Local giver multiplies donations to help families
Trending
With her adult children's blessing, and often their help, one great-grandmother is passing on a tradition of giving generosity to bring a better Christmas to struggling families.
Although the pact with her children to help others at Christmas has been in place for some time, Lana Flaten was able to go above and beyond this year, helping five families with 26 children, with the support of the Minot-area community.
At the thrift shop she opened in downtown Minot last January, Flaten set out a jar during the holiday season for people to make donations. Then she contacted the Ward County Human Service Zone to identify a family needing help this Christmas. A friend also put her in contact with a second family needing help.
One of the families was a single father raising four girls, who brought his daughters to the store to pick out anything they needed at no cost.
"It was just awesome, and he had tears in his eyes. We had more fun watching them," Flaten said. "We told them, 'You can come in anytime between now and Christmas. Pick out anything you want.'"
The other family included a mother with health issues, two small children and a new baby.
Flaten said she was overwhelmed when she counted the money in the jar and found her customers had donated $440. She said she saw customers drop money in the jar, even though she suspected they would have a meager Christmas themselves.
"I was impressed with our customers for doing this. We've got some wonderful customers," Flaten said.
With the jar money, Flaten was able to purchase gift cards to a big box store for the two families, knowing they may have needs for hygiene products and other items not available from a thrift store.
Then a local Catholic church called to ask if her store, BackDoor Treasures, could help some families in need. Flaten's daughter, Michelle Waldbillig, who operates the store with her mother, took the call.
"Of course, Michelle and I are both givers, and Michelle said, 'Sure,'" Flaten said. They agreed to help another three families.
The first of the families to stop by had six children.
Toys have been a small part of the families' Christmas needs, Flaten said. One family selected a television, but they all picked out lots of clothes, shoes and boots.
Having already designated the jar money, Flaten inquired of Walmart about donating hams to the three additional families. Instead, Walmart donated a gift card that Flaten used to purchase the hams.
"It's just been a blessing," Flaten said. "It's been great because years ago, I had one Christmas that was pretty difficult, and I was bullheaded and stubborn. so I wouldn't ask my family for help."
She said she pawned her wedding and mother's rings to buy presents for her four children. She also now has 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, with two more on the way.
When her family learned she pawned her rings, they went to buy them back but were too late.
"And that's OK," Flaten conceded, noting she already had all that mattered.
Flaten grew up in Stanley but lived in various places across the country where her husband's job took them. She returned to North Dakota about 25 years ago and came to Minot about seven years ago.
Helping families at Christmas has become a tradition over that time. While living in Fargo, she contacted a social services agency and asked if they had a family who needed help. The agency provided a family with three children whose savings for Christmas went to buy a different vehicle when their existing vehicle died. Flaten provided a gift card for the family to shop for their Christmas meal and gifts.
Talking with the social worker later, she learned one of the children mentioned longing for the type of athletic shoes the social worker had been wearing. Flaten purchased another gift card to a shoe store with the stipulation all three children could pick out shoes they wanted, not shoes their parents wanted for them. She later went back to the store to see how much she owed beyond what the gift card covered.
"The manager said, 'Not a dime. We're going to eat it.' He said that is the most fun we have had in ages," Flaten recalled.
Over the years, she also has kept an eye out for people she can help even if it is not Christmas, including buying good used vehicles for single mothers on 11 occasions. She provided airfare to a Texas couple to see their grandchildren in Florida for the first time. She had encountered the couple online and vetted their situation. Grateful to this woman they didn't know, the couple sent her photos from their trip.
Now with the help of community members and their overflowing donations to a thrift store, Flaten said, she is able to continue to show generosity to local homeless shelters throughout the year.