The Serve Together event on November 14, 2018 was a huge success with over 340 volunteers (ages 4-80) participating on a Wednesday evening! Both of the participating ministries, Bundles of Love and The Drawer, were very appreciative of SOTV’s donations and volunteer efforts. Here are some of the great things that resulted from everyone working together for the good of our neighbors:
The Drawer – Collects and distributes undergarments to those who need them the most
- We bundled up 4,600 pairs of socks and underwear (1,600 of which were donated by SOTV and a Thrivent Grant)
- Caring cards were made for those who would be receiving socks and underwear
- Some of the places that received items were: A halfway house in Stillwater for recently released inmates, The Budd House in Two Harbors (Budd House Board and Lodge aims to help individuals with Mental Illness, Chemical Dependency, and/or those struggling with homelessness), Agape Med in St. Paul (providing basic medical needs that includes but not limited to checking blood pressure, health teaching, allocating resources, giving moral and spiritual support in a low-income communities of Minnesota. Foot care is one of the health benefits for the homeless), The Harding Place in Harding, MN (housing and support services to veteran gentlemen with life challenges), The Link – 360 Communities (Seven metro county services that works with youth and families to overcome the impacts of poverty and social injustice. They support nearly 3,000 youth and young families each year)
- The Drawer has received calls from people at the event asking if they could do a socks and underwear drive through their school or business.
- Contact info@thedrawer.org if you would like to host a drive at your place of work, or other organizations you are involved with.
Bundles of Love Charity – Assists Minnesota families in need by providing handmade items for newborns.
- Received 837 diapers (10 packs) or a 4 month supply for the charity, 90 packages of wipes, 61 bottles of baby wash, 49 pacifiers from SOTV, and a grant from Thrivent.
- SOTV stitched 71 toys shut, cut several hundred lengths of elastic and ribbon, 2 boxes of footballs, matched 3 boxes of washcloths, cut 3 boxes of booties, cut and matched ribbing to 2 boxes of mittens, organized most of our embroidery floss and bagged 837 packages of diapers.
- The families were so productive during the first session that we drove back to Bundles of Love during the break between sessions to pick up more projects for the second session participants to complete!
- The generosity of your church and members of your congregation will help us to ensure newborn babies will have access to the basics and to fulfill our mission of partnering with community organizations to assist Minnesota families in need by providing handmade items for newborns.
Thank you to everyone who donated items and volunteered at the event!