For this woman’s 102nd birthday, she didn’t want gifts — all she asked was that people donate canned food to her community’s food pantry! Trudy Handleman from Bettendorf, Iowa, believes that “It’s more fun to give than to receive.” She put her principles into action when she started putting together a big food donation for those in need. Her goal was to collect 102 items in honor of her age.
“No matter how large or how small the project, if you put your heart into it and you really care, you get so many followers, friends, and those are long away and they all want to join you,” Trudy Handleman told KWQC.
Just like the elderly woman said, she got an extremely generous outpouring of support from other locals. In fact, her original ask was more than doubled! People donated more than 400 items to the canned food drive to celebrate Trudy Handleman’s 102nd birthday.
Friendly House Food Pantry was more than grateful for the delivery. Staff said that they’d be able to help 25 to 30 families with the donation. When Quartet Senior Living dropped off the canned food in honor of Trudy turning 102, the birthday girl was right there with them.
“I want to be part of that final step when we actually put the things where they’ll be used,” the elderly woman said.
Making it to 102 is a pretty impressive accomplishment, but Trudy Handleman made her birthday even more meaningful with her thoughtful canned food donation. What a wonderful reminder that, when it comes to helping others, there’s no age limit!
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.