I found two neat stories out of Arizona for this edition of The Up Beat. Contemplating an appropriate article title, I first thought of The Eagles’ Take It Easy, but neither of these occurred in or near Winslow. So, I looked up the state motto, and learned that it is “Ditat Deus,” which means “God enriches.” That seemed quite fitting in light of the generosity shown by these two…rather different organizations.

First up: The Girl Scouts — specifically, Daisy Troop 4560 out of Gilbert, AZ. 7-year-old Daphne Thomas wanted to do something special with the proceeds of her troop’s cookie sales. Her mom, Leslie, relayed the story to ABC15:

Leslie says her daughter sold over $1,200 worth of products and wanted to make sure the money she earned would go to a special place.

“We wanted to give them Christmas and I gave the idea to my mom and she said ‘Ok, we will put it on the Girl Scout list,'” Daphne said.

The troop bought toys and clothing for families at the non-profit Ryan House, which cares for children with life-limiting conditions.

And it doesn’t end there. The troop has plans for the proceeds from their upcoming sales, as well:

“It just makes my heart so happy,” Leslie said. “Now they’ve decided for this upcoming cookie season, they want to find a local family shelter to do donations for.”

Not only are these kids learning lessons in marketing, sales, and budgeting; they’re also learning about compassion and generosity.

But the Daisies aren’t the only group with generous hearts in Arizona. Mint Medical Marijuana dispensaries has also stepped up and made $1,000 donations to several local families who are struggling. ABC15 has this story, as well:

The owners of Mint Medical Marijuana dispensaries found the families through local charities and other groups they partner with. Some were recommended by their own staff.

One of the families that received the generous gift of cash was the Conant family.

….

“I was only getting like $1,000 a month and it was really hard to try to keep all my bills paid when I was barely making my rent,” said Elizabeth Conant. The family was surviving on about $200 of food stamps, but with two growing boys, Conant said that was proving to be tough as well.

When Raul Molina, the COO of the Mint Dispensaries, and his staff showed up to present her with $1,000 in cash, she was surprised and overwhelmed.

“I cried. It feels good to know that people appreciate me like I appreciate them,” said Conant.

Molina said, just like all of the families they helped, it brightened his Christmas as well. He acknowledged that the pandemic has made it tough for these families and he feels blessed to have done well in his business.

Molina was so moved by the experience that Mint plans to make this an annual holiday tradition.

Be they Girl Scouts or growers, it’s clear there are some generous hearts in and about the Phoenix area.

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. — 2 Corinthians 9:11

Let us know what you think in the Comments section, below. And if you come across any good news stories you’d like us to share here, please send them to [email protected].