If ever the uneasiness of an "Opening Night" was felt - we felt it. Would anyone come to our Pantry? Had we succeeded in getting the word out? Would we have what they needed?
The evening of the 17th was a whirlwind. Clearly a quick two hours. We served 15 babies and their families that night. We are thankful that we were able to help these folks out and look forward to doing so again on the 15th of December. Many of them shared with us how they found themselves in need of our help. A baby that came a little too early - Mom couldn't go back to work as quickly as the family had anticipated; Dad recently lost his job, Mom's hours at her job were cut; Grandma trying to juggle a few extra mouths to feed. . .clearly circumstances beyond their control.
Regardless of how they found their way to us, we are glad that they did. We hope that they left us feeling a little less alone and a little more certain they would be able to take care of their little one with a little less stress on their limited family resources.
Several of our babies are on more costly formulas, designed especially to help smaller, pre-mature babies "catch up" to their full-term counterparts. We are working to find an economical source for these formulas. Please contact us if you aware of such a source.
We left the church Thursday evening a bit more humbled than when we arrived. We are so blessed. We appreciate everything you have done to help us get up and running. We will appreciate any help you can offer us that will help us maintain this much-needed program for the infants in need in the Plains District of Rockingham County.
At the close of the evening we decided we would do our best to offer these families gently used clothing for their infants. Several of the Moms had asked if we could use the clothes their little one had already out grown. It only took a little reflection and one volunteer to head up the clothing exchange to make it a "go". . .we really are blessed with some great volunteers!
If you know of a family in need residing in the Plains District of Rockingham County (Broadway Area School District) please ask them to contact us prior to the 15th of December to ensure that we have the correct formula in stock for their baby. This is not a requirement to receive our services, it just makes it a little easier for us to be prepared. Bev London can be reached at 578-3658 or via email: ashpd.bev@gmail.com.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Opening THIS EVENING!
Our infant pantry will be open this evening from 5 - 7 PM.
Rader Lutheran Church 17072 Raders Church Road, Timberville, VA
We would like to thank everyone that has helped get us to this point, we could not have gotten here without YOU. We are tweaking some of our paperwork for this evening (the paperwork just seems to keep coming) and hope that our families will have patience with us as we get our feet under us.
Our shelves are pretty well stocked. Well, that is at least until we see how many families come to see us. We made a sizeable purchase of formula and baby food this week. We have in excess of 500 jars of baby food stocked on our shelves! Between that and formula our check book has taken a hit amounting to $841.08 - we do not have an abundance of formula on hand, and won't until we know what our babies need.
We have Similac, Enfamil & Parents Choice formulas on hand, with some Isomil (soy) and Similac Sensitive formulas, too. Neo-sure for a special little girl that decided to arrive a bit early. We are excited to meet our babies and their families. Tonight, we will learn their names and see their chubby little cheeks for the first time. We are excited!
We sincerely thank Edinburg Christian Church for gifting us our first pallet of diapers--those 5011 diapers will help us serve 100+ babies. Also, would be remiss if we didn't also thank Tracey Veney for her donation of baby wipes and Mt. Grove Church for their generous donation of $500, what a pleasant surprise. We will use the money wisely to serve our community's babies.
We ask for your continued good thoughts as we forge ahead with our mission to help serve the little ones in need in our community.
In the coming weeks we will provide even more information on this site - we've just been busy getting our seemingly endless "to do" list taken care of, thank you for your patience.
Bev London
Chairman-A Small Hand-Plains District
Rader Lutheran Church 17072 Raders Church Road, Timberville, VA
We would like to thank everyone that has helped get us to this point, we could not have gotten here without YOU. We are tweaking some of our paperwork for this evening (the paperwork just seems to keep coming) and hope that our families will have patience with us as we get our feet under us.
Our shelves are pretty well stocked. Well, that is at least until we see how many families come to see us. We made a sizeable purchase of formula and baby food this week. We have in excess of 500 jars of baby food stocked on our shelves! Between that and formula our check book has taken a hit amounting to $841.08 - we do not have an abundance of formula on hand, and won't until we know what our babies need.
We have Similac, Enfamil & Parents Choice formulas on hand, with some Isomil (soy) and Similac Sensitive formulas, too. Neo-sure for a special little girl that decided to arrive a bit early. We are excited to meet our babies and their families. Tonight, we will learn their names and see their chubby little cheeks for the first time. We are excited!
We sincerely thank Edinburg Christian Church for gifting us our first pallet of diapers--those 5011 diapers will help us serve 100+ babies. Also, would be remiss if we didn't also thank Tracey Veney for her donation of baby wipes and Mt. Grove Church for their generous donation of $500, what a pleasant surprise. We will use the money wisely to serve our community's babies.
We ask for your continued good thoughts as we forge ahead with our mission to help serve the little ones in need in our community.
In the coming weeks we will provide even more information on this site - we've just been busy getting our seemingly endless "to do" list taken care of, thank you for your patience.
Bev London
Chairman-A Small Hand-Plains District
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