Time flies
I was informed yesterday that it has been since April 2014 since I last posted any updates to this blog. Wow. Life has been a wee bit busy.
What I can assure you, since that post, we have, in fact, been open the third Thursday of every month. In the coming months, since I'm doing such a poor job of keeping things up to date on this blog, we'll be transferring our information to the church's website. tlparish.org/rader Thank you for your understanding.
With limited volunteers, we'll attempt to streamline our efforts. We're a small congregation, but A Small Hand-Plains District is a very important part of our church's mission to our community.
We have had quite a few little ones age-out this past year, but we have had a recent influx of tiny-little newborns. I can't get over how tiny they are! This past month found us stocking up on size 2 and 3 diapers, baby food and tons of formula!
Our huge gift of, what seemed like at least a thousand jars of baby food, has been depleted, so we've begun purchasing baby food again. We thank our anonymous donor for their gift, it was wonderful not to have to lug all that baby food back to the church in 2-300 jar increments. I was reminded of that luxury Friday evening when I made our first baby food purchase in a year. Only 240 jars, but each one had to be rung up separately! You'd think there'd be an easier way . . .
I just wanted to assure everyone that we are still in operation, serving the Plains District of Rockingham County and her little ones in need. We look forward to seeing you this Thursday evening, June 18th. Keep cool, it's going to be an incredibly hot week.
We continue to welcome your donations, appreciate your continued prayers and understanding for my lack of monthly updates. I'll try to do better.
Bev
Monday, June 15, 2015
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Time is slipping away . . .
Wow, I can't believe it's the end of April already. This has been one very rough winter. The Pantry is still going strong, although our numbers were down a bit this past month - in spite of it being Maundy Thursday, our doors were open.
One big change I want to let everyone know (well, it's not that big), but we have discontinued using the Post Office Box in Broadway. We thought having a post office box in Broadway would make it easier for us to get there, since the majority of our volunteers LIVE in Broadway. . .not so. We're a bunch of busy people, so we've decided just to use Rader's address, which is PO Box 1123, Timberville, VA 22853. It's a small change, but it will save us $48 a year. We thought it better to save the money and have the mail picked up consistently. Oops. :o )
In early April, I had the pleasure of letting the Broadway-Timberville Rotary know what A Small Hand-Plains District was all about. What a great group of men and women. It still amazes me, in spite of having opened our doors in November 2011, there are still people in the community that don't know we exist. I guess that indicates a very low budget for advertising. Oops, I should say "no" budget for advertising. So far, though, "word of mouth" advertising has done pretty well for us. The folks down at J & B's help keep us visible in the community and we are thankful for their willingness to be a collection point.
The Pantry will be open Thursday, May 15th from 5 - 7 PM. If the weather's nice we might even be able to convince Mr. Brower to come take some pictures for us again.
It's also time to switch out the winter clothes for spring and summer's lighter, brighter clothes for the little ones. (FINALLY, this seemed like the longest winter ever!) We really appreciate the volunteers that just "show up" and get it done through the day, when the rest of the crew is working their day jobs.
If you have any children's books, we would really appreciate them, we like to have them available to give to the siblings. We hope they will encourage them to read to their little brother or sister. Of course, as the babies turn into toddlers, those books look pretty interesting to them, too!
We have been very blessed again this year. Due to your donations of goods-diapers and baby foods, we've not had to purchase a whole lot. We're hoping to get a sizable donation of Size 4 diapers through our friends at A Small Hand in Edinburg. For some reason, they believe their next diaper shipment will have an abundance of them and they are willing to share! Yay! They're our most popular size.
There are a lot of small bits and pieces that make our little outreach work, God has richly blessed us and we enjoy sharing. The folks at J & B, Mr. Brower, the ladies switching out the clothes, our Thursday evening volunteers. . .all a small part of how we make it all work!
If you know someone that could benefit from our help, we hope you will encourage them to come see us on the third Thursday of the month. We enjoy offering them a helping hand, getting to know them, their baby and their family. We know we're not going to change the world through our little ministry, we just want to give them a small hand for a little while and let them know we care.
Thanks for checking up on us. I hope this finds you enjoying a nice warm, spring day. God Bless.
Bev
For the rest of 2014, these are our pantry dates,
May 15
June 19
July 17
August 21
September 18
October 16
November 20
December 18
In cases of emergency:
Contact Bev via phone (evenings, please 540-578-0779) or email ashpd.bev@gmail.com, we will try our best to make arrangements to help.
One big change I want to let everyone know (well, it's not that big), but we have discontinued using the Post Office Box in Broadway. We thought having a post office box in Broadway would make it easier for us to get there, since the majority of our volunteers LIVE in Broadway. . .not so. We're a bunch of busy people, so we've decided just to use Rader's address, which is PO Box 1123, Timberville, VA 22853. It's a small change, but it will save us $48 a year. We thought it better to save the money and have the mail picked up consistently. Oops. :o )
In early April, I had the pleasure of letting the Broadway-Timberville Rotary know what A Small Hand-Plains District was all about. What a great group of men and women. It still amazes me, in spite of having opened our doors in November 2011, there are still people in the community that don't know we exist. I guess that indicates a very low budget for advertising. Oops, I should say "no" budget for advertising. So far, though, "word of mouth" advertising has done pretty well for us. The folks down at J & B's help keep us visible in the community and we are thankful for their willingness to be a collection point.
The Pantry will be open Thursday, May 15th from 5 - 7 PM. If the weather's nice we might even be able to convince Mr. Brower to come take some pictures for us again.
It's also time to switch out the winter clothes for spring and summer's lighter, brighter clothes for the little ones. (FINALLY, this seemed like the longest winter ever!) We really appreciate the volunteers that just "show up" and get it done through the day, when the rest of the crew is working their day jobs.
If you have any children's books, we would really appreciate them, we like to have them available to give to the siblings. We hope they will encourage them to read to their little brother or sister. Of course, as the babies turn into toddlers, those books look pretty interesting to them, too!
We have been very blessed again this year. Due to your donations of goods-diapers and baby foods, we've not had to purchase a whole lot. We're hoping to get a sizable donation of Size 4 diapers through our friends at A Small Hand in Edinburg. For some reason, they believe their next diaper shipment will have an abundance of them and they are willing to share! Yay! They're our most popular size.
There are a lot of small bits and pieces that make our little outreach work, God has richly blessed us and we enjoy sharing. The folks at J & B, Mr. Brower, the ladies switching out the clothes, our Thursday evening volunteers. . .all a small part of how we make it all work!
If you know someone that could benefit from our help, we hope you will encourage them to come see us on the third Thursday of the month. We enjoy offering them a helping hand, getting to know them, their baby and their family. We know we're not going to change the world through our little ministry, we just want to give them a small hand for a little while and let them know we care.
Thanks for checking up on us. I hope this finds you enjoying a nice warm, spring day. God Bless.
Bev
For the rest of 2014, these are our pantry dates,
May 15
June 19
July 17
August 21
September 18
October 16
November 20
December 18
In cases of emergency:
Contact Bev via phone (evenings, please 540-578-0779) or email ashpd.bev@gmail.com, we will try our best to make arrangements to help.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Finally, a break from the snow!
As I write this I am seeing, what I hope, are the final flakes of our mega snow storm. The weatherman finally got it right.
Not a whole lot to report. The Pantry is still going strong, thanks to some very willing hands and support from our church and community.
We still love watching our babies grow!!
Pantry will be open one week from tonight, February 20th from 5-7.
If anyone has any questions, they can give me a call 578-0779 (evenings are best for me).
If you're a resident of the Plains District (Broadway School District) and a first time pantry visitor, please bring your WIC or SNAP paperwork, a valid form of ID and your baby. If your baby is on a special formula, please call me in advance so we can have the formula you need in stock.
We are in need of some gently-read books for little ones and their siblings.
The dates for the balance of 2014:
March 20th
April 17th
May 15th
June 19th
July 17th
August 21st
September 18th
October 16th
November 20th
December 18th
Keep safe & warm!
Bev
Not a whole lot to report. The Pantry is still going strong, thanks to some very willing hands and support from our church and community.
We still love watching our babies grow!!
Pantry will be open one week from tonight, February 20th from 5-7.
If anyone has any questions, they can give me a call 578-0779 (evenings are best for me).
If you're a resident of the Plains District (Broadway School District) and a first time pantry visitor, please bring your WIC or SNAP paperwork, a valid form of ID and your baby. If your baby is on a special formula, please call me in advance so we can have the formula you need in stock.
We are in need of some gently-read books for little ones and their siblings.
The dates for the balance of 2014:
March 20th
April 17th
May 15th
June 19th
July 17th
August 21st
September 18th
October 16th
November 20th
December 18th
Keep safe & warm!
Bev
Sunday, December 15, 2013
This Thursday!
Hello All
I hope you have all had a good Thanksgiving. I can't believe as I write this we are just ten days from Christmas! Ten days! You guessed it. I'm not ready - but I am excited for all the kids, young and old, that look forward to this wonderful celebration of our Lord's birth. I am looking forward to having my sons together for Christmas for the first time in three long years! (I'm just a tad excited.)
A Small Hand will be open Thursday, December 19th from 5-7. If you know of a family with a baby that could use our help, please encourage them to seek us out. We're here to help them. Even if they only need us for a little while.
We are all looking forward to Shirley Bushong being back with us - she's taken a little time off to recuperate after knee surgery. She's looking forward to seeing just how much our babies have grown!
As the end of the year approaches we'd like to thank everyone for their ongoing support this past year. We look forward to keeping our doors open for another year of service to our area's babies.
We could not have done it without all of you!
May God richly bless you! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Bev
I hope you have all had a good Thanksgiving. I can't believe as I write this we are just ten days from Christmas! Ten days! You guessed it. I'm not ready - but I am excited for all the kids, young and old, that look forward to this wonderful celebration of our Lord's birth. I am looking forward to having my sons together for Christmas for the first time in three long years! (I'm just a tad excited.)
A Small Hand will be open Thursday, December 19th from 5-7. If you know of a family with a baby that could use our help, please encourage them to seek us out. We're here to help them. Even if they only need us for a little while.
We are all looking forward to Shirley Bushong being back with us - she's taken a little time off to recuperate after knee surgery. She's looking forward to seeing just how much our babies have grown!
As the end of the year approaches we'd like to thank everyone for their ongoing support this past year. We look forward to keeping our doors open for another year of service to our area's babies.
We could not have done it without all of you!
May God richly bless you! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Bev
Saturday, November 9, 2013
It's just a little bit chilly . . .
Hello everyone!
We've all noticed the nip in the air - the weatherman had better be wrong about this Wednesday-I am NOT ready for snow. I'm not ready for this cold, either.
With that in mind I will ask any of you with warm winter clothes (sizes 9 months to 4T) to send them our way. We have a good supply of the clothes for the little, little ones, but the larger sizes, not so much). Clothes and sizes 4, 5, and 6 diapers are our greatest need.
Other items greatly appreciated are diaper creams, baby wash and baby lotions.
We'll be open Thursday, November 21st from 5-7. If you know of a family with a baby that could use our help, please encourage them to seek us out. We're here to help them. Even if they only need us for a little while.
Keep warm!
Bev
We've all noticed the nip in the air - the weatherman had better be wrong about this Wednesday-I am NOT ready for snow. I'm not ready for this cold, either.
With that in mind I will ask any of you with warm winter clothes (sizes 9 months to 4T) to send them our way. We have a good supply of the clothes for the little, little ones, but the larger sizes, not so much). Clothes and sizes 4, 5, and 6 diapers are our greatest need.
Other items greatly appreciated are diaper creams, baby wash and baby lotions.
We'll be open Thursday, November 21st from 5-7. If you know of a family with a baby that could use our help, please encourage them to seek us out. We're here to help them. Even if they only need us for a little while.
Keep warm!
Bev
Sunday, September 29, 2013
September's almost gone . . .
It is a beautiful day in the Valley! Saturday a week ago was our annual bingo fund raiser - this year, the proceeds from the bingo were split between ASH and the Rachel Bowman Handicap Van Fund. We had a great turn out - after all of our expenses we ended up splitting $3,146. Again, we thank you for your continued support. I believe the folks from Camper Against Cancer did well with their concessions, too. We knew we were in for a treat when they hauled in their big grill!
October's pantry will be held October 17th. We want to remind everyone we have expanded our diaper distribution age to 30 months (2 1/2 years).
If you know of someone that lives in our service area and could use a small hand to get them through a tight spot, please encourage them to come see us. They must live in the Broadway School District - if their child will eventually attend one of the Broadway High School feeder schools - John C. Myers, Lacey Spring, Fulks Run, Plains or Linville-Edom Elementary Schools, they are in our service area.
If their child is on a special formula, we would ask that they give us a call before hand. We usually have Soy, Gentle and Neo-Sure on hand, but just in case, it's best to give us a head's up.
Amanda Holsinger and her son, Alex have swapped out the summer clothes for the winter clothes. I'm sorry to report - yes, the days are getting shorter and aren't nearly as warm as they were two months ago. Drat.
It's hard for me to believe that we will have completed our second year of serving our community's babies in just a few short weeks. Where did the time go? We could not have accomplished this without the faithful volunteers we have as well as the support our congregation and community has given us. God has been so good to us.
On another note, Rader Lutheran Church Homecoming is this coming Sunday, October 6th, we will celebrate 248 years! We invite you to come worship with us at 11 AM and stay for lunch and fellowship immediately following the service. We'd love to have you join us! Even more so, we'd love to have you consider becoming a part of Rader's future!
Blessings to all of you,
Bev
October's pantry will be held October 17th. We want to remind everyone we have expanded our diaper distribution age to 30 months (2 1/2 years).
If you know of someone that lives in our service area and could use a small hand to get them through a tight spot, please encourage them to come see us. They must live in the Broadway School District - if their child will eventually attend one of the Broadway High School feeder schools - John C. Myers, Lacey Spring, Fulks Run, Plains or Linville-Edom Elementary Schools, they are in our service area.
If their child is on a special formula, we would ask that they give us a call before hand. We usually have Soy, Gentle and Neo-Sure on hand, but just in case, it's best to give us a head's up.
Amanda Holsinger and her son, Alex have swapped out the summer clothes for the winter clothes. I'm sorry to report - yes, the days are getting shorter and aren't nearly as warm as they were two months ago. Drat.
It's hard for me to believe that we will have completed our second year of serving our community's babies in just a few short weeks. Where did the time go? We could not have accomplished this without the faithful volunteers we have as well as the support our congregation and community has given us. God has been so good to us.
On another note, Rader Lutheran Church Homecoming is this coming Sunday, October 6th, we will celebrate 248 years! We invite you to come worship with us at 11 AM and stay for lunch and fellowship immediately following the service. We'd love to have you join us! Even more so, we'd love to have you consider becoming a part of Rader's future!
Blessings to all of you,
Bev
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Our helping hand has been extended . . . diapers and wipes until 30 months of age!
It's hard to believe the third Thursday of the August has come and gone, but it has. . . our attendance was not quite normal this month. We're guessing the earliness of the 3rd Thursday coupled with the lovely weather and the county fair may have come in to play.
We had our Board meeting last month, making some decisions affecting the level of our future services. The most notable was the decision to extend our help with diapers and wipes until the babies reach 30 months. We have been blessed with the support of our community, therefore we felt we would extend our services to help these little ones just a little longer.
A few other things to note:
We had our Board meeting last month, making some decisions affecting the level of our future services. The most notable was the decision to extend our help with diapers and wipes until the babies reach 30 months. We have been blessed with the support of our community, therefore we felt we would extend our services to help these little ones just a little longer.
A few other things to note:
- We need to restock our supply of children's books -(we encourage the siblings to help themselves to any of the books in the Big Book Basket we have in the Narthex). So if you have any children's books you'd like to find a new home for. . . please think of the pantry.
- We are in need of baby items like - baby wash, shampoo, lotions and diaper cream.
- It's time to get the fall and winter clothes out for distribution - hard to believe, fall is right around the corner. We want to thank Amanda Holsinger and her son, Alex for their efforts to keep the clothing donations organized.
- Our September Bingo will be a shared fundraiser to benefit the pantry and Rachel Bowman's Handicap Van Fund (Rachel lives in our community and is a former DNR reporter that suffered a debilitating stroke several years ago-more details about Rachel will follow in the coming weeks.) The Auction House has graciously allowed up to host our previous Bingo's at their place, in hopes of accommodating a larger crowd we're moving the BINGO to the Plains Community Center in Timberville. As an added boost to another great organization the folks from Campers Against Cancer Relay for Life Team will handle the food for the evening. If you would like to sponsor a basket or have another item to donate, please contact Debbie Miller - 432-6728
- Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 21st!
- Doors open at 3:30 PM
- Bingo starts at 5 PM
- Pre-sale tickets 4 for $25 - call 432-6728 or 383-7564 (special pre-sale drawing)
- Cards at the Door are $10 each or three for $25
- Caller: David Joseph
- 20 games - all the baskets are filled
- Prize table game - 100+ prizes
- 50/50 drawing and raffles for two handmade quilts, one a flannel "rag" quilt, the other is called "Counting Sheep".
September Pantry is September 19th 5 - 7 PM. For those we serve, please bring your WIC and/or SNAP paperwork as well your baby!
For those of you that continue to drop off items at J & B's Country Store (Ben Franklin), at the church, or dropping a check in the mail - thank you, thank you, thank you! This outreach could not continue without your support.
Stay tuned, more information on the BINGO to follow!
Bev
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