[LCN Newscast] Carrie Steele Pitts Children's Home

[newscast@lists.lakeclaire.org]

A message from Cathy Woolard. . .

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Some of you know that I have taken a great interest in the Carrie
Steele Pitts Children's Home (CSPH) over the past few years.
CSPH is a really wonderful place if you have to grow up somewhere
other than with your own family and the staff who make up their
new family make this a very special place.  The website is
http://www.csph.org/ if you'd like to read more about it.

The one thing that I've just been sweating over since leaving
office has been the CSPH Christmas party.  Once you start buying
Christmas presents for the kids there, you just can't stop.  I've
had the great fortune to have a staff at city hall who could
handle the really complex project of providing special Christmas
gifts for on the list given to us from each child.
Unfortunately, I just don't have the staff (present count: zero)
to coordinate the activities this year and I was about to give up
on it entirely.  My friends Kevin Roush and Michael Cox have also
taken an interest in CSPH and so we are working together to try
and muddle through this thing, but we need your help.

Here's the deal:  We've got 100 or so kids (and a few tend to
come and go back to their families).  Between now and December,
we need to find out what they want for Christmas (in great
detail), find people to agree to sponsor a kid and buy gifts
(around $75-100 per child) and/or a winter coat (usually $20-$75
depending on age, size and how good a shopper you are), and
return them to us before Thanksgiving (we'll have a timeline
later).  We'll need people to help wrap gifts, people to help us
organize a party (we know how to do it, we just need bodies to
help), people to help us get the gifts to CSPH (last year it took
a fleet of 6 of the biggest SUV's you've seen inside the
Perimeter), and people to run around and make sure all the loose
ends get tied.  You never want to miss a child at a Christmas
party.  We really need your help this year.

If you are interested in helping us organize any part of this,
I'd like to hear from you ASAP.  If you are interested in
sponsoring a kid for their presents and/or their new coat, I'd
like to hear from you ASAP.  If you don't want to help organize
or sponsor a kid, but want to give us money or a retail gift card
so we can do the shopping for you, I'd like to hear from you ASAP
(if you know me well, you know I love to shop with other people's
money!)

Those of you who live out of town or prefer shopping online can
participate--no fuss, no muss.  You can sponsor a kid, order the
stuff on-line at your favorite toy outlet (Toys-R-Us, Target,
or whatever you like), and have it shipped directly to us--we'll
wrap it and deliver it.  Same with the coat--Lands End, Eddie
Bauer, Children's Place or other retails will do the same--most
are having really good sales--just order it up and send it on.
If you are interested in that option, let me know and I'll tell
you where to ship it.

There are other things we could use or you might have some ideas,
so feel free to let me know what you think! You can feel free to
forward this Newscast to others you know might like to help.

If I don't hear back from you, I won't contact you again about
this, so jump on it if you're going to!  This is really a fun
project, it's over in early December and it will melt your heart
to participate.  But we are running late and I'm completely
overwhelmed by the prospect of it all.  Kevin Rouch, Michael Cox,
and I will be setting up a meeting really soon so we can get
together with folks who want to help us coordinate gifts for 5-10
kids (like a pyramid scheme--you handle the details for those
kids--recruit your friends, your office, your church and help us
make sure it all comes together--just a little leadership goes a
long way).  We've got to get out to CSPH home and get those wish
lists very soon.  We can't wait to hear from you!

Thanks! Cathy Woolard

Contact:  Michael Cox, mcox@turner-olh.com