This past Christmas I received a beautiful hand made scarf from Maureen who oversees the seacoast chapter of Project Linus. I go to her home every few weeks and collect beautiful blankets and yarn. Sometimes she has fleece for me or stuffed animals or baby clothes. She gives to me. I should be the one with the thank you gift for her. And when I work at the women's prison with Pastor Beth she always thanks me for providing the opportunity for the women to serve. I have always felt it should be the other way around. I am thankful for the help they give me. I am blessed to spend time with them and I come home with a week's worth of work accomplished. The women always thank me when I leave.

 

Today I learned that it is in the giving that we receive. When I deliver bundles to an agency I am always thankful they are willing to take them. With out the receivers there would be no opportunity to give. It takes two and we are both blessed in the exchange.  I have become a part of the great giveaway----a huge circle that gets better with each encounter. My life is richer as a result of the generosity of others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My real job is as a Direct Service Provider in a day program for adults with disabilities.  I have been blessed to be able to forge a partnership between The Stork Project and my work.  I have a group of adults that now do much of the work of The Stork Project. I call them The Whipper Snappers.  They love to sort and snap the many clothes received as donations. Sorting and snapping fills many needs. There is something calming about the process. Everyone can participate. We are able to complete a task and when done see the end result of our work.  The Whipper Snappers come with me as I pick up clothes and help make deliveries. They get to see the gratitude for their hard work from the social workers who recieve Welcome Bundles for their clients.  The Whipper Snappers have become important volunteers at The Stork Project.

 

As a Christmas project we adopted 21 children at Early Headstart in Nashua.  Each child received a Christmas outfit, a book, and a small token gift for mom. The Whipper Snappers wrapped each outfit in tissue paper and placed it into the gift bag. They painted ornamnets to be used as tags on the bags. They loving tied on ribbons and jingle bells and added a book to each bag.  Each step of the process was celebrated and their work was acknowledged.  They knew they had done something meanigful and special.  

 

A few days later we all went to Early Head Start to make the delivery.  Nine clients and myself and 2 coworkers decended on the center with all of our bags of goodies.  The social workers were ready for us and welcomed us warmly. Each bag was received with fanfare and great appreciation.  We then spent some time in the center visiting with the chldren. It was a glorious morning. 

 

If not for the hard work of The Whipper Snappers this project would not have happened.   They allow me to add a richness that would not be possible without thir dedication.  They are my superheros and I am thankful every day they are in my life. 

Today I went with Pastor Beth to Shea Farm in Concord. We go the second Monday of each month so the women there can volunteer with The Stork Project.  I look forward to the morning. Shea Farm is on a winding back road in Concord just off of 89. It is a white farm house and if it weren't for the sign announcing it was part of the NH Department of Corrections you would probably pass by it with little notice.  I find my time there to be very peaceful.

 

For me, going to Shea Farm is about service; how can I serve these women. How can I take what has been put before me and make it valuable to them?  Getting ready to go is alot of work. In fact I skipped church Sunday and used that time to get together everything they would need to participate in a meaningful way. I feel closest to God when I am all alone in "The Nest" sorting and snapping.

 

Much was accomplished! In the month since I was last there blankets and hats had been made and so they were able to make 12 Welcome Bundles using their own creations.  We then moved on to the set ups that the Whipper Snappers had assembled on Thursday and the ladies made 14 mini bundles.  Christmas outfits were snapped and sorted as were winter one piece outfits.  We worked for over 90 minutes.

 

I believe that fellowship is better with food and we were lucky to be able to spend a bit of time eating the most wonderful cupcakes and cake. I learned the back of a plastic fork makes a pretty good cake cutter!  We talked about all the Hostess products remembered from our youth and looked over all the bundles we made.

 

We are all part of the same community and there is meaningful work for all of us. I am thankful that God brought these ladies and Pastor Beth into my life.

It has been a busy week.

 

I am now recoginized as a Volunteer 2 with the NH Department of Corrections.  I have had my orientation, know the does and don't, cans and can't and I am now official. Once a month I take The Stork Project on the road to Shea Farm which is a transitional housing unit for women.  These women are so willing to help. They are knitting and crochetting blankets and this month they will sort, size and hang all of the Christmas outfits. They also assemble mini bundles that are used by social workers in area hospitals.

 

The Whipper Snappers spent Thursday in "The Nest" volunteering. Two of the men primed the wooden signs we are making that say "SHHHHHH the baby is sleeping". They love to paint and did a great job! One of the ladies sat in the rocker and snapped all of the onesies. She had a good giggle reading some of the sayings. The other ladies sorted, matched and assembled all of the items needed for a mini bundle. They also made up sets of socks and hats.

 

On Monday the ladies at Shea Farm will assemble those bundles and they will be delivered and another week begins......

 

It is so cool to find ways to involve the community in this project.  There is always room for more love in a bundle.

The second Stork Store was held in the parking lot of Child and Family Services in Manchester on Friday.  The store was full of wonderful itmes for babies and the parents who care for them. Everything is availalbe to social workers for free and they take what they can use. There were over 50 snowsuits, 2 pack and plays, a play pen, a co-sleeper, many toys and books, bedding sets, a carseat, strollers, bottles and nursing supplies, crib sheets, safety items, swaddlers, gates, a potty, booster seats, and a pink princess toddler bed. 

 

In 30 short minutes 90% of the items were packed into cars and ready to be delivered. The social worker who took the co-sleeper said she wished she had time to deliver it right then. The parents were going to be so excited to get it as they had a very fussy baby and were getting very little sleep. The princess toddler bed, complete with canopy, was going to a 2 year old who was ready to be out of the crib but had no other bed to move into. It was so much fun to be able to see the relief as a needed item was found.

 

The Stork Store is a Godsend to me as well. I am able to take much more in donations with the faith that each month everything collected will be headed off to babies in need. I am thanful this month, that due to the loss of power and my generator, I was able to have The Whipper Snappers volunteer 3 straight days. They were a huge help in getting items ready for the store. There was so much that fitting it into the van was a challenge, but that was a happy problem!

I am blessed that although it has been 6 days since the power went out I have a generator that is keeping the house warm and the food cold.  Most of Hollis has had power restored and I am told there are crews in the area. There have been many blessings as a result of this unusual event.

 

I have been able to spend time with neighbors who I usually just wave to in passing, had dinners out with friends, with no TV or cable I am actually reading the book for my upcoming book club meeting, and there has been great work done at The Stork Project headquarters-The Nest. 

 

Due to a lack of power at my office I have had 3 days of volunteer Whipper Snappers. With the help of my co-workers Tom and Insley much was accomplished. All of the snowsuits were sorted, sized and tagged, the Christmas outfits were unpacked and placed on hangers, toys were tested, hats and mittens paired up, orders filled and a twin mattress was loaded into the car and delivered to a 16 year old in need.  So much help and such great workers.

 

Today the loaded van will head to Manchester for the second "Stork Store" for the social workers at the monthly meeting of Child and Family Services.  If the storm had not happened I would not be nearly as organized.  Events that, on the surface may look like hardships can sometimes be blessings in disguise.

On Friday I received a very generous donation from the employees of Core Medical Group in Salem, NH. There were 3 umbrella strollers, a jogging stroller, a highchair, carseat, a bouncey seat, 2 bassinets, 3 swings, a new diaper bag, lots of bottles, a giant bag of small hand toys, stuffed animals and rattles, boxes of new clothes and bags of gently use clothes. It was all we could do to get it all to fit into the van.

 

I came home and unloaded in anticipation of donations from the rummage sale held by the Amherst Junior Woman's Club on Saturday.  I arrived there at 12:45 and was invited to take anything I could use. I even had members help me sort through the baby clothes for the correct sizes. In addition to 2 giant hockey bags of clothes there were books, blankets, infant toys, coats, a bathtub, and even a Halloween costume or two. I had two very nice high schoolers carry the items to my car and I was on my way home to unload.

 

On Sunday I had a donation delivered to my house by a member of the GFWC Hudson Juniors. I had attended their annual meeting in the spring to tell them about Project Linus and The Stork Project. Much to my delight they had made 4 blankets, had a big bag of baby clothes and a gift certificate to Infant and Baby Needs Of New England in Hudson for $250!!!!! I was blown away by the amount and can't wait to talk with the owner Lori about how best to spend the money. I imagine it will be used to purchase pack and plays and bassinets for babies in need. How wonderful it is to have that option!

 

On Monday I received an email from the social worker at Catholic Medical Center about a baby about to be discharged who was going home to very little. Thanks to all of the donations over the weekend I was able to put together a bassinet, bouncy seat, bathtub, bottles, diaper bag, snowsuit, and many warm clothes for her to wear in the coming months. All of these items are being delivered to CMC on Tuesday morning by my neighbor Bonnie.

 

So, a 3 day old baby girl will be wearing clothes and sleeping in a bassinet that were donated on Friday.  Without people like the employees at Core Medical and the Amherst and Hudson Juniors none of this would have been possible.