Donations update

Well, we had a decent amount of stuff collected over last weekend and at the All-Ages Inaugural Ball. Sorry I didn't post about it earlier, my kids both woke up with Croup on Wednesday morning. I just got home from dropping things off at Foodbank. We collected $380 in cash and checks PLUS one of the donors handed in paperwork for their employer's matching-donation program to match the $100 check, so $480 for Foodbank! There were also a good amount of physical donations - both non-perishable foodstuffs and personal hygene supplies (enough to fill the plastic bin I had out plus another copy-paper-sized box that was overflowing). I don't know the actual weight of that part of the donation (which is how they count them - by physical weight) because I arrived at the end of their donation drop-off time and was also delivering food from Design Lab Early College's food drive (my husband is a teacher there) that had been waiting for someone to drop it off since the 2nd week of December. So my minivan's trunk was full of Foodbank donations to the point we almost missed a box up in the main part of the van next to our 4yr old's seat. We took a few pictures, I'll post them here later (just realized as I was typing that hubby still has the camera and he just went to another part of the house).

We're planning to drop off the items for Lakewood Animal Shelter during their open hours tomorrow (they are only open until 4pm on Fridays so we missed getting to them today). I haven't been able to get a full grasp on how much we have for them, I think about enough to fill the bin (heh - I wasn't optimistic enough to put out more than one bin! Oops!). I'll take a few pictures of that drop off too. There was also a $10 donation specified as being for the Animal Shelter.

We collected about two grocery bags' worth of office supplies for Cleveland Tenants Organization (plus I need to go through some of our boxes as I'm pretty sure I have a bit to spare from here - already went through and gave them all the non-Forever Stamps to add in with a pack of 42 cent stamps someone else donated - our collection includes some 32-cent stamps and a lot of 37 and 39 cent ones too - we really don't do old-fashioned mail very often here!). Hopefully we'll have the energy to go through the office stuff section of the attic this weekend - Design Lab is about 5 minutes from CTO's office so my husband can drop off the items for them next week after school sometime.

I've got the lady who I was communicating with about the donation to Foodbank doing a bit of research to find out what time of year their requests for assistance tend to be higher while their donations are lower, and hopefully we can do something as a group to meet the need when it's highest.

So does anyone reading this have any suggestions for what they'd like to see our little budding organization do in the future? Please feel free to suggest activities/events in the comments section.

Service and Inaugural Activities

Next weekend we will be collecting items for the Lakewood Animal Shelter (rags, dog/cat toys, dog/cat food, disinfectant cleaners, other animal necessities), Cleveland Tenants Organization (office supplies - they also need volunteers), and Cleveland Food Bank (monetary donations please - food donations will find their way to a local food pantry instead of having to be driven across town).

These donations will also be accepted at our All Ages Inaugural Ball (in fact, they are what we are considering the ticket value).

If you can't make it to the Ball but would like to make a donation, please go to usaservice.org and RSVP to make arrangements for the items/money (preferably a check made out to the Cleveland Food Bank) to be dropped off or picked up. The link above will take you directly to the "event" listing, or you can search for zip code 44107 on the main usaservice.org website.

If you would like to attend the Ball and bring your donations at that time, please see more information and RSVP at http://inauguration.hugbarack.com (that will redirect you to a nice invitation on Evite.com).

First message

In an attempt to open further contact and discussions, this blog is being created. Links to area organizations working toward this same cause will appear in the Links section soon. Anyone who considers themselves a "west-sider" in the Cleveland Metropolitan Area (or is willing to commute to events on this side of town) will hopefully find this blog and linked resources useful.