Another Opportunity to Help in Haiti

Last night, Lori Asay (my neighbor) came over to my home and gave me some information about her mother and brother (a dentist) and others who are heading to Haiti at the end of this month to help, in conjunction with the LDS Church, the people of Haiti.

Here's the story -- Bret Tobler, a local dentist, has made many trips to Haiti to serve the people with his skill of dentistry. In the past, he would make trips, along with other dentists, for a week at a time and the people of Haiti would walk for miles and miles to stand in lines for hours (beginning at 3 a.m.) just to get a chance to have their teeth worked on. There are many touching stories of the people there and this blog doesn't have enough room to write them all, but suffice it to say that the service these dentists (and doctors) gave was a god send to these wonderful people who they described as having "the biggest hearts on the planet".

Now, here is where YOU can help. This group of doctors and dentists will be going down at the end of the month and meeting up with members of the LDS humanitarian group that are already there and/or on their way to Haiti. That group is prepping everything now in the nation's LDS meeting houses, which will be used as clinics.

Here is the great part -- NONE OF THIS has to be shipped (thus, no shipping costs to take off the top of the donations). Their "luggage" will be the supplies that we donate. Their carry-on luggage is all that they can use to bring their personal items. All the other pieces of their luggage will be medical supplies.

Here is what is needed:

Sterile saline bottles (lots)
Hibiclens bottles (you might have a difficult time finding these)
Neosporin (the dollar store has them for $1 and they work just as well as the name brand)
Gauze pads
Kerlex Wraps
Ace Wraps
Coban
Adaptic Vaseline Gauze
Bandages
Arm Slings
Gloves
Crutches (which can be taken apart to fit in suitcases)
Splinting material

Look at the dollar store, the medical supply stores, WalMart, Target, K-Mart, Sam's Club, or if anyone wants to put together a big "order" for your ward, neighborhood, etc., you could call StatMedical in Salt Lake City (you can find them on the web) and they LOVE to help with things like this and can have the order ready for you quickly. I have worked with them in the past and they are FABULOUS.

At any rate, if you can pull together ANYTHING (big or small), please call Lori Asay and arrange to meet her to donate your items. If you think that just a little donation of a box of bandages won't help, think again. There are a lot of good groups out there helping and each one needs help from someone -- and even just a small donation from a lot of people will make a HUGE difference.

Oh, I forgot to mention the name of the humanitarian group -- it is called IASK and here is a link where you can read all about them and their past experiences. http://www.iask4kids.org/docs/IASK_Mag_2005.pdf Look all the way through the newsletter because there is great and helpful information all the way to the end (spattered between all the ads :)... They obviously have lots of experience in Haiti and know the people well. It is 100% non-profit with no paid staff. Participants go at their own expense.

PLEASE, IF YOU CAN DONATE ANYTHING, please give Lori a call and help this group out. Her number is 801-373-2665 and her email is Lori.Asay@imail.org .

I am so touched by all the stories I am hearing of fundraising and donations to the people in Haiti. You will be blessed for your sacrifice.

Thank you!

Susan

URGENT HELP NEEDED FOR HAITI - Noah's Orphanage

For all of those you who are looking for a way to help in Haiti and you feel lost and overwhelmed, here is a tangible way to help. For anyone who knows the Phil and Julie Rash family, you know that Noah was adopted from Haiti. His orphanage is in need of supplies IMMEDIATELY and YOU CAN HELP!

I choke up everytime I think of what we would all do without sweet Noah -- well, someone's "Noah" is over there in Haiti and needs food and medical supplies. Below is an email that I received from Phil Rash giving us the details -- remember, we need to work FAST and SMART in order to get food to them as quickly as possible. Read below the email from Phil...

We received an email last night that the last supply shipment to the Orphanage got stuck in customs over the holiday and was in customs when the earthquake hit Porte au Prince. It contained the food and supplies for the Orphanage and the village school for the next 6 months. It is gone- either destroyed or looted. The Orphanage director says that they have enough food to last one week. There is an urgent need for the following supplies:

Infant formula (Enfamil or Kirkland brand)- very important
Peanut butter
Ramen noodles
Boxes of Mac and Cheese
Packaged or pouched tuna
Ibuprophen (child)
Tylenol (child)
Hydrocortisone cream
Triple anti-biotic ointment (ie., Neosporin)

Some of you have expressed a willingness to ask people in your ward or those in your friends/family/work network to help and we really appreciate that. If you could gather their donations along with their names, addresses, and email addresses and the amount they spent, Chances for Children will send them a reciept so that donors can claim the amount under charitable giving on their tax return. If they don’t care about the tax write off we would still like to be able to thank them.

You can give all of the collected items to Julie and I. If people can, they are more than welcomed to box them in postal boxes available at the US Post Office. If not- not a problem and Julie and I will take care of that. Chances for Children will pay to have them shipped to the cargo plane. We would like to get these shipped off as soon as we can.

Thanks again so much for your help!

Phil

So, there you go -- if ever there was a need for your personal help, NOW IS THE TIME! If any of you don't know Phil and Julie Rash, get the items to me and I will get them to The Rash family (or tell you how to contact them).

If money is easier for you, do that and I will personally go and buy these items.

PLEASE help!

Susan Wheatley

WOO HOO!!! Wonderful Classes

I am super excited! Today at church, they passed around a flyer for our local Utah State University extension service classes. For those of you who are not familiar with them, the Extension Service is located right here in downtown Provo and provide classes for a very nominal fee that help us in homemaking type skills. I have gone to some in the past and some have been better than others, but can I just tell you that this year's listing of classes looks WONDERFUL!!!!

From a couple's class on a Friday night (perfect date night) where you will make a meal together and then sit down and eat it (while they are also throwing in some "relationship" tips) to homemade pastas and sauces and using your pressure canner, preserving fruits, canning tomatoes and salsas, and even creating your own personalized food storage system -- these classes look like a treasure trove of information -- and most of them either have a lunch or dinner provided or you bring canning jars and take home some of the freshly preserved product. The cost is so nominal that it almost makes me feel guilty (but thankful) -- $6 per class (or, if you sign up for at least 3 classes, you get $1 off each class). So, I just signed up for 9 classes and only paid something like $53.00 (the couples classes are $10 per couple). AMAZING!

At any rate, here is the website so you can see for yourselves a description of each of the classes and even sign up on-line (quick and easy and painless :) -- www.extension.usu.edu/utah

Some of the classes are in the daytime (sounds like it is geared towards stay at home moms) but there are also a couple in the evenings and one on Saturday.

I am going to all of the classes except the one in January (already sold out, darn it -- I really wanted to go to this one) and May, so if anyone would like to carpool, I would be happy to drive :)

So, hop to it -- for those of you who live here in Utah County (especially in Provo/Orem area), this is a fantastic opportunity to expand your knowledge -- without a huge cost.

AND, JUST A REMINDER: Powdered milk goes up at the cannery at the end of this week. If you have a chance, make a quick trip over to the Springville cannery.

ONE OTHER REMINDER: I have been making my rounds to the case lot sales this weekend -- one more to go to tomorrow... WONDERFUL prices at an unusual time of the year for case lot sales. They only go through Tuesday (most of them --although Harmon's goes for a few more weeks). And, while you are at it, the FOOD BANK is always in need of beans and peanut butter and canned veggies and canned tomatoes (and other items as well) -- perfect time to pick up an extra case for the Food Bank!!!! Don't miss out on this blessing!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Until next time...

CASE LOTS IN JANUARY?

I couldn't believe it when I picked up my ads for this week -- CASE LOT SALES IN JANUARY! That is crazy! I haven't recovered yet from Christmas, yet ... how can I pass up 98 cents / jar for Skippy Peanut Butter, 38 cents for Yoplait Yogurt, $6.98/25 lbs of flour, 48 cents for diced or stewed tomatoes, 48 cents for a can of black beans or kidney beans, etc., $9.68 for 25 lb bag of sugar, 98 cents for a 2 lb bag of brown or powdered sugar, and the list goes on and on and on.

Pick up those ads and start making your lists! If you aren't sure if something is a good deal, call or email me and if it is something that I buy, I will know if it is a good deal or not.

Also, we don't typically get Harmon's ads, but go online and check that out too because they have great case lot deals too! Economy must be tight for the grocery stores to be putting out a case lot sale in January! I, for one, am excited -- although I am going to have to be creative with my budget this month since i don't typically spend a lot on food storage in January :)

If you have any questions, please email me at susan_wheatley@comcast.net or call me at 801-368-9865.

Also, if you are interested in having a class on anything in particular, let me know and we can pull a few of us together for it (i.e. bread making, preparedness planning, cooking with grains, cooking with beans, making mixes to help short-cut your food prep time, etc.). Let me know!

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas and New Year -- I can't wait to delve into the organizing projects that have been neglected in my house -- it looks horrible over here and I need organization to function well!

Have a good week!

Susan