Another successful work day completed. Five ladies came today and helped get three totes of clothing items washed, dried, and folded. They matched over one hundred pairs of socks!
We started our work day with lunch at the Grand. It was nice to have some time to visit before we got busy doing laundry. While the laundry was running, they wrote out over 50 thank you notes for me so now when I need to send one, all I have to do is address the envelope and off it will go. Maybe I can keep up with thank you notes now.
We spent $30 doing six loads of laundry today. Man! Prices are much higher since last I did laundry at a laundromat. How do poor people afford to do laundry?
We all had a good time and got to meet some new people today. I so appreciated their work and effort. Many hands make light work!
I still need to put things away from today. A few of the socks and sweat shirts didn’t get all the way dry so need to take care of them. I have another group of volunteers coming tomorrow so need to get my act together and make sure I am ready for that work day.
I came home tired! I took a chair nap when we were done. I was wiped out. Had trouble sleeping last night.
Haven’t done much else today. I was going to clean house this morning but my house is so full of totes I can’t find places to clean. It is dirty but I guess the totes can just cover it up for a bit longer. One more week before we fill the back packs and I can reorganize things and get to the dirt.
Still wondering in my head how much space will 100 filled Go Bags take up? Trusting it will be a nice day that day and they can be set on the front porch until I figure out where to put them. I will consolidate the leftovers into as few of totes as possible and move them to the shed. I can’t store the Go Bags in the shed as they will have the toiletry kits in them and I don’t want the liquids in them to freeze. It will all work out – one way or another.
I got a picture in the mail today from one of the Detainees. I will post it on the Love in Action facebook page. It is amazing! And to think all he had to work with was a golf pencil with no eraser. Talented person!
Tomorrow afternoon is another laundry day. I have five more volunteers coming then to get it done. Saturday will be a free day of sorts. There is a group from Newton coming with a big donation of pants and sweat shirts. They were kind enough to wash them up so they are ready to go! I look forward to meeting them.
Sunday is another work day with 12 volunteers coming. Monday is another laundry day but I am going to KC to go to a funeral. Two other volunteers will lead the charge that day. Wednesday next week we put together the bags.
My life should free up for a couple of days until I leave on my trip November 3. I have the things I need to get organized for that. Better start making myself a list of things I need to get done before I leave.
If the Go Bags are popular and we go through 100 a month, I am going to have to find some volunteers to take over part of it. Not sure I can keep up doing this monthly. People have been so generous with their time but the work behind the scenes to get things ready for the work day is time consuming. Now that I know what I am doing, maybe next time it will be easier for me to plan.
I have a very full heart tonight. The volunteers bring a new energy to the project and re-energize me. They ask lots of good questions about conditions at the Center and are willing to do more. I extend my deepest appreciation to them.
Grateful Day 2 of the work days is successfully completed, grateful for the beautiful note I got from a Detainee today, and grateful for a chair nap this afternoon.