It's that time again ~Hope~

Well guys last years "Hope" event went so well (and) I wanted to make this a yearly thing so here I am again..... Planning has actually been underway since January and I have accumulated over 18 LARGE boxes within 10 months..... For those of you who don't know what "Hope" is........ Well (long) story short it *should* be a non profit but I have not went that way yet.....I'm doing just fine with out it and I'm not in this for tax write off's or ANY other reason than to try to make some lives a little easier at Christmas Time and hopefully bring a smile or two to their faces while doing so...........

What we do is "accumulate" items that nursing home residents can USE (and) that will make their lives a little easier...... All items MUST be *new* or VERY gently used (see list) ..... around the end of November...... I start wrapping EVERYTHING and in honor of my grandmother we pass them out on 12/23 (the day she passed away in 1999)

My goal has been and will remain to pick out facilities that are inner city and where residents need the help / love the most.... and to provide EVERY ONE of the residents with a gift (or) gifts for Christmas Day...... Everyone seems to focus on children during Christmas and Sooooooo many have forgotten about a generation that has formed and created this country.... They literally are sitting alone in a 12x12 room everyday and LACKING what you and I take for granted (books, TV's Etc. etc) This is just WRONG and I am determined to CHANGE it...

Last year I sent this out via Email and received such a GREAT response that I decided this year I'll post it here (and) later send out an email in October...... I'm leaving 2 lists One list is what we have so far.... The other list is what we need......

~Peace~ (and) as I have said before... Remember..... One day you just may be in their shoes.....


~What we have so far for this year~

3-32 Inch Color TV's (Thank You to Connie!)
8- AM/FM Radio's
4- Tape Players
2- Clock Radio's
1- CD Player w/headphones
18- Women's Pajama Sets
7- Men's Pajama Sets
9- HUGE Boxes of Books!!!!!! (Thank you to Chrissy, Rob and Dave!!!!!)
4- Boxes of puzzles and Games!
1- Box of Pencils, Paper, Journals, Markers, Stationary, Etc.
4- HUGE boxes of Figurines and Picture frames

~What we NEED~ The items with the * beside them are nursing home requests that I have gathered from the TWO nursing homes that I plan on making deliveries to this year......(In Other words these items are things that the employees KNOW that one, two or a few of the residents *NEED* ~

BODIES!!!!!! As I did last year I will be hosting 2-3 "wrapping parties" I need folks to come over and sit with me and help wrap and categorize these items once wrapped... I'd like to get 2 groups of 10 folks this year as we have ALOT and with my work schedule 4th quarter I just can not do this alone.....

TAPE!!!!! Boy do I ever need tape! LOL I believe I have enough Wrapping Paper...IN January of this year I spoke with a Manager of the local "Marcs" here and told him about "Hope".... He (literally) gave me 150 ROLLS of paper for .10 cents a ROLL!!!!!!! So I am SET for this year..... (Thank You to him!!!!!) If you have extra wrapping paper please feel free to bring it..... The more the merrier!

ALWAYS More Pajama's and robes (Men's and Women's ALL sizes) .... I never can seem to have enough of these!

Slippers / House Shoes... MUST be "slip free" (ie) rubber souls or have some type of anti-slip bottom.

Blankets, Comforters (SOFT) (YES) the nursing home *DOES* supply blankets but how would you feel sleeping with a hospital blanket that smells like bleach all the time? I Loooooooooove giving the residents SOFT blankets that they can be comfortable with..... ALL blankets and comforters MUST be "Twin" size

TV's (Used, New, doesn't matter as long as they work) There are a total of 14 residents in 2 nursing homes that do NOT have a Television (or) radio .... They have NOTHING in their room and 5 of those residents are bed ridden.....My Goal is atleast TWO more Televisions so that I can provide TV's to the 5 that are bed ridden...

Pens, Pencils, Stationary, Crayons, Art Paper, Lined Paper, Folders (etc) We DO have a box so far but this is a HUGE demand with the residents... They enjoy these things immensly!

DVD Players (or) VHS players.... NO Hi Tech only EASY to use... Also looking for DVD's ..... I AM in the process of striking a deal with a local business that will be donating over 200 VHS tapes!

Brushes, Combs, Hair Clips, Wallets, Purses, and Fabric Roller Bags (These are the bags that residents can pull that have wheels on them) The nursing homes DO take "field trips" weekly and *some* of the residents that go are in need of these...

Compass* We only need one of these... SAD story behind this one but I will not post it publicly.... If your interested in knowing please email or IM me on AOL

Toiletries- Although the nursing home DOES supply basic toiletries let me ask you all a question..... If you've ever been in a hospital you KNOW what those types of toiletries are like..... I had one resident tell me last year that out of ALL of the gifts I gave him he liked the soap the best!!!!! He said he had not used REAL soap in EIGHT years..... (that's how long he had been there) These people are so thankful for BASICS that it's an eye opener and a GOOD reminder of how we ALL should BE!

Perfume- (should be in toiletries) but the ladies LOVE the perfume.... It doesn't matter what size (samples, bottles, sprays etc etc)

Candies, and SUGAR FREE Candies ....You would be SHOCKED at how much the residents love getting little packages of Candy and Cookies on top of their gifts... We have ALOT of Diabetics so we need ALOT of Sugar Free....

(On that note) I do have a bakery who has been BEYOND generous and decided to donate 40 dozen cookies.... I am however looking for someone to pick them up on 12/22 as I will be working 12 hours that day and won't be able to.....

Basically? Look around at the things you take for granted every day, imagine yourself confined to a 12x12 room and think of the things that YOU would want and miss the most...... That's what I like to provide to these gentle folks.....

In closing..... "Hope" was my grandmothers middle name this entire project is dedicated to *who* she was...... as she would give the coat off of her back to a total stranger...AND literally did twice.......

I want these residents to realize that there are people out there that still love and care about them..... After all for some of them... It may be there last Christmas.... So lets work together to make it a GOOD ONE!