Making Masks for Essential Workers

Rachel and I have made masks for our family.  However, with the shortage of masks for essential workers in our community, we decided to keep making masks so we could donate them.

We worked on about 5 masks at a time - measuring and cutting fabric, measuring and cutting elastic, sewing masks, attaching elastic, washing masks, ironing masks.

Rachel loves to sew so she put in a lot of hours on the project.

We ran out of elastic and couldn't find any locally.  Amazon had some on back order that would be available in May but I didn't order it.  Surely we wouldn't still need masks by May.  It's supposed to be just 2 weeks or so to "flatten the curve".

We had to get creative with our masks.  We started using ribbon that I had on hand instead of elastic.  We also tried two different styles.  Our original styles is just a rectangle of fabric that is pleated.  We also used my Cricut Maker to cut another style of mask that is more fitted and conformed to the face.  

The video below shows the Cricut Maker cutting a piece of felt lining for a mask.  It is just amazing how this machine works!  It first draws the sewing line with seam allowance then it cuts out the fabric.  It's fun to watch.  If you are reading this post on email then you might have to click on the title of the post to go to the actual blog to see the video. 

Eventually we used up all of the elastic and ribbon that we had.  I had to research how to make bias tape.  Ugh!  Just another time consuming step.  I recruited Nicholas to help.  We cut the cotton fabric into strips, folded them, pressed them with a flat iron for hair, and sewed them.  Each mask needs four of these and they become ties for the mask.  

I kept reading how nurses were asking for masks to have a metal nose piece so they could custom fit it to their face.  I found a company called Chapco who was offering to send free metal strips to mask makers.  I was so excited to receive my package.  

In case you can't read the card it says, "Amazing things can happen when people come together.  Thank you, from all of us at Chapco, for your efforts".  What a blessing!

We adjusted our sewing pattern to include a little pocket at the top to hold the metal strip.

Just keep sewing.  Just keep sewing.

Rachel was proud to also make masks for her grandparents in Louisiana.

We made and donated 50 masks to essential workers.  I'm so proud of both of our kids for working so hard on this important project.

R

Register to Ring for the Salvation Army

It just wouldn't be Christmas without hearing that iconic jingle of the Salvation Army bell ringer outside of your neighborhood store.  Did you know that just a one day of bell ringing at one location can generate enough donations for your local Salvation Army to provide a homeless person with one night of shelter and hot meals for an entire day?  

Rachel and I volunteered last year as Salvation Army bell ringers.  It was a lot of fun and it was a blessing in so many ways.  It was wonderful to help raise donations for such a great organization but it also warmed our hearts to see the smiles on people's faces as they donated and to hear their stories of how the Salvation Army has personally touched their lives during difficult times.  

This year, I mentioned to some of the other moms in Rachel's American Heritage Girls troop that we could get a group of girls to volunteer together as bell ringers.  One of the moms seemed surprised that just anyone could volunteer for this.  She thought the bell ringers were all employees of the Salvation Army.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Bell ringers are regular people from your community, just like you and me!  And the Salvation Army NEEDS volunteers right now.  If bell ringers aren't out there then all of those potential donations are missed.  

I hope you are asking yourself now, "How can I sign up?"

Just go to the Register to Ring website!  When I go to the site, we have several store locations right around our home to choose from.  We personally always like to go to Hobby Lobby because Rachel and I just love that store.  There are shifts available throughout the day to choose from.  You can sign up for hourly shifts but the Salvation Army requests that you at least sign up for a minimum of a 2 hour shift.  Shifts are available to serve from now until Christmas Eve.

What does a Salvation Army bell ringer have to do?

You arrive at your designated location and time about 10 minutes early.  You might be relieving another volunteer who already has the red kettle and sign set up or you may have to do a little set up on your own.  I imagine each store has different policies and different Salvation Army locations might each do things a little differently.  For our location, if the kettle and sign isn't already in place we have specific instructions on where to find the sign and tripod to hold the sign inside our Hobby Lobby store.  Rachel and I simply carried that out of the store and set it up and the designated side of the store.  If the red kettle isn't already out from a previous volunteer's shift then a Salvation Army person will show up at the start of your shift to deliver the kettle to you.  They also provide a bag with two bells and two red aprons.  At the end of the shift, if another volunteer is signed up after you, they will just show up and take over your spot.  If no one else is signed up after you then a Salvation Army person will arrive to pick up the red kettle, bells, and aprons and you will return the sign and tripod to the designated place inside the store.

We usually try to wear something a little Christmas-y like red and green clothes, a Santa hat, etc.  The Salvation Army encourages bell ringers to greet the store customers with a smile or by saying, "Merry Christmas!".  You can even sing Christmas carols or play an instrument to bring some extra holiday cheer.  You don't ask for donations.  Just let the customers know that you are there and they will come.

I signed Rachel's AHG Explorer troop up for two shifts of two hours each and we had a total of six ringers.  It was so much fun watching the girls greet customers and sing Christmas carols together.  I know they attracted more donations because of their cuteness.  But it was also a great experience for them and taught them how they can do even small things to serve those in their community.

Operation Gratitude Cool Ties {Service Hours for Kids}

As part of Rachel's work towards earning service hours for the President's Volunteer Service Award, she has found a way to help members of our military by making Cool Ties for Operation Gratitude's Deployed Troop Care Packages.  Cool Ties are like bandanas to tie around your neck but they are filled with absorbent beads that can hold water for several hours.  Operation Gratitude sends these in their care packages to help keep the troops cool in the heat of summer.  

Rachel loves to sew and this was a great way to put her skills to work.  We found the directions for the Cool Ties on the Operation Gratitude website.  We ordered the Watersorb Super Absorbent Polymer beads as they suggested.  When we went to buy fabric, Rachel chose a basic brown cotton.  The directions suggest a neutral color and I'm glad that they put that in writing because otherwise Rachel would have probably chosen something much more colorful and bright.

Rachel started by measuring and cutting the fabric into 1/4 yard strips.  I got out my large self-healing mat, rotary cutter, and yard stick.  It was her first time to use a rotary cutter.  She thought it was a lot of fun and she may have sacrificed a little fabric to do a lot of "practice cuts" with it.

Next she followed the directions to sew the strips together.  Each end of the strip was tapered and she sewed a pocket in the middle of the strip to hold the water beads. 

She measured and poured 2 teaspoons of water beads into the pocket of the Cool Ties and then sewed up the gap.

This is a neat project but there is a lot of measuring involved so I would really recommend it for ages 9 and up.  Rachel was very excited about her completed Cool Tie and she has continued to make more.  Of course, she also plans to make one for herself in bright colorful fabric.

Once she is done making a lot of these we will mail them to Operation Gratitude to be added to the Troop Care Packages.  I'm so proud of my girl for working on this project so diligently.

Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls {Community Service Ideas for Kids}

The Coppell Home School Association is a great place for homeschoolers to go on some amazing field trips with other homeschool friends.  We recently went on a service-related field trip to the Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid in Dallas.  They serve in countries around the world but their six main countries include Peru, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Kenya.  

They have many programs available but we were specifically there to work on the Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls program which provides new shoes and socks to orphans in the United States and around the world.  It was a great way for my children to serve others in a child-friendly environment and help spread God's love to the world.  Here are some facts we learned:

• There are 153 million orphans and 95% of them are over the age of 6
• Shoes protect people's feet from hookworm, jiggers, parasites, and tetanus
• Since 1999, Buckner has collected and distributed 3 million pairs of shoes to children in 80 countries.
• 50,000 shoes have been sent to orphans in the United States

The boys in our group went off to help in the back while the girls worked directly with the shoes.  We worked together on this box of female athletic shoes.

We would take a pair, cut off any labels and remove any of the paper that might be stuck down in the shoe (it costs more in shipping to leave tags and packaging material in the shoes).  Then we wrote an encouraging note to whomever would receive these shoes. 

We said a prayer over the shoes for the person who would wear them.  

Then we tucked the note inside the shoes and secured them together with giant rubber bands.

Once we were done, we deposited the shoes into the appropriate bins for their size.

While the girls were working on the shoes, the boys were in the back of the room, sorting through other donated goods.

Nicholas was helping to pull down boxes from the stacks and sorting through them.

He joked about all the boxes being Bath Tissue boxes but none of them actually contained bath tissue.

He worked hard and seemed to enjoy what he was doing.

We worked for 2 hours.  When we were done we were encouraged to try the Barefoot Experience.  Buckner had pictures of the ground in Peru, Ethiopia, and Mexico and they had recreated that ground for us to walk on with our bare feet. 

It certainly helped us gain an appreciation for how hard it must be for people in these countries who have no shoes.

It was inspiring to see a long row of boxes filled with shoes lined up and ready to ship out to these countries in need.

I am so grateful to the Coppell Home School Association for introducing us to Buckner.  We all enjoyed the work and we would love to serve here again.

Volunteers are needed for Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls in the Dallas and Rio Grand Valley areas.  Please consider reaching out to them and seeing how you can help.

Helping Young Moms and Their Children {Service Hours for Kids}

Rachel is working towards earning the President's Volunteer Service Award so she is earning a lot of service hours this year.  We are always looking for ways for her to serve in the community.  Our church, Valley Creek, has created the Next Steps Center to partner with organizations and schools in the community to see how they can best serve the people in our area.

The Next Steps Center has reached out to a local Young Life group and found a way to make an impact in the lives of young moms and their children.  The Next Steps Center and Young Life bring about 50 young moms together for dinner and support at the center twice a month.  These moms range in age from 11 to 23 years old.  The Next Steps Center is also creating a Baby Needs store where the Young Life moms can shop for maternity items, baby clothes, big kid clothes, etc.  There are some new items but most of the items are gently used and offered to the moms for free.

The store is rather new.  This is a cute shot of the shopping area.  But they have received tons of bags and boxes of donated items that were just piled up in a spare room off to the side.  So Rachel and two of her friends from American Heritage Girls signed up to help sort the items.

They first sorted the items into 4 categories - girls winter, girls summer, boys winter, and boys summer.  Once that part was done, they went back through and sorted each category into sizes such as girls winter age 0-6 months, girls winter age 9-24 months, etc.

We were there for four hours but in the end the storage room looked so nice and organized!  Rachel felt good knowing that she helped to make this happen.

This experience was great for me too and I plan to reach out to see how I can help serve the Young Life moms on a regular basis when they come to the Next Steps Center.  What amazing things can happen when two great organizations like these come together to be the hands and feet of Jesus!

Salvation Army: Feeding Those in Need

Our church, Valley Creek, provides lunch on the first Sunday of every month to the homeless and those in need at the Lewisville Salvation Army's Soup Kitchen.  Rachel and I signed up to bring a family size Stouffer's lasagna and to serve.

The Salvation Army serves free lunch regularly during the week with their own volunteers but churches and other organization can help fill the gaps on the weekends.

We helped to set up the food line and we served people as they came through.  Once they were seated we went back around to see if they needed more water or wanted a cookie for dessert.  

We also took a tour of the facilities and learned more about all that this local Salvation Army office does for the community.  They provide free lunch, shower facilities, clothing, toiletries, and Bibles.

They also have a small food pantry where they give out Bags of Love full of food for people in need.  Rachel has spent a few hours working on decorating their bags with pretty pictures and inspirational words to brighten the recipient's day.

They also provide some vocational rehabilitation and referrals to help get people back on their feet.  We first had contact with the Salvation Army back during the 1000 Year Flood in south Louisiana when Stuart's parents' house flooded.  We were there removing wet belongings and soaked sheet rock and the Salvation Army was the first group to bring a hot meal to us.  They are such a blessing to the communities they serve.

Salvation Army Angel Tree {Volunteer Opportunities for Kids}

Our church has an amazing outreach program through their Next Steps Center.  We volunteer there regularly and we enjoy always having different projects to work on there.  This time Rachel and I volunteered with the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.  The Angel Tree program has Christmas trees up in various places around town.  The Christmas trees are covered with "decorations" that are cards with the age and gender of a child and their Christmas wish list.  You can choose a child to sponsor by pulling their card off of the tree.  Then you shop for them and bring the gifts to a designated drop off place. 

At the Next Steps Center, the Salvation Army and volunteers had already gathered the gifts together and sorted them all by family.  They were ready for the families to pick them up.  Rachel and I would be working to get the gifts out to each of the families as they showed up to the Next Steps Center.  The majority of gifts were in bags that were sorted by family.

This section was for oversized items that couldn't be grouped with the rest of a family's items in the large bags.  There were lots of doll houses, play pens, ride on toys, car seats, and so much more.

The families started lining up outside to pick up their gifts.  I couldn't help but smile as I noticed the 5 mission statements above the heads of everyone in line.

1. Engage with those in need in our community.
2. Advocate for the underserved in the community.
3. Build strategic partnerships.
4. Develop community kingdom leaders.
5. Equip and release people to meet the needs they see.

I love volunteering here!

So back to the Angel Tree.  There are hundreds of bags to get out to all of these people in line.  It seemed a little overwhelming at first until I understood the system.  It was quite an impressive system!

Each family has a ticket to turn in at the desk.  The volunteer looks up the family and writes down the last three digits of their assigned number on a ticket and hands it to a volunteer in the back (that's us!)

The bags are all lined up in rows and organized into numerical sections.  So if you had ticket 801-825 then you would go down the row to the right in this picture.

Here we had the ticket and gift for 575.  The green ticket told us we had one oversized item to pick up as well.

We would then bring the items to the front to be given to the families.  There were so many smiles on their faces when they received their gifts.  What a wonderful way to get in the Christmas spirit by blessing others! 

Outside of the Next Steps Center were these stacks of  "Boxes of Blessings".

Each box contained non-perishable food items to make about three meals.  Each family that came to pick up their Angel Tree gifts was given a box to take home.

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I have enjoyed doing many volunteer projects like this with my kids.  It is a special time that we spend together "doing the most good".  They learn to reach outside of themselves to help others and think of how they can bless the community around them.  These are lessons that our society today is desperately in need of.  If you are interested in getting your children involved in volunteering, start by asking at your church to see if they have some opportunities there in which they can serve.