One GIANT leap for Bags of Love

Sit back and grab a hot drink, I have a story to tell. This past spring (as today is the first day of summer!), several events happened that culminated in the busiest season we've ever had in our seven years of operation!

As mentioned in an earlier post, we hosted a Gratitude Lunch. An unexpected result was a donation of almost 200 quilts! Our little storage room was getting very cozy! We were contacted by a social worker in Sherwood Park, named Mike, about presenting Bags of Love at a Regional Meeting to other Child and Family Services offices in Edmonton. We agreed, and anxiously awaited their decision. When we didn't hear anything back right away, we continued checking up on our current offices.

Meanwhile, Merl from our Ponoka Chapter had been doing some stocking up on Bag supplies at a Giant Tiger store in Wetaskiwin. While chatting with an employee, he explained what the project was and its impact on children. This employee, Nicole, was very moved and decided right then to become involved. Unbeknownst to us, Giant Tiger was celebrating Canada's 150th by choosing six charities across Canada to donate money to. Nicole sent in an application on behalf of Bags of Love, and lo, out of 260 applications, WE WERE CHOSEN!! Next thing we knew, we were scheduled in for a photo event and official cheque presentation! We were so thankful, Ponoka Bags of Love chose to split the prize of... $5000!!!!

Just after this influx of quilts and funds, we heard back from several new Edmonton offices that had responded to Mike's presentation. And boy, were they eager to get on board! Almost immediately, we had 60 Bags go out, and a standing order of 20 Bags every two weeks!

Finally, we just want to say thank you once again to our supporters. We've taken a GIANT leap by taking on a couple of Edmonton's busiest CFS offices (and a few new Crisis centres), but we are confident with your help, we can meet the needs of our province's most impoverished children. Look for more testimonials coming up!