The Layette January 2011 Volume 10 Issue 1 A GOOD WAY TO SHARE THE NEWS OF THE CHRIST CHILD SOCIETY OF TEXAS CAPITAL AREA INC. I NSI DE OUR NEW BUILDING GARAGE SALE WHO IS WHO DATES TO REMEMBER HYGIENE NEEDS YOUR HELP LETTER FROM A RECEPIENT WITH GRATITUDE UPCOMING LAYETTE BABY SHOWER ESL PROJECT BIRTH OF A NEWSLETTER IN LOVING MEMORY Dear CCS Members, Happy New Year! Our CCS had a very blessed 2010. We assembled and delivered 540 layettes – 236 in the Spring and 304 in the Fall. We NOW are including three or four hand-made items in every layette – the handmade quilt or blanket, a hooded towel, a burp cloth and many include a handmade bath mitt. Your love and generosity are conveyed in every stitch. Whether you purchase the items, cut the fabric, crotchet or knit a blanket, snip and wash the rag quilts, or ANY one of THE many, many other necessary tasks that come together to make our ministry a success; we hope and pray that the moms that receive these layettes feel the immense love of the Christ Child in each item as they care for their own sweet, little child. Lois Feist distributed a number of bereavement sets in 2010. She and her team of volunteers are gearing up to work on bereavement sets again. If you have this calling, please let her know and she will get you going. Our ESL Bookclub at Berkman restarted this school year. We are so excited to be helping some young ones get a taste of learning and hopefully develop this into a hunger for knowledge. Our other school projects are just as successful – we have delivered many caps and mittens to the nurse at Berkman. We have been so successful that MaryBeth Dennehy and I visited another school to see if they could use some winter accessories. Be watching your email for updates on what hygiene items we need to complete our Spring hygiene packets and our first delivery of hygiene items for homeless teens in May. 2010 was our inaugural Evening for the Ladies fundraiser. This was a rousing success and a lot of fun!Wendy, Becky, and THE ENTIRE team did a fabulous job! We are excited about THE UPCOMING 2nd annual Evening for the Ladies. Be sure to save the date - May 3rd . We have been blessed with so many wonderful new members. Through a couple of chance meetings in check-out lines, we received a fabulous fabric donation and gained some new sewing volunteers. Take every opportunity you are presented with to raise awareness of our CCS chapter. In December, our beloved member, Bob Huelskamp, passed away. We have been showered with donations in his memory from all over the country. Thank you to Jan and Bob for their great love of the Christ Child. Let us continue in the work we are doing for children started by our founder, Mary Virginia Merrick. Our motto - “Laborare Est Orare – To work is to pray” is as relevant today as it was in 1887 when the first Christ Child Society was started. Many blessings to you all, Julie Schultz, President CCS of Texas has a home! We have some exciting news to share. CCS has our own facility. We have a small, former medical office building that we are now calling home. Our first workday of 2011 will be Januar y 29th at this new place. We have christened it “Miss Mar y ’s Cottage”. Please join us in organizing our many blessings (donations). We will be having regular workdays, mini-layette assemblies, sewing g roups, committee meetings, board meetings, … all in the comfort of our new home. Gratitude CC S G A RAGE SALE W*I*T*H FOR THE LARGEST DONATION OF FABRIC WE HAVE EVER RECEIVED. Garage Sale – Saturday, March 5th at Sue Ridlehuber’s house. As you are spring cleaning, please save FOR A LOCATION THAT OFFERS US MORE any items for our garage sale. We GROW TH AND OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE. need a chairperson for this event. Please contact Wendy for more inFOR THE RAPID GROW TH OF OUR MEMBERSHIP. formation. We also need a place to FOR ALL OF OUR NEW MEMBERS, THAT THEY ARE donate all our leftover items. Our previous recipient, St. V incent OPEN TO THE OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE THEM. de Paul Store in RR has closed. We are looking for suggestions. Caring Place in Georgetown???? CHRIST CHILD SOCIET Y OF TEXAS, CAPITAL AREA, INC. our y k r a M ar Calend DATES TO REMEMBER: LAYETTE COMMITTEE MEETING – WEDNESDAY, JAN 12TH at NEW CCS Building at 10am Please bring your own chair. Evening for the Ladies Committee Meeting – MONDAY, JAN 24TH at Sarah Brunet’s house at 7:30pm Workday - Join us for the first workday of the year - SATURDAY, JAN 29TH AT 10AM. We are meeting at our NEW CCS Building. 2116 Scenic Drive Georgetown, TX Please bring your own chair and work attire. We need to sort all our boxes and organize our many blessings (donations). We are in need of tables and chairs. If you have any to spare or would be interested in donating a table or chairs, please let us know. Evening for the Ladies Committee Meeting – MONDAY, FEB 28TH at Sarah Brunet’s house at 7:00pm CCS Garage Sale – SATURDAY, MAR 5TH at Sue Ridlehuber’s house We need someone to step forward and coordinate this project. Layette Committee Meeting – MONDAY, MAR 7TH at Becky Cook’s house at 10am Founder’s Day Mass & Member Appreciation Dinner – APRIL/MAY 2011 - TBD Evening for the Ladies - TUESDAY, MAY 3RD – our big, fun fundraiser - 2nd annual WEEKLY WEDNESDAY SEWING GROUP – 10AM at Janie Castillo’s house – beginning in February P.O. BOX 5953 Round Rock, Texas 78683 www.christchildsocietyoftexas.org Spiritual Advisor FR. DEAN WILHELM St. W illiam Catholic Church 512-255-4473 President JULIE SCHLU TZ 512-246-8934 [email protected] Immediate Past Pres. /Parliamentarian LORRAINE SCHUCKMAN [email protected] President-Elect/Ser vice OFELIA MELENDEZ 512-786-4705 [email protected] V ice President/Fundraising WENDY BIERSCHENK [email protected] Treasurer ROSE ZAVALA [email protected] Recording Secretar y REBECCA MARTINEZ [email protected] Membership ARDETH HADLE Y [email protected] Layette BECKY COOK [email protected] Bereavement LOIS FEIST [email protected] Hospitality VIRGINIA PARGMANN [email protected] Historian BARBARA FORBY [email protected] Newsletter/Publicity REBECCA MARTINEZ [email protected] Packets Coordinators Hygiene Request Your Help BERKMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROJECT Coordinator, Louise Valero asks that as you vacation, CCS would appreciate it if you would donate the complimentary items provided by hotels to their guests such as shampoos, conditioners, lotions, cars of soap, etc. Additionally, when you visit your dentist, ask them for samples of toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste. Other items needed are combs. The donated items are packaged in opaque cloth bags donated to CCS. Former coordinator, Barbara Forby delivered 136 hygiene packets to the school nurse at Berkman Elementary, Mary Hawkins and Social Worker, Adelina Lopez. Ms. Hawkins distributes one to each student in fourth and fifth grades during health classes on maturation. CCS will assemble more hygiene packets at the next workday scheduled for Saturday, January 29, 2011. Please bring your donations to this meeting. For more information, you may contact Louise Valero at 879-7890 or email her at [email protected]. Homeless MIDDLE SCHOOL PROJECT This is a new service project adopted by CCS to provide hygiene packets to homeless middle school students in RRISD. Last year, RRISD received financial assistance with this project from a grant that unfortunately, was not funded this school year. Hygiene packets for the middle school students will include full-sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner, 1 toothbrush, 1 toothpaste, 1 large bar of soap, 1 pack pocket tissues, 1 travel size package baby wipes, 1 full size bottle ALCOHOL FREE hand sanitizer, 1 wash cloth, and feminine hygiene products for the girls. The items will be packaged in an opaque, durable drawstring tote bag. How may you help? Next time you see a special on the any of these items; it would be helpful to buy extras to donate to this new project. This past school year, the cost for RRISD to provide one hygiene packet was $10.64. If you would prefer to support this project with a donation, you may indicate that on your check. For more information, you may contact Rose Zavala, coordinator of this new and worthwhile project at 796-6060 or email her at [email protected]. Letter from a Recipient ... WE ARE STILL IN NEED OF: 75 Bundles of diapers (1 dozen each) 150 Travel Size Packages of Wipes 160 Receiving blankets 150 Bibs 60 Sleepers 160 Caps 60 Burp Cloths Assembly will be held Saturday, March 26, 2010, at 9:00 AM at the St. William’s Parish Hall (Section 2). Our goal is 200 layettes. The day after Thanksgiving, the Christ Child Society was able to purchase over 500 yards of flannel at a deeply discounted price of about $1.15 per yard. Normally flannel costs about $5 - $6 a yard. This flannel will be used to make burp cloths and blankets for the layettes. Beginning in March, we will package some of the layettes in diaper bags, in addition to the box tops. Our current goal is to have 50 layettes in diaper bags and 150 layettes in box tops with shrink wrap. 200 Hooded Towels 70 Pairs of Socks 150 Toys/Books 150 Box Tops Layette Assembly 50 Large Diaper Bags If you would like to serve on the planning committee for the Layette Assembly, please contact Becky Cook at rebeccacook@ austin.rr.com. Sewing Group Announcement If you would like to help make items for the layette, please attend our weekly sewing group. We need volunteers to sew, cut fabric, snip blankets and iron. Day: Wednesday, beginning in February Time: 9:30 AM Place: Janie Castillo’s home,1209 Cushing Drive, Round Rock Bring Sewing Machines, Rotary Cutting Tools, Scissors, Snips, Etc. Fabric and patterns will be supplied. Feel free to bring snacks to share too! For directions or questions, please contact Janie Castillo at 255-3911. Thank you for making the layette a successful service project! Baby Shower Announcement Would your parish be willing to host a Baby Shower to collect layette items? It’s super easy to collect baby items that are needed for the layettes and promote the Christ Child Society at the same time! The parish places a bassinet in the back of the church. Just put an announcement in the bulletin, pick up the baby items that appear, and give them to the Christ Child Society. If you are interested in hosting a Baby Shower for your parish, please contact Becky Cook at [email protected] to receive instructions, sample bulletin announcements and the supplies that you will need. 4 Volunteer Four Hours A Year? HOURS The 2010-2011 Berkman English as a Second Language (ESL) Elementary Book IS ALL IT Program welcome volunteers who are required to donate four hours of their time TAKES in one school year. CCS members are paired up into teams who work with 4 and 5 year old children while their parents attended evening ESL classes at Berkman Elementary. Teaching teams volunteer on four consecutive Mondays in the same month thereby completing their volunteer commitment for the school year. New CCS members expressing a desire to make a difference in the lives of children are Sue Ridlehuber, Rose Zavala, Rose Mary Kennedy, Angela Torres, Denise Lilly, and Olga Castillo. Returning volunteers are Julie Schultz, Ofelia Melendez, Joan Paduano, and Valerie Melendez. It is not too late to join us. If you would like more information on how you can make a difference to a child by volunteering at least four hours during the next school year, please contact Ofelia Melendez, President-elect at (512) 786-4705 or send an email to [email protected]. BIRTHING OF A NEWSLETTER – A “Labor” Of Love! (Submitted by Sue Greene) Early in 2002, Ann Tagliabue, a friend from St. William Catholic Church, told me of her desire to bring a Christ Child Society chapter to Central Texas. “Oh, that’s nice,” I said. “Never heard of it. What is it?” Ann began to describe the organization, and I listened politely to what she had to say but, frankly, her enthusiasm fell a bit flat for me. How could I be a good fit? I don’t sew or crochet and, at the time, my volunteer work revolved around the elderly (as it does today), and I was content, wanting no more to do. Was it a desire? Since I wasn’t sure, I told Ann, “I’ll get back to you. Let me pray about it.” Although there wasn’t much need to pray, for the ‘knowing’, the Spiritual ‘nudge’ was pretty much unmistakable. Therefore, in September 2002, The Layette was birthed and designed to represent the CCS of Texas, Capital Area. The creative process of each quarterly issue was a learning experience and a delight for me that lasted 8 years! Not until my husband accepted a position as SERTOMA District Governor, asking me to design Ann’s plans for CCS quickly moved forward, ground- and publish his District newsletter, did I seriously conwork was laid, offices were being filled, and the first sider moving on. After much prayerful consideration, I General Meeting was scheduled for Thursday, October notified CCS that I would not be seeking another term. 17th. Some time before the meeting, Ann approached Which brings me to this: Our Chapter needs to fill the me once again and, this time, she was almost insistent office of Newsletter Publisher. Will you please take time that I be involved. “But, Ann,” I argued, “my passion is to pray, yielding yourselves to a possible “nudge” from old people, not as much with babies!” “But, Sue,” she the Holy Spirit? I truly believe a heart is being prepared cajoled, “we need somebody to design and publish our right now. A heart which will delightfully dedicate each newsletter.” issue to our Lord and Savior, without Whom... Newsletter? I’ve never designed an actual newsletter! Every objection began racing through my mind, and then 6 I sensed something 6inside. Within my spirit. Man is the only species created to be creative with the Creator. Bring music, bring color, bring beauty and love into the world! -- Author Unknown (likely God Himself ) Memory IN LOVING Bob H UELSKAMP Our dear member, Bob Huelskamp, passed away on Sunday, December 19, 2010. Bob loved to help others. He was a mentor for both the Georgetown and Round Rock School Districts and worked with children at Berkman Elementar y and Benott Middle School. He was named “Mentor of the Year” in 2009. Bob and Jan were both instr umental in getting our CCS Texas, Capital Area Chapter started. He is sur vived by his wife, Jan, and daughters, Kay, Christine, and Susan. We will miss Bob ver y much. M ISSION Our motive and spirit is love for the Christ Child, expressed in fellowship and ser vice to our community ’s youth who are most in need of spiritual, physical, emotional or economic support, regardless of race or creed. CHRIST CHILD SOCIET Y OF TEXAS CAPITAL AREA, INC. P.O. Box 5953 Round Rock, TX 78683 www.christchildsocietyoftexas.org Christ Child Society of Texas Is a chapter member of National Christ Child Society 4340 East West Highway Suite 202 Bethesda, MD 20814 1-800-814-8129 fax: 1-301-718-8822 www.nationalchristchildsoc.org Please direct questions, information & articles to Newsletter Editor, Rebecca Martinez [email protected] Look for changes coming to the Christ Child Society Capital Area Website. Updates and improvements are being made to the CCS Capital Area website to keep membership and visitors informed. We encourage you to use the website as another tool for promoting our organization and to keep abreast of chapter activities. Facebook? Be a fan of the CCS facebook page. T he page will contain current information on upcoming events, locations, dates, and times, etc. Please contact CCS member Valarie Melendez at [email protected] if you have any questions. Any suggestions or ideas on how we can better keep you informed? Is there information you would like that we’re not providing? Let us know. Contact the newsletter editor.