Hello everyone on a glorious spring afternoon!
In this update:
Senior Center Event
Proms
Requests
Thanks-giving
Upcoming opportunities for service
Training
Out and About:
I had the pleasure of narrating the second annual Bonney Lake Senior Center fashion show this past Friday. A group of eight senior center models strutted their stuff in front of an appreciative audience of 100 guests. The reality show Next Top Model has nothing on these fabulous folks who showed off their shopping savvy in multiple outfits acquired from Grannie's Attic, Value Village and Jewell's Premier Consignment in Puyallup or borrowed from Fred Meyer. The calendars will say they're over 65 but the bounce in their steps and smiles on their faces indicated their hearts are definitely MUCH younger. What joy to share the biographies of our community's seniors and their plans for the future!
A special delight was the appearance of six 4-7 year old girls modeling fashions from A Simple Wish in Puyallup. These little charmers knew exactly how to capture hearts, either with their shyness or in the case of one captivating little redhead, brimming confidence! The sparkle wasn't just in the dresses!
From the wisdom of the years, the enchanting freshness and effervescence of childhood and loving creativity of those in mid generations who gave freely of themselves to create this special event and serve a delicious lunch, led by Jan Smith and Staci Guirsch of the Senior Center staff and Lara Wheeler's team in the kitchen, what a thoroughly fabulous morning!
Of special note was the raffle of donated items that raised almost $700 for Lions 4 Kids House! Many, many thanks to each of you for your kindness, generosity and the opportunity to share this very fun event.
Proms!
Thanks to Ken and Judy Freed of Windermere Real Estate and Freed Insurance Group for the use of their conference room as "Prom Central" to prepare three young women from Orting High School for their prom last week, and for a devoted group of Fairy Godmothers who transformed the girls from their ordinary everyday selves into perfectly exquisite princesses: April Young, Dana Williams, Eleni Sloan, Juli Bell, Gina Jirack, Mona Jirak, Alexandra Lyon and our photographer Linda Morris.
It brings a smile to the face and joy to the heart to watch the transformation: one reserved, one uncertain and one 100% jock. Sit them down for two hours of hair, makeup and pampering under the loving ministrations of some very talented godmothers, zip them into the perfect gown and put their feet in slippers, not made of glass, but magical nonetheless. Add a bit of manufactured "bling", and the rest of the sparkle comes from the eyes and spirits of these girls who never thought they'd be able to join their friends at the signature event of one's high school career.
The girls seem to get the most attention this time of year, but we make sure young men have a chance to make dreams come true too. On Friday afternoon I was working in our Serenity Garden when a young man approached on his way to the Library. He identified himself as one of our Cinderfellas and wanted to express his gratitude for our help. He said he was really excited to be picking up his tux on Sunday and couldn't wait to go to the dance. So, because it is YOU, our wonderful communities, who have supported us so generously with funds and resources, I will pass along his thanks. Never doubt, you DO make dreams come true!
Our final prom of the season will be Bonney Lake's on Friday May 29th when ten young men and women will get their chance at Happily Ever After memories.
Special thanks to Brenda Howett for her time and talents in altering the dress for one of our Cinderellas! Our goal was met: this difficult-to-fit girl's face and spirit just transforms into joy and confidence when she puts on her gown! THANK YOU!!
We have been very blessed with generous donations of tuxes for the boys from the Tux Shoppe and Men's Wearhouse in Puyallup. Thank you!!
Prom season itself is short but we collect gowns, shoes, handbags, "bling", wraps, underpinnings and funds for the prom all year long!
Requests:
We have two young men who have agreed to mow the lawn at the clothing bank but we are in need of an easy- to-use power mower and electric leaf blower. They don't have to be new, just serviceable. In the past I've brought equipment from home to use at my convenience, but that isn't going to work for busy kids with other commitments. Thank you! A donation receipt will gladly be provided!
School-appropriate clothing needed: With all the kids growing like weeds and outgrowing clothes, we are requesting that if you are cleaning out drawers and closets these next couple months that you consider donating children's and adult clothing to Lions 4 Kids House. As we think ahead to Back-To-School we would like to have a substantial inventory of attire on hand as we expect an increase from last year's record of 333 children outfitted in August . Especially needed are boys jeans, shirts and shoes...they're hard to find because boys don't do "gently used"!
Our address is 18429-89th St. E in Bonney Lake. We are just behind Grocery Outlet, east on 89th Street, off Main. We're at the end of the block by the stop sign, across the street from Sam and Sue's barber shop. Our donation station is located on the left front corner of our building next to the sliding glass door. If you would like a receipt please leave your name and address and it will be mailed. Or you can drop off donations during our open hours Tuesdays 10:30-1:30; Wednesday 4-7 and Saturday 10-2. We will be closed next Saturday in observation of the Memorial Day weekend.
Sincere thanks to:
- Nicole and Jeff England for donating a washer and dryer for our use
- McNeil Island Corrections Center for handling our big loads of laundry for the last almost-three years
- Our dedicated volunteers who routinely take home smaller laundry loads
- Bruce and Debbie Duncan, Marcy Boulet, Karen McPeak, Myrna and Robert Vernon and Susan and James Fiala for recent donations to Lions 4 Kids
- Troop 172's Daniel Barrett and his dad Pat for painting Daniel's Eagle Scout project, our beautiful garden arbor.
- Officer Steve Flaherty and Barbara Wigton of the Bonney Lake Police who saved my bacon on Friday by quickly providing information for children's ID and fingerprint kits needed early the following morning for the annual Henschell Chiropractic Bike Helmet giveaway. (Oops! Too many fun things to do and places to go, and too little concentration on what comes next!)
This is the fourth year I've had the pleasure to fingerprint children and provide safety information to parents at this event. Bike safety and free helmuts are one benefit; East Pierce Fire and Rescue had their educational trailer there to teach kids what to do in the event of a fire and then there was the "fun" component added with face painting and balloons by Glitterbug and Beep-Beep of Clownbuggie Entertainment.
- To Girl Scout Troop #40878 for their generous clothing donations
- To Mike Connelly for functioning as our faithful handy man taking care of "honey-do" list items for us! Thank you for sharing him with us, Cindy!!
- To George and Thian Brown who own Thian Thai, we awarded our first free meal certificate to a family of seven in need of a pick-me-up. They were so delighted to know they will receive a great meal out. THEN, we heard from Wendi and Lauren, owners of Dinners Done Right who are also putting together a program that we'll be able to pass along to some of our clients on a monthly basis. What a wonderful gift to give those who need a boost, not just with food but morale! Thank you all!
- To Kourtney Layton of Bonney Lake High School and the Humanitarian Club who collected bags and bags and bags of clothing for us, and to her parents for delivering it.
- To Suellen of the Lacey Noon Lions who donated many beautiful prom dresses and accessories
Coming up:
Work parties:
Saturday morning May 30th from 9-1 or any segment of time in between we would sincerely appreciate a half dozen people willing to cement our fence posts. All but five holes are dug, the posts are on site and ready to install. Teens are welcome to assist!
Saturday morning June 6th from 9-1 or any segment of time in between we are requesting perhaps ten people to help install the chainlink material and one gate to make our garden secure and safe for the children, AND/OR to help us install wall and ceiling insulation and ceiling drywall in our storage shed. We're praying for no precip as the shed will need to be emptied out into the yard first. Teens are welcome to assist!
Help with these tasks will be most appreciated and beverages will be available...sorry, no Bloody Mary's!
Friday, July 24th, 9-6: Garage Sale at a location to be announced with proceeds to benefit Lions 4 Kids House as we prepare for Back to School. We will welcome donations of items to sell, however we have no storage space at this time. We'll provide further details soon!
Volunteers:
We welcomed seven new adult volunteers plus a number of their children last Wednesday at our training! The next trainings will be Wednesdays, June 10th and July 15th. All are at 7 p.m. and take about 75 minutes at Lions 4 Kids House. There will be no training in August or September as I will go "bionic" in mid-August with the replacement of a hip. Training resumes for October and November.
I will be asking for individuals or teams to keep the Serenity Garden watered and weed free during my recuperation from mid August through September. Help will be MOST appreciated.
There are many, many ways to assist at Lions 4 Kids House, limited only by one's time and imagination. Our volunteers are the heart of our outreach, and our donors our lifeblood.
Brad Hand is skilled at data entry and is preparing a list of our clients who qualify for the Washington State "College Bound" scholarship. This program provides a full-ride four-year college scholarship at any Washington college for children who qualify for free and reduced lunch programs. Children must enroll when they're 7th or 8th graders, maintain at least a 2.0 gpa and remain crime-free during their enrollment period.
I discovered that very few children in our service area (Sumner, White River, Carbonado, Orting and Dieringer districts) actually apply for the program for a number of reasons: it sounds too good to be true, it can be overwhelming for parents who perhaps never graduated from high school themselves, it represents a scary layer of bureaucracy, perhaps for families mired in generational poverty it just never enters their mind to strive for more and certainly there are a million other reasons.
When we first conceived "College 4 Kids", our own program for identifying and cheering on potential recipients of the College Bound program, I figured we might have 50 or 60 kids amongst our client base who would qualify. Scanning our client cards Brad and I have found almost 250 students in 6th-9th grades!
Time is of the essence for this year's 8th and 9th graders as the deadline to enroll in the program is June 30th. We are culling those kids first and will provide them with information encouraging them to visit their school's counseling office asap. This year's 6th and 7th graders will be identified later and encouraged to apply.
Later when the kids come in for clothing each month we'll be able to cheer them on and provide some additional incentives to keep them motivated. We are SO excited to watch this effort unfold, as a college education will open doors unimagined by many of these kids, and in the future they will surely make a difference for all of us! There are so many bright and talented kids we serve, with limitless potential. What a joy to be able to reach out to them and offer something of such infinite value, beyond clothing, soap and shampoo, beyond self-esteem.
That's it for now! If you have questions, would like to assist in some way, or would like a tour of our wonderful facility please email me. Our garden is in glorious bloom and the kids are loving the smelly wonders they are discovering.
With grateful thanks for your support and wishes for a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. Carol
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