Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are over and January is in full swing, it is time to catch you up on the Christmas we made for the 21 Munchkins at the Pre-school. :)
There is a lot to reconstruct and I will do my best to tell you all the stories. :) I might need to write this in more than one blog entry.
I'm so happy to share with you that enough donations came in, so I was also able to buy each child a pair of new P.J.'s too. It took quite a while to find all of those, each child had their own favorite character and wanted to sleep surrounded by him or her and then there were the sizes to find too. :) Of course there were again many Elsa's from Frozen. :) Such cuteness all around !! :)
My dear neighbor Dave kept bringing toys over he had ordered from Amazon, as each child received one big toy and then there many little surprises in the bags too, like stickers, crayons, coloring books, etc. Another day Dave came over again, because he had found some more toys at CostCo in addition to the ones here already. :) He's is the kindest man I know and always helping me out with this project !! :) Thank you so Dave and Linda !! :)
One of my long ago former employees, Mary (I call her Mary Mouse), has her own business Desert Rose Homeopathics & Herbals & she came up with the idea of me making a flyer, explaining what I do with the backpacks and my plans for Christmas for the Munchkins, along with a Wish List. She put a flyer in each of her customers paper bags when they made a purchase. One day I get a call from a really old lady and she mentioned the flyer from Mary and she wanted to help out, since her grandkids are well taken care of. She said it would be a very small amount. When she came by she gave me a check for $10.00. Judith felt so bad that it wasn't any more and I began to cry, I was so touched by her Kindness. She was quite happy when I told her that $10.00 will buy a huge box of oatmeal packets for the Munchkins for breakfast and off she went. It is stories like that I will carry in my heart forever. :) Thank you Judith !! :)
Another day Mary Mouse called and said that there was a lady in her shop who had lots of things for the Munchkins and food too and could she come over right away. I kept hearing the lady yelling in the background "I have A LOT". :) Debi and her husband Rick showed up with many, many items, like toys, books, etc., and a whole bunch of food to stuff in the backpacks too. Debi wanted me to know the story of how she got the money together to do this for the kids. :) She said that this year when she went Christmas shopping for her family and friends, she only bought half of what she normally would have and she used the other half to get items for the Munchkins. Debi donated so many wonderful things that made the gift bags so much more special for each child. What a joy that was and what a magical story !! :) Thank you Debi !! :)
I felt like Santa, checking the lists once and checking them twice and making sure that everything was here by the time we began wrapping the gifts on December 21st. :)
Trader Joe's donated a bunch of paper sacks so we could keep all the gifts for each child separate and could write their names on the front of each sack. :)
If you would have been a mouse, you would have been in awe of all the wrapping, cutting, taping, and admiring that was done that afternoon. :) We were nine elves and we got it all done in a little more than two hours. Plus, new friends made made and old ones were rekindled. :) Thank you so much for all the beautiful wrapping jobs Blanca, Lino, Inna, Orlando, Marilyn, Pat, Debra, and Jhan, and for bringing extra paper, ribbon, tape and scissors too. You all were awesome !! :)
I have many pictures of all this, but again, my blog won't let me connect to the server. If there is anyone who knows how this can be done, please help me out. :) You would have to come here though, as I am not computer savvy and can't explain things. I so would love to share the photos with everyone. :)
A number of wonderful ladies baked cookies to put into the gift bags and we had lots of candy that we added too. :) Thank you Lydia, Lupe, Barbara, Bertha and Elena for making such beautiful cookie baggies for the kids, they all went in the big bags. Thank you also kindly Pat, Debra, Cheryl, Denise, Sarah, and Inna for your baked goods and candy donations !! Breanna's Girl Scout Troop also many baked cookies and the girls decorated them so sweetly & they also put together baggies of candy too. It was all so cute to see !! :) Thank you so much, girls !! :) And Sarah, those candy cane reindeer were absolutely adorable. :) Thank you bunches !! :)
Here is a special Thank You shout-out to everyone else who helped in one way or another: Jerri & Andy, Carlos, Pat, Jhan, Maria, Debra, Bill & Iris, Jane, Judy, Martin, Julia & Drew, Elizabeth, Nan, Steve, Sadie, Jill, Mark & Patty, Cheryl, Alison, Martha, Audrey, Myrna, and the whole Winers & Diners Club. :)
Every time a donation check was in my mailbox I jumped for joy and had a huge smile on my face on the way home. It meant there was something else I could do for the kids, but I also kept some reserve for food for the backpacks too. :) I am soooo grateful for all your Generosity and Kindness to make this whole First Annual Christmas Project possible for the Munchkins. :) There is so much Goodness in this world, it's amazing !! Thank you each and everyone of you for helping me to make this possible !! :) May you always be blessed in all ways !! :)
Karin
To be continued with Part 2 ....
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