I have added a couple of items for men to the "Needs List" so you can make a note of that as you're out shopping the good sales.
I thought I would copy some of Linda's recent emails onto this blog to let you know precisely what's going on. Many of you have asked about volunteering or wondered what else is needed right now. Here's up to date information for you right from Linda:
Hi Heidi:
Our biggest need right now is towels for children. We are
going through them faster than anything else and we have needed to
purchase them almost every week. As we go through our inventory more and
move what we need to our other project room, I will know more......but I know
that we will be short of school supplies for them, especially colored pencils,
markers, erasers, notebooks, and scissors. Also, simple coloring books,
toys and flash cards for preschool children for the refugee kits. If
anyone sees really good deals on games like Rook, Yahtzee etc. for the children
in the regular shelters, those things are great for them to interact with their
mothers and create a bond. In the women's department, we are constantly
needing to purchase lotions and we love to get cosmetics, since we seldom get
that and I feel it is helpful to them as they are applying for jobs as they go
through their new adjustments in society.
Also, Sharon Nuttall and her husband were called to be in charge
of our second location at 2200 South State Street yesterday. She has been
my right arm in running the Destinations locations, so we absolutely could use
good volunteers who could serve once a week or more for four hours. If anyone
in your ward has family that lives closer to downtown, please let them know
that they can get a DVD and brochure from me to pass along to
them.....hopefully for them to pass along to their R.S. president. I
speak in different wards.....that's how we get all our inventory and it would
be helpful to find volunteers and supplies from wards closer to our 2200 South
location. Sharon will need all the help she can get too!
We are going to attempt to build a basic inventory of kits for all
the shelters in Utah this upcoming year. That means supplying them with
two or three kits for each age group for children and 25 women's kits, so
as each family enters the shelters, they can immediately receive a welcome
kit. These are smaller shelters but there are 14 of them in addition to
the YWCA and South Valley Sanctuary. I have notified Hilde Koenig (the
Diversity Coordinator over all the shelters) that we will work on one or two
shelters at a time each month until they all have this basic inventory to work
from. That way, when families enter the shelters, no mother or child will
be left out. As they get down to one in an age group, they notify me by
email what needs to be built up, so they have this constant supply.
That's what we do with South Valley and it works out really well. We
supply YWCA with 100 kits about every six weeks. The refugee's get a minimum of
100 kits per month, depending on their specific needs.
Even though the need ahead of us for the coming year is
huge.......THE CHALLENGE AHEAD OF US IS NOT AS GREAT AS THE POWER BEHIND
US! To think that this whole project has it's roots in the Temple View
Branch with sisters who live in poverty and give every week their widow's
mite....that, and our message from the Lord that He loves His children and we
love them........is why their efforts have been multiplied a thousand fold,
through wonderful people like you. The Lord has been providing all along
as we've grown.......and your ward has been an amazing support.....even more
than you know.....and we appreciate it so much! The response from these
shelters is so positive. They are receptive of our message and they
express to me that the quality and care that we put in these kits is so
empowering to the recipients. Please pass on to your ward our
gratefulness for all their sacrifice in helping us do this.
Have a wonderful Christmas Heidi. It has been an honor to
work with you and your amazing ward.
Sincerely,
Linda Simmons
Then, I received this email a day or so later with needs for the second facility.
Hi Everyone:
We have exciting
news! We will be moving into our second location next Tuesday, December
27. Sharon and Tom Nuttall will be running that project room and we will
do the refugee kits from there. She has been working with me at the
Destinations location since February and things will be able to run just as
they have!
I thought I would put
out a request for some needed items, just in case any of you might have extras
of any of them that we might use. We had someone who was going to get
them for us, but his health has been bad and things fell through. What we
are looking for are:
Used banquet tables (we
don't care if they are the old heavy ones because we won't be moving them
around once they are in place. They can even be damaged. We can
cover them. We'll just be putting our quilts on them.)
Metal shelving for our
towels, games, etc.
Book cases.
Rubbermaid or
Sterilite-type bins to hold our stuff animals. None of them need to have
lids.
Sterilite-type shoe
boxes to hold our toothbrushes and combs. These don't need lids either.
If any of you have any
connections to get any of these items, we could sure use them. They don't
have to be fancy, just functional. We have some funds to purchase them,
but would rather use the precious donation money for needed items for the kits.
By the way, we have now
donated over 4,150 kits so far (1,795 so far this year), so we have been really
busy and will be more busy next year. We are now giving to all 16
battered women's shelters, Holding Out Help for escapees from polygamy
colonies, Life Start Village for homeless women and children and 100 kits per
month to the refugees, so we will easily do more than 2,000 kits next year.
If you know of someone
who has any of the above items, please email or call me at 801-280-0640 or
801-598-3218.
Have a Merry Christmas,
Linda Simmons
Hearts Knit Together
As you can see, things are rolling along. It has been a such a pleasure in my life to be involved with this project and to work with each of you. What an experience. Merry Christmas to one and all!
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