thank you!!

thank you for such a successful holiday giving program!!

truly appreciate all of the support from so many moms.

megan

final results!

thank you laurie, katie, julie, lynn, becky, kathy and lisa.
without you... 5 families with a total of 14 children would
not have received toys, new clothes, baskets of goodies and gift cards this year!!

this year has been the hardest hit yet.
our number of gifters was way down, and
the number of famliles in need was way up.

i would like to share a new idea... if you were able to
spend $25 a month of super bargain toys and clothes
and we could store all of these goodies throughout the year,
then come the holidays we would have dozens and dozens of toys and
clothes to gift...
gift cards are welcome anytime!!

what do you think??

thanks again!!
lots of love and hugs.
megan

last few needs....

here are our last few needs!!
as always, gift cards are always welcome.


NEED- 8 year old girl- Size 7 clothes, RECEIVED/JACKET-LT PINK, pants, sweater, RECEIVED SOX AND UNDERWEAR, Loves softball/ baseball toys/ clothes. The color purple. 2nd grade learning activities.

NEED- 6 year old boy- Size 6 clothes, Jacket, pants, long sleeve shirts, Shoe size 2.

NEED- 4 year old girl- 4T clothes, size 5 pull ups and wipes, coloring books,

I'LL GO OUT AND SHOP ON MONDAY MORNING FOR THE REST OF ANY ITEMS NOT GIFTED...
EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT BIGHEARTDESIGNS@YAHOO.COM IF YOU WANT TO GIFT ANY OF THESE LAST MINUTE ITEMS.... THANKS, MEGAN

four families that need gifting!

hi.
please leave a comment of the gifts you are wanting to gift!
TAKE A LOOK AT THE NOTES IS CAPS, THESE GIFTS ARE ALREADY BEING GIFTED.
THANKS!!
thanks so much!!

new family.anna- single mom of 2 daughters.
mom would love some warm sweats for her whole family.
mom is a large.
mari is a 10-12 girls
marlene is a 4t.
DONE except pants for the girls.
warm blankets for all.- DONE
pullups for marlene 4t.-DONE
silverware. spoons and forks. - DONE
gift card for safeway and target.- DONE
any toy gift for each daughter. - DONE

note- i have been gifting anna for 4 years now. she is an amazing mom struggling with health issues. lives in very small space that is very cold in the winter.
i would love to gift her with warm warm gifts!!



BECKY IS PUTTING TOGETHER BASKETS FOR ALL, SOME HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AND SOUPS!
Maria
Single mother of four children.

Mother- Gift card to Safeway-KATIE WILL GET
CVS or rite aid gift card,
Target- gift card,
Gas card,Size small clothes, any household goods. Soap, paper towels, detergent

NEED- 8 year old girl- Size 7 clothes, Jacket, pants, sweater, socks, underwear. Loves softball/ baseball toys/ clothes. The color purple. 2nd grade learning activities.

NEED- 6 year old boy- Size 6 clothes,Jacket, pants, long sleeve shirts, Shoe size 2Loves video games and batman. Wants a robot. TOYS DONE.

DONE- 3 year old girl- Size 5 clothes, Shoe size 12 toddler, Loves to color and paint, wants play food, loves stickers, moon sand, and barbie. Dress up clothes.

DONE- 18 month old girl- 18 month-2T clothes, pants, shirts, socks, shoe size 5. 2 year old developmental toys . Size 4 pull ups



Melissa
Family of six.

Mother- Gift card to Food for less,
KATIE WILL GET-Safeway,
gift card to jiffy lube for oil change, gas card, target for clothes, food, diapers

Dad- watch, size medium clothes, size 10 tennis shoe, gift card

LAURIE- WILL GIFT ALL KIDS TOYS
4 year old girl- Size 5 clothes,needs winter clothes long shirts, pants, socks, shoes size 10, games for leapster 2 game, princess coloring books, stickers.

KATHY WILL GIFT BOYS SWEATERS
2 year old boy- Size 2 clothes, needs jacket, shirts, pants, Thomas the Train books, coloring supplies, playdough, loves transformers. Size 5 pull ups.

9 month old twin girls- 18 month clothes, warm clothes, tights, long shirts and pants, robeez or similar shoes size 4 or 12 month. Size 3 or 4 diapers, 1-2 year old developmental toys. dolls.


Karen
Single mom of child with autism. Mom is unable to work due to daughters needs.

Mom-
GIFT card to Target,
KATIE WILL GET-Safeway,
KATHY WILL GET-Costco
Aarco for basic needs. Mom size medium clothes. Any household goods would be appreciated.

Daughter- NEED. 4T clothes, size 5 pull ups and wipes, coloring books,
sleeping beauty movie, beauty and the beast movie, the princess and the frog movie, tinkerbell movie. I HAVE SOME OF THESE MOVIES FOR HER.

this year's program!!

happy holidays!!

project warm hug is hosting it's 7th annual holiday giving program this year!

this year's program has created some unusual challenges for us!
my holiday program partner, tami is just barely back from maternity leave. she is the one who identifies the families that we gift! and i am just barely back to very part time work after a 3 week unexpected hospital stay...(dvts resulting from knee surgery). we talked at length today, and decided that the holiday season just wouldn't feel right if we didn't keep this program going this year.

so, here is what we decided. instead of identifying, coordinating, and gifting our usual 20+ familes, we would identify 6 families and make it a holiday season that would really make a difference in their lives. so along with gifts, we are hoping to also gift them with: gift cards, gas cards, a holiday feast, groceries, paper products, art and craft supplies, and more.

the six families will be decided upon tomorrow, and the list for gifts will be posted. i am going to post all of this on the blog. projectwarmhug.blogspot.com. please use the comment section to let me know how you are wanting to participate with a family. the blog will become our central communication tool so that i don't have to send out a ton of emails!!

part two- our blanket sponsorships as we have had in the past... yes, we are going to deliver flannel blankets as well. but not until january... $10 per blanket as last year!!
double sided cotton flannel blankets!! this year, i also have the kits to make your own!
fabric all cut and ready to sew, $5 a kit!!

at this point, PLEASE email me if you are interested in participating!!

thanks so much!!
happy holidays!
megan and tami.

year 7!! of our holiday giving program

greetings.

can you believe it? this is year 7 of project warm hug's holiday giving program.

started off with a promise i made to my dad to carry forward his humanitarian efforts in eastern europe by delivering fleece hats and scarves to the children's embassy in kosovo.
when i had to have surgery that fall, i wasn't able to travel so i decided to move my efforts to our own community. with the help of amazing women with the menlo park lds, over 300 sets of fleece hats and scarves were delivered to friends outside, the non profit my maternal grandmother had started over 50 years ago.

during the first 3 years, hundreds of fleece hats and scarves and flannel baby blankets have been delivered to local children in need.

then i met tami, the nutritionist/case worker with the pre to three program in san mateo county. we decided to join forces and start an adopt a family holiday program. she would identify the families in need, i would rally the community for giving. for three years, we have gifted over 100 families!!

this year, tami was gifted herself with an amazing baby girl!! she is on maternity leave until the holidays.

so, this year's program is going back to basics. we will be gifting flannel baby blankets to local moms with children in need. my hope is that we can deliver over 200!!

i have put kits together which include the fabrics, ribbons, and intructions so you can make them yourselves or we can make them for you. each pack is $7.50. this is a great project for families to do together... girl scout troups, church groups, etc...

let me know how many kits you would like!! and let's get sewing!!
i will be hosting a couple of days where we can make them together!! tba.

thanks for your continued support!!
megan rosenhart

since february 2nd....

since february 2nd... my car died (needed to replace asap with no funds available), my tooth broke (no dental insurance), my replacement car needed repairs, lost 2 weeks of work due to ankle surgery, found out that i need knee surgery, and so on...
major unexpected expenses, lost of income and no reserves.

many local moms, especially single moms are faced with similar challenges... hopefully not all at once or even in one year... but the reality is that if you are living hand to mouth, and have no reserves, any type of unexpected expense or lost of income is a major challenge.

i was reminded once again, why it is so important to be able to gift these moms with even the smallest of token of appreciation for all that they do in raising our next generation. the most important job out there!!

so in the spirit of gifting, i am re-vitalizing my baby blanket challenge... but revising the goal to a far more attainable one!! during our 2009 holiday program, we gifted 115 flannel baby blankets to local moms... i would like to put forth the challenge to gift 120 baby blankets to local moms by june 25th.

here is the original info....

while there is a lot of worldwide need right now, my focus is to not forget our local children in need.

help keep local babies warm this spring/summer...

there are hundreds of babies born every month in san mateo county
to very low income moms. many of these moms are a part of the county's
prenatal to three program that provides services to this group.
this spring/summer, quilted cotton flannel blankets will be made locally by single moms, and donated to this program. in turn, these lovely blankets will be given to local moms for their newborns.

please join me in providing blankets to local babies this spring/summer by sponsoring
a blanket for only $20.00. since the blankets will be donated to a local non-
profit, tax receipts will be available.

please use paypal.com for sponsorships
using bigheartdesigns@yahoo.com as the recipient address
or by sending a ck made out to:
megan rosenhart/blanket project,
174 spruce ave. menlo park. ca 94025.

i will keep tally on this blogsite with our totals!
thanks so much.


thanks so much!!
megan

400 blankets in 20 weeks, can we do it???

in the next 40 weeks, my hope is that we can gather sponsorships for 400 new hand made quilted blankets to be donated throughout the year. while there is a lot of worldwide need right now, my focus is to not forget our local children in need.

help keep local babies warm this spring...

there are hundreds of babies born every month in san mateo county
to very low income moms. many of these moms are a part of the county's
prenatal to three program that provides services to this group.
this spring, quilted cotton flannel blankets will be made locally and donated
to this program. in turn, these lovely blankets will be given to local moms for
their newborns.

please join me in providing blankets to local babies this spring by sponsoring
a blanket for only $20.00. since the blankets will be donated to a local non-
profit, tax receipts will be available.

please use paypal.com for sponsorships.
using bigheartdesigns@yahoo.com as the recipient address.
thanks so much!!
megan

a slice of our life.

a week before christmas, i had a local mom email me to ask if i had any ideas for a project to do with her 4 year old daughter...on christmas day. the best i could do was to suggest that we make fleece scarves and pass them out to the kids in line at st. anthony's on 12/24. so we did.

on tuesday eve. julie came over and we cut out 80 scarves. she was kind enough to bring more fabric home and cut out some more.

on thursday, we met at my house and drove over to st. anthony's together. the one on middlefield between rwc and atherton. when we drove into the parking lot, it was filled with fire engines... the worst thoughts entered my mind. but, NOOOOO it was the toys for tots giveaway!! there were hundreds of kids and parents in line... fire engines everywhere and dozens of fire fighters... hope there weren't any emergencies that day!!

we found parking spaces, gathered our 4 year olds and the scarves and headed to the line of people... this is the line where you wait for lunch, a hot lunch. one you can receive 6 days a week without any question. it is actually well balanced!! at the end of the lunch line, you can also receive fresh breads, rolls, desserts, fruits and vegetables. (donated by safeway, trader joes, farmers markets, and others)
over 600 kids and adults receive lunch on a daily basis. the demographics aren't what you might think. lots of seniors, vets, moms, dads, kids, babies, some homeless. these folks are our neighbors.

julie's daughter and my son were loaded up with scarves and told to hand them out to kids. with our guidance, they did an amazing job!! what struck me is that every single child said thank you, and was honestly happy to receive a simple fleece scarf.

close to the end of our 120 scarves, just about 45 minutes... a family came up who had 5 kids. i asked if they had received their gifts from toys for tots. "no, they locked down the line, there are too many families...." said the mom. these kids were broken hearted. maybe they could come back tomorrow, but with no promises of toys.
they received scarves from two smiling toddlers! didn't make much difference. but some. i remembered that i had a $20 target card in my pocket. i pulled the mom over and gave it to her to buy something special for the family. i was sorry that i couldn't do more for her in the moment...

the last of our scarves were passed out. julie left with her daughter... and william and i went in to have lunch. wm loves their mac and cheese!! inside, i saw many of the kids wearing their new scarves! william and i got our lunch and sat down. we sat next to a family with a couple of these kids. to my surprise, the 7ish year old boy caught my eye to say thank you again!

we left about the same time as this family. their mom and i had been given bags of donated bread, veggies, fruits... as moms were both grateful for the services of st. anthony's. as moms we understood each other... we watched our kids laugh and play with each other as we walked towards our cars. we smiled as we offered a "merry christmas" to each other! we may see each other again. we may not. but, in this moment, we were friends.

in this short slice of life, i remembered why i do what i do... i also remembered why i am grateful for the services that have helped my family through a very tough last couple of years.

happy new year to all!! may 2010 bring you joy in the giving, happiness in the moment, and peace in your life.

megan and william.

Final Results- Holiday Giving Program

Thanks for all you participated in this year's success!!

18 families were "adopted" and gifted with their wish list's gifts!!
a very special thanks to the RWCMC!!!
(Prenatal to Three Program, San Mateo County)

120 children were gifted with fleece scarves, handed out at st. anthony's on 12/24
thanks to julie, ali, william....
(St. Anthony's of Redwood City)

50 teen moms were gifted with flannel blankets for their newborns or soon to be babies.
(TAPP in Sequoia Union High School District)

65 moms were gifted with flannel blankets for their infants.
thanks to the women of the LDS Church in Menlo Park
(Prenatal to Three Program, San Mateo County)

150 children received warm coats and sweatshirts, hats, lunch boxes...
thanks to my mom, who picked up and washed and donated the lost and found from
Santa Rita's school.
(St. Anthony's of Redwood City)

50 extra gifts were donated to local children in need.
i collect all year long.
(Prenatal to Three Program)

THANKS AGAIN TO ALL!!!