Hi everyone!

We are back to our “new” normal for Open House, inventory drop off and supply pick up from 9-12.  Unfortunately I don’t see us having a sit down meeting until at least 2022.  Mask wearing is your comfort level and we are still asking that you don’t bring a guest so we can minimize the number in the room at one time.  We are the busiest from 9:30-10:30.

Distribution is done!  We still have some boxes/bags to be picked up but our remaining inventory has been counted and boxed up.  We gave clothing and accessories to 2,070 kids and accessories of some kind to 1,954 kids for a total of 4,024 kids receiving something from us.  Congratulations to all your hard work during the year!!  Many, many thanks!

I do need 5 volunteers for Saturday morning, October 23 from 8:30-about 12:00 to help with distributing items to Helping Hands for Single Moms.  They are holding an event in our parking area and we have set aside clothing and accessories for them.  The Moms will help their kids “shop” in our area so we just need to keep supplies on the racks and table.  We have items for about 150 kids.  

I will be updating our likes/dislike guidelines but here are a few of the things that we noticed when selecting items for the schools and I will be updating the information on the website.

  • Shoulders seams/straps need to be at least 2 inches, we learned this from when we talked with the various schools.  Yes they can wear a t-shirt under the top but that means we would need to purchase more t-shirts (more $$$ spent for us)
  • Please, please no lace or ric-rak.  It just makes our dresses and tops look home-made and old fashioned.  We saw some “overlay” lace which was used very well but ruffled lace, not really
  • Please pin the size tag under the left arm.   Think about when you are shopping, this is where they are placed by the stores and it really helps us when storing clothes and stocking the racks.  DO NOT use straight pins to attach a size tag, we found many.
  • We do not need any size 6 skirts, we matched as many as possible with plain t-shirts and we still have close to 100 in inventory. We do need dresses.  We need solid color tops for size 8 skirts, we have about 50.  We did not include these items in our inventory and will have them on a rack for you to take and make a match then return them and place them on your inventory sheet.  We would really appreciate it if you would make a complete outfit, top and bottom or a dress as this really helps us in giving items to the kids.  Smaller appliques on a t-shirt are much better than a large piece of fabric.
  • Please do not cut off the sleeves of a t-shirt to make them sleeveless. The t-shirt armholes sleeves are not cut the same as a sleeveless top.
  • Please do not ‘group’ your accessories when turning in items such as bookmarks, keychains, or bracelets.  We understand that it makes them easier for you to count, but we have to undo the bundling which is time consuming and messy, we have to undo many and you bundled just one.
  • Please fold your finished pillowcases in halves, the whole way thru not in thirds.  Folding in halves allows us to fill a box easier than folding them in thirds.  Again you are folding a few into thirds resulting in us refolding many into halves to fill a box.

I have 2 jewelry kits of approximately 400 (4 different styles) each if anyone wants to take them to make.  I have samples in each bag and you will need to follow the samples in order to utilize the beads correctly and make the different sizes needed.  You can not split up the styles with other people as we included only 1 large spool of elastic cording.  We found it too expensive to purchase smaller spools. One kit is a 1-person task! Detail instructions are enclosed.

Thank you all for everything you do for the kids!  One more thing at our meeting today, 2022 distribution has been scheduled for July 18-22 crossing all our fingers and toes.

Sandy