Sorry it's been so long!

I am so sorry I have not updated this blog in so many months! Time just flew by and I kept meaning to and then I would get busy again. I am still working on the bags and intend to for as long as I can. In October I was able to take 36 bags to the PICU at HH. Gage's third birthday would have been in October and I wanted to take 36 bags for the 36 months he would have been here. Thanks to a group of very wonderful ladies and their children, we had a great time assembling the bags together and I enjoyed chatting with them. Emily got to play with other kids her age so it was a nice day. I took the bags two days before his birthday and of course, the hospital was very thankful to get them. Thank you again ladies!

I did not do a donation in Nov or Dec simply because that is the most popular time for people to take donations and I wanted to start again at the beginning of the year when donations are typically decreased. So, I have lots of bags to make! I hope to assemble the bags (at least 30) this weekend and take them next week! I plan to take bags in Jan, Feb, March and then every other month from there. I have just had another wonderful group of moms who are interested in making bags for me to take in Feb or March and I am super excited about that! I am able to buy some of the items, but I won't always be able to do it all myself. I appreciate the many supporters I have had. I love getting that surprise bag of goodies for the bags!!! Some of it may be stuff you have around the house. One friend gave me a few bags of leftover Halloween candy to put in the bags. Maybe there are some of you with leftover Christmas candy? Or toiletries from hotels that are in the back of a drawer somewhere? I really am inspired by how many of you take the time to pick up a few extra items at the dollar store, it means so much. So here's to 2012 and many many bags for these parents!!! I am also collecting coloring books and crayons to take in a separate donation. And my mom makes blankets for me to take to the NICU to cover the isolettes with. Anyone like to sew? And of course, I am always open to suggestions. Mary

September Donation

I am working on putting together the Donations for this month. We will be out of town next week, so I will do the drop-off the last week of the month. I have PLENTY of toothpaste and soap this month. Current needs are tissues, pens, and individually wrapped candy or cookies. I really want to make a BIG donation in October. Gage would be 3 years old October 13th. I cannot believe how much time as passed and how much I am missing out on. So in order to honor Gage in October, I am hoping to be able to donate 36 bags. 36 bags for 36 months he would have been here. But I will need your help to get all those bags together. Thank you so very much to all of you who are so willing to help out in this. It means so much not only to me, but the parents whose lives have so abruptly changed by having a child in the PICU. When we were there, there were babies, small children and a teenager. There are many different reason for a child to be in the PICU. Illness, an accident, recovering from intensive surgery, etc. But their parents stand bravely by their side. The parents needs to know they are thought of too. Let's make that happen!!!

unexpected donation!

I had to take the kiddos to the pediatrician today. Emily had her 5 year check up and Samuel Tate wasn't feeling so good. At the check out counter I noticed they had a tub of free samples of lotion. I told the lady about the Gifts from Gage bag and asked if I could take a handful. So she got a big bag and dumped the whole tub in there! And then she gave me a package that had 30 small Dove soaps in it. I was so grateful for the unexpected donation!!! So that got me thinking, who else has samples of stuff that they would be willing to donate???

1st Dropoff!

Last thursday was the 2nd anniversary of Gage's death. I wanted to do something special so I decided to take the 18 bags I had finished and take them to Huntsville Hospital. The Foundation ladies were SUPER nice and I dropped off 18 bags, 5 blankets my mom had made and some coloring books and crayons. I have enough to make more bags, but 18 was all I had the energy to make at the time. It is obviously not hard work, but memories of Gage were flooding my mind while I was thinking of being in the PICU at Vanderbilt with him for the last time. So I wanted to share what the bags look like! Thank you so much for either donating items or money. My goal is to take at least 20 bags a month so I still need your help!!!






This donation was made by my friend Christy. She had these items in a drawer at her house, leftover from hotel trips!!!

Ready!

So I heard back from the PICU at HH and they are super excited for us to get started! She said that she would even like to meet me to get to know Gage's story. So my fellow gatherers...get ready because we are going to make a difference! I have a few friends that have already collected items so hopefully I can pick them up this week. I will give you a tally soon as to how much of which supplies we have. I can't wait to make our first donation! I am so glad you all have agreed to go on this journey with me! I have also included a paypal button for donations. This makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I put it there simply because some of you are from different states and still want to help. You all will never know how much this means to me. Feel free to contact me at marypruitt56@gmail.com.

Waiting

The only holdup at this point is waiting for the PICU to accept our idea. Hopefully I will hear back today or tomorrow. Once we get approval, how do you think I should gather the donations? Should I set up a paypal account? I HATE to ask people for money, but some people do not live close enough for me to pick up the items. Speaking of items...these bags will only take about 5 dollars to make. Maybe less. If you go to Dollar Tree you can get a 4 pack of tissues for 1 dollar. You can get a 5 or 10 pack of pens for a dollar. The highest price items will be the toothbrush and toothpaste...but if we get the kind either at Dollar Tree or Target, you can get BOTH for 1 dollar if you go to the travel/sample section! The hardest thing to find for cheap is the bags. I would like to put them in little gift bags. I went to Hobby Lobby and they had 12 for 4.99. Not bad!!! I have stickers made up that say Gifts from Gage. Right now, I have enough to make 8 or 9 bags. It's a start...but I would really like for this to be ongoing. I would love to take several a month and have the PICU keep them for when patients are admitted. Thank you all SO much for wanting to help. This means a lot!

Getting Started

I have been collecting things over the past year that I thought I would like to put in the Gifts from Gage bags. These things are:

little notepads
pens
toothbrushes
toothpaste
body wash
tissues
shampoo
candy

This is just a start. What am I missing?