It's time to collect those school supplies!

This is tonight's email:

Hello Friends!

I'm so sad that it is almost time to go back to school. There is nothing better than summer with all of my children home with me every day.

Back to school means new pencils with perfect erasers and empty notebooks waiting to be filled. While running your regular errands please consider picking up some extra supplies to ensure that children in need can receive proper tools for learning. There are great sales going on at places like Target, Staples, Office Depot, Walgreens, and Walmart.

Just a reminder that kits for LDS Philanthropies include:

School Kit
• 4 pencils (unsharpened)
• 1 box pre-sharpened or unsharpened assorted colored pencils
(approx. 7” long, approx. 12 pencils/box)
• 1 pencil sharpener
• 1 rubber pencil eraser (approx 1" x 2")
• 1 straight edge ruler - 12 inches, with metric
• 1 pair of blunt-nosed scissors (metal blades)
• Glued or spiral bound notebooks or letter size legal pads, with lined sheets. Include enough notebooks/pads to total approximately 450 sheets (Please do not include more than 6 notebooks/pads). Sheet sizes 8 1/2" x 11", 8" x 10 1/2", 8 1/2" x 11 3/4" are acceptable.
• 1 durable cloth bag made of heavy fabric (See cloth bag guidelines below)

Please donate according to the list, or consider a donation of money towards completing partial kits or time to sew bags and assemble the kits.

There will be a bin on my porch from tomorrow until September 15th. You do not need to donate full kits. You may choose to purchase just one item. I will keep a running tally on our site (wilsonfamilycharity.blogspot.com) of what has been donated. I'll also send emails each week including those totals.

Thanks for your help in this project!

Warmly,
The Wilson Family

PS Please contact me if you would like to be removed from this list, or if you have a friend that would like to be added to the email list.

School Supplies Drive!!!

What better time to do a school supplies drive than at back to school sales time!

We are pleased to announce the Wilson Family Charity School Supplies Drive, which will run from August 1-September 15. We will be collecting both goods and monetary donations to put together kits for LDS Philanthropies. My favorite thing about LDS Philanthropies is that 100% of all donations are used for the causes for which they have been donated. I am not aware of any other organization that is able to operate in this manner. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints covers all administrative costs so that LDS Philanthropies can use your whole donation for those in need.

In regards to giving humanitarian aid, LDS Philanthropies offers help to those in need without regard for religion, gender, race, or any other type of diversity.

School kits are often sent to both schools and orphanages and on occasion are sent to disaster areas.

We will need to donate kits according to the guidelines, so please only donate items that are actually on the list, or money. We will use all monetary donations to help cover the cost of fabric or velcro for the bags and/or for school supplies we are short on to make full kits.

And if you know how to sew and would be willing to help us put the bags together we would love it!!! (I do have a sewing machine though I do not know much about using it yet.)


School Kit
• 4 pencils (unsharpened)
• 1 box pre-sharpened or unsharpened assorted colored pencils
(approx. 7” long, approx. 12 pencils/box)
• 1 pencil sharpener
• 1 rubber pencil eraser (approx 1" x 2")
• 1 straight edge ruler - 12 inches, with metric
• 1 pair of blunt-nosed scissors (metal blades)
• Glued or spiral bound notebooks or letter size legal pads, with lined sheets. Include enough notebooks/pads to total approximately 450 sheets (Please do not include more than 6 notebooks/pads). Sheet sizes 8 1/2" x 11", 8" x 10 1/2", 8 1/2" x 11 3/4" are acceptable.
• 1 durable cloth bag made of heavy fabric (See cloth bag guidelines below)

Place items inside the cloth bag.

Cloth Bag (for School Kit)• Cut two pieces of fabric for bag 14"x 18", Cut 2 handles 24"x 3.5" (1.5" webbing may be substituted).
• Serge or zigzag all edges of both pieces of bag fabric.
• Put right sides of bag fabric together. Starting at the top of the side seam,(side seam = 18" length), sew around 3 sides of bag (2 long sides, 1 short side). Make sure to backstitch.

Handles
• Zig-zag or serge one long side of each handle.
• With right side out, fold over raw edge and overlap serged edge.
• Stitch lengthwise down center of handle.
• Pin or secure handle in place. Repeat with the other end of the handle on the same side of the bag.
• Repeat on other side of bag.
• After handles are secure, stitch hem of bag, including handles around entire hem.
• Reinforce stitching on handles.
• Place a 3” strip of velcro on inside of bag between handle straps. Sew in place.

Beginning August 1 there will be a bin in front of our home for collections. The address will go out by email so please email wilsonfamilycharity@gmail.com if you need it. After school begins, there will be a bin in the foyer of Steeple Run Elementary School. Also, there is one business location that may allow us to set up a bin. More information to follow.

Thanks in advance for your help! We are so blessed and grateful for the opportunity to help others have tools for learning.

Bake sale success by the numbers, and we made the local news!

I have more pictures and stories to tell about the bake sale, but they will have to wait.


In the meantime, this is the email I sent out today:


Dear Friends,

Truly the success of such an event as we had this weekend cannot be measured simply by the numbers. Many of you were touched by the spirit of giving, as were some of those we sold to. I could feel the energy and excitement in our neighborhood and community as so many people contributed by baking, donating, transporting, working, and purchasing. And I am thrilled to think of the little mouths that will be fed as a result of this group effort.

But I have to admit that the numbers themselves are pretty darn awesome:

• 35 families or businesses contributed goods or equipment (tables, baskets, etc)
  


• 9 families helped transport goods
  


• 8 families helped to work the sale (including a number of super-cute kids)
  


• Walgreens experienced an 11% increase in sales from Friday before Mother's Day 2010 to this past Friday and invited us to hold a bake sale there anytime!
  


• Friday we raised $715.42
  


• Saturday we raised $1059.08 (including $232 for the Silent Auction table, average of $29 per item)
  


• Average sales per hour: $147.88
  


• Online donations: $380
  


• Grand total: $2154.50 (With a few others who have told me they will be donating online but have not yet done so.)

And we were featured on the local news!

What's next? At the end of the month we will start a series of blog posts highlighting service. Watch for:

• Tuesday Tips, including tips on service...how to's regarding involving kids, working it into your schedule, deciding where to serve, hosting your own bake sale or other fundraiser, etc, etc,
  


• Friday Feature, including spotlights on individuals, families, and organizations that have given significant service, and
  


• Sunday Stories, including heartwarming stories about those who have been blessed by giving or receiving service.

We would LOVE to have your input on these posts, so if you have something to share that would fit please send it in. Know of a friend or organization that does a lot of good? Do you have a positive experience with service that you'd like to share? I'm hoping for plenty of guest posts, so please send in your thoughts!

Our next big project will be a drive for school supplies. Watch for an email with details about the specific items needed for the school supply kits. The drive will run from July 15th-September 1st, focused intentionally on the time of year when school supplies are on sale.

Thank you so much to all of you who contributed with goods, time, donations, and even your thoughts and prayers. We feel so blessed to have been able to participate with you, and thankful for your help and for the cooperating weather.

Have a fabulous week!
Dave, Kristin, and the kids

Just a taste of the deliciousness...

These are the happy faces who will assist at the sale. For obvious reasons, they will not be there the whole time. Aside from their darlingness, you will find:


chocolate dipped pretzels


created with help from my great-grandmother's double boiler


pies


cookies, brownies


cupcakes



(Almost all of those shown were decorated by the older children and one of their friends. They did a great job and they DID wash their hands before helping.)


rice krispie treats and more cookies


cakes

AND more!!


Tallest to shortest our crew wishes to thank you for your donations online, your thoughts and prayers, your donated baked goods, and the many goodies we know you'll purchase in just a few short hours. Your efforts are noticed and appreciated.

Such a bounty

Our home is full of the fruits of the labors of people who care about making a difference.

I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Due to a series of unplanned complications (read: my normal life) I am only now at 1 AM starting the chocolate dipped pretzels. I could just go to bed, but I expect these to be a big seller and I'm not wimping out now!

I am so sad to have forgotten to take photos of the cute kids decorating extra special cupcakes this afternoon. They are works of art. I promise pictures by Saturday, but now I must be back to work.

Freezer Magic

Baking has begun at the Wilson home! We plan to produce:

50-100 store-bought-mix-and-can-of-frosting cupcakes


50-100 higher-end cupcakes with premier mix and homemade delicious buttercream frosting


4-6 fancy-schmancy cakes

6 pans of brownies

8 small loaves of banana bread and


25+ bags of delicious chocolate-covered gourmet pretzels (packaged in darling little tins purchased for 50 cents a piece at the Target dollar spot)

How will we make it work? Well, other than giving up some sleep, such ambition will be made possible through the magic of our freezer.

Let's say you want to help us out. You know next week is busy for you, but you would have time Saturday or Sunday afternoon...how do you manage?

Make either cakes, cupcakes, brownies, muffins, or breads. Let them cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and then place either in a ziploc bag or wrap with foil and stick it in the freezer until drop-off time. If it is an item you would frost, please do not do so until after removing it from the freezer.

Also, you can make cookie dough in advance, freeze it, and have it ready to bake quickly at the last minute when you may be more pressed for time.


Things to remember:

1. The Wilson Family Great American Bake Sale will be held Friday May 6th from 2-7 PM, and Saturday May 7th from 9 AM-4 PM at the Steeple Run Walgreens.

2. Drop-off for donations is Friday May 6th from 9 AM-noon at my house, but PLEASE contact me for other arrangements if this will not work for you. I will work with your schedule.

3. Tax-deductible online donations are accepted on our team page which can be accessed through the right sidebar of our site, at wilsonfamilycharity.blogspot.com

4. Please spread the word. You can find us on facebook, like us, and share us with your friends: https://www.facebook.com/wilsonfamilycharity

5. I still have flyers if you need one for your workplace breakroom, your church, or any where else you can think of.

6. We could use more volunteers to work the sale. Watch for our volunteer email coming out tomorrow.



Thanks so much to all of you willing to help in any way, from baking, to spreading the word, working the sale, purchasing our goods, and praying for the success of this event. I still can scarcely believe that in a land of plenty, with so many charity programs and governement programs at work that more than 17 million kids in America are at risk of hunger. That’s nearly 1 in 4. We are so blessed and look forward to working with you to do our part to share of our abundance.

Warmly,
Dave, Kristin, and children

Bake Sale Flyer

Please let you know if you have a good place to post one, such as the lunchroom at work or at a local business. I can either email you the flyer and you can print it, or I can get a printed copy to you.