B.A.S.I.C.ally Mammas on a Mission

This year our Mammas on a Mission group along with our Pappas volunteered at the B.A.S.I.C. Christmas Party. Via the coffee social we solicited volunteers and toys to be donated. Needless to say, there was a wonderful response.

Toys donated by the StoneRidge community.

The party was on December 6th from 1-4pm. Judy, Bill and Jim started setting up the Friday before. The rest of us arrived at noon to get the food and drinks set up. Gabe & Chef Steve made chili, and others brought desserts. Combined with the annual attendees from the Blanchard community there wasn't going to be a shortage of food.

Sue with Barb

It appeared that there were mostly adults until about 3pm which is when Santa was to arrive.

Gabe, Chef Steve, Carol & Dennis, Susan & David, Sue & Bill, Ken & Harlene, Patty and myself attended.

Each child was able to sit on Santa's lap, then pick 3 toys. 1 hand held, 1 stuffed animal and then a boy's or girl's gift.

I was helping out getting names and phone numbers of the kids so we could get a picture of them with Santa to their families. I still get teary-eyed thinking about the reactions from those kids. Some of these families are very poor, so this could very possibly have been the only Christmas gifts these kids would get.

One little girl was sitting on Santa's lap when her father asked her why she wasn't talking to Santa? She said, "I'm so excited to see him, I forgot what I wanted. This is the most exciting thing in my life!" and with that she just turned and hugged Santa one more time.

Because I was working with one of the B.A.S.I.C. ladies, I was made privy to some background of our "Santas". As it turned out the 2009 Santa was a novice. He was replacing a gentleman who took the role every year the past 30 years. Unfortunately, he was suffering from Alzheimer's and wasn't able to continue. I was told that last year he cried the whole time, somewhere in his consciousness he knew that he wouldn't be coming back again. The ladies had to tell the kids that Santa was just very happy to see them as a reason for his tears.

Our new Santa was incredibly nervous in his new role causing him a couple of sleepless nights prior to the party. But he did very well and is looking forward to continuing each year. By the end of the afternoon about 40 children and 20 adults had their pictures taken with Santa.

To be sure I will be a part of next years party.

I just recently received an email that had been forwarded from Chris who is a member of BASIC. It reads:

"Below find an excerpt from a recent grant that BASIC applied for. We were asked to tell a story about our experiences relevant to the grant (we are applying for meal site funding and kitchen completion). I thought you might be interested ;-]...

Chris

"BASIC offers a free Christmas party every year at the Center. We cater food made by volunteers, distribute toys and provide photos with Santa. This year we partnered with volunteers from nearby StoneRidge Golf and Recreational Community. This not only gave us more volunteer power and food, but, it also added financial support for toy purchases. It brought us closer together as a "common" "unity". It further highlighted the diversity of needs that we all have and the joy found in giving and receiving. The new volunteers were emotionally touched and vowed to offer their resources again. They shared the story about one gentleman who thanked them "with a tear in his eye" because feeding his family had been especially difficult this year. The toys were a bonus and so was the involvement of StoneRidge."

This is the kind of thing that makes our community so special and we should be proud that we have a part in making so.

If I have forgotten anyone, please email mammasonamission@gmail.com and I can correct the error.

Mammas on the Town

The Mission for 2009 was to make stockings and fill them it gift cards and stuffers that would be donated to local residents that were in need. We worked during the year making stockings, but giving only the stocking soon evolved to much more. The Mammas worked all year to raise cash to fund our cause and the StoneRidge community had our back all the way. Our crafty members made items that were sold at our coffee/socials. 50/50 raffles were held once a month at coffee and at any possible community get together. Many times the winners of the 50/50 would donate their winnings back to the Mammas. At the  StoneRidge garage sale, Tammy sold donated items and the proceeds were all donated to the Mammas. 

As the months went by it became obvious that we would be able to do more than donate stockings. By the end of the summer we had raised nearly $1,000.00. Tamara contacted the local elementary school and they were able to provide us with the names of 3 families. The parents provided, names, ages, sizes and each child's wish list. There was a total of 5 adults and 7 children. With a budget of $75 per person we went shopping. 

10 of us went to Fred Meyers and split into 3 groups. One hour later we were finished. We were able to buy more than what was on each wish list. As you can see in the pictures above, there was a lot of wrapping to be done.

After shopping we all went to lunch, not just to eat but to pick the winner of the quilt raffle.

Jim, Debbie, Tammy, Judy, Terry, Cari, 
Mary (I'm taking the picture), 
Harlene, Susan & Margee

We split up the tickets and got everything organized. Then let Jim pick our winner.

 

Fred & Thayl Ghio were the lucky winners. Tammy offered to deliver it to them on their trip south the next month.

The raffle prize

We were like the Navy Seals sent in to strike. Our lunch took more time than to shop for 3 families. We are truly a group to be reckoned with!

 

Giving Thanksgiving

The Mammas on a Mission may only meet officially once a month or so, but each week at our coffee/social we insert our influence. In co-ordination with the StoneRidge community we assembled 4 large baskets that included everything you could possibly need to put together a Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 6. A list was made of all of the dinner's ingredients and volunteers were assigned. Each item was multiplied by 4. Everyone wanted to help. I had people asking me if there was anything they could contribute. 

The Mammas set a date to get together at Susan's to assemble the baskets. Marci donated 4 baskets large enough to hold everything. Every possible item had been donated; trying to fit everything in was a challenge. But when everything was put together... Voila!.. Thanksgiving Dinner in a basket! 

The Mammas donated the cash to purchase the turkey's for each basket. All four were donated to the Blanchard food bank. You can be sure that the recipients of these baskets celebrated in style!

Happy Anniversary!

The date of my original post for the Mammas was on February 27, 2009. It begins "We have been getting together for about a month..." That means that our Mammas group is about to have an anniversary. I don't know if anyone knows the official date of our inception since it had evolved from the original coffee/social to the craft group and finally our Mammas On A Mission. This was the first group shot. Since this was taken last winter, we were missing some of the group. Who would have thought that we could accomplish so much and that we could be so effective. As the groups Director of Communication I will attempt to bring everyone up-to-date with everything we have done since my last post in May 2009. Sorry it's taken so long. I would like to be the first to wish a Happy 1st Anniversary to: Debbie, Susan, Sue, Cari, Patty, Margee, Harlene, Tammy, Gail, Judy, Terry, Cherlyn, Tamara, Cindy, Shirley, Marci, Bobbie and Jim.

Star Struck!

Once again Gail generously opened her home to the Mammas on a Mission. We had some new faces as more and more neighbors come back to StoneRidge. Our heart quilt completed and having some squares left over, Susan thought we could make a pillow sham to go with the quilt. Just as we did with the quilt, the pieces had to be positioned and sewn together. There was enough of the backing material to make a decorative pillow. Debbie donated a stuffed Teddy Bear holding a heart to complete the package. At our last meeting, the star quilt was layed out for sewing. But just like with the heart quilt, we had a little mix up. It was taken apart and then sewn back together again. Tammy & Judy went to town to buy the material for the backing. We'll be able to complete our 2nd quilt at the next meeting. We broke for our pot luck lunch. I didn't hear any complaints. Our group is not only crafty but they can cook! Lunch melded into our meeting. There was a business meeting of the Mommas on April 25th and another following our pot luck lunch on May 9th. If you would like a copy of the minutes to either of these meetings please email Mammasonamission@gmail.com. The next Mammas On A Mission Meeting: When: Saturday, May 30th Time: 10am to 2pm Where: Gail's house in the forest. Bring a dish for a pot luck lunch.

Bring a friend! If you have questions or need directions, please call Susan or email Mammasonamission@gmail.com.