Volunteers Honored

On June 19th, Bundles of Love was recognized as one of the "Ten Who Make A Difference" by Rochester Channel 10 and CommunityNet. Channel 10 presented the award to Joanne Larsen and Mary Jo Prinsen during "Rochester Fest," a community celebration. All BOL volunteers present at the award ceremony were asked to stand to be honored.

The award committee chose Bundles of Love in part because we serve needs that often aren’t acknowledged in a thriving community. Jan Vetter, Justice Social Service Volunteer Program Coordinator who nominated us for this award, told Joanne, "I was more than happy to nominate your group. Your mission is so important and has far reaching effects. Your volunteers probably don’t realize all the lives they touch and in such a positive, basic way."

Thank you to everyone who has helped us provide meaningful gifts for our neighbors who are facing financial challenges!

Cristoffer and Kueker Family Updates

You may remember the Kueker quadruplets and Cristoffer quintuplets, two families we had the honor of helping last year. We checked in with the families and wanted to pass along these updates:

The Kueker’s great-uncle tells us all four babies are active toddlers (imagine that household!) and show no side effects from their premature birth. The family continues to receive support from the community. Sonja Dowd, a Bundles of Love volunteer from Jackson, Minnesota recently shared an article from the Fairmont newspaper about a Habitat for Humanity home that the Kueker family was getting ready to move into.

Sadly, one of the Cristoffer quints, Bobby, died on June 6th at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. The other four babies all went home early in the spring and are doing well. In a note sent last spring, the Cristoffers thanked us for the baby clothes & bedding we gave them, and commented on the high quality of our handmade items.

We’re looking for help in these areas:

• Permanent Work Space - We would like to find permanent office space or other work space in the north metro or south metro areas where we can hold small or large group work sessions as needed, store supplies, and assemble finished items for delivery. If you are aware of space that may be available for donation with at least a one year time availability, please let us know.

• In Kind Donations Coordinator - We are looking for someone who would like to seek "in-kind" donations of goods and services for Bundles of Love. For example, we would appreciate donations of diapers, baby care items, and baby laundry soap. If you are enthusiastic and love networking, this job may be for you!

• Treasurer – We are accepting applications for the volunteer Board of Directors position of Treasurer. We are seeking someone with an interest in helping babies and their families. Responsibilities include organizing financial data, identifying appropriate non-profit accounting standards, working with other board members to apply these standards to our record keeping and coordinating all appropriate state and federal tax reporting. Non-profit experience and Accounting certification is preferred. The Board of Directors meets quarterly on Saturdays in Apple Valley. Other volunteer hours are flexible according to the accepted applicant's schedule. A commitment of 1 to 3 years is negotiable.

• Coordinators - if you'd like to start a small work group in your neighborhood or place of worship or would be willing to become an assistant work group coordinator, we need you! We have experienced coordinators ready and willing to help you. The most important requirements are organizational skills and an interest in working with volunteers.

• Newsletter Editor – We’d like to send out a newsletter, similar to this one 3 to 4 times per year. Desk top publishing skills are preferred. An interest in and ability to coordinate news from each work group are required. Please let us know if you have these skills and are interested in sharing them in this way.