The Safelight Project Delivery and Winners

The Safelight Project has come to a close, and I want to show you the rest of the story. Cards and donations just kept coming, more bags were made, and the delivery has been done.

The cards coming in were just extraordinary, such creativity and beauty! These from Cyndy R. were stunning.

I have to show you this one up close, look at the coloration of the rose with glitter for a bit of sparkle.

It is a tri-fold card, here is the middle, beautifully colored and so inspirational.

Then in the inside, she hand wrote a beautiful message, one that is sure to lift someone’s spirits in a nice way.

Heather, who blogs at Creative Blessings, sent in a whole batch of cards, each one unique.

Handwritten messages unique to each one were very special.

More of Heather’s designs, all beautiful.

Danice was having so much fun making cards that she sent six more the following week. Thank you so much, Danice!!

Cindy in Florida sent these beauties.

Inside all were stamps or stickers to make them pretty, and a heartfelt handwritten note, unique to each card.

My friend Gail made several cards as well, so pretty!

A box of goodies arrived from Denise F., all melaleuca products, who sent facial renewal cream and yummy flavored lip glosses for the bags.

Those lip gloss tubes had all kinds of flavors from Vanilla Bean to Pina Colada, Peach Nectarine and Pineapple.

The donations just kept coming too, even after I announced that the initial goal was reached, and even exceeded. Thank you to all the monetary sponsors!

Amy O. —  Mary Jo L.  — Nancy B.  — Norece E.  —  Susan D. — Mary Z.

Sharon S.  —  Kathryn W.  —  Jodi M.  —  Mary C.  — Deborah M  —  Denise F.

Mary Jean C. — Susan G.  —  Jennifer G.  —  Christine S.  —  Erika N.   —  Susan C.

Linda S.  —  Carol L.   —-  Teresa M. —   Sherry T.  —  Jeanne C.  —  Donna S.

Nancy J.  —  Beth L.  —  Sarah K.  —  Elizabeth S.  —  Ruth C.   —  Melanie T.

Karen T. —  Judy D.  —  Lesley G.  —  Janice H.  —  Lisa (unknown)

Mildred P.  —  Jennie R.  —  Edy J. — Vicki W. — Pat E. — Dana W. — Carole B.

Kelley L — Cindi W.

I had to make another trip to the store, luckily they still had some of the same tote bags. More bags were filled with goodies, cards, and essentials.

Each one got a piece of sparkly tissue on top, so the spa bag was more like a gift. It is with great pleasure that I tell you the number of spa bags increased to 45 with all the donations!! Thank you so much to everyone that helped, it couldn’t have happened without everyone’s help.

And now, congratulations to the winners of the prizes!

Cindi W. won the fantastic Stampin’ Up kit!  Visit Stampin’ Up to find a demonstrator near you!

The winner of the Mastercard Gift Card was Nancy B, congratulations!!

So, bags all made, I made arrangements to deliver them on Monday. On Sunday evening, I loaded the car. The trunk was completely full.

So, I put the seats down in the back and continued to stuff the car to its gills. The last two were tucked onto the floor behind the driver seat. The bag of extra toothbrushes, combs, deodorants, and nail files were stashed in there too.

Monday, August 7th, was a rainy day, so we had to wait for a break in the downpours. The car was loaded and ready when a break came near 11:30 in the morning. I called Laresa, said I was on my way, and she was waiting outside with two rolling carts to quickly get the bags inside before the bottom fell out of the rain clouds again.  Turning on the hazard lights, I jumped out and we quickly loaded the carts.

Then, I parked the car, and went inside to meet the wonderful people that run this shelter, see the programs they have in process and have a tour of the facility in its construction stage.  Here are three of the shelter managers from left, Charlotte Rapp -Shelter Manager, Laresa Griffin -Director of Development and Wendy McEntire – Job Training Program Director.

While I was parking the car, Laresa said a resident saw the bags and got very excited that one would be for her.  Charlotte planned a time to hand out to everyone at once for that evening.  On Tuesday, Laresa sent me an email with the resident’s reactions.  She said “the clients were ecstatic! They were so ‘happy to have personal items that were like luxuries, not just the necessities’ and it made them all feel so special. They really appreciated the handmade cards and the caring notes written inside. Thank you and your blog readers who contributed to these amazing gifts for our clients. It really has lightened their loads, giving them a self-confidence boost and the ability to pamper themselves. We appreciate you and your hard work in coordinating this project and loving on our clients in such a personal way. Thank you!”  There were enough bags for every resident of the shelter, and the transitional apartments, and a few left over which will be stored for future needs.  There were also about a dozen cards more than bags, and Laresa will give those out to those who need a lift later.

So, this project is finished. There really isn’t an opportunity to sew anything for them at this time. We did explore the ideas of seasonal table linens, or pillowcases, but those just cannot be used right now. The shelter is in transition, and is a transitional facility as well. But, for local readers, they do have a program beginning sewing class that meets every Monday, and they can use fabric and thread if you have any to donate. Just take it to the Safelight thrift store, and tell them it is for the Sewing class at the shelter.

Thank you to everyone that contributed cards and items, and donated money to make it such a success!