The Miller Family of Powhatan Virginia has been facing more heartbreak than any family should ever have to. The mother has terminal cancer and may not survive to spend another Christmas with her young son and the father is out of work. After paying their mortgage for the past 28 years, they had fallen behind on their mortgage payments and their home was facing foreclosure. Their furnace was broken and with no money to fix it, the family was living in their garage, trying to stay warm.

I have been watching this incredible story unfold on the facebook page "Help The Miller Family" Beyond how heartbreaking this story is, it has been extra emotional to me because my husband had major complications following abdominal surgery and we weren't sure if he was going to pull through. He was in the hospital for 6 weeks and there were many nights when I lay awake worried that the phone would ring with the news that he hadn't made it. I am grateful beyond words that he made it through and is now home with us. Now the medical bills are rolling in and we cringe every time we get the mail. I can only imagine what the bills would be from a long battle with cancer. My worst nightmare is happening to this family, losing a parent and spouse and being mired in debt from the medical bills and I feel so much sorrow for them.

Donations have been made and fundraisers thrown and thankfully, foreclosure has been stayed for 60 days! Their church has arranged meals to be delivered, Lakeside Heating and Air has fixed their furnace, Luck Stone and Colony Construction gave them a new new gravel driveway, Southworth Power gave the Millers a new chainsaw to be able to cut wood for their wood stove and two loads of wood have been donated to the family.

Now the goal is to continue to raise money to pay off the last two years of the mortgage so that the husband and son will be secure in their home after Mrs. Miller passes. Donations are being accepted at The New Horizon's Bank in Flat Rock or through www.paypal.com to the following account. KKelley@C21option1.com. Fellow Realtor Karen Kelley of Century 21 Realty has been spear heading this campaign and has been doing an amazing job.

Everyone coming together to help this family is what the true spirit of Christmas is all about, I am so proud of our community for stepping up and going above and beyond. Please make a donation to this family if you can, even a dollar or two adds up when we all get together and do it.

I hope everyone who lives in Powhatan County is going to enroll with Food Lion's MVP rewards to support our local schools. My son Zachary attends Pocahontas Elementary School. I learned at the Back to School night that his school has lost 25% of the support staff due to funding cutbacks! Anything we can do to help the PTO raise money to fill the gaps left from losing those staff members will help our children.

I tried to do it in the store and the clerk didn't know what I was talking about! But it is super easy to register your MVP card online. Go to: http://www.foodlionmvprewards.com/ Click on Register my card. You need to enter your Food Lion number on the back of your MVP card. The 12 digits include the small numbers before and after the bar code in addition to the large numbers under the bar code. After you register your card you will search for your school by entering the schools name, city and state. Super easy and a great, easy way to raise money to support our school!