A good friend of mine is a magazine-a-holic, and I'm the lucky recipient of many a cast-off, usually the parenting ones. One of my faves is Wondertime - mostly because Catherine Newman is a regular contributor. I truly have never laughed harder than when reading 'Waiting for Birdie,' her hilarious and right-on tale of being pregnant with a toddler in the house (a stage I'm thankfully past). She perfectly combines the real heart of the matter with a serious east coast style sarcasm - right up my alley.
Anyway. I was thumbing through a recent issue the other night after the kids were (miraculously) both asleep while I was still awake, and I came across a little blurb on all those extra stuffed animals. You know the ones. They're everywhere. Totally unloved and ignored until the younger sibling lays a hand on them, or until, heaven forbid, I try to pack 'em up and move them along to another barn/jungle/forest where they might get a little more care.
So, while this project admittedly will take a bit more time than the drive-by Goodwill truck (how I love those things), if you've got older kids looking for a service activity, Project Night Night could just be it. Here's how the good people who run this thing describe it:
Project Night Night is dedicated to improving the lives of homeless children, one sweet dream at a time. To this end, Project Night Night donates individual tote bags each filled with a security blanket, an age-appropriate book, and a stuffed animal to children (ages 0-10) in homeless shelters. By providing objects of reliable comfort, Project Night Night seeks
to advance the emotional and cognitive well-being of each child we help.
In Oregon, this San Francisco-based group works with the Community Transitional School on SE. If you're even a smidge interested, check out the How To guide. If you're rarin' to organize an event, e-mail us at activistas@gmail.com if you'd like to use this forum to coordinate. Also, if you know of other family shelters in our area that would be interested in partnering, let Project Night Night know by e-mail.
Comments