January 25, 2025 – cloudy – ☁️ 70°
We had a jolly Holiday Village Bee with old friends and new. The weather was perfect and we had a large, bright room full of 37 kind volunteers. Several helpful husbands also assisted with unloading in the morning and cleanup in the afternoon. Our hosts got us up and running with coffee and snacks in the morning. As our energy wained and our posteriors needed shaking, Allie and Barb came to the rescue and got us stretching, wiggling, flapping, and giggling. Check out all the fun in photos below.
Our hosts had 168 blankets ready for processing when we arrived. A whopping 139 of those blankets were made by the dynamic duo of Kathy Albertson and Janice Denny, who said they’d do anything for our dear host, Sally Tucek. On behalf of AZ Blankets 4 Kids and all the children your blankets will comfort, we thank you for your outstanding donation.
After a quick call to Mike Sublette, with Arizonans for Children, we had an extra treat during our lunch break. Mike was available to pick up 180 quilts and tell us a little more about Arizonans for Children (one of over 25 agencies who receive our blankets).
As of February 2024 there are 9,133 children in foster care in Arizona. While removing children from their dangerous family setting provides needed safety, entering the foster care system does not assure a “normal childhood.” This challenging journey often involves multiple moves, inconsistent care giving, and emotional trauma stemming from feeling helpless and isolated.
Arizonans for Children Inc., incorporated as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, exists to facilitate opportunities and provide effective solutions to alleviate hardships and improve the fragile lives of the abused, abandoned, and neglected children in foster care.
We had a delicious pizza lunch, courtesy of our Holiday Village hosts. Our beautiful Valentine raffle basket, made by our lovely Letty, originally went to Allie. She has an abundance of quilting supplies and materials, so she graciously offered to pull another ticket for this pretty prize. Kathy Buhaug, from Towerpoint, was the lucky winner of the basket of love. Sometimes karma works quickly because guess whose ticket was drawn for the 50/50 raffle?! Yep, it was Allie Watkins! The other half of the 50/50 goes to our generous hosts, so you’ll see Sally and Allie showing their cash fans in the photos below.
Bee by the numbers: 178 quilts brought in at the door. 35 finished at the Bee. That’s a total of 213 blankets ready to be delivered to our kids!
Thank you all for making this another beautiful Bee day!
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