It's been more than a month since I last gave an update and a lot has happened. . .On September 22nd, 100 of our faithful friends came to our Longaberger Basket Bingo at The Auction House in Broadway. Under the guidance of our very own Longaberger Bingo Queen, aka Debbie Miller, we raised $3,115.50 to help support our pantry.
We need to thank Debbie for all her efforts - she literally asks nothing of us until the night before the bingo, with the exception of seeking out those of us willing to donate the baskets she's so diligently shopped for over the past year. And she is quite the shopper! She had some awesome baskets this year. She doesn't just buy baskets, she buys liners, protectors and some how, always manages to fill them! (I do believe she's already on the hunt for next year's treasures.) We also need to thank Jim and Shirley Bushong for allowing us to hold the bingo in The Auction House - we know how difficult it is for them to "squeeze us in" since auction season is in full swing.
We now have 58 little ones enrolled in our program, we had 23 of them visit during September's pantry night. The little ones are growing. Some are growing right out of our program, but we're happy to have been able to help them as long as we did.
Next month, November, we will celebrate our 1st birthday. We'd like to thank you for helping us maintain the services we offer to the little ones in our area. When we started, we started with a lot of faith and quite a few doubters, but the Pantry has evolved to be exactly what we wanted - A Small Hand. Our families don't rely upon us month after month, they just come to see us when they need us.
We've also come to realize that when they can, they help us. Just last month we had a Dad drop off several boxes of baby cereal, he told our Pastor that we had helped his family and they wanted to help us. That, my friends, is evidence of this program going full circle.
Since finding out we can no longer purchase diapers by the pallet-full we know we have to adhere to our original guidelines - we can only supply diapers and wipes to our little ones until they reach their second birthday. We had hoped to find a new source, thus far, nothing has materialized.
We are distributing more than 300 jars of baby food each month - which reminds me, it's time to place another order (that's always fun - 300+ jars of baby food rolling around the back of my car. Walmart makes their clerks put each and every jar through their cash register, so we have a lot of jars here, there and everywhere. I don't understand why, but . . .I feel so bad for the clerk that gets stuck with me. (Think of the poor soul that gets behind me in line, too!) I might have to try a laundry basket on my next trip to kind of rein them in!
Oh, before I forget; thanks to the Broadway-Timberville Ruritans for supporting our Pantry, their donation of $150 will be spent wisely. We are just about through all the formula BB&T donated to us, they were kind enough to supplement their formula donation with cases of baby wipes. Yay! We are always pleased when another church, business or community group lends us a hand, it reinforces that we're not the only ones trying to help out our community and that's a good feeling.
I know I've said this before, but it needs to be said again and again. We have not been able to help these babies without YOU. Other churches, businesses, Brownie troops, school groups, civic organizations and individuals that kindly slip us a check every now and again, or deliver a trunk full of provisions for our shelves - thank you, thank you, thank you. You have been a blessing to our program. We couldn't do it without you. Thank you for helping us help our community's babies.
Next Thursday we'll get to see them again. We'll get to see how much they've grown, who's gotten their first tooth, who can roll over, who's walking, drinking from a cup, hear how potty training is progressing, etc. Yep, we'll get to see your babies!
Bev
