At the March meeting, we paired over 300 stuffed animals with books. We bag them together and donate to Title 1 elementary schools in Chandler. They are used by the teachers as reading incentives, and the kids love getting a book they get to keep (and animal). For some children, this might be the only book they own. Most of the books are donated or found at garage sales. We can always use more books. The schools like to receive 30 to 60 books when we deliver them. We are always on the lookout for more.

At our April meeting, we will fill Easter bags with plastic eggs, candy and toys, also for children who otherwise might not get anything. We make bags for both girls and boys.

This summer we will be making capes for the Child Help superhero event in September. We use adult t-shirts, new or gently worn, with little or no slogans on them. We will be cutting them up to make capes for children to decorate. We can use trims and ribbons to decorate the bottom of the capes. This is a great time to clean out your closets for shirts you no longer wear.

Current needs include: flannel and fleece, ribbon for bags, dolls (new or gently used). We can fix some hair and pen marks. We like baby dolls, Barbie dolls and 18-inch dolls (no porcelain dolls, please), Matchbox-type cars, new and gently pre-loved stuffed animals, new and previously read children’s books in good condition, journals for teens with fun pens, baby doll bottles, toys and rattles. We like to package the dolls with a bottle or toy and a blanket.

For more info on where we donate, check out: https://www.childhelp.org/, https://www.mesaunitedway.org/helenshope/, http://clothescabin.org/.