~*~~*~ 30 days until Xmas countdown ~*~~*~

[Thystle]

11/25/07



30 days until Xmas :





A place to vent/whine/think/plan. Carry on.

[Thystle]

Fixed the title.

[Purple*Lotus]

Okay my whine is that I manage a domestic violence shelter, and with only 30 days left until Christmas we only have one offer to "adopt" a family at our shelter to give gifts too : I am hoping that now that Thanksgiving is over, people in the community call to offer the help :

[Thystle]

Do you guys have a mailing list there? To send out a plea?




One of the "centers" here has an email list and when they get low on stuff for the food bank (or whatever) they send out a "911" email.

It literally says "911" in the subject line and then the body says what they are in bad need of.


Maybe get the local news stations and papers involved?

Call public schools to do a drive?

[Purple*Lotus]

We are really limited and how much we can ask for help because one agency in town provides most of our general funding and wont let us participate in any kind of fundraisers, etc. I do have a list of people that I can call to ask for help, and I will if I have to. I just keep praying that people will call in. Last year we had too many gifts. Luckily was saved a lot!

[Thystle]

Originally Posted by ~*Jaime

We are really limited and how much we can ask for help because one agency in town provides most of our general funding and wont let us participate in any kind of fundraisers, etc.!

That is actually pretty messed up! :

[Purple*Lotus]

I know. A really good friend of mine offered to do an Avon fundraise for us, and she was going to donate ALL of her profit to the shelter. The agency said no So we had to turn her down. I felt really bad about it, it was a very generous offer!

[KayleeZoo]

Can I whine and vent just a little?

I just realized that we have 5 teacher gifts to buy, plus something for the mail guy, dd's bus driver, the secret santa gift exchange at the vet clinic where I work 2x month, and then the kids to finish buying for. We don't exchange gifts as a family anymore, because no one can afford it but the 3 kids are challenging enough, let alone all the others. I don't bake/make goodies because too many teachers have told me that they throw away all homemade food gifts so as not to take a chance eating something potentially germy or gross. So now I need to think of frugal gifts for a lot of people, and well, I'm just not in the mood for it all.

I also have a feeling that this year's Holiday Helper project isn't moving along as fast as years past and that's worrisome since I'm helping to organize again this year. I want all of the families to get the help they need, but I'm worried about that happening for everyone. It's early, though, and maybe everyone will rally between now and Christmas

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Originally Posted by ~*Jaime

We are really limited and how much we can ask for help because one agency in town provides most of our general funding and wont let us participate in any kind of fundraisers, etc. I do have a list of people that I can call to ask for help, and I will if I have to. I just keep praying that people will call in. Last year we had too many gifts. Luckily was saved a lot!

Stupid United Way. But I was under the impression from my work both as a volunteer w/ UW and an employee at a member agency, that you could do some quiet minor fundraising w/o too much hub bub. I mean, adopt a family is hardly a major capital campaign.

Anywho, not too much to whine about here except my computer is totally fried and I have a bunch of things to get out for a swap that involve my computer. Blah. I'm on bff's laptop now, but she needs it back tomorrow and the programs I need aren't on it anyway.

[rsummer]

30 days till christmas and anytime after christmas is a good time to get pregos, so cheers!!! That and we have torn apart our apartment and have tons of stuff to give away.

Sad about the no one to adopt the families bit... If you have a friend that is a nurse, ask her/him for help. Just about every unit in the entire hospital I work in adopts a family. Just an idea.

[Thystle]

11/27/07

28 days until Xmas

[Thystle]

I am sending super good fuzzy vibes to your shelter Jaime!!!

[ediesmom]

i am in christmas hell

i will survive this.....i WILL survive this:

i just don't see the money coming in for gifts. it seems that everytime i have an extra buck, a bill needs paying immediately.

sorry i'm not festive.

[Thystle]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

i am in christmas hell

i will survive this.....i WILL survive this:

i just don't see the money coming in for gifts. it seems that everytime i have an extra buck, a bill needs paying immediately.

sorry i'm not festive.

Let me know if you want in on the box train!


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[mamamilkers]

KayleeZoo, thanks for the reminders to get something for DD's teacher and also to donate a GC for the Holiday Helpers. As soon as my girls get well I will hopefully be on top of it more

In other news I finally figured out what to get my two nieces and two nephews. It's always tricky because they live so far away and mailing stuff is a pain. Thank you Amazon.com and gift cards, though!

My girls are all done being bought for. DF and I are just "giving each other money" to put towards the individual trips we're both taking this spring.

I have to by frames for the family portraits that we're giving to my future ILs. And finish the photo book I'm making for several people. I was going to try and finish it by tomorrow night so I can get free shipping from Shutterfly but with the sickies around here, we'll see if it gets finished in time!

[baileyandmikey]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

i am in christmas hell

i will survive this.....i WILL survive this:

i just don't see the money coming in for gifts. it seems that everytime i have an extra buck, a bill needs paying immediately.

sorry i'm not festive.

me too!
:

[mumkenna&lucas]

Originally Posted by KayleeZoo

Can I whine and vent just a little?

I just realized that we have 5 teacher gifts to buy, plus something for the mail guy, dd's bus driver, the secret santa gift exchange at the vet clinic where I work 2x month,

I know!! I just realized this a few days ago also! Yikes! We were already tight :

[ediesmom]

for teachers we got silk scarves from dharma trading.......gonna dye them. They were just over a buck a piece. I also got a few for family members.

dharma also has white silk long undies really cheap (but too much for us this year) but for most people it would be a really great deal. A set of tie-dyed longies for that someone special

and if you ship 1st class from dharma its super cheap ($4)

mamas, i just applied for a cc so i could do ANYTHING for the holiday. i'm scared. probably a bad move

[Thystle]

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