CLAREMORE, Okla. - A woman decided to use her birthday to give instead of receive, Sunday afternoon.
“I will be 40 tomorrow, and instead of doing a birthday party for myself or a funny birthday party, I decided I wanted to serve the community," said Claremore resident Kimberlee Francis.
Her shirt tells the story.
“We need to love from the center of who we are. That’s what the bible talks about, so I stole it and ran with it."
She decided to fill a neighborhood with that love.
“I think there’s so much bad in the world today, and there’s so much me, me, me and this is a way to celebrate my birthday without it being about me.”
She got the idea from a friend.
Throwing her own birthday party with chips, cake, gift cards and fun for perfect strangers.
“I thought it was a great idea, and I’d do whatever I could to help make that happen," said Kimberlee's husband Brad Francis.
He wasn't surprised by the idea at all.
“She just has a heart to try to serve people,” said Francis.
Not even by the amount of hotdogs it took to get here.
“Started today cooking up the hotdogs, so I think I ended up cooking about 184 myself.”
“Kimberlee and Brad are really good people," said a resident of the neighborhood and friend Courtney Matthews.
He said this is just another day of giving for the Francis family.
“It teaches our kids to give love and not hate. That’s what we should be doing," he said.
“Just watching these kids play is making my heart happy," Kimberlee said.
The day filled with laughter, and against her will, a present from one of the children in the neighborhood.
A sign Kimberlee is spreading the love, and being the love she said has blessed her with so much.
“This is the best birthday ever, I love it.”
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