Christmas 2011

Where do I begin ?? My Heart is overflowing with Gratitude to each & everyone of you who helped make this possible another Season !!  :)

It has been another successful Christmas & the Homeless people in both parks received new socks, underwear, new jackets, t-shirts, beanies, gloves, some scarves, some hand-crochet blankets, along with new tooth brushes & tooth paste, also some deodorant, shampoo, razors, tissues & bars of soap.  There were cracker snacks, soups, peanut butter treats, cereal, energy bars, etc., things that would help when hungry.  :)

And many books to read for everyone.  We were able to put at least two to three books in each grocery gift bag.  Trader Joe's was kind enough to let me have about 100 bags for this.  :)  I told them that the homeless would advertise for Trader Joe's that way.  :)

We put together many Christmas baggies filled with lots of home-baked cookies, & candy.  Everyone got candy canes, plus lots of other candy & chocolates too.   :)  

The children at "Our Mother of Sorrow Preschool" made Christmas cards & they were precious, being made by 4 year olds.  :)   Thank you Mrs. Davis & Mrs. Diaz !!   :)

We also had a whole bunch of really incredible Christmas cards to put into the bags, which were made by older children at "Canyon View Elementary School" & by "Pueblo Gardens School".  :)  These cards were so beautiful & what these children wrote touched us all very deeply.  Some had glitter on them & others Angels & beautiful drawings.  Some of them made me cry, just reading them.   Thank you Ms. Rodriguez-Loya, Ms. Saldamando, Ms. Aubrey, Ms. Foster, & Ms. Semler !!  :)

Tania (11) & Adiel (6) Carvajal also made some precious Christmas cards too.  Thank you both !!  :)  And thank you to this beautiful family, the "Cookie Family",  for donating some money for all of this !!  :)

On December 19th, Hilde made her much requested meat loaf & her famous gravy for Christmas dinner at the two parks & we added mash potatoes, corn, green beans with bacon, & jello with lots of fruit in it, along with whip cream & cookies. Everyone received a can of soda, which Sara Turner & Virginia Nurre donated so kindly !!  :)   Thank you my dear Hilde for making all those huge trays of meat loaf for two days & the two great big pots of gravy too.  The meal was much appreciated by everyone !!  :)  For those of you who don't know, Hilde is 87 years young & she has cooked with me for over a year now twice a week, every week.  :)  She is such an inspiration to us all !!  :)

Thank you Susie Thompson for making the two huge bowls of jello with all the fruit for dessert !!  :)  I know that wasn't easy when you are not used to cooking such huge quantities.

My dear friend Jane Ash donated two huge wreaths & we hung one in each park along with some gold lame' streamers.  The wreaths were beautiful & helped everyone there to get into the Christmas Spirit.  I had Christmas music blasting from my car radio the whole time we served the food & handed out all the gift bags.  :)   All the food servers wore Santa hats.  :)   It was truly magical & will forever remain a memory.  :)

I have a long list of people to thank for helping to pull all this off one way or another.  Much, much THANKS goes to each & everyone of you:

Cristina Ball for all the cookies & candy & for all your loving support of this for over a year now !!  :)

Jane Ash for the wreaths, santa hats, candy, chocolates, hygene items, beanies, socks, gloves & the money on top of all this.  You are a Blessing, Jane !!  :)

My neighbor Sue Bradford for the candy, beanies & tissues.  Thanks Dear !!  :)

Laurel Gregory, my long time friend in Oregon, for the 16 brand-new jackets & all those warm socks, beanies, gloves & underwear.  And Sarah Robles for helping with that too.   :)   You are The Best !!  :)

Marian & George for baking a bunch of Christmas tree cookies.  :)

Diana (Hilde's friend) for donating food, gloves, scarves & some money for the meat loaf.  :)  Thank you also for your continued support, you are great !!  :)

The "Helping Hands Crafters" for all those incredible hand crochet blankets & for all the hand knit caps.  Your hands were very busy & are very much appreciated !!  :)

Celina Pena for donating socks, beanies, books & deodorant.  :)

Tracy (Cristina's friend) for all the hygene items, cookies & candy !!  You are awesome Girl !!  :)

Maggie & Brian Disbury for all the food, beanies & hygene items, especially all the Energy Bars.  :)  You two are very beautiful people & I am so grateful for you both !!  :)

Virginia Nurre for the huge amount of cookies you baked & for putting them in smaller bags to make it easier for me to distribute.  You are ever so thoughtful, Dear !!  :)  And thank you for the candy & the books too. 

Jeanne Pilegi thanks for all the cookies you donated !!  You are much appreciated always !!  :)

Reilly Zoda donated four huge boxes of books.  It is so fun now when I drive up to the parks to see the homeless sitting there reading your books.  It always puts a smile on my face.  :)  Thank you Reilly for caring !!  :)

My dear Mary Helen (83), thank you for all the candy you brought over to help out !!  :)

And my dear Katherine Knez (also 83 years young) for your kind donation !!  :)

The Rosary Makers Club of Tucson for all the paper goods & canned food !!  I so appreciate your continued help with this !!  :)

And then there is Mark Irvin's group, called the Winers & Diners, who collected & sent the biggest donation I have ever received.  I cried happy tears for at least a couple of days & then came another big donation from Frank Dahl, who is also a member of the club.  More tears of course.  :)   Part of your donations helped so much with the Christmas meal & provided some of the items I didn't have enough of, like warm beanies, gloves, underwear, etc.  You made such a big difference with all your Kindness !!  :)

My neighbor Sara Turner, who donated a lot of soda's & lots of snack food, along with candy too.  :) 

A big thank you goes to Dawn Richards in Minnesota, who once more sent four huge boxes of clothes for the homeless, with many, many t-shirts.  Thank you Dawn for your loving support, you are incredible !!  :)  The postage alone ......   :o

Mark Salcido for letting us borrow your truck so we could transport all those gift bags from my home to the two parks.  We couldn't have done this without your generosity !!  :)

Rachel & Michael Wood for the money you sent so kindly from beautiful San Diego !!  :)

And to Bill & Patti Mages all the way from Chicago, for your dear contribution !!  Thank you so much for thinking of the Homeless !!  :)

I hope that I didn't forget anyone & if I did, please forgive me.  :)  It took a lot to pull all this off for so many people & I think I kept a pretty good record of it all.  I am still tired & need a little time to bounce back to normal again.

A collective THANK YOU to all of you & may the Blessings you gave to the Homeless return to you in many beautiful ways each & every day !!  :)   May You Be Blessed Always & In All Ways !!  :)