OAKHURST – Lori and Jay Prentice have made it their mission to share their home with those who have no place to go. Now Lori has written a book about their experiences.
For the past three years, the Prentice’s have actively sought out families who have fallen on hard times, and find themselves homeless and out in the cold. They have remodeled a room in their home for the specific purpose of providing the homeless with a warm place to stay while they get back on their feet.Since we ran their story on Mar. 19, a lot has happened at the Prentice household, including contacts from some of the very folks they are seeking to help.
The big news is that their Kickstarter project is now online, and those wishing to participate and support the publication of Lori’s children’s book “The Best Dinner I Never Ate,” can now do so by visiting http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/732106572/the-best-dinner-i-never-ate-bringing-homeless-fami
“If you believe that every person is valuable, that every person deserves someone to look out for them, then backing this story sends that message loud and clear,” says Lori on the website. “We can stand up for each other, maybe experience a little chaos, maybe become a little bit uncomfortable in our own lives because of helping others, but we’ll be better people for it.”
The Prentices have 29 days from today to raise the $14,000 they need to publish Lori’s book, which grew out of her journals about their experiences over the past three years.
The Best Dinner I Never Ate uses beautiful illustrations to chronicle the story of how the Prentice family stumbles into helping the homeless when mom Lori delivers their Thanksgiving dinner to a homeless family in need.
Upon discovery of the family, and recognizing one of the children as someone their kids used to play sports with, parents Jay and Lori immediately drop off their kids with the grandparents, four and a half hours away, and drive straight back, missing a second turkey dinner so they could clear out and convert their spare room into an apartment.
A video on their Kickstarter webpage shares their story, with the Prentice children talking about what this experiences has meant to them, and heartfelt thanks from the very first family to become part of the Prentice household on that first Thanksgiving day.
To learn more about The Best Dinner I Never Ate- Bringing Homeless Families In, or to donate to the project, click here.
To read the entire story of the Prentice family, click here.
