CLAD FOR KIDS 2011 **UPDATE THREAD** PICS and VIDEO!!

[Beefcake]

I wanted to have this thread, so that everyone can see the progress of this year's program as we do it. I want everyone to be informed and hopefully emotionally involved as we got through this process. Starting off, we raised over $2400 this year for the program!!!

Over the weekend, I received the names of the kids that we are helping this year and I have been trying to make contact with each family to make the necessary arrangements for delivery and construct the lists of needs and wish gifts.

This year we are helping a total of 19 kids from 8 families in two different school districts. Some are children being raised by their grandparents, a couple have lost their homes to foreclosure and are living with relatives during the hard time, and several are single mothers. One mother cannot drive because she has epilepsy, so that will be a home delivery.

I've been very proud of the people that I have talked to so far. They have been very grateful and have been very modest with their gift requests. Most are gifts of necessity and the wish gifts have been very modest.

Tonight, we are planning round one of shopping...there will be several others to follow.

I want you all to know how proud I am of the metal detecting community for allowing us to have the means to help these people out. Without you, none of this would be possible!

I hope to provide stories and pics of the events to come in the next two weeks to keep you informed and allow you to share in this amazing process!

Keep checking for updates!!!
Brian

[Beefcake]

Ok, so we are two nights into the shopping....We've completed 4 kids totally shopped for and another 3 that we have got a good start on. We've shopped for 9 hrs so far and as a non-shopping fella, it can be taxing..lol We've got several more nights of shopping ahead of us. We've picked up 7 pairs of new shoes and several pairs of pants, shirts, pajamas and found all the wish list items for the 4 kids completed so far. Looks like we will be shopping through the weekend and are planning for the big wrapping party on the 21st. Deliveries will begin on the 22nd! I'm planning on having five high schoolers help us wrap, so I'm going to provide them a pizza supper for helping us out. The High School principal donated a ton of wrapping paper and bows for the cause, so I'm very thankful for that! I'm really proud of the districts that we are representing this year... They have been very helpful. I take pride in the Teaching community for recognizing the need and going that extra mile to help make the difference in these struggling family's lives. Once again, thank you all for all the support this year!!!

[Jason in Enid]

Once again, thank you all for all the support this year!!!


No, YOU are the one doing this. Thank you for putting so much time and effort to help a few who really need it.

[Beefcake]

I've finally got everyone contacted and got the sizes and gifts confirmed for each family. There will be a total of 20 kids this year! We added a 5 month old that we weren't expecting, but it should be fine. This would be a whole lot easier if I didn't have to work two jobs... I'm hoping we can get all the shopping done this weekend or by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Wrapping is scheduled for the evening of the 21st at the High School, and delivery is scheduled for the 22nd! We've already got a quarter of a bedroom full of gifts... This is going to be a huge amount of gifts when it is all said and done...I'm gonna need a bigger boat..lol!

I haven't had the time to write up a full run-down of each family since there is more this year than in the past. It is a mix of families, mostly single moms, and grandparents that have taken in childrent to allow the parents to get on their feet. One mom, I will have to home deliver, can't drive due to epilepsy was very grateful.
All the families I have talked to have been extremely grateful and surprised. It's strange when you have to make a call to an unsuspecting parent and ask them if they would be interested in receiving a helping hand for the holidays. I know for me personally, it is not easy to ask for help... I've had to do it a couple of times within the past year myself. I haven't had anyone turn it down and usually by the end of the call the moms are in tears. One mom has been working two jobs to make ends meet and we had a nice conversation about how much time her kids have to be without her. One single mom had lost their house to foreclosure and are living with her parents until she can get on her feet. I had a tough time reaching her because she has been out job hunting. The day I talked to her, she was so excited that she had an interview the next day! I haven't heard yet if she got the job, but it goes to show that there are alot of people out there looking and what having a job really means to these families... Wish me luck and I have been quite stressed with not disappointing anyone... We'll make it!!!

[Beefcake]

SHEWWWW!!! WE ARE DONE!!!!! After over 24 hours of shopping in the past few days, we completed everyone's list! Good grief is there alot of stuff. I've got everything lined up for wrapping day Wednesday evening. Tomorrow, I plan on scheduling all the drop offs for Thursday and Friday. My wife and I are exhausted... I don't care to see a store for a while after that much shopping! :white:usaflag:: So, barring any unexpected setbacks, we're poised to deliver Christmas for 20 great kids!!! I hope to get lots of cool pics of the wrapping night at the school. Looks like we have about 7 kids to help us wrap it all up. I've still got to get a little more wrapping paper and tape. I'm going to provide the kids that are helping us wrap some pizza for supper. The fun part is ahead of us!!!! :cheering: :cheering:

[Beefcake]

Thanks folks! The hard part is over now! My wife and I sorted everything out into the individual bags so they are ready to wrap tomorrow. I have reached all the parents and set up the deliveries for Thursday. We will be making the drops from 9 am to 2 that day... So, during that time I hope you can all share in knowing that there is 8 very grateful Moms and Grandparents that are about to have their Christmas stress relieved! I let all the parents know what they should expect as far as the gifts and they all said it was perfect! I picked up the extra wrapping paper tonight along with the extra tape and bows. I am going to have pizza delivered for my helpers tomorrow night for the wrapping party! Everything is moving along smoothly so far... Keep your fingers crossed!!!

[Beefcake]

Wrapping night was a wonderful success!!! WE HAD A BLAST! I was fortunate enough to have some great helpers tonight and they were a huge help! I've snapped some pictures of all the gifts lined up and Santa's little helpers wrapping up the goodies! I took a few pictures at the end to let you see what Santa's sleigh looks like all packed up! Thank you all so much for making a difference in these kids' lives... There are going to be 20 kids waking up on Christmas morning with huge smiles on their faces... Not counting the bigger smiles on their parents! Tomorrow is delivery day and another year will be done!

[Beefcake]

And now the loaded sleigh!!

[Dimeman]

That's a lot of goodies for the families. :omg: :omg: :omg:

EXCELLENT JOB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :perfect10: :perfect10: :perfect10: :perfect10: :perfect10:

[Beefcake]

Here's the video of the wrapping and delivery day! The folks we delivered to wanted to send along a word of thanks to all that have donated... I've included them on the video...voices, not faces... so don't mind the view of the ground..lol Thank you all!!!
Clad for kids 2011 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwD3kvO8iVs&feature=youtu.be#)

[SeabeeRon]

Another awesome year by you Brian!! |:confused:) :clapping: |:cheering:

[Epi-hunter]

Awesome.

Thank you Brian!!!!