Bettie's Closet....How Our Parent's Home Taught us to Give: A typical day of making plans and laughter

These entries may be difficult to follow, mainly because I am writing them a week after they happen. Also, each day starts with a plan and changes many times during the days, as we hear from different people and non profit ministries. Exciting things are happening!! In every area we work in, we find so much stuff to be given away, but then in the back of a closet we will come across some precious handmade pillowcases sewn by our Grandmother, purses from 1920's or tools from Germany. None of us ever want to diminish the importance of anything in our parent's home, but there are times we have to laugh and think "how did all of this happen?" I will try to give you a typical day:

9 am....We found out that 1/2 the purses will be picked up on Tuesday for Uganda and 1/2 will be picked up on Thursday for Against the Grain non profit. All plastic dishes are going to Uganda.

10 am....We found out that 20-25 bags of gowns and comfortable shoes are going to a Senior Center.
Micki talked to United Way and they need clothes for Disabled American Vets and women out of prison that are going for job interviews

10:30....We found out an Ethiopia mission trip garage sale is now involved. Stacey will come to gather items from the Rec Room tomorrow. Project Return may take 25 men's coats

11:00....In a few days, Operation Stand down are coming to get all of Dad's sport's coats and dress pants. These are for service men coming out of their service and going for job interviews.

Madison Church of Christ has a clothes closet, servicing 125 people a week. They do not sell, but give clothes to the needy. They will bring 8 trucks in the next week.

We had the pleasure of meeting Maddey, who is raising money for a mission trip to Haiti. She later sent us a thank you note that the yard sale made $2500!!!

Portland Cares want to come with a truck and gather "garage sale" items to be given to the poor in the Portland area. They will also pick up mattresses and 2 couches to be used.

1:00.....Brynn, a representative from Goodwill, came to assess the clothes and how they will get them to a truck. She stated that they have never seen this amount of clothes and she will need to talk to the person in charge of transport. One idea is to park a 40 foot truck at the bottom of the hill, and put clothes into smaller trucks to take them down. She came back 2 weeks later and that is what they decided to do. More about this later!!

Our team treating ourselves to a lunch out!

9 am- 5 pm In between people coming to the house and meetings, we sorted dishes, cleaned closets, and bagged and organized clothes and shoes. Each day the rooms looked different than the day before. The foyer and Recreation room would fill up and empty many times over, as volunteers came to take stuff away. Each new person that came by would want to walk through this beautiful home and want to know the history of the home and our parents. Each day brought wonderful people working together and treasures that brought back memories! We cannot tell you how much Melanie, Cheron, Micki and Cindy meant to us and how much hundreds of hours they worked to make this happen!