Another night of hard to find sleep. I did get some but not enough. I did manage to take a chair nap this morning. The house felt cold so I dug out a heater, found a blanket and curled up on my chair. I managed to find some more sleep. Yay!
I went to Emporia to run errands. I stopped at the bank in Cottonwood Falls to deposit some donations for Love in Action. When I got to Emporia I parked and then dropped some thank you notes at the post office to mail. Walked on down the street to Bobby D’s and met Jason for lunch. We had a nice visit and lunch.
After lunch I went to the public library and sent a two page fax. I found a vendor for men’s sweat pants without draw strings but you have to fill out an application before they will accept you as a client. I may not have a big enough order for them to bother with me. We shall see what happens.
I had to get permission from the Detention Center to have the pants shipped directly to them as the vendor won’t deliver to a home address. The Captain graciously granted permission. Now I wait to hear from the vendor.
I headed to Cottonwood Falls. I stopped and got some ice and then came home. It was good to get those errands done.
Kathy and I brainstormed and I think have come up with a way to make each backpack more easily identifiable for the detention center. I had ordered assorted colors at the Center’s request but was shipped all the same color. I think if we put three strips of colored duct tape on them – two on the front and one on the back, it will make the bags easy to identify from a distance, will not catch on anything like the conveyor inspection belt at the airport, and can be removed easily when the Detainee gets the bag.
I need to call the Captain or the Sheriff and make sure I can put duct tape on the bag. They may have a policy prohibiting it. If they do, I will come up with plan B.
I have spent most of this week figuring out ways to get the cost of the Go Bags as low as possible. If the contract comes through for the sweat pants, I will get the cost of each bag down to $32 for the men and $34 for the women. I had originally projected $50 so am pleased with the “bargains” I have found. I would like to get them to the point where 3 cost $100 and I am almost there.
Right now I have bought in bulk for 100 bags but if I get storage space I can up that and save even more. I don’t have the space for more than 100 at a time right now. Should know soon if the storage space will be available and then I can order the next round of supplies.
Still working on the schedule for the work days. I want to make sure I have enough work for the volunteers to do so the drive to come will feel worth it. I hate when I volunteer somewhere and don’t feel it was a good use of my time. It is hard to predict how fast things can get done. Some people will be lightning speed and others will be turtle speed. All will be welcomed and appreciated. Just want to make sure I can keep them all busy, regardless how fast or slow they are.
Am working on washing up another 30 blankets today. I think I will save the last tote of them in case we need something to do for one the wash days. If the sweat pants come in, I won’t get all of the things washed up on the work days and won’t get to the rest of the blankets. But if they don’t, I might need more wash to do on a work day. Balancing all the in case situations is running through my head all the time. Trust people will offer grace if my plans don’t go as anticipated.
Good news is I have until the first of December to get this all done. I can always schedule more work days if the hoodies and pants come in on time and need washed up.
It is a perfectly beautiful fall day out today. The humidity and rain has finally broke and we have had cool temperatures and sunny skies all day. I’m not sure it reached 70 today. Feels and smells like fall today. My body was cold this morning as it is not used to these cooler temperatures.
Did some more digging about grant information. I need to find out the consequences of accepting grants and fully understand what that does to fund raising responsibilities before I get too far ahead of myself. I know there is some requirement about how much you can accept and then how much you have to raise in smaller donations. I really had never planned to be a permanent fund raiser but if the Go Bags go out as they might, it looks like I will spend more of my time raising funds somehow or another.
It is easy for me to get ahead of myself and step out and not fully investigate all the pros and cons. I am attempting to do my due diligence and not make more work for myself down the line.
Felt good to get some things taken care of today. I have a tendency to procrastinate and not get things done timely. I even managed to call the Vet today and schedule the dog’s vaccinations. I almost feel caught up. Now I need to make myself do some housecleaning or not!
Feeling like I finally climbed above neutral today for the first time in a bit. I’m not quite back in my peaceful valley but it is close. When i can step back and allow myself to take things one step at a time and allow myself grace I will be back in my valley.
Have felt like I had lots of loose ends lately and it does feel good to get some of them tied up. Maybe it will free some mental space for me. I am not as good as juggling lots of little details at the same time as I used to be.
Grateful for lunch with Jason today, grateful I am caught up with my thank you notes, and grateful for the sunshine today.