During the holiday season just before Christmas this past year, Meghan Fretto (younger sister of our Mike) and her peers from her church youth group heard about the unfortunate circumstances of the Coley family after the tragic fire, and were touched. This group, consisting of kids ages ranging 11 to 21, instantly agreed with one another to take immediate action, and help the family any way they could. After discussing a few ideas with one another, Meghan and her friends organized a Christmas wreath fundraiser for the Coley's. They decided to create Christmas wreaths that they would sell at church and give the proceeds to funding the construction costs of rebuilding the Coley household. Without any overhead funding the kids were able to gather spare Christmas tree greens from Meghan's dad, Christmas tree sellers, and other parents that were willing to give away some branches, wire, and decorations for the cause. The kids worked together, used whatever they could find of recycled elements and were able to create just under 40 homemade wreaths! When they set out to sell the wreaths at the first following church service, the kids were shocked to see many of the church members writing donations to their cause, and quickly found themselves out of inventory! Within less than an hour every single wreath was sold and the youth group had raised nearly $600.00!!!

Meghan and her friends are truly an inspiration to us. They saw a need in their community, thought of a creative (and efficient) way to help, worked together as a team with the resources they had, and ended up making a significant difference in the life of a neighbor in need (while at the same time I'm sure they had some fun in there as well!). We're beyond encouraged to see things like these, and groups of friends like this one that are taking action and making a difference. We hope you are just as encouraged and inspired as we were when we heard about this awesome idea. This is what Rosa Loves is all about.

Below are some images from the wreath craft party...