DECEMBER: CHRISTMAS CARE BASKETS. 60 baskets each containing 2 toothbrushes, 2 toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, bar of soap, comb, 4 snack packs, puzzle book, puzzle, deck of playing cards, deck of Uno, lap blanket, ornament, handwritten note, and a box of one dozen homemade cookies were delivered to the homeless veterans at Central Midlands Transitional Retreat tonight. We also shared 10 dozen cookies with the staff who work every day to help these men become gainfully employed and living in permanent housing.
DECEMBER: DOUBLE DOWN FOR GOOD. 17 Boston Butts purchased to support the Lexington High School baseball team were donated to the homeless veterans at Central Midlands Transitional Retreat, the women and children at Samaritan’s Well as well the children at Chris Myers’ Children’s place and Nancy K. Perry Children’s Shelter to enjoy a lovely Christmas dinner!
NOVEMBER: HALLOWEEN CANDY FOR FIRST RESPONDERS. Our fire, EMS and protective services work around the clock to make certain everyone is safe and healthy – even during the holidays. We delivered 42 buckets filled with thousands of pieces of Halloween Candy and notes of encouragement/cards of gratitude to almost two dozen local stations.
SEPTEMBER: SOUP FOR OUR SENIORS. Many older adults face food insecurity within our own community. We collected 751 cans of soup, 443 cracker packs, 779 snack packs, 530 note of encouragement. 130 bags that included 4 cans of soup, 2 cracker packs, 4 snacks and 4 notes of encouragement were distributed to low-income seniors in our community in partnership with the Mission Lexington Mobile Food Pantry.
JULY: SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE. We partnered with The Forgotten Initiative of Columbia, SC, a ministry dedicated to supporting the foster care community, to distribute our donated supplies to local foster youth: 1008 pencils, 180 pens, 28 markers, 164 erasers, 54 highlighters, 70 crayons, 36 color pencils, 85 paper, 344 notebook, 212 folders, 240 hand sanitizers, 36 post-its, 58 glue/glue sticks, 74 index cards, 124 ear buds.
JUNE: BOOKS + BACKPACKS. We collected over 1,200 books for those staying in local homeless shelters and children’s homes. Each book included a hand-written note of encouragement.
MAY: BBQ FOR THE BRAVE. Along with Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids-Lexington, we hosted our third annual Memorial Day BBQ. Selling plates of pulled pork, beans, slaw and bbq hash, we raised $7,000 for Central Midlands Transitional Retreat. Plate it forward donations provided our homeless veterans dinner that night and lunch the next day. We’ll host this event every year until there is not a single homeless veteran in our community.
MARCH: FILLED WITH LOVE. The world has changed dramatically in the last year. Even though we now have many causes for hope in the battle against the Covid virus, we continue to suffer tremendous loss. Babci’s Blessings was created to actively honor the memory of Barbara Esbensen, who passed away in August due to Covid. As her family struggles through this season of loss, they chose to channel their unspent love into delivering baskets full of goodies to the medical staff and patients battling Covid at local Critical Care Units. We collected the following items: 900 snacks, 490 sweets, 480 snack bars, 245 activity books, 75 games, 175 supplies, 50 baskets, 100 colored pages/blessings.
FEBRUARY: UNDIES FOR EVERYONE. Children who enter the foster care system often leave their homes with very little – if any – personal belongings. Many only have the clothes they were wearing at the time of the removal. These displaced children are often required to transport the few belongings they do have in trash bags from place to place. We collected the following for children in local foster care: 2,238 Diapers, 759 Socks, 347 Boys Underwear, 479 Girl’s Underwear, 108 Backpacks/Bags, 35 Suitcases.