Bundles of Love Summer 2004 Fundraiser

Saturday, July 31, 2004

Tentative Schedule of Events:

9:30-10:00am	Registration; Como Lake Park , St. Paul
10:00am	Walk / Jog / Stroll begins
10-Noon	Kid's carnival & Silent auction at the Historic Streetcar Station (about 1 block from the walk start)
Noon	Live Auction for some special gifts, including a "100 Good wishes" infant quilt.

Walk / Run / Stroll: Adults, children, and Babies
You'll enjoy this beautiful 1.6 mile walk around Como Lake . The path is paved, so strollers can easily be accommodated. All registered participants will receive a t-shirt.

Pledges:
Obtaining pledges from family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers is optional. If you would like to gather pledges for additional support of Bundles of Love programs, we will provide pledge forms and tax-deductible receipts for donors.

Kid's / Toddler Trot:
A shorter walk/run in which younger children and toddlers can participate. Every registrant will receive a t-shirt.

Silent Auction & Auction:
Come and support Bundles of Love programs by bidding on special gifts, including theme baskets, gift certificates, handmade items, and a special "100 Good Wishes" Quilt and scrapbook for that special baby whose birth you are celebrating.

Planning is underway for this event,
...But we need your support.

How can you help?

Watch for further details … coming soon!

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100 Good Wishes Quilt Project

Traditionally, in some parts of Northern China when a baby was born, family & friends of the child would donate fabric scraps from old clothing to the child’s mother. She would make a quilt for the child from the scraps. It is said that the luck and energy of the people who wore these clothes surrounds the child who is wrapped in the quilt.

This tradition was adapted by an internet group of parents waiting to adopt children from China. They collected good wishes along with a piece of fabric from a “sender” of a good wish, to be sewn together for a quilt for their adopted child(ren).

The 100 good wishes and a scrap of the fabric were also collected in a scrapbook for the child to look at, feel, and read when he/she was old enough to understand. (To read about some of these families, visit this web-site: www.myjourneyhome.com/nov2001dtc/quilting.htm)

We would like to make a Good Wishes quilt to be auctioned off at our fundraising event, but we need your help. To participate, just send a 12" square of fabric along with your “wish” for the quilt. For example, you may want to send a piece of fabric with musical notes and include your wish “I wish for your baby a love of music,” or a smiley face printed fabric and a wish “for a lifetime of happiness.” If we have a good response, we’ll be able to make more than one quilt, so please share this idea with friends who may want to help.

Please submit your wish and piece of fabric by May 1st. Mail to:

Mary Jo Prinsen
7975 166th Street West
Lakeville, MN 55044

If you are interested in putting together a Good Wishes quilt scrapbook or designing and sewing a unique Good Wishes quilt, please let us know.

Thanks to Beth Koskie for sharing this idea with us.

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Making a Difference

by Mary Jo Prinsen

Bundles of Love had another tremendous year in 2003 with 40-50% increases in volunteer hours, items delivered, bundles delivered and the number of families helped compared to 2002 levels. The graphs below provide a visual and numeric depiction of the difference we’ve made in our communities.

Since we rarely meet the families we serve, it’s more difficult to understand the human side of the impact our collective work has made. Recently, I’ve received some thank you notes from families who’ve benefitted from our work. These notes bring into better focus the difference we make.

In June 2003, Wiel Deng Wiel was born in the Anoka County area. His mother wrote Bundles of Love a thank you note in February 2004. Why the long delay? Nyamuon Wiel and her family are refugees from the Sudan, a country wracked by 20 years of civil war, and alternating natural disasters of drought and flooding. Her note states “I like to thank you for long time ago but I didn’t speak English writing and reading very well. Today I try my best to write this letter for you. Please God bless you and anybody in our country. Thank of millions times.” Nyamuon saved the tag from her bundle for 8 months so she could include it with her note so that we would know what she was thanking us for.

Sadly, I also received a donation and short note in memory of Baby Roeder the same week. “Thank you for the wonderful, absolutely incredible work you do. This helps alleviate some of the pain. You are incredible.”

For a woman learning to live in a new country to remember to write a note of thanks after she had learned to speak a new language, and a grieving family to send a note of thanks amidst the awful pain of losing a baby speaks volumes of the meaning of the gifts they received through the hard work of Bundles of Love volunteers. You are making an incredible difference.

The need for the services of Bundles of Love continues to grow. Some of the agencies that we’ve supported are experiencing difficulties in continuing their work, having lost state funding due to budget cuts. Families are still struggling to make ends meets in a stumbling economy. Premature babies are still overcoming difficult odds in hospital neonatal intensive care units, and unfortunately, some babies do not survive. All of these families can feel the caring of Bundles of Love volunteers who are concerned about their neighbors’ difficulties and reach out through the sharing of time and talent to provide essential newborn clothing and bedding, premature sized clothing, and beautiful burial layettes.

Thank you ALL for caring enough to make a difference. God bless you all for your efforts for Bundles of Love.