I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to the volunteers at Cecily's Closet. It has amazed me how many people have reached out to us in support of our quest to help children with special needs and their families here in San Diego. It is such a blessing and it inspires us to keep on trucking.
We often thank our amazing painter partner, PaintGreen, and artist, Emily of Inside Emily Dolton's Head. And while these two partners continue to give to us - and we love them beyond words - there are so many individual contributors that help keep us running every day that we often forget to thank.
Thank you to Gina for organizing our belly band operation and for securing partnerships with TVIA to help us get our room makeovers completed. Gina's dedication, support and wisdom is such a welcome blessing on those days when I'm not sure what end is up! Gina's donations of time, talent, fabric and more are the single reason our belly band program took off this year! She has made such an impact on me personally - and this organization - and her efforts behind the scenes are so crucial to our success! Thank you for everything you do.
Thank you to some newcomers who are helping us make the belly bands! Nina, Glenda, Beverly and her Mom, Ingrid's Mom (whose name escapes me!) and of course my Mom. I know there are others, too. Please forgive me for not mentioning you by name. We are so very grateful. You are helping us help children with feeding tubes continue on with their daily activities - without the stress of having the tube catch on something or get pulled out by those curious kids! We stick by our motto - comfy for kids and priceless for parents :) Thank you for making these bands with love.
Thank you to Patrick for helping us to finally get our equipment recycling program off the ground! It has taken us almost 18 months to get traction with our community but we are finally seeing our dream come true of getting stuff out of garages and into homes of children that desperately need equipment to help them grow and thrive! Thank you to Patrick and all the families in our community that have reached out to recycle their durable medical equipment.
Thank you to all the artists, muralists, stencilists, and designers who have helped us pull our rooms together! It is the art that makes the difference! I wish that I could capture the look on the children's faces when they see their rooms for the first time. They respond to the art in such a unique way and we know that you have each provided them with a gift that will keep on giving. Thank you for using your creative talents to promote the development of a child!
And then there are all the donations of clothes, toys, books and more. We remain so grateful to Sherri and Cooley LLP for keeping the donations flowing. We have been able to circulate our goods to children with special needs that don't have the necessary clothes, toys and books to fulfill their full potential.
And thank you to the corporations and organization who have helped to fund us! Websense, UPS, and Emerson. Thank you! And to our individual donors who have given and given to keep us running. We are hoping to apply for more grants in 2012 to scale our efforts! We are grateful.
And thank you to the total strangers who have called or emailed me us and subsequently dropped off lots of wonderful stuff at our home. It is because of these donations that we were able to achieve our goals in 2011. We are so lucky to have such an amazing community. It is a reminder of how good people can be. It is inspiring to see so many people giving back to their community.
And then there are our good friends and family who have stood by us even when they thought we were mad to try and take on something new. Thank you!!! You all know who you are and we love each and every one of you so much. We never intended to take up people on their offers to help... but we're learning that we have to say "yes" in order to scale our little operation. Thank you to every Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, sister, brother, friend, cousin, daughter, son, and organization that stood with us this year and who have offered to continue their efforts into the future.
And a special thank you to my faithful and supportive husband who supports even the wildest ideas to help children like Cecily. I know I sign you up for a lot of project... often asking forgiveness instead of permission... yet you always deliver. You are my rock. I don't say it enough but I appreciate you and I am so grateful
We are so excited about Cecily's Closet and its future. We are small and will remain small until the kiddos are older... but we will keep on trucking! We know that we can make a difference one child at a time!
Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Onwards and upwards!