So grateful for this opportunity. By 11:30am, we had packed more than 800 meals for shut-ins, the indigent and homeless. These were hot meals; turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a roll. Packed by volunteers in hopes of touching the lives of those who wouldn't otherwise have a Thanksgiving meal.
All told, we fed 1,400 people through Feed the City, an annual Thanksgiving outreach. Organized by Flow Automotive and St. Paul UMC, this initiative brings Flow employees, church members and others together to quickly prepare and deliver the meals to such places as Crystal Towers and Healy Towers on Thanksgiving Day. The group of volunteers included young men from Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy. I was there with my daughters, ages 6 and 10. Everyone had a specific duty. I carried two trays at a time down the line and each food item was ladled in as I went. My daughters were at the end of the line with another young girl, placing a sheet of parchment across the food, and added a roll and packaged utensils. A piece of pie went out with each meal. It does this Mama's heart proud that my children thanked me for bringing them today to pack those meals.
From there, we went to my sister's house, where she hosted her first Thanksgiving and we found out that they're expecting their second child! So excited for this new niece or nephew; we'll have a full baseball team of cousins and we're blessed to be close. Be grateful, give back and be blessed. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.
Donations of plastic bags and yarn are accepted at The Living Well Center for Lifelong Learning, in the basement of First Baptist Church in Rural Hall. You can drop your items off Tuesday-Thursday 10am-4pm.
“We’re giving back to the community. We’re helping those less fortunate, and we’re using things that we normally throw away,” said Knitwits member Jane Bodenhamer. “And what a great way to recycle them -- by giving the homeless a place to lay their head and body.”
An emergency cold weather shelter for the homeless opened yesterday, and will be open every day until February 28. Located at First Baptist Church on Fifth Street in Winston-Salem, check-in begins at 8:15pm, guests will wake up no later than 6:15am and the gym will be cleared by 7:00am. A meal and clothing ministry is also being provided by Centenary UMC’s Loaves & Fishes, also located on Fifth Street.
The shelter has specific needs for community involvement. They are asking for new or gently used blankets, that will be washed between each use. Your donated blankets can be dropped off at First Baptist on Fifth at the Spruce Street entrance any evening after 8:15pm. Overnight volunteers are needed, as well as check-in and hospitality volunteers.
The shelter's most urgent need is volunteers that are able to provide food. A simple prepared meal for 35 people is needed daily (except for Wednesday and Sundays).
Examples of a meal:
Sandwiches, pasta salad and a cookie
Chili and bread with a cookie
Soup and bread with a cookie
Pasta salad, mixed fruit and a cookie
For more information about meal drop-off time, location, and other volunteer opportunities at the shelter go here.
More calls for help:
Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC: If you've got time during weekdays, we could really use your help. We've got food drive donations to inspect, sort and repack and thousands of donated eggs to be regraded before we can make them available to our partner programs. Find out more about volunteer opportunities at Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC here.
The Winston-Salem Rescue Mission is asking for volunteers to fill and distribute tote bags to the homeless men that they service. For more information, as well as a link to needed items, please go here.
The Shalom Project has a need for clothes. All clothing is accepted, but they currently have a specific need for men's clothing, men's shoes sizes 10-13, and children's clothing, socks and underwear. Two regular volunteers are also needed on Mondays from 9:30am-12:00pm. For contact information please go here.
The Salvation Army is in desperate need of breakfast cereal. They are also out of baby diapers. You can drop at 1255 N. Trade or 130A Stratford Ct.
Each year Fox8 works with the Salvation Armies of the Piedmont Triad to help collect gifts for the needy children of our area. Last year, more than 24,000 children received presents through this effort.
You can bring new and unwrapped gifts to the Fox8 station, any Lowe's Home Improvement store, or North State Communications stores. You can also make monetary donations; it's easy to donate monetarily with the cashier while you check out at Lowe's.
Gifts will be collected at Lowe's until December 12. You can continue to bring gifts to the Fox8 station until December 17.
This is the list of gift ideas from Fox8:
Infants (birth – 24 months)
Elmo & other Sesame Street character items
Playschool Rocktivity Sit, Crawl ‘n Stand Band
Interactive musical/light-up toys for infants
Push & pull toys
Educational toys (Leapfrog/vtech type items)
Cruise Groove Ballapalooza
Preschool Girls (2 – 4 years)
Character items (Disney) – Minnie’s Flipping Fun Kitchen, Pillow Pets
Crayola Drawing and Paint items
Leapfrog/LeapPad/V-tech educational toys
Dress-up/imaginary play toys (Princess costumes, cheerleaders, ballerinas, kitchen play sets, tea sets…)
Board games (Memory, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders)
Doc McStuffins “Time For Your Check Up” doll
Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Stars Dolls
DVDs
Preschool Boys (2 – 4 years)
Character items
MAGFORCE Command Center
Leapfrog/LeapPad/Vtech educational toys
Imaginary play (toy tool sets such as Bob the Builder, fireman/police officer hats, cowboys, ball players, super heroes)
Board games
Legos, Jake and the Never Land Pirates
Duplo Blocks
Trains, trucks, cars, the Original Big Wheel Racer
DVDs
5-7 year old Girls
Pillow Pets, Friends Summer Riding Camp
scooter/skates & helmet
Furbies
Jewelry and bead craft kits
Gelarti Designer Studio
DVDs
5-7 year old Boys
TV plug-in video games
Lite Brix Lumi-Port
Action figures, Micro Chargers Time Track, Switch & Go Dinos, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Remote control cars, boats and helicopters
Lego/mega block sets
Skateboards/scooters with helmet, Y Volution Fliker Flow Series Scooter
Board games (Hulk Smash, Shoots & Ladders, Connect Four, Memory, Pokémon cards)
DVDs
8-10 year old Girls
1D Collector Dolls
Scooter/skates & helmet
Barbie & accessories
Groovy Girls dolls
Jewelry and bead craft kits
Board games (Twister Moves, Guess Who?, Game of Life – Twists & Turns, Scrabble Junior )
DVDs
8-10 year old Boys
TV plug-in video games
Air Hogs, Beyblade, Lazer Tag Blaster
Remote control cars, boats and helicopters
Nerf n Strike Retaliator
Skateboards/scooters with helmet
Board games (Monopoly Clone Wars, Bakugan, Sorry Sliders)
DVDs
Ninjago Epic Dragon Battle
Skylander Giants
10-12 year old Girls
Pocketbooks and bags
Personal care items/“spa” items – Bath & Body Works
MP3 players
DVDs
TV plug-in video games
Games (Life, Catch Phrase, DVD games, UNO)
Skateboards & helmets
CDs & CD players
Digital camera
Watches
10-12 year old Boys
Watches
MP3 players
DVDs
TV plug-in video games
Games (Catch Phrase, DVD games, UNO)
Skateboards & helmets
CDs & CD players
Digital Camera
Also remember that the Give A Kid A Coat campaign continues until November 24. Drop your new or gently used coats at any A Cleaner World. Coats are cleaned and minor repairs are made, and the Salvation Army will pick them up and give them to people in need.
You can also honor a friend or loved one with a Christmas 2012 Honor Card. With your minimum donation of $5, you will receive a specially designed Honor Card to let the recipient know that a donation was made in their honor.
The Salvation Army Angel Tree will be at Hanes Mall from November 9-December 14. Donations can be dropped off at the tree located on the Lower Level near H&M.
WFMY News2 has also partnered with the Salvation Army for Stuff A Stocking. Pick up a stocking at any Triad area Chick-Fil-A, Mattress Firm, Salvation Army location, or at the WFMY News 2 station. Stockings need to be returned by December 14.
The need is great this year! Do what you can to help.
Community Roots Day, a beautification project coordinated by WS/FC Community Appearance Commission, Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful and the Vegetation Management Division of the City of Winston-Salem celebrated it 20th year today.
This event brings the community together, with volunteers of all ages and backgrounds coming together to have fun and improve our city. Over the last twenty years, more than 8,000 trees have been planted on Community Roots Day. These trees add a tangible benefit to our area. They add not only beauty and shade, but also absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, reduce pollution, reduce storm water run-off and prevent erosion.
It was a great pleasure to participate in this year's Community Roots Day. We began the day with registration, we were assigned teams and we each received a hat and t-shirt of our own. We were on the Blue Team. We all came together and heard Mayor Allen Joines speak, as well as several of our city Alderman and a representative from the Arbor Day Foundation. Winston-Salem was selected as a Tree City, USA and presented with a flag.
Due to it's great success, more than 40 companies donate time, money and materials to the event. In addition, the project received two grants. The Waste Management "Think Green" Grant in the amount of $10,000 went towards the purchase of trees. The project also received a $5,000 grant from the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation.
The first dig
Planting Leaders included local Master Gardeners, the Garden Club Council, local landscapers and community garden leaders. While they were there for guidance, the volunteers were digging the holes, planting the trees, replacing the dirt, and covering with mulch.
Initially, I was worried about showing up with a four-year-old and eight-year-old. I had no reason to worry. This event is suitable for everyone. There were Scouting troops, high school groups, civic groups, and people (like us) who came by ourselves and were placed in a team. Everyone really did work together, and when a group finished with one tree, they turned to their neighbor and asked, "Need some help?" Philip Phibbs and his daughter Mariah, of Winston-Salem, helped us complete the hole for our first tree, as well as getting it into the hole and covering the roots back with the dirt and mulch. Mariah is a student at Early College of Forsyth, and is receiving extra credit in her science class by participating. Her Dad has volunteered previously and joined his daughter because he had such a good time in previous years. On our second tree, we were joined by a gentleman who was in his seventh or eighth year of volunteering at Community Roots Day. I'm sure he was solidly in his 70s.
Our team's area of beautification was at the Ray Agnew Football Field on Waterworks Road just off of New Walkertown. Our first tree was in the green space in front. The first tree we planted was an Arapahoe Crape Myrtle. Our second tree was a Red Bud, and ours is the third from the front on the left side of the sidewalk in the center of the parking lot. Our last tree, a Locust, is the second from the end on the right side of the sidewalk. We're excited to claim these trees as "ours" and look forward to seeing them grow!
"The result of Community Roots Day is that it improves how people feel about where they live," said George Stilphen, coordinator of Keep Winston-Salem Beautiful. "People have a greater sense of pride in their community and along the way it increases property values and draws business and retains it. Planting trees has a direct impact on the economy."
There were more than 500 volunteers to plant 417 trees. Our team had finished planting in our designated area by 11am. We were then treated to a hot dog lunch with chips, bananas, cake squares from Dewey's and plenty to drink.
Our blue team included high school students, a Girl Scout troop and more.
Finishing up our last tree, a Locust, with help from Philip Phibbs and his daughter Mariah of Winston-Salem. Mariah is a student at Early College of Forsyth, and is receiving extra credit for participating in Community Roots Day.
Proud to be a part of Community Roots Day! The Girls and I have agreed that we'll make this an annual event for us, as well.
This year's planting took place along New Walkertown Road and the Newell/Massey Greenway. Orange cones protected the volunteers from traffic on New Walkertown Road.
After the event, newly planted trees line both sides of New Walkertown Road from Waterworks to Carver School Roads.
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