March Happenings

Mark your calendars.  Our next meeting will be on Saturday, March 31 at Catherine Grasso's beautiful home (directions will be sent closer to the date).  This will be an morning/afternoon meeting (time yet to be determined) but we'll be assembling our Mother's Day cards.  If you have any images you would like used, please bring them at this time.  Basically, we'll be adhering the vellum insert to the card and doing the same for the photo image on the front.  Many of our own moms and friends' moms are older and do not want any more stuff. Use this month for taking orders from friends and thinking about just who you'd like to send a card(s) to.  Some folks (like Patty Colvig) use the opportunity to honor the many mothers in their lives (friends, family, neighbors) who they cherish and respect.  Each card is $25 with all proceeds going to Topanga Women's Circle.  You can either purchase them directly from us and mail yourself or give us your orders and we will mail them out.  If you'd like more information, give me a call (#3850).  As we've been told repeatedly, these cards are beautiful and really mean a lot to the recipients.  This has been our primary annual fundraiser so let's see how well we can do this year.

Firstly, last Thursday's set-up at Westwood went really well.  Thanks again to:  Mary Morley, Linda Bolhuis, Ildy Lewis, Destiny London and Toni Crey.  It was the first set-up for Linda and Toni and they jumped right in and did a terrific job.  Karen and I always like to show new volunteers the Bessie Pregerson Child Development Center and Sandra gave us a quick tour (it was almost naptime) of each classroom.  The kids were darling, as usual, and it never fails to motivate us to further service.

At Friday's Open Bin, I found myself hoping that there were few donations because Mary Morley and I were pulling items for the set-ups we had yesterday.  Patty Colvig stopped by and asked if there was anything she could do and said she was headed down to the Valley.  I gave her a list and off she went to do some needed shopping! Thanks, Patty.

I was worried that I'd have jury duty this week and, sure enough, here I sit in the Santa Monica Courthouse awaiting my fate (which surely has to be better than for some of the folks here today). Fortunately, I got a pass on Monday and didn't have to report until today so we were able to do THREE set-ups at the Transitional Living Center in Venice yesterday. (Update:  Case Dismissed...one of the lawyers screwed up.  This was going to be a month-long case so I was greatly relieved!).

Joining me at noon to grab all the items Mary and I had pulled earlier were Paulette Rapp, Mary Morley, Lizzie Kipner and Linda Mann.  Ildy Lewis also volunteered to help and hopefully she'll be free for our next set-up.  Nancy Hanson came down to the Bin to help with schlepping all the 'stuff' to our cars.  Thanks, ladies, for pitching in so energetically.  As I've said before, it's never quite as easy at Venice as at Westwood, but that said, we managed to set up new living spaces for:

Linday and her 8-month old son, Robert; Diane and her two little ones, three-year old Mia and three week old Amad; and Sandra (who we found out about a scant 24-hours ahead of time) and her 10-year old son, Ronnie.  Diane had requested a breast pump as she fully intends to find work as soon as possible.  Thanks, Dana Briskman, for bringing your sister's top-drawer breast pump.  Diane was thrilled to have it.  I think it was Dana who had also brought down a plastic container of Legos.  If I'm mistaken, whoever did donate this, thank you.  I'm sure 10-year old Ronnie is over the moon at having them.

Mary Morley went to Ross to grab extra sheets and pillows and Paulette went to Von's for fresh food for the families so hopefully they were able to settle in comfortably. We don't have pictures from yesterday as I didn't bring a camera and it was too dark for Paulette's phone to get any decent shots.  Oh well.

I went over to Baby2Baby a few days later and picked up a lot of storage bags for the breast milk, baby monitors, a Moses basket for the newborn and dropped them off at the house on Westminster. While I was there, Carmen Navarro gave me a beautifully framed thank you portrait of the children at 650 Westminster opening all of the Christmas gifts that we wrapped for them.  I will bring this lovely photo collage to our next meeting at Catherine Grasso's house.  It has handwritten thank you notes on the matte surrounding the picture and it's a wonderful T.Y. to all of you who helped so generously with our annual Christmas project.

Thursday, March 1 Set-up at Westwood:  Thanks so much to Ildy Lewis, Destiny London, Toni Crey, Mary Morley and Linda Bolhuis for helping set-up the apartment for The Favors Family. I especially appreciate new TWC members Linda and Toni for jumping right in to help us.  I know this family of six will be delighted with all we did and here are some photos that Destiny took.  I can't find any of the parent's bedroom, but it looked good, too!

ARGHHHHH...I meant to send this out last week and left it in the draft file!  I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things (so remind me!), but I just heard from Lissette Maldonado at Westwood Transitional Village THAT starting next Wednesday (she thinks), we're going to have a number of set-ups including some the following week.  Perhaps a total of five or six. I need to take a trip to our downtown storage unit to grab a few items we have there (if anyone wants to come with me, I'd like the company...only one, so whoever I hear from first I'm thinking of going down this Thursday morning around 10 AM).

I also will be doing some shopping but in case you have some spare change in your pockets, we are very short on the following items and anything you could purchase to help, would be most appreciated:  

Plastic cutlery trays

Tall Kitchen Trash Bags and Trash Cans

Laundry Baskets (they don't have to be the huge ones)

Sandwich Bags, Aluminum Foil, Plastic Wrap

Pillows

Twin Sheet Sets

Twin Mattress Pads

Set-Up, Next Meeting and Stuff

Friday was a crazy, busy day at the Bin.  I was happy to have Isabel Freeman and Destiny London there because between organizing and pulling for this Thursday's set-up (see below), we had a LOT of donations.  TWC volunteers Patty Colvig and Deborah Kashinsky brought loads of items by and instead of putting it away, we bagged it up with the new set-up.  Also, we had two non-TWC members stop by with a load of stuff including an area rug, duvets, duvet covers, mugs, tchotchkes and other things I don't know how to spell!  And then a lady stopped by and handed me $20. When I asked her if I could give her a receipt, she said, no, please just use it where it is needed most.  We will put it in our funds to use for fresh food at a set-up.

SET-UP:  THURSDAY, MARCH 1.  VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!

 Destiny has volunteered to help out but this is a three bedroom, two-bath apartment for a family of six.  Two teenage boys, a nine-year old girl and a two-year old little girl and a mom and dad.  As I said above, Destiny and Isabel helped me grab everything for this. We still need a QS mattress pad, a twin mattress pad, three pillows, sponges, dustpan and broom, household cleaner, tall trash can and single sheets (one set for a boy...remember, gently used sheets are welcome). Everything else is pulled and ready to go.  We will definitely need at least two cars for this set-up as we also have four big blue Ikea bags of infant to one year old clothing for boys and girls that Nancy Hanson and I 'decanted' last week.  We have so much infant clothing that just to free up space Karen and I thought that moving it along would be a good idea.  So, if anyone can help out with this set-up or purchase any items that would be terrific.  I'll wait until Wednesday to do my discount shopping for any shortfall.  We'll gather at Pine Tree Circle near the Bin at 9 AM this Thursday.  Let me know if you can help out in any way.

THE TOPANGA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 63rd ANNUAL AWARDS CELEBRATION was on Saturday night and Topanga Women's Circle was awarded the Non-Profit Business of the Year. Karen and I were proud to accept the kind words, merit placques and beautiful artwork by Robin Feely Topanga on behalf of all our volunteers, without whom this little charity would be nothing.  TWC was well represented and we filled our allocated two tables for 10 so quickly that some volunteers had to sit at other tables.  Thanks for all your support ladies.  It was a wonderful evening and our heads are still spinning.

NEXT MEETING:  Saturday, March 31 at Catherine Grasso's home.

Sometime in the afternoon with more info to follow.  This meeting will be a busy one when we put together as many Mother's Day cards as possible.  This is also reminder that if you have some photos that you would like to go on the cards you sell/give, bring them with you.  We'll supply the card stock, envelopes, beautiful pre-printed vellum insert.  

Noelle Berman has kindly agreed to print the vellum for us (again!).  Thanks so much Noelle; this is an incredibly gift.  We will get the vellum to you within the next week and the insert document (will send as email attachment to you).

First Meeting of the New Year

We had a terrific and delicious meeting on Wednesday night at the lovely home of Sue Forbes.  Sue made us all welcome and we were all able to gather 'round her farmhouse kitchen table to enjoy the delicious treats everyone brought. As always, there was a terrific mélange of great foods and great company.  We were so comfy at the table that we decided to stay there for our meeting.  

Thanks to all attendees for coming out and making such great contributions to the evening and welcome new member, Linda Bolhuis! I'll keep it simple and outline what we covered below, but first want to thank everyone for all their terrific donations which included lots of new boxes of crayons, coloring books, sketch pads, non-perishable food, a tea kettle, some artificial flowers, cloth napkins and other goodies which I can't remember.  What I do remember is Karen and I forgot to ask someone to take meeting notes so this is all from memory.  Please excuse all errors and omissions. 

1.  Firstly, if you would like to join us at the Topanga Chamber of Commerce's Annual Awards Celebration (Saturday evening, February 25) where TWC is being honored, please order your ticket now and let them know you'd like to be at one of our tables at Froggy's.  Here's the link for ordering tickets:  http://www.topangachamber.org/annual-awards-celebration/

2.  Karen and I shared a couple of handouts with everyone so for those of you who were unable to make the meeting, these are available for pickup down at the Bin. Be sure to pick them up when you stop by with your donations. The first is a checklist of the items for which we have an ongoing need which we've slipped into a plastic sleeve for safekeeping and suggest you could leave it in the car for easy reference.  Also, we have 10 copies for each member of our fabulous TWC flier.  Often when trying to explain to folks just exactly what it is that we do, it's easier to hand them something that is succinct and colorful. We'll also bring copies to our next meeting.  If you run out and need more, just let us know.

3.  Christmas for TWC was busy, but made much easier by the enormous help that Teresa Royer and an organization that is near and dear to her heart (PSI) so generously gave.  They completely took over the soliciting of funds, purchasing and wrapping and delivery of the gifts for all of the children AND their siblings at the Bessie Pregerson Child Development Center at Westwood Transitional Village.  Teresa was unable to make this meeting due to Bruce's birthday dinner but will be at our next meeting to give us an update.

4.  Talking about Christmas giving segued into the mention of a generous gift from Christine Gilleran, a non-TWC member, who gathered her girlfriends together for their annual holiday luncheon but instead of going out, she had it at her house and asked each of them to donate what they would have paid for lunch.  They then gifted this to TWC.  That very afternoon we had a call about a couple of Canyon families in need and it seemed that this donation was meant to be moved along...so after checking with Christine and getting her okay, we paid it forward.

5.  Deborah Kashinsky brought some of her beautiful cards which are on sale at Canyon Gourmet.  Many of us bought some and if you're interested in purchasing cards, contact Deborah at kashinsky.deborah@gmail.com. They're terrific and blank so can used for any occasion.


6.  Mother's Day.  We spent some time discussing our annual fund-raising Mother's Day card event.  Geraldine had a beautiful photo entry to add to our card choices. While we like to keep the images focused on mother/child/family/home, Sue Forbes reminded me that last year she had bought images that featured flowers.  So there will be a variety!  Patty Colvig mentioned that she had bought quite a few cards last year honoring many moms and that they had told her of all the Mother's Day 'gifts' they received, this meant more to them than anything else.  So remember, start thinking who you would like to honor with a card.  Here are some ideas:  send to good friends, your own mother, grandmother, your daughter or daughter-in-law (if they've had kids!), aunts, etc.  Mention this now to your friends and take their orders for cards.  Many of our moms or friends don't need more stuff, so these are the perfect gift. Cards are still $25 and you can either purchase and send the cards out yourself, or you can place your orders with us and we'll send them out for you.

Note:  Mother's Day is March 18th in the UK and May 13th in the US.   Anyone who needs a card for the earlier date (me) be sure to let us know.


Noelle Berman has generously said that she'll print the vellum inserts for the cards and we are hugely appreciative that she's doing this for us...again!!!  Thanks, Noelle. 

It was also suggested that we set up our card table at the Farmer's Market to sell Mother's Day cards.  Any other ideas for sales? 


7.  Catherine Grasso has offered to host the next meeting and we've decided to have it on a Saturday afternoon where we'll collate cards (attach picture and vellum insert to cards).  It will be on either March 24th or the 31st.  We'll soon confirm which day. Any early orders can be addressed at this time and mailed closer to the date. 

8.  We need one more volunteer for Bin Duty this month on February 24 and we will get to work on a sign-up sheet for March/April/May/June which Nancy Hanson will be send out soon. Anybody free to help?

February 3:  Geraldine Flaxman & Karen Sherwood
Feb 10: Deborah Kashinsky & Lisa O'Laughlin
February 17:  Nancy Hanson & me (Lin Ilsley)
February 24:  Lisa O'Laughlin & __________________

And the Beat Goes On...

Here's a quick update of what's been going on and a few thoughts we'd like to share.

How about if each month we have a focus on a particular item or two that we're low on?  We'd really like to include simple art supplies in our set-ups.  So this month, how about thinking about buying a box of crayons, a coloring book, a pad of plain paper...that sort of thing.  And we can make sure that each child has the ability to create!

Also, since spring is on the horizon, how about grabbing some artificial flowers or plants.  They make an enormous difference to the rather institutional living rooms in the apartments.  When I was at Michael's yesterday, fake daffodils were on sale and I grabbed five bunches...a dollar for each bunch.

Karen also mentioned that a friend just emailed her to let her know she is coming by the Open Bin this morning with a dozen kitchen towels.  She asked if she could bundle them into packs of three for each set-up.  Definitely a good idea.  Anything you can do to help like that is appreciated.

Here's a reminder as well.  Any donated clothing must be clean and folded and preferably bundled into age appropriate piles.  This saves us an enormous amount of work.  As a yardstick for what we'll take, how about if we wouldn't wear it or we wouldn't put it on our kids, we'll pass on it...send it to the Good Will or Salvation Army.   That applies to just about every donation you or your friends make.  We do not accept items that aren't in pretty great condition.  A lot of times these are things our friends have given us for TWC because they're unsure of just what it is that we do take.  If you could go through these donations first, that would be most appreciated. We're trying to instill in the folks we help a sense of pride in their new homes and hopefully change, in this small way, the pattern of homelessness.

Also, as you all know we've got the Open Bin every Friday morning from 10:30 to Noon.  We've got one card table for sorting clothes, accepting donations, etc., but we find we need another.  If you have a spare card table hanging out in your garage that you never use, we'd love to have it. Karen and Lisa will be there this morning and I'll pop by as well since Toni Colvin told me she has a lot of donations that she'll be hauling over.  Last week Julie Rosendo helped at the Open Bin and was great.  Just a reminder to bring your calendars to the next meeting as we'll have the Open Bin sign-up sheet out.

And here are some photos from our last two set-ups in no particular order since I'm feeling lazy:

Set-up #1:  Destiny London, Paulette Rapp and I were in and out of the apartment in no time.  We were fast.  Problem was it wasn't ready for us when we got there (so we went out to breakfast!).

Set-up #2:  Karen and Janaki handled this one and did a great job.  Because Janaki works full time she hadn't been able to do a Westwood set-up before, so she particularly enjoyed being a part of this.

 Love this one of the little girls' room.  It is so cheerful...and what a difference the rug makes.

 One month we'll have a focus on 'one-size fits-all' robes for the moms.

 Color makes such a difference in the bathroom. I love this combo.

 Ready for a meal.  Matching china and cutlery.  How cool is that!?

 Rugs make a huge difference, but we're running low on magazines, etc.  If you have any that you're finished with (Sunset, People, Natl' Geographic...anything you'd like to share), they are great additions to the coffee table. 

 It's Diego all the way for this little boy!

 Including this book!

 Love the little notes that go with the Cuties!  Thank you Topanga Fourth Graders!

A welcoming bed for a weary Mom.

And finally, Topanga Women's Circle has been honored by the Chamber of Commerce!  Check out the link below and if you can make this awards ceremony and sit at our head table, we'd love it!

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=964ttydab&v=001O3CKqe2sPwxKqHZ_2IrEr7u831XvBM_mMuKfI5uL8_Mf-TWIZTcVPBtQlkHHab4i38BcRV8RQJa_Kzt7FuE5B3jUmdwejpXHjQfxNPmRTL8%3D 


And here's a story about a homeless teen (family has now been housed) that's particularly heartwarming:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/homeless-ny-science-whiz-_0_n_1216381.html

January 6, 2012 Set-Up: First Set-up of the New Year

Karen got the call from Lissette that Tiffany and her two children, Dior and Darrien had successfully completed all the complex stages of the intake process and would be moving in on January 6th.  Karen and Mary Morley had spent almost a full day organizing the Bin earlier in the week and on Thursday Mary came down and helped me pull the items for Friday's set-up.  Mary knows what's in that Bin so she was the perfect person to help me pull!

After putting out the call for help Linda Handler, Karen Saeki and twins April and Ashley Hinkle said they were all free and since it was such a small one and we have an upcoming two set-ups in a few days (final confirmation not yet given but hopefully on Wednesday January 11 and Thursday January 12), I asked new member Karen Saeki if she could help with one of those instead and hopefully she'll be available. Linda H. is a kindergarten teacher at Topanga Elementary and she was off school last week and April and Ashley still had some free time before their classes resumed and these three dynamos joined me and had the place looking spiffy in no time!  We were finished with the two- bedroom unit  by 11:30 or so and wandered over to Bessie Pregerson CDC to drop off some wonderful warm little hoodies and jackets that have been donated recently.  All of the families at Bessie Pregerson are on some form of assistance and while most parents work full time, there is little to spare.  Program director Sandra Menendez and her second in command, Miss Marloe, assured me that these jackets will be much appreciated by these needy families.  While there, Linda, April and Ashley had a quick tour of the facility...we would have stayed longer but the children were being settled for their afternoon naps.  We almost had to pull Linda out the door.  She LOVES the little ones and they love her!  

Here are some photos from our day (remember, to enlarge the photo, just click on it).  I'm sure many of you will see some of your donations in these pictures. An added bonus to the set-up was that all were able to meet Tiffany, the mom who was moving in that day.  She was a delightful young woman and couldn't wait to settle in, finally, to a comfortable home.  

Linda Handler has her work cut out.  She chose the kitchen and 

as you'll see from the pictures below, did a terrific job.

 

The kitchen, already looking like the heart of the home.

And here's a shot of the stove, ready for making a big pot of spaghetti!

 Cook books at the ready and a darling little chef's clock.

A welcoming family table with citrus from one of the twin's trees!

Tiffany's bedroom.  I hope this young mom is finally able to find 

some peace in her new home.  Her bed looks comfy!

Never let it be said that we shy away from color!

April and Ashley, starting on the children's room!  Early stages.  

See pictures below for the great end result.

This is Dior's bed.  Fresh new bed linens, darling stuffed animals and dolls and a 

Cutie from a Fourth Grader at Topanga Elementary School. I think she'll love it!

Here is little Darrien's bed.  The children share a room and it looks cozy and welcoming.  

Lots of age-appropriate books and toys and he's got a Cutie, too!

The children's room.  

Comfortable, welcoming and at long last, a room to call their own.

I'd like to encourage any of you who haven't been involved in a set-up to consider 

joining us one day.  They really are fun and give you a hand's on understanding of 

just what it is that TWC does.

If you have a couple of spare dollars and can grab any of these things when you're at the 

grocery store, or have any of them in your home and they're in excellent condition, 

here's a brief run-down on what we currently need.  

Remember, everything on this list is needed on an ongoing basis.  

With 50 set-ups last year and 40+ the year before, we run out of items quickly and with regularity!

Here's the list of current needs:

Baggies, plastic wrap, foil, laundry detergent, dish detergent, sponges, plastic storage containers, napkins, drinking glasses, brooms, dust pans, blankets (remember to regularly check the end caps for amazing deals and this month there are some great white sales). We're out of table cloths (especially for small dining tables) so  check your home supply, cloth napkins, oven pads and mitts, kitchen and bathroom and small area rugs. Because of the amazing donation from the kids at the school in Watts, our canned food supply is in good shape right now, though we do need cereal that children like (cheerios, etc) and jars of instant coffee.

Happy New Year to all of you and thank you for making 2011 such a terrific year for the Topanga Women's Circle.

The Last Few Weeks of the Year

It's been a while since I posted, but it's been Busy Times for Topanga Women's Circle and that's a good thing...right?  Could you say YES a little louder please because Karen and I need the encouragement!

Because it's a busy time for all of us, I'm going to keep this brief and picture heavy and set out like a timeline.

December 2:  Karen spoke to the kids at Topanga Elementary about just what it is we do at Christmas for the families we serve and helped kick off their toy drive for TWC.  Later that morning I got an email from Destiny London, a parent at the school, and she basically said 'Sign Me Up!'  Welcome new member, Destiny, and thanks for all your help so far.

December 4:  Ivy Mabius donated a super crib.  As always, timing is everything and we had just been contacted about a family at Westwood with a year old baby who needed a crib.  Thank you Ivy for the crib and the many other items you had for us!

December 5:  Sent out an email about a little boy at Bessie Pregerson who had hardly any suitable clothes who was often wearing his sister's things.  Asked for donations from our group and you responded SO generously.  Thank you to all who donated beautiful new and gently used clothing for Joshua.  You are truly angels.

December 6 and all week:  Starting hearing mumblings from Lissette at Westwood Transitional Village about new families...not a few family, but FAMILIES.  They wanted to move them in before Christmas.  Three of them.  Emails started flying, and power shopping ensued.  And not the Christmas kind.

December 9:  Linda heads down to the Bin for a pleasant Friday morning with Toni Colvig.  Lots of folks stop by which is great but yikes...we need to pull items for next weeks set-ups.  No idea where to put everything.  Then Mary Morley stopped by and stayed...for several hours!  She helped me pull items for the Monday set-up and I was never so happy to get help in my life.  A real lifesaver!  Thank you, Mary!

That evening was the Topanga Chamber of Commerce Christmas party at Bruce and Teresa's beautiful Tuscali Mountain Inn where TWC was honored with other non-profits for our work.  We are humbled by the recognition.

December 12:  Set-up, Westwood. POURING down rain.  Meet at Pine Tree Circle with new volunteer Destiny London, Nancy Hanson and Teresa Royer.  Karen was there as well to hand some items over and organize for tomorrow's set-up. Cars packed, we headed to Westwood, all of us dripping wet!  Had to make a couple of trips to Ross because sheet sets (packaged and labeled and brand new) were FLIPPIN' INCOMPLETE!  I won't share what I said.

December 13:  Set-Up, Westwood. Sunshiny day.  YAY!  Karen and I were joined by Isabel Freeman and Linda Mann and all went smoothly with those two experienced setter-uppers.  All went well except Karen and I had to put that crib together...with no directions.  We're both pretty handy but but this was challenging...VERY!

December 15:  SET-UPS, Venice.  Was it three or four?  Time dulls one's memory.  Karen and new volunteer Julie Rosendo went with cars loaded.  Without going into detail as it causes a spike in blood pressure, suffice it to say NOTHING was ready for them. The place was a mess.  Beds were not even there.  So they placed all the items for each family in neat little piles. This was a first set-up for Julie.  Now we need to let her know they're not all like that!

December 16:  Went to Topanga Elementary to pick up donated toys.  What a terrific group of kids.  My trunk was filled to the brim and there were many happy children at Venice Community Housing this Christmas because of the generosity of Topanga students.  Thanks to all the teachers, parent coordinators and fourth graders for their ongoing support of Topanga Women's Circle.

December 16.  Believe it or not, another Set-up at Westwood:  Karen, April and Mary did this one and we're happy to say, we have no more until the first week of January. We're awaiting the phone call and will let you know when we get it!

December 17.  Gift wrapping at Linda's.  Volunteers drifted in and out all day and we all worked like demons.  A friend of mine from Malibu and her high school daughter came for four hours and were an enormous help.  By 3:30 or so, Karen and I needed to stop.  After an 8:30 start, our backs and brains were finished, though we weren't quite finished wrapping

Lis Dupuy brought over a car full of personal products that the girls and teachers at Louisville collected for us.  It will stand us in good stead for months! It's such a luxury to be able to go to our storage bin and have shampoos, deodorants, toothpaste and brushes, etc ready for our families.

December 18.  Day of Rest.

December 19.  Karen and Paulette (and Angel) came over and we finished up the wrapping.  We had gifts for the last two children to go and we did it. What a good feeling. We then hauled everything down to the basement awaiting delivery later in the week.

December 21.  Load cars.

December 22.  We met up with Teresa Royer's group of elves who had a fund raising drive and purchased all of the gifts for the children at Bessie Pregerson at Westwood plus gifts for their siblings and gift cards for their parents.  What an amazingly generous contribution this was and it really made it easier for all of us to breathe this Christmas.  It's not too early to start thinking of who can help us next year with this toy drive for the 80 +/- children at this fabulous Child Development Center which serves some of the neediest children in our City.  After this, we headed over to Venice Community Housing's Transitional Living Center and dropped off the 12 big felt stockings (pictures below) which we'd filled with the absolutely terrific gifts donated by TWC volunteers and the children at Topanga Elementary. Because of your generosity, Christmas was a lot brighter for these children.

And finally, Karen met a young woman outside Trader Joe's one day last year.  She teaches at the Cindy and Bill Simon Technology Academy High School in Watts and she she had a non-perishable food drive for TWC.  Yes, kids from Watts gave all the food you see below to TWC. The picture doesn't do justice to the extraordinary amount these students brought in to share with others.  How amazing is that!?  I'd love to see some of our area private and public high schools do something like this so if any of you have high school students here's an idea you could suggest to them.  They could organize a non-perishable food drive at their school, collect the donations and deliver them to us.  It would be a terrific way for them to earn community service hours and gain a terrific feeling of satisfaction at a job well done.

 

All of these non-perishable foods are from the kids at Simon Tech!  AMAZING!

And finally, here are some set-up photos from December!

 

Hi April!

And finally...look at these beautiful gift bags for the kids at Venice!

And finally, Happy New Year to All of You.  

Karen and I thank you for all you do for the families at Westwood and Venice.  

Without you, TWC would be nothing.

Another Face of Homelessness

This Thanksgiving, most of us probably reflected on how very fortunate we are. This morning while skimming through The Huffington Post, I came across an article about Carey Fuller, a mother of two who regularly blogs about her experience  of living with her children in a van.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/10/carey-fuller-chronicles-h_n_834351.html

The article is well worth a read, as is her blog which is linked in the above piece.  After reading about Carey and much of her blog, I found myself reflecting more than usual on just how lucky I am.  I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with the love of family, a warm and comfortable home and happiness and joy.

So for the year a head, let's all make a pledge to continue helping moms like Carey Fuller with the same enthusiasm and commitment that we have in this past year, remembering that for every face of homelessness we see, there are countless more who need help.

November Meeting 11/17/11

A lively meeting was held last Thursday evening at my home and while many regulars were unable to attend due to travel and seasonal illness, etc., we still had a good turn-out with 16 TWC members. Krista Stilley, the Director of Westwood Transitional Village, was our guest speaker and attendees included: Patty Colvig, Catherine Grasso, Teresa Rosati-Royer, Linda Mann, Janaki Welch, Ildy Lewis, Linda Handler, Paulette Rapp, Deborah Kashinsky, Geraldine Flaxman, April Hinkle and her guest Talia, Liz Dupuy, Mary Morley, Karen Sherwood and me.


As usual there were lots of yummy dishes and great chatter before our meeting started.  Krista spent a lot of time over dinner and drinks just chatting with TWC members and it was obvious she had lots of information to share with us all.


Janaki took notes.


After dinner our first speaker was Patti Colvig who has been actively involved with Jane Donaldson and Deborah Demontreux in brainstorming sewing kit ideas.  This includes a sewing/repair kit to be given to each household that we set up as well as a potential fundraising idea of selling kits, for  example, for kids going away to college.  They also instituted a button drive at Topanga Elementary which yielded a pretty big haul, especially from TWC member Linda Handler's kindergarten class!  Ideas were discussed about how to package these kits and if any of you can think of good, practical and affordable ideas, please drop Patti a line at pcolvig@verizon.net.  Gabriel thought it would be good to go with Patti when asking for donations. April Hinkle volunteered to help Patti with this project with regard to asking various organizations for donations so I look forward to an update from them at the next meeting.  Patti already has a donation of $400 so she's well on her way.  Linda Handler mentioned that as a teacher she gets a 15% discount at Michael's which is good to know.  Thank you Patti!

 Patti Colvig presenting a variety of great ideas on her sewing project

Possible inclusions in the sewing project

Several months ago, Karen and I invited Krista Stilley the director at Westwood Transitional Village, to attend one of our meetings and she accepted with great enthusiasm.  We also thought we should share with her our operation controls center and office, aka the 'Bin' which Karen did before leading her up the hill to my house.  During dinner, Krista had chatted with many members and when she spoke, she shared with all of us the basic structure at Westwood, intake procedures for the families and enrichment programs for the residents and their children. 


She also spoke with great fondness of the Bessie Pregerson Child Development Center (preschool) and the success of that program.  Krista then shared with us her career path from coming to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting to working with homeless kids and acting programs in Hollywood and then transitioning into working with the Salvation Army and finally her promotion to being the Director at Westwood Transitional Village.  She shared with us that because of Federal funding, there can be no discrimination in housing and that they accept traditional married couples, two moms, two dads, single moms or unmarried couples with children.


Ten of the units at Westwood Transitional Village, or fully one-quarter of the apartments, are reserved for Veterans and their families.  As Catherine Grasso said, this is very important to many of our donors and is something that we should be sure to share with our member base.  She also requested that we share with members when a veteran family is being moved in.  Krista then briefly spoke about the fact that national transitional housing programs are in a state of flux and that the country is watching the programs that remain in place in Los Angeles.


And finally, Krista presented a beautiful plaque  to Topanga Women's Circle thanking us for all we do at 'The Village.'  We will bring it to the next meeting so you all can see it but the inscription says:  "The Salvation Army Westwood Transitional Village Expresses Its Sincere Appreciation to The Topanga Women's Circle.  Their work to provide warm homes for the Homeless Families and Children at the Village is life changing.'  We are humbled and honored by their appreciation.

Every speaker had a rapt audience

Teresa then talked a bit about her group, PSI Seminars, and their commitment to the Xmas gift giving initiative for the children (and their siblings) at Bessie Pregerson.  What a generous things for them to do.  Our gift gathering and Christmas wrapping party will be a LOT easier this year since they are handling the collection, wrapping and delivering of these 80 odd presents!  Thank you Teresa...VERY much.  She also shared Rita Street's donation to TWC of toys from a prior business, Prancing Ponies.  This is a terrific gift to TWC and we're most appreciative. 






These are some thank yous that Krista shared with us.  So sweet and so appreciated.

 A big thank you from the little ones at Bessie Pregerson CDC at Westwood

A thank you note from a family we helped at Westwood

And finally, we will be getting the list of children at Venice Community Housing and their Christmas wish list within the next few days and TWC is committed to creating a nice holiday for these kids.  In the past, TWC member Kelly Radinsky through her children's gift giving program at Mariposa School, collected the most beautiful gifts for us to share with the children at Venice.  She isn't handling the program this year, so we are asking each of our volunteers to contribute a nice Christmas gift so that we will still be able to put together something nice for these very needy kids.  We will be getting the list out to you of the (age, size and gender) and are asking that you will respond by choosing a child and a gift off the suggested list.  In the past, as most of you will recollect, we filled a giant Xmas stocking with gifts for each of them.  Let's hope that even if we can't do as much this year, it still will be something to thrill them.

A reminder of gift collecting, wrapping and giving last year!

Clicking on all photos brings them up to a bigger size.