There's no doubt about it: People around here are so generous!To sort and organize a wealth of donations, several of us spent a couple of hours at the Women's and Children's Alliance at the corner of 8th and Franklin in downtown Boise on Thursday, Feb. 9. Our WCA "boss," Lupe, led us through a warren of hallways and rooms, all floor to ceiling with pillows, sheets and towels, toys, laundry and cleaning products, and so much more. It was both amazing and heartwarming.
Then she gave us our assignments!
We were to clear a large rack with boxes and boxes of outdated annual reports so that all the varied art supplies could be stored there. And cleaning products and toiletries from another rack had to be consolidated elsewhere so we could move all the donated sporting equipment in. Meanwhile, all those outdated reports needed to be stripped of staples before going to recycling.
I figured we'd make a dent in the various tasks, as did Lupe. But the six of us volunteers from the Eagle-Garden City Rotary accepted the challenge ... and blew through our assignments!
Laura and I sorted and neatly stacked art supplies, including paints, construction paper, crayons, Play-Doh and more princess coloring books that you knew existed. Nancy and Tara tackled (pun intended) the sporting equipment, everything from hula hoops and ping pong paddles to balls for every sport. CJ and Doug developed surprisingly efficient processes to strip pages from the annual reports and use a paper-cutter to remove the spines and staples. The WCA is so important to survivors of abuse in our area
Most of our work was focused in the area that used to house the WCA thrift shop. Sadly, the thrift store is no longer there and the WCA cannot accept used items. But this nonprofit, which "offers much-needed services to survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault," depends on support from the community.
How can you help?
Donations are so greatly appreciated, and the WCA welcomes gifts of new items or in-kind services like haircuts, dental appointments and health checkups. You can find an Amazon wish list on the WCA's website if you'd like to order something you know they'll use. Or if you don't mind some lifting, carrying, stacking and sorting, register as a volunteer. You'll feel so good when you see how much you can help the WCA in just a few short hours!
Photos:
Top, left to right: Nancy Leeds, Tara Spencer, Natalie Chavez, Laura Spencer, Doug Leeds, CJ Huston
Top, left to right: Nancy Leeds, Tara Spencer, Natalie Chavez, Laura Spencer, Doug Leeds, CJ Huston
Right: Laura by the newly organized art supplies
Left: Tara tackling the sporting equipment
Bottom: left: Doug and CJ perfecting their "annual report dismantling" process
Bottom: right: Nancy trying to distract Doug from his work!
