to Caroline county in 2008. Emmet was a carpenter for many years before back injuries left him disabled and his fiancé works in the grocery industry. They love God and our wonderful country. They plan to get married this year in October.
Shortly after buying their home in Caroline they started having significant issues and realized they had bought a lemon. Their house has deteriorated over the years mostly due to copper piping that has become brittle and can be squeezed with a hand… if they turn on the water in their house it leaks all over the place causing significant damage.
They have not had running water in their house for over 3 years. They pour bottled water into buckets and shower outside. Bottled water is also used for cooking and drinking water. Rainwater is collected to flush the toilets and clean the house amongst other things.
When we first approached Emmet about their situation and offered to help he said they are fine and are getting by. We told him that we would really like to share their situation with the community and see if anyone can help lift them up in their time of need.
He was hesitant at first but then realized he desperately needs assistance and would be extremely grateful for any help. He said the main issue is that he can’t afford the piping replacement that needs to be done, the materials needed to do all the repairs and because of his health will need assistance with labor. He said that he would be thankful for any help and said “it would be nice to take a real shower again”.
If you feel inspired to assist (with time, skills, resources, labor – doesn’t have to be for the entire project)) please contact us privately on Facebook, email us at liftupyourcommunity@mattbrandtinsurance.com, or call our office 804-633-4242 and we will provide more details for you to reach out and coordinate relief/assistance directly with Emmet.
We ask that each member of our community keep Emmet and his fiancé in your thoughts and prayers. We want to thank the anonymous member of our community that identified a person in need and acted on the prompting to help by communicating the situation.
If you become aware of someone in our community that is in need or deserves to be spotlighted for the goodness they do please let us know so we can share. Also, please communicate volunteer opportunities. Let’s not leave anyone out!#liftupyyourcommunity
Jan 13, 2021
As we mentioned in a previous post our agency has committed as part of our Agency Creed to identify and fund one person/charity each month. A wonderful member of our community (who would like to remain anonymous) nominated our recipient for the month of January (thank you so much for the nomination 
).
We are so excited about the experience we will have assisting this person in need in our community. Emmitt is an 86 year-old United States Army veteran who served in Korea. He cares for his 29-year-old autistic grandson with little help from anyone else. Funds are very tight. He has not been able to go to the VA to get his shots or medication due to COVID. His doctors have informed him it is safest for him to remain home to avoid possibly coming into contact with anyone carrying the virus.
He has extremely poor mobility and struggles to get around, but has to drive places for his grandson. They feel he is deserving of assistance. We were informed there are 2 things he is in desperate need of – a ramp for his home so he is able to access it easier due to his lack of mobility and repairs/renovations for his bathroom which is in very poor condition and not safe for him.
We are thankful for all the nominations we received from many members of our community and our team has decided that Emmitt is who we would like to assist (in a small way) this month of January. Our team will work with a local contractor in our community to fund the ramp that Emmitt needs to access his home. We can’t wait to get it completed for him!
**We invite a member(s) of our community that feels inspired to fund/repair the bathroom to contact us and we will provide details for you to coordinate the work.
**We have asked the individuals that nominated others to create a Facebook post, share it on their platform and tag/share/send it to us so we can, in turn, use our platform to inform our community. As they are shared we feel that other members of the community may be inspired to assist.
If you do, please message us privately and we will give you more details for you to coordinate relief. We know you will be blessed and feel lifted up yourself as you serve members of our awesome community.
Emmitt, thank you for your service to our country (that we love) and your wonderful grandson. Your sacrifice/love is inspiring to us and we are humbled and honored to assist you in your time of need. We truly feel we are the ones being blessed!
Please share and we ask that everyone that feels inspired to look for ways you can lift up others in need in your community! You won’t regret it! #liftupyourcommunity
Jan 13, 2021
We have been so inspired over the past week by all of your many acts of goodness and love by so many people throughout the country in lifting people up. It is our sincere desire that #liftupyourcommunity2021 be shared and multiplied in every community.
We humbly invite and plead for people in every community to duplicate and multiply this movement. Yes, that includes YOU even in a small way! 
The call to action is for a business/charity/organization or a few individuals in each community (some communities have already done this) to create an online communication portal/hub to share the following (we have created the hub in the greater Ruther Glen/Caroline county VA community but we feel that one is needed in every community)…
1. Identify individuals in need and then appropriately coordinate and execute how they can be lifted up.
2. Communicate volunteer and service opportunities in your community.
3. Spotlight individuals/charities/organizations/etc… that lift people up and encourage all to follow their lead.
4. Invite and inspire all members of the community to get involved.
5. Use #liftupyourcommunity in your communications to spread the word. We ask that all members of each community get involved by linking themselves to their community portal/hub and sharing the content as it becomes available so individuals can be made aware and inspired to get involved.
We also invite each member of every community to use their individual platforms to share this movement. Many lives will be blessed throughout the world as a result. Let’s lift up the world by actively engaging in this exciting work in our communities and make 2021 and beyond the best world, we have ever lived in! Please share with your friends and everyone you come in contact with. God bless!#liftupyourcommunity.
Jan 12, 2021
We are aware of an experience that took place in our community that we would like to share… An 11 1/2-year-old, young man named Cooper was given $150.00 as his gift for Christmas so he could go and pick out the Christmas present that he really wanted. Sadly when he went to the store to pick out what he wanted to buy… somewhere along the way he lost his wallet and the $150.00 he had been given for Christmas. He was extremely upset and looked everywhere but was unable to find it. In passing, his grandfather mentioned what happened to Cooper to an individual of the community. That individual (who Cooper barely knew) felt inspired immediately to lift him up by going to their house and giving $150.00 to Cooper and told him “Merry Christmas and to go pick out what you want”. We were so inspired by this experience we wanted to share it with you. We invite everyone to look for ways to lift up the individuals in your community.#liftupyourcommunity
Jan 12, 2021
Mr. Day is an associate at Costco in the Spotsylvania Mall and most of the time he greets people as they enter the store. My family has been going there for years and we always look forward to seeing him because he brightens our day, lifts us up, makes us feel special, and inspires us to be better.
This is the type of guy he is… When I went to meet with him a couple of days ago to thank him for everything he does and for lifting us up and spreading goodwill, we told him we would like to spotlight him and he was extremely humble and excited and said he would be honored. As I was meeting with him for approximately 15 mins a ton of people were coming into the store and he would say hi and uplift every one of them.
For example, there was one senior lady that came in by herself that looked to obviously be having a bad day, was not feeling well and/or didn’t appear to be in the best mood…. He said to her something like this in the most sincere, enthusiastic, loving, and genuine way, ‘ma’am, it is so great to see you today, thank you for coming in, you have brightened my day, you are such a wonderful person.’ She reacted by changing her entire demeanor and put a large smile on her face and looked at him and said, “thank you” and continued into the store with an upbeat attitude that had completely changed.
That is just one of the many people he greeted and lifted up while I was there. There must have been 25+ people come into the store during the short period I was with him. He treats everyone the same as they enter Costco.
This is what I found out about Day McCall while I was meeting with him and asking for details for his spotlight.• He has lived in the Fredericksburg area his entire life.
• Has 2 sons (ages 18 & 16) and 2 foster children (ages 13 & 11) that he is trying to adopt. He has been fostering children for 3 years.
• He has been working at Costco since 2008.
• He was homeless and living under a bridge in 2008 when he went to work for Costco. He said he had a bunch of bad things in his life at the time and got rid of all of them.
• When I asked him what inspired him to lift people up and spread goodwill and love every day he said… “Jesus Christ!!! And the Holy Spirit that lives in me.” He said that he feels like the most blessed person in the world!
• During our conversation a co-worker overheard what we were talking about and pulled me to the side and let me know he also takes homeless people into his house frequently and is a preacher amongst many other things. She said that he is such an amazing person with how many people he touches/helps all the time.
Thank you, Day for lifting us all up and inspiring us every time we see you. You are a true example to each of us and we hope that we all will follow your lead.#liftupyourcommunityThanks to Rachel Brandt (our office knows her a little bit 
) for nominating him.
