Halloween Buckets - Year SEVEN!!!!!!!
Donation protected
Guys. We're shooting high this year. Last year was our biggest year yet, but I'm aiming even higher for 2020. Sure it's been a dumpster year, but I've seen some of the best parts of humanity come out and come together - from a social distance of course - to support their fellow neighbors in the best of ways. Just follow @goodnews_movement or @somegoodnews on Instagram and you'll see what I mean. And you might cry a little as your heart swells, but maybe that's just me.
If you're new here, this paragraph is for you, if not, you can skip this one! Backstory - 8 years ago, I spent Halloween at Strong with my best friend, Kailee. Little did we know, it was the last one that we would spend together. Halloween always had a special connection for us. One year we even made a costume as a two-headed monster and got SO mad at each other, I can't remember why. Years later our parents told us they were walking behind us laughing at the site of 2 girls in one costume not talking to each other, and we still laughed about it whenever we talked about it. So anyways, during Halloween at Strong, Beau (my now husband) had brought up a huge bucket of candy and we ate lots of junk food and watched movies all weekend. So rather than sit around in a sad funk, 7 years ago I decided to bring that bit of joy up to the hospital for kids in the same department as Kailee. THEN two years ago my cousin had a son who spent 4 months in the NICU, while also having a 2 1/2 year old at home. I know there were days that Lena (the 2 1/2 year old at the time) didn't understand why mommy & daddy weren't home, and she missed them and the family time she was used to. It was hard on her so I thought we might be able to squeeze more buckets into the final count, so that we could give them to the siblings of the NICU. Not only is it hard on the parents, it's hard on the siblings who are expecting to have a baby come home with mommy & daddy. This may be the little spark that can make their day too. It's been amazing to watch this project take off like crazy, and have people reach out with such wonderful words of encouragement and support.
This year, I've been going back and forth with Amy (sweet angel who is my go-to for bucket donations who says I'm not bugging her, but I've def been a bug!) since JULY about if we'd be able to do this or not. We figured we probably wouldn't be able to and were thinking of other things we could do and when she and her team suggested gaming system, I literally cried. HOW PERFECT?! The whole reason I do this is to recreate the last holiday memory I have with Kailee of just a fun-filled (and candy-filled) weekend laughing and forgetting the fact that we were in a hospital for just a few minutes. SO when Amy suggested gaming system - my heart exploded. HECK YES!! I could only imagine if Key and I had a gaming system - I'm literally dying laughing even thinking about it and that's exactly what this whole "Bucket Project" is about :)
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE -
I got a text from Amy a few days ago saying the buckets would actually be a HUGE blessing since the kids will have to do "reverse trick-or-treating" this year since they can't be out and about! I was SO EXCITED! But also I've been thinking - last year was our biggest year. We donated ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR BUCKETS!!!! Freaking insane!! What if this year, we did all of the things - donate the buckets to the kids of the oncology department, to the siblings of the NICU babes, AND scrape together enough money to donate a gaming system?! Oof, this is my first time typing it all out like that and it is hitting me guys. How amazing would this be?! I'm not crying (LOL YOU ALL KNOW THAT'S FALSE!!).
So - I'll still be collecting candy, toys, goodies, and monetary donations. If you'd rather donate cash or check, let me know and I can either send you my address, or I can meet you somewhere to pick it up! We will need to stuff buckets a little earlier this year since the buckets will need to sit for a week before handing them out ('Rona Restrictions, but this one I can deal with!), so I'm thinking we'll be stuffing buckets Friday, October 23rd and I'll bring them up the next day so they could sit for a week! This part may change, so if you'd like to help stuff, please let me know and I'll keep you updated.
Thank you so much for your support the past 6 years, let's make the 7th the best one yet! Please share, share, share!!
If you're new here, this paragraph is for you, if not, you can skip this one! Backstory - 8 years ago, I spent Halloween at Strong with my best friend, Kailee. Little did we know, it was the last one that we would spend together. Halloween always had a special connection for us. One year we even made a costume as a two-headed monster and got SO mad at each other, I can't remember why. Years later our parents told us they were walking behind us laughing at the site of 2 girls in one costume not talking to each other, and we still laughed about it whenever we talked about it. So anyways, during Halloween at Strong, Beau (my now husband) had brought up a huge bucket of candy and we ate lots of junk food and watched movies all weekend. So rather than sit around in a sad funk, 7 years ago I decided to bring that bit of joy up to the hospital for kids in the same department as Kailee. THEN two years ago my cousin had a son who spent 4 months in the NICU, while also having a 2 1/2 year old at home. I know there were days that Lena (the 2 1/2 year old at the time) didn't understand why mommy & daddy weren't home, and she missed them and the family time she was used to. It was hard on her so I thought we might be able to squeeze more buckets into the final count, so that we could give them to the siblings of the NICU. Not only is it hard on the parents, it's hard on the siblings who are expecting to have a baby come home with mommy & daddy. This may be the little spark that can make their day too. It's been amazing to watch this project take off like crazy, and have people reach out with such wonderful words of encouragement and support.
This year, I've been going back and forth with Amy (sweet angel who is my go-to for bucket donations who says I'm not bugging her, but I've def been a bug!) since JULY about if we'd be able to do this or not. We figured we probably wouldn't be able to and were thinking of other things we could do and when she and her team suggested gaming system, I literally cried. HOW PERFECT?! The whole reason I do this is to recreate the last holiday memory I have with Kailee of just a fun-filled (and candy-filled) weekend laughing and forgetting the fact that we were in a hospital for just a few minutes. SO when Amy suggested gaming system - my heart exploded. HECK YES!! I could only imagine if Key and I had a gaming system - I'm literally dying laughing even thinking about it and that's exactly what this whole "Bucket Project" is about :)
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE -
I got a text from Amy a few days ago saying the buckets would actually be a HUGE blessing since the kids will have to do "reverse trick-or-treating" this year since they can't be out and about! I was SO EXCITED! But also I've been thinking - last year was our biggest year. We donated ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR BUCKETS!!!! Freaking insane!! What if this year, we did all of the things - donate the buckets to the kids of the oncology department, to the siblings of the NICU babes, AND scrape together enough money to donate a gaming system?! Oof, this is my first time typing it all out like that and it is hitting me guys. How amazing would this be?! I'm not crying (LOL YOU ALL KNOW THAT'S FALSE!!).
So - I'll still be collecting candy, toys, goodies, and monetary donations. If you'd rather donate cash or check, let me know and I can either send you my address, or I can meet you somewhere to pick it up! We will need to stuff buckets a little earlier this year since the buckets will need to sit for a week before handing them out ('Rona Restrictions, but this one I can deal with!), so I'm thinking we'll be stuffing buckets Friday, October 23rd and I'll bring them up the next day so they could sit for a week! This part may change, so if you'd like to help stuff, please let me know and I'll keep you updated.
Thank you so much for your support the past 6 years, let's make the 7th the best one yet! Please share, share, share!!
Organizer
Samantha Richter
Organizer
Elma, NY
