October 14, 2011

peeking!

I had to pick my baby girl up and check my baby girl out from school today to take her to a doctors appointment. I was very excited to see the cute box that we had set up in the foyer at the school! When I brought Lil back to school for the rest of the day, I took a peek inside and saw that it is over half full! yay!

October 12, 2011

Hey Walkersville!!

Hey Walkersville!!(as if anybody from Walkersville reads this!! I think the only readers are my sisters!) On Monday I dropped off a big pretty (and yes it IS pretty!) box at your Elementary School! Make sure that you send your children to school with the shoes that they have grown out of to put into the box!! Pretty Please!

Last year at about this time I picked up a bag of shoes from a womans house. She was friendly and excited about the good use of her childrens used shoes. I put another listing on Frederick Freecyle last week and got an email. It turned out that it was the same woman and she had more shoes for me! She also volunteered to talk to the Walkersville Mom's Club and see if any of those women may have some spare shoes, as well as checking in with her son's preschool and see if they would allow a donation box at their facility! It makes me so happy when I run into people who are so willing to go out of their way to do something for others!

In other news...does anybody have any good cold remedies? geez Louise, I hate having a cold!! Im pretty tough though, I think I'll make it. (cough, cough)

September 27, 2011

Walkersville Elementary School

I always feel like the most appropriate, yet most accurate title possible would be : Update. Unfortunately it is ALSO the most BORING title idea ever!
However, regardless of WHAT I title the post, today it is exciting news!
After several emails back and forth, I have received permission to involve the students at Walkersville Elementary School in the project!! As long as the faculty has no objections we will be collecting shoes at the school through the month of October! This is such a great opportunity to collect more shoes AND involve the children in our community. The details are not yet finely tuned, but If allowed I would love to offer an incentive to the students an incentive. Maybe an ice cream party with ice cream sandwiches or something like that for the either the highest collections per grade or maybe the top 3 classes in the school.
Thanks so much Walkersville Elementary School!! You guys are FANTASTIC!!

September 22, 2011

Donation Boxes

I have a goal for this week. I want to work on decorating the donation boxes. I got the go ahead from my boss at work to bring in a box to put in the foyer where people downtown can bring shoes and socks to donate.  It is awesome because there is a nice big foyer so we dont have to worry about weather or bringing the box in in the evenings, etc!
I mean, as of right now this isn't huge news. Its really just a baby step, but a step nonetheless. 

September 12, 2011

Taking Off

     Its been WAY to long since I have written anything about the project. The thing is that I dont have any sort of good excuse. I had some really great news last year, and I was kindof trying to get the ball rolling before I mentioned it. Instead I did the opposite and fell off the wagon for awhile. No excuse really, I just got busy with life. Ive been occupied with things like getting my daughter to on and off of the school bus on time, making sure to squeeze everything into my day that needs to be finished, the mundane tasks of laundry and toilet scrubbing. Isnt it amazing how those small things can quickly fill up the day? And what is more amazing is the way that the bigger things can be put off and put off for another day when there is more time.
     Anyway, I was contacted by a woman named Mary Kate McKenna Battles last fall. This wonderful friend wanted to bring me some socks that she and her husband had bought for the collection for the kids. MK and I got together and she asked if she could help me out a little. She is involved with the AFF-GF, American Advertizing Federation of Greater Frederick. This group of Advertizing and Marketing professiolas work on charities and wanted to help out with the Toasty Tootsies project!
     Now, about a year later after a lot of shoe collecting, many meetings with MK, and logistical planning, we have made a lot of progress! We have a point of contact in Afghanistan whom we can send the shoes to, the shoes, and now we are working on planning the shipping and ways to collect more shoes. We are getting a web site up and running soon too! It is so exciting to see the progress that has been made, despite the hiatus that Ive taken!
     Hopefully we will have much much more in the next few months, and in the meantime, I will try to keep this blog updated!

February 10, 2011

Well.....Its Been Awhile!

Wow!!! I feel like such a piece of crap! Although I knew that I was long past due to log in and post something, anything, I didn't realize that it has been two entire months since I have been here! I have the expected excuses, Christmas, New Years, and getting ready for school to begin, sick and crazy kids ((really!! My son got stitches in his chin, and my daughter almost got stitches in her mouth!!)), I could name off many many excuses, and thats what they would be: Excuses. and one of my New Year's Resolutions (most of which I have kept!) was to own up to myself and not try to excuse my mistakes, inadequacies, or flaws.
The good news is that the wonderful and beautiful Mary Kate McKenna (http://www.mksblog.com/, http://www.mkmckenna.com/) has recently contacted me with information for assistance with this project. I will be updating you soon....with more updates. :)

December 16, 2010

Over 100.

It has been awhile since Ive written anything. It has been a nutty few weeks! On Saturday following the Thanksgiving holiday my parents drove into town. They had driven to MO for the holiday, and when my family wasn't able to make it out there at the last moment, they decided that since they were already halfway across the country that driving from MO to MD was worth it to visit my family. we were grateful, as we hadn't seen them in about a year. They were here for 3 days and 4 nights before they drove back to Utah.
The weekend immediately following their visit my husbands parents flew into DC for a work Christmas party. They spent the weekend with us and left Sunday.
After the visits, we were ready for life to get back to normal, but unfortunately it was Finals Week at my school. After studying and stressing and neglecting my poor home and family I took my exams, spent the entire next week sick and miserable, but am now back to normal!
The good news is that I am certain that there are over 100 pair of shoes in my garage. I have one army tough-box full, and then several bags full loitering next to our camping gear!
Now, the hard part is figuring out how to get them over to the children! I have found an excellent Point of Contact (P.O.C.), but have yet to determine how to finance the shipments. If anybody has any ideas on how to fund this, I would be open to any suggestions!