World Card Making Day

[Mary Kobe]

I hope everyone remembers my post about making 400 cards for our servicemen and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are hoping that we can get names and addresses of men and women in our community that are stationed in the Mid-East.

Here is the update!!!!

We have made 20 different cards and we will be making 20 of each card. The students in Phi Theta Kappa (our college's honor program), came up with ideas and I cut all the pieces out. They have colored, glued, and trimmed paper for the last several weeks. When some students were working on projects, others would stop by and ask if they could help. This is part of their "service learning" project.

Saturday is our big day! We are prepared to make 400 cards. This has been one big undertaking, but we will get them all done. The cards are not fancy and a little plain. Since I donated all supplies, I had to scale back somewhere. (I could not part with all my "good" stuff! LOL)

The students are asking what they will do after the cards are done! They have really enjoyed this! And they like all the "cool tools", as they call them! The honors director and I have decided we will do this next semester, but on a smaller scale! LOL maybe only 200! And we would find a local organization that could benefit from the cards.

In addition, some students have asked if I would help with other Service Learning projects! What have I gotten myself into? LOL

Thanks to all of you who gave me the encouragement to carry on even when I was told by a colleage that "no one would ever need 400 cards" and that "there is really not a need".

[Retta]

Oh Mary - you are just wonderful and they know it. Those kids love that they can help with a project with a purpose and they want to do more. Love it and am so glad for all of you.

[Suzan]

Mary I am so happy this has turned out so well. Maybe this could turn into a full time job with lots of funding. Think how awesome that could be.

[kate3]

Mary, You are lovely and I know they had fun helping. I love once a year taking a group of grade 4 kids one afternoon a week and teaching them for 6 weeks. Last time I taught them how to paint and I am still cringing when I look at what they did to my very expensive brushes. They had a ball. Their parents didn't believe they had painted them without me helping but they did. They love to squeeze paint tubes in the middle as well but I have plenty of those. I have now learned to not take my best stuff for that age group.
Next year is cutout shapes and boxes they can put to together and decorate. I am NOT taking glitter.

[Phyllis]

Mary and Kate, what a wonderful person you are to work with these kids. Hope you are able to get an address for the servicemen.

[Retta]

Kate - how great. I love doing this. No glitter, but you have to use glue and glitter!!!! Can't wait to see the results!

[Elizabeth]

Mary, I'm so glad to hear that your project is having such great success. Of course those students want to spend more time with you!

[JeannetteC]

Mary, that sounds great! It's great to see the kids buy into the service projects and get excited about doing more.
I wonder for supplies if a craft store would assist if they knew what you are doing. It would help the bottom line so that you aren't limited by the cost as much.

Kate, the kids must have loved that! We use to have a program like that with building stuff. A couple retired teachers would show up for 2-3 weeks, once a week and teach the children how to use basic tools, then build a simple item with them. They did it with a variety of grades, with different levels of projects for the different grades. For many of the kids, it was the first time handling tools, and fun to help them learn. They always needed extra parents, so whenever it came up for my kids, I would volunteer to help out.

[MichelleMyBelle]

Mary, what a great project. I'm sure the students are enjoying this learning experience. Wonderful way to give back!

[Gigi]

Awesome project, Mary - so glad you were able to get the support you needed - and deserved!

[CaseysAngel]

It will be GREAT honey!! I hope complete faith in you!!!!!!

[kate3]

Mary, I was just reading the posts and Jeannette's gave me an idea. Next time I can send you some card stock or whatever you need. Heaven knows I have enough of it and anyone else who wants to can send it too. It is for a great cause and the students would love having fun with you again. This is one thing I call putting some of my supplies to a great use.

[Mary Kobe]

Kate, that is so sweet of you! I used the products that I had at home and only had to buy some tape runners and Zig glue, and I can always use those.

I sent many requests to scrapbook vendors and asked for donations. They replied with the "We are sorry" letter. That's ok. It all worked out!

We are going to have a donation jar set up to help with the cost of postage. Any money that is left over will be put into a fund for future projects.

[LisaH]

Congrats Mary! You ARE doing a worthwhile thing here, not only for those in service but for those students as well!!!

[kate3]

Mary,
Just let me know what would help and when. I am happy share and help.

[kim]

Mary, you need to put a call out for supplies the next time you do this. Goodness knows I have enough stuff to spare for such a good cause. I just threw out a ton of different art supplies that I have gathered through the years due to VBS and DS's school projects. The stuff was so old and dried up. I gave the rest of the non-perishables away. I seem to collect a lot of that kind of stuff due to school projects.

Cardstock and glue is one thing I am not short of.

[Mary Kobe]

Here is a sample of one of the cards. I did not have the heart to tell them the helmet was backwards.

DSC01780.jpg

[Gigi]

Oh Mary - that card is so cool - and it's the thought that counts.

As far as cost, what if we set up a PayPal donation account and I bet we could get your postage and supplies covered in a flash! Just a thought....

Again- congratulations on ALL you accomplished. You will be touching so many lives in such a meaningful way.

[kate3]

What Gigi said would work too. There is no way I could send anything to you under $20.00 postage and I would rather that $20.00 went to a better use.

[Suzan]

Mary, You are lovely and I know they had fun helping. I love once a year taking a group of grade 4 kids one afternoon a week and teaching them for 6 weeks. Last time I taught them how to paint and I am still cringing when I look at what they did to my very expensive brushes. They had a ball. Their parents didn't believe they had painted them without me helping but they did. They love to squeeze paint tubes in the middle as well but I have plenty of those. I have now learned to not take my best stuff for that age group.
Next year is cutout shapes and boxes they can put to together and decorate. I am NOT taking glitter.

What no glitter, you mean you don't want glitter all over the place in your hair, eyes, ears and nose. Wow no fun at all. How about glitter glue pens or glittery gel pens. That is neat what you are doing. I did that for Valeries 1st grade class. But I cut out little wooden trees for them to paint and they then decorated soup cans for the trees for Christmas.