09/05/05: Sunday's Rolling Duffels

Like I said previously, we spent Sunday assembling and delivering rolling duffels to families who are currently living at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Sunday we bought and put together 20 bags.

I'm going to post some pics, and then let you know how we make it all happen.



(Pictured from left to right: Sam, Cate, Jake, Kendall, and Valarie.)

Once we hit stores in the area, we bring items back to Kendall's house for assembly. Today, Kendall hit Costco to pick up some bags and items that are available at good prices in bulk, like large packs of baby wipes, legal pads, ballpoint pens, granola bars, and other items. Meanwhile, I was hitting Target to pick up items we couldn't find at Costco - for example, pocket folders and flashlights. I also hit Sports Authority on this day. My husband had seen a circular in the Sunday paper advertising daypacks starting at $5. Well, sure enough, when I got there, there were no daypacks at that price. But I hit the camping section, and found some softside insulated coolers ranging in price from $4 to $10. I completely cleaned out their shelves, and had to really dig to come up with 20 of them.

We met back on Kendall's front lawn, and started assembly. Flashlights are pulled out of their blister packs and get batteries. Each pocket folder gets a legal pad, two ballpoint pens, and a Sharpie. Each new boxed bar of soap went into a ziploc bag, so once people use the soap, they have a place to put it. Ziploc bags are put together to include items like lip balm, razors, disinfectant wipes, and so on. Every bag gets a hand towel and two washcloths. Also, a deck of playing cards goes in each bag, along with many other items.

The final item dropped into each bag is a personal note, letting the families know that they can call me if they need anything else.



We load the bags and head downtown.