Re: Hey, yuns been awful quiet..............

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/11/01 7:22:00 PM Central Standard Time,

cindysue@... writes:

> What's up? Any neat toys found this year for the kiddies?

>

>

HI

Back from sunny FL....... just a wee bit tired heehee and to a chill in the

air. Oh well Sara went back to school Monday and the class is studying FL

YIPPEE she sure can contribute to the discussions now, since we made this a

learning experience lol

Kathy mom to Sara 10

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 12/11/01 7:22:00 PM Central Standard Time,

cindysue@... writes:

> What's up? Any neat toys found this year for the kiddies?

>

>

HI

Back from sunny FL....... just a wee bit tired heehee and to a chill in the

air. Oh well Sara went back to school Monday and the class is studying FL

YIPPEE she sure can contribute to the discussions now, since we made this a

learning experience lol

Kathy mom to Sara 10

[Guest guest]

Hey,

No real neat toys just what they asked for against my wishes. Like nintendo

and a skateboard. Now i'll have a 7 year old thinking hes Tony Hawk or

someone like that.

Things are busy here - they are in lots of shows and have lots of rehearsals.

It's hard to try and fit it all in and were pretty beat.

Also, there is so many reminders of 9/11 here, its a little tough to be

jolly, but we're trying.

Peace,

~ Mom to 11 DS and 7 NY

[Guest guest]

Hey,

No real neat toys just what they asked for against my wishes. Like nintendo

and a skateboard. Now i'll have a 7 year old thinking hes Tony Hawk or

someone like that.

Things are busy here - they are in lots of shows and have lots of rehearsals.

It's hard to try and fit it all in and were pretty beat.

Also, there is so many reminders of 9/11 here, its a little tough to be

jolly, but we're trying.

Peace,

~ Mom to 11 DS and 7 NY

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> What's up? Any neat toys found this year for the kiddies?

I haven't really done much shopping for the boys, but I did spend a couple of

hours shopping for a " Forgotten Angel "

from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. At this point it's too late to shop for a

specific child, but there were lots of

kiddos who didn't get " adopted " this year, not to mention the kids that will be

at the shelters " unexpectedly " this

Christmas. I picked a little girl, since I have two boys, and it was really

neat shopping for girlie stuff!

If you haven't done so, please consider these kids when you are doing your gift

buying. They say they've never had

such a poor turnout for the Angel Tree, it seems everyone is all tapped out from

" 9/11. " It just breaks my heart to

think of children going without gifts at Christmas, when my kids have so many

things they take for granted.

I hope you all have a bountiful and blessed Christmas!

Karla in Texas

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> What's up? Any neat toys found this year for the kiddies?

I haven't really done much shopping for the boys, but I did spend a couple of

hours shopping for a " Forgotten Angel "

from the Salvation Army Angel Tree. At this point it's too late to shop for a

specific child, but there were lots of

kiddos who didn't get " adopted " this year, not to mention the kids that will be

at the shelters " unexpectedly " this

Christmas. I picked a little girl, since I have two boys, and it was really

neat shopping for girlie stuff!

If you haven't done so, please consider these kids when you are doing your gift

buying. They say they've never had

such a poor turnout for the Angel Tree, it seems everyone is all tapped out from

" 9/11. " It just breaks my heart to

think of children going without gifts at Christmas, when my kids have so many

things they take for granted.

I hope you all have a bountiful and blessed Christmas!

Karla in Texas

[Guest guest]

>

> If you haven't done so, please consider these kids when you are doing

your gift buying. They say they've never had

> such a poor turnout for the Angel Tree, it seems everyone is all tapped

out from " 9/11. " It just breaks my heart to

> think of children going without gifts at Christmas, when my kids have so

many things they take for granted.

>

I haven't been to our holiday coalition store yet. I do think I heard

something about the donations being less than last year. We always get the

armory and set it up like a store. Then parents come in with a list of

things they can get and check out (like one outfit for this kid, a toy from

this area ,another from that one, etc). We take applications in October and

just ended today. Of course we always keep extra just in case. We also

have food baskets that the families get when they check out. I think an

important and much needed need is money or grocery store gift certificates.

When I worked for another agency, one family never did come to get their

things and we could not find them. I opened up the gifts and found in one

to the mother, $200.00 in Food Lion Gift Certificates. Also found a gift

cert. for a pair of shoes and something else. Well, the $200.00 gift

certificates went in my drawer at work and I was able to give out $20.00 at

a time to my clients in need. There was no other pot of money for me to

access....and the gift certificates lasted 8 months. Another mom told me

her daughter was being laughed at because she wore old tennis shoes that

were not in style. She got the shoe one.

But, the most important thing I would encourage everyone to do is give

through out the year. I was at the local homeless shelter the day before

Thanksgiving. The pantry was stocked full and people were bringing in more

things. The director told me she wished this didn't stop after the

holidays. While they do get donations throughout the year, it's often not

enough. If anyone gives to the homeless shelter, think of the kids when you

give. They like to take the same thing to school as their peers. They

would love to have Capri Suns, single serve bags of chips, other school

lunch goodies, etc.

BTW, the armory was not available due to the war this year. One of our

Wal-Marts built a super Wal-Mart a mile away..the old store was empty and

Wal-Mart graciously gave us the building for a month.

[Guest guest]

>

> If you haven't done so, please consider these kids when you are doing

your gift buying. They say they've never had

> such a poor turnout for the Angel Tree, it seems everyone is all tapped

out from " 9/11. " It just breaks my heart to

> think of children going without gifts at Christmas, when my kids have so

many things they take for granted.

>

I haven't been to our holiday coalition store yet. I do think I heard

something about the donations being less than last year. We always get the

armory and set it up like a store. Then parents come in with a list of

things they can get and check out (like one outfit for this kid, a toy from

this area ,another from that one, etc). We take applications in October and

just ended today. Of course we always keep extra just in case. We also

have food baskets that the families get when they check out. I think an

important and much needed need is money or grocery store gift certificates.

When I worked for another agency, one family never did come to get their

things and we could not find them. I opened up the gifts and found in one

to the mother, $200.00 in Food Lion Gift Certificates. Also found a gift

cert. for a pair of shoes and something else. Well, the $200.00 gift

certificates went in my drawer at work and I was able to give out $20.00 at

a time to my clients in need. There was no other pot of money for me to

access....and the gift certificates lasted 8 months. Another mom told me

her daughter was being laughed at because she wore old tennis shoes that

were not in style. She got the shoe one.

But, the most important thing I would encourage everyone to do is give

through out the year. I was at the local homeless shelter the day before

Thanksgiving. The pantry was stocked full and people were bringing in more

things. The director told me she wished this didn't stop after the

holidays. While they do get donations throughout the year, it's often not

enough. If anyone gives to the homeless shelter, think of the kids when you

give. They like to take the same thing to school as their peers. They

would love to have Capri Suns, single serve bags of chips, other school

lunch goodies, etc.

BTW, the armory was not available due to the war this year. One of our

Wal-Marts built a super Wal-Mart a mile away..the old store was empty and

Wal-Mart graciously gave us the building for a month.