The Box Project and Blanketed with Love

My move to Detroit has allowed me to meet some really interesting people, and I'm grateful for each and everyone of them that cross my path...well, maybe not the person who smashed out my car window so much, but there has been a new addition to our GRA team, and I think she is great! I was wondering how she would adjust to our "quirky" environment in the office, but she is fitting in just fine. Throughout her two months with us she has told me about two organizations that I think are great and thought they would be worth sharing.

Blanketed with Love - Blanketed with Love is an organization started by one of Ann's daughters. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that my co-workers name is Ann :) Anyway, her daughter and a few of her friends started Blanketed with Love and their mission is to:

The mission of Blanketed With Love is to help all those in need by giving the homeless, homebound, poor, ill, and disadvantaged blankets throughout the year. Each blanket will be blessed and made with love to help the sad feel less lonely, the ill feel better, and those who have lost their homes or families feel that someone cares.

You have to check out the website! This is great! Service organization started and operated by teens who desire to help others. You go girls! If you can help them out in anyway, please be sure to check out their website http://www.blanketedwithlove.org/ Plus, ironically has the world would have it, it meshes perfectly with Sweet Dreamzzz, an organization I've been working with since September.

Ann also told me about her involvement with The Box Project. The Box Project is a national, non-profit organization that has been matching volunteer sponsors from across the United States with recipient families living in rural poverty in America since 1962. They currently serve carefully selected areas of rural poverty including: the Mississippi Delta and rural communities in Maine, Appalachia (including West Virginia and Kentucky), the Native American reservations of South Dakota and Florida.

They match people in poverty who are looking to better themselves with people who can provide assistance, not only with material items, but with a positive relationship through direct people-to-people assistance. Acquiring an education is one of The Box Project's core values. We firmly believe that education is one of the keys to increasing self-sufficiency and breaking the cycle of poverty. The goal of this steadfast commitment is to help remove some of the barriers to education and make a significant impact on the areas of rural poverty that we serve.

Be sure to check out both organizations, and Sweet Dreamzzz of course, and see if there is anyway you can contribute.

Sweet Dreamzzz

Sweet Dreamzzz Detroit is a non-profit organization committed to providing bedtime essentials and sleep education to at-risk children in preparation for classroom learning. Kathleen Donnelly took action after reading a 1996 article published in the Detroit Free Press about a boy living in a burned out building and sleeping under coats. Unfortunately, this story is repeated over and over again in Detroit. Many children don't have heat, beds, proper sleeping apparel, or adults that enforce a standard bedtime and the importance of a good nights sleep. Sweet Dreamzzz has stepped up to assist the Detroit students by providing a 45 minute instructional piece about the importance of sleep and how to prepare for a good nights rest. The program is implemented into grades K-8. The state of Michigan curriculum does not provide any sleep education until the 7th grade. Sweet Dreamzzz strongly believes that by that age students have already developed poor sleeping habits. At the conclusion of the sleep education segment, Sweet Dreamzzz provides each student with a 'SLEEP KIT.' The kit includes the following: Sleeping bag, Sweet Dreamzzz night shirt and activity book, crayons, socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, and Beanie Baby. The students are also allowed to pick one book of their choice to provide them an avenue to read and relax before falling asleep. Again, I cannot stress enough, SWEET DREAMZZZ IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION. They operate completely on donations. This weekend, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, they are having a "SLEEP WALK" to help raise money and awareness about the program and the importance of sleep. They also will accept any donations of any of the items that are in the sleep kits. In the past week alone, I met two people who have a bunch of Beanie Babies they no longer want, so they are donating them to Sweet Dreamzzz. Have the kids moved out of the house and you have all of their childhood books taking up space in the attic or basement collecting dust? The answer is simple...donate them to Sweet Dreammzzz! Be sure to check out their website and see how you can increase the classroom learning of at-risk children in Detroit. http://sweetdreamzzzdetroit.org/home.html