Uncertainty is the Word

Uncertainty is the word, is the feeling, is the atmosphere that describes 2020, but here we are, and with each day it has become sadly and increasingly obvious that with this constant turmoil we are forced to place Fill The Wallets/Fill The Bags on hiatus this year. Faced with the uncertainty of a continuing lockdown, and subsequently the uncertainty of volunteers, it seems like a fool's errand to attempt to carry on any further planning. The Coats for Kids drive was stopped in its tracks in August when the govt decided to close the schools indefinitely. Combine that with the irony that although I actually caught Covid volunteering at the shelter earlier this year, I am no longer allowed inside them because my health doesn't allow me to wear a mask. And finally, I have endlessly stated that it would be impossible to help the homeless and downtrodden without all of you, and since I always try to give credit where credit is due I will tell you that constantly being banned from Facebook for posting uncomfortable truths has been the final nail in the coffin because being shutout more times than I'm on makes it impossible to post about collections and fundraisers from Facebook Jail as it were. All they need is another wild hair up their ass to block me for 30 days in the middle of fundraiser which would only lead to utter failure by leaving hundreds without bags of daily essentials, and certain failure is a road I am unwilling to travel. However there is an incredibly bright light in this story. In February before lockdown I saw an article in the Reading Eagle about the Olivet Boys and Girls Club doing the exact same thing we were doing so I packed up a dozen bags from leftover inventory and delivered them to the club. I observed a huge facility made for such things. So after deciding that we couldn't allow this valuable inventory to languish this year, I contacted the club and asked if they would like the items. They sent two trucks to collect the items, including socks, we stopped counting at 400, and the Coats for Kids donations which meshes perfectly with their outreach program. I urge all of our donors to please consider sending your donations this year Olivet Boys and Girls Club and Helping Harvest Food Bank both of which do amazing work for people. I would like to thank all of our donors, and a special thanks to all our our amazing volunteers: Cindy Roth, who was there from the beginning when Fill The Wallets launched. We followed up the next year by adding Fill The Bags and bringing onboard the most incredible mother/daughter force, Heather and Desiree Sustello, who were absolutely amazing. I could always count on them to show up and joyfully participate from start to finish. I'm indebted to Carol Wert who was an incredible behind the scenes fundraising force. Not only that, she always had a spare pair of gloves or blanket laying around, that just happened to have a tag on it, when needed. Another mother/daughter team worth mentioning is Linda Senft and her daughter Kim Kissinger. They brought a lot of muscle, humor and heart with them. Last year we got so big that we were grateful to enlist the assistance of volunteers Paul Fretz and Sons, who transported the Coats for Kids donations and bags to their locations. A huge debt of gratitude goes out to Tim Keene in Arizona, who sent me me a monthly Amazon package of socks to match my own donations. And then there's Lauri and John Grohman who were tremendous assets and resources for Coats for Kids as well as our rehomed and newly homed clients. All I had to do was tell them what I needed and they found it and delivered. They practically single-handedly settled in more than one family with their collected and/or donated items from clothing to crockpots. And finally thanks to all the volunteers who came and went throughout the years. Everyone brought helping hands and a generous spirit. This charity has been a tremendous source of happiness for me, and has carried me through the Christmas holidays so I will surely miss it this year, and I know for certain that the residents and clients of OpHouse and Servants to All will miss us but hopefully we'll be back stronger than ever next year. Thanks to all who helped. Featured you will find the inventory received by the Olivet Club. As you can see, 100% of your donations went directly to the clients.