When Sandy Hampton won a shopping spree at JC Penney, she knew exactly how she was going to spend it. She decided to give most of it away to U.S. troops overseas and to needy families at home.
After receiving a $5,000 gift card from the department store chain Hampton said, "It's such a blessing to be able to receive a gift like that and give it back."
Hampton's caring for the troops started in 2003, when her brother-in-law's military unit was shipped to Iraq. She started sending care packages full of candy and snacks. Eventually the effort grew, with volunteers supporting five military units with regular shipments.
But in tough economic times, this year's donations were running low, and Hampton turned to an essay contest sponsored by JC Penney's, through NBC 5. She wrote about her efforts to help the troops and explained she wanted to spend some money on them.
She's used $4,000 of the money to send them bigger and better care packages this winter, and then turned the rest of the money to helping some needy families in the DFW area, leaving just a few hundred dollars for her own family this Christmas.
"She's not just doing one thing, Frisco JC Penney store manager Mario Sciarra said, she's trying to divvy it up and give back in so many places, which is absolutely amazing."
