Hello everyone!
In this installment:
Year-Over-Year Lions 4 Kids Visits
Lions 4 Kids Information
One-off Volunteer Opportunities
Save the Dates!
Thanks Giving
Status of new building project and requests for assistance
Kids served at Lions 4 Kids in 2008 and 2007
August 2008: 331 August 2007: 108
September 2008: 169 September 2007: 77
October 2008: 160 October 2007: 62
About Lions 4 Kids House:
Our mission is very simple: we provide multiple changes of great clothing, personal care items and school supplies to children who qualify for free and reduced lunch programs in five local east-Pierce County school districts (Sumner, Dieringer, Orting, Carbonado and White River). The goal is to enable every child to look like their peers, be clean and groomed and have the necessary tools for school so they can learn. If they aren't teased and ridiculed, statistically they stand a far better chance of staying in school to graduation, staying out of mischief and not getting in trouble with the law. It's OUR tax dollars that pay for jails, food stamps, to clean up graffiti. Putting decent clothes on kids may seem like a simplistic solution, but in just two years we are seeing better grades and improved attendance among many of Our Kids. There are other family dynamics benefits that have appeared as well. Together, we ARE making a difference, one child at a time!
Over 4000 kids in our service area qualify for free and reduced lunches due to family incomes near or below the poverty level. You may be surprised to know that while some of Our Kids do live in households where addictions are an issue, many, many are affected more by illness, death, the economy, divorce, floods and fires and abusive situations. The majority of our families have at least one employed individual. While we've assisted kids of many ethnicities, the vast majority of Our Kids are caucasian.
Lions 4 Kids is just one small piece of the safety net for children at risk in our communities; other resources include our local food banks, family centers, the Donald Loomis Memorial clothing bank in Buckley and many other services that reach out to assist families in need. Obviously there are huge needs all around us, and by working cooperatively we do impact lives. Many of these resources are run by volunteers and are supported entirely by the contributions of our community. YOU ARE making a difference and none of us could do what we do without you. Thank you!!
New volunteer training: If you may be interested in volunteering at Lions 4 Kids House in one of myriad ways, our last training of the year is this coming Wednesday, November 19th at 7 p.m. at our existing building in front of the Bonney Lake Library. It takes about an hour and there is no obligation to join. You don't need to pre-register...just show up! Next training will be Wednesday January 14th. (All volunteers are subject to a Washington State Patrol background check.)
One-off Volunteer Opportunities:
Christmas Angels!:
If you'd love to kick off the season of giving in a very special way please consider participating as a Christmas Angel at Lions 4 Kids House to help wrap gifts for our clients. An hour or more of your time would be fabulous, and teens are very welcome to help!
Starting December 3rd, each Wednesday from 4-7 and Saturday from 10-2 through December 20th we would appreciate volunteers to help wrap gifts for children to give to their parents and for the parents to give their kids so they're a surprise on Christmas morning.
We also need donations of wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue, tape, tags and ribbons. Please email me if you are interested in helping. This is a really cool activity!
On the Move with Lions 4 Kids:
The invention of our wonderful friend and volunteer, Susan "Glitterbug" McCammon, this is the second winter that we're reaching out to homeless and underserved adults and kids with On the Move. During December, January and February, Lions 4 Kids volunteers load vehicles with donated warm coats, hats, mittens and blankets to visit local church feeding programs. We pass out warm clothes to the folks who often live on the streets or in less than ideal circumstances so they'll be more comfortable in the cold weather. There are no set dates or times and it's a bit of a "seat of the pants operation", but if you would like to be a part of this outreach and watch people's faces light up with pure joy and appreciation at this unexpected show of humanity, please let me know. Want to feel like a million bucks in about two hours time? This one's for you!
Upcoming fundraiser for Lions 4 Kids:
On Sunday, December 13th from 1:30-4:30 at the Bonney Lake Senior Center will be a wonderful opportunity to let the kids visit with Santa, do a bit of holiday shopping and raise a little money for Lions 4 Kids! We'll have representatives from Pampered Chef, Scentsy Candles, Stampin' Up and more, plus baked goods, crafts and garage sale items at very reasonable prices.
Santa will be there to hear kids' Christmas wishes -- bring your cameras for photos with Santa -- plus refreshments and FUN!!
If you'd like to donate some quality garage-sale-worthy items or baked goods to Lions 4 Kids to include in the sale, please contact me at cwells-reed@hotmail.com. Please stay tuned for more!
Save the Dates:
A year from now Bonney Lake is sure to be recognized as the Entertainment Capitol of Pierce County! Please mark your calendars for the following fun and fabulous social extravaganzas:
- March 21, 2009 - Death By Chocolate: This third annual event is presented by the Bonney Lake Lions Club as a fundraiser to benefit Lions 4 Kids House and our other community programs. A venue is not yet determined, but again this year, the award-winning Bonney Lake High School Culinary Arts students will prepare and serve our repast. Those who attended the event last year will remember extraordinary entertainment by internationally recognized musicians whom we are working to retain again (as well as some additional amusements), and the live and silent auctions of divine chocolate creations, to make this a truly enchanted evening. More information will be forthcoming.
- December 12, 2009 - Jingle Bell Ball: A community celebration to benefit the Bonney Lake Food Bank
and Lions 4 Kids House: This first annual event is going to be totally awesome and wonderfully surprising! Dress up in your best fancy clothes to dine and dance the night away at the Swiss Park "Ballroom" from 8 p.m. to midnight. Much more to come on this in the months ahead. If you're interested in joining the planning committee for this event, please let me know!
Thanks Giving:
Lions 4 Kids is so incredibly blessed! Even in this bottom-feeding economy, thanks to the generosity of so many, we are able to make a difference to hundreds of kids. We have gorgeous fashion-forward clothes for kids from 3-18, shoes and warm coats, hats and mittens for Our Kids to select from (and basic stuff for infants and toddlers).
Yes, we DO accept adult clothing as some of our kids are really tall or large in stature.
Yes, we DO accept LAUNDERED used socks and underwear which we donate to a shelter for abused women and children.
Yes, we DO accept CLEAN blankets (some of our clients live in cars, tents, boxes, campers)
Textile items we are unable to use are donated to Northwest Center for use in their outreach programs. We receive a small cash stipend for each pound of textile items we donate to them which provides enough funds to purchase personal care items and items we need that are not directly donated. If you have a bag of textile "stuff" that isn't suitable for wear by Our Kids, just mark "Northwest Center" and drop it in our Donation Station. Upon request you will still receive a tax receipt as the Bonney Lake Lions Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization #38-3753543.
(Please provide your name and a mailing address or email address with your donation if a receipt is requested.)
NO, we regret that due to space restrictions we DO NOT accept household items or furniture, including any baby furniture. HOWEVER, these types of items may be donated to St. Francis House in Puyallup (call 848-3618 for hours and information). Home Furnishings may be donated to the Northwest Furniture Bank in Sumner (for more information call 253-341-7553 or visit their website, www.nwfurniturebank.org.)
Thank you to:
Linda and Gary Morris - at their recent joint birthday party their guests were asked to bring a toy or funds for Lions 4 Kids instead of the birthday people!
Sherry Creson - Cases of toothbrushes and paste
Socks, undies and clothing drives:
- Resonate Church of Bonney Lake - Undie Sundays!: over 200 packages of socks and undies!
Renovation project:
Simpson Timber - all of our doors and lumber
Georgia-Pacific - all of our drywall
Champion Windows - all of our windows
Calvary Community Church - generous financial donation to purchase materials
Sterling Exteriors and Tile Tech - our new shingles
Jessica Larios and father in law Juan Larios - emergency off-load of drywall
Karl Emig (EverLast Plumbing of Kent) - new plumbing and emergency off-load of drywall
Beth Emig - assist with plumbing
Bryan Long - (RDI Construction) - construction
Scott Angevine - demolition, clean up, construction
Ruben Herndandez (Honor Electric, Enumclaw) - electrical wiring
Mike Harrell (Nature's Way Tree Service LLC) - arbor services
Boy Scout Troop 172 - moving dirt, digging paths, laying flagstone sitting area and pathways
Ruth Wergin - demolition services
For a complete list of our donors and volunteers please see our website, www.lions4kids.com and click on the Extreme Makeover Materials List. You'll be wowed by ALL the great help!!
Puccini's Venetian Subs in Bonney Lake is donating a quarter for every foot-long sub sandwich sold during the month of November! They are located just west of Safeway. THANK YOU PUCCINI'S!!
Kids Helping Kids:
School kids all over our community are collecting items for Our Kids! Various current drives include: books, videos and DVD's; small toys; pajamas; socks and undies; hats and mittens; winter coats
- Sumner High School Student Body - second annual collection: a thousand packages of socks and undies!
- Boy Scout Troop 172 of Sumner: a hundred packages of socks and undies, plus lots of personal care items!
- North Tapps Middle School - "Pay It Forward" project. The 471 students of NTMS will each be doing an hour of community service in the next two weeks, and many will donate to Lions 4 Kids. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to your student body today!
Status of renovation:
- YES, we have permits!! Grateful thanks to the Bonney Lake Building Department!
- We have our drywall tapers: thanks to the Larios family!
- We are finishing the framing this weekend and hope to get that and our plumbing bought off this next week.
We are searching for the following, please:
- R-19 or R-13 insulation: A few left-over pieces from several places taking up room in garages would do the trick!
- volunteers to install insulation in some walls upon successful framing inspection
- volunteers to hang sheetrock in the next week to ten days - mostly ceilings but also a few walls.
We'll get a lift to put lift the material in place; just need people who can affix it to the trusses with screws
- volunteers to install our new shingles to be delivered Monday 11/17
- Volunteers to put together cabinets (which we will supply) from boxed kits.
- Volunteers to cut plywood (which we will supply) into specific lengths for our storage shelving
- Volunteers to move the chainlink fence from our old building and install it at the new location
- concrete for our hard surfaces...porches, walks and driveways
We will not be moved to the new structure as hoped by early December...volunteer projects tend to have their own cadence...but we anticipate the move during the week between Christmas and New Year's. We MUST vacate our old building by the end of December. A new date has not been set for our Open House but it will be announced soon.
As always, YOU, our community, are blessings to us. THANK YOU so much, from the kids we serve and from me!
Carol
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