Glory Girl Friends,
I have had many of you ask why the Foundation is having a separate drive to collect donations for our Love Totes this year instead of having you bring your donations to the Bunco event. I'm glad you asked! In short it is because the Foundation's causes have grown! Our two main serving areas are the Love Totes and the housing we provide to families in need (read here for more information on the Glory House). Each of these opportunities to serve has grown over the last couple of years so we are expanding our opportunities for you to give!
First, let me explain what the Love Totes are and why they are important. Each Love Tote is a re-usable shopping bag that is filled with all kinds of items such as snacks, hand lotion, crossword/game books, magazines, candy, gum, mints, fuzzy socks, lap blankets, hand sanitizer, nail care sets, and sleep masks. The purpose of these Totes is to bring a little love and ray of hope to families in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital during the holidays.
The Glory Girl Foundation relies on YOU to donate the items to fill the Love Totes each year! After we collect the donations we carefully divide all of the items and assemble the Totes so that each Tote is roughly the same. The Totes are then taken to the CVICU to be enjoyed by the families.
Providing the Love Totes to our families exemplifies the very heart of what our organization stands for. But now, in addition to the Love Totes, we will also need to begin to focus on the monthly budget that must be met in order to meet the monthly expenses of the Glory House. This year we are doing a separate drive for the Love Totes so that we can allow the purpose of our Christmas Bunco event on Friday, December 9, to raise funds for the monthly expenses of the Glory House.
I hope this helps explain why we are doing things a little differently this year. We are just tweaking things to allow you a greater opportunity to bless these families over the holidays - and we are beyond thankful for your continued support!
HERE IS WHAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TO DO..
FIRST - remember these families as you are at Walmart or Dollar Tree this week! Pick up a few of the items on the donation list and bring them by Heritage United Methodist, Stirred Catering and Coffee, or Morton Family Dentistry in Van Buren. If you are in Alma you can drop them at Trimmer's Hair Salon. You can drop off items through this Friday, November 18th.
AND THEN - come play Bunco with us on Friday, December 9th, at Madam's Main Attraction in Van Buren ($20/ticket at the door) and help us continue to make the Glory House available for families in need! I will be posting a Christmas Bunco Facebook event in the next few days - make sure and respond that you will be there! Stay tuned as I announce some awesome businesses who are donating prizes this year! We will have great food as always (hint: Stirred Coffee and Catering) and, as always, lots of laughing and fun!
The Foundation is able to love and bless hurting families because of you! As long as there are families that have been traumatized and displaced and heartbroken, I want us to push ourselves to give more. Thank you for growing with us to meet the needs in our backyard!
See you on December 9th!