A Time To Share - "The Essentials and Gifts" Drive

A Time To Share - "The Essentials and Gifts" Drive
The Greater Bluffton Republican Club is Presenting You with an opportunity... to clear out your home to make room for all the new gift items and toys your family will be receiving for Christmas or Hanukkah and help our local Military families, especially those with a spouse deployed overseas!! Exciting, huh??
We are making this as easy and convenient as possible for you. There will be a drop off point in Bluffton and also on the Island. If you have trouble getting goods to either place, please let us know and we will attempt to accommodate you.
We will be bringing the items to Parris Island on Thursday morning, Dec. 16th. Parris Island is the distribution center...some items will stay there, and the rest will be routed to the Marine Base and the Naval Hospital. They are looking forward to us coming through for them!
Items needed:
Non-Perishable Food
Clothes in good condition
Household items in good condition
Gift items

How many of you have doubles of small kitchen appliances? How many have bought a piece of clothing on sale & there it sits in your closet, tags still on? How many of you, like me, have received a gift from a relative that is still in it's original box?
It's time to sort through, rethink, and downsize!
Those of you in Bluffton can bring your items to my house. Call or e mail as to when so I am sure I am there. 757 6156 or 321 2256.

Here are directions from Sun City:
Come down 278 towards Island.
go thru Rose hill light. at next light, turn right onto Buck Island. go abt 1/4 mi. past Ben Parker's & Brooke's on left & then 2 little houses on left set back from road. ( Golf Course on right.)
after 2 houses you'll see sign & entrance for "Meadowbrook at Old Carolina" turn left. come to immediate T. Turn left at T. Ours is only house on right - #69 Old Farm. Name on Mailbox. 2 story cream with spruce trim.

For those of you on Hilton Head who would find it more convenient to make a drop there, please contact Jim & Alice Lee at 301 2155 to make arrangements to get your items to them.

Please tell your relatives, friends & neighbors what we are hoping to accomplish. This is a non-partisan drive and we'd appreciate help from Democrats, Independents, etc. as well. Heck, we'll even take stuff from Green Party members if it will help the cause:)

Some of these families, especially the newlyweds and those with babies and children, do not even have the basics to set up housekeeping. Let's really reach far into our hearts and our closets.
So far, my husband Howard, Jim Lee, Daryl and Lauren Sturre, and Reggie & Ellen Bray have all offered their large vehicles to transport these things. I hope we can fill these four and more.
I want to give credit to Jim Lee for inspiring this project. Here is the story he posted to our Blog recently that stirred up your humble prez to take some action:
"I remembered when Alice and I were still newly married (a very short time ago, really) and I was in the Air Force. We had nothing. No dishes, pots and pans, coffee pots, you know the essentials. Well we were sent on base to this place called Family Service. And our eyes opened wide when we saw the treasures before us. Anything we needed was there for us to borrow as long as we needed them. I later found out these things were all donated (no government funding necessary) and passed on from one soldier to another. It helped us until we got on our feet. These young men and women in the service make very little money in the beginning. The majority of them that are married do not live on base either ( no room), so a lot of their money goes to rent. Alice and I went looking thru some of our bounty the other day and found all the things we had double and triple of like Coffee Makers, Crock Pot, George Foreman Sandwich Maker etc. Then we went thru all the clothes that we had never worn, some with the labels still on them There is now lots of room in the closet.
Today we delivered them to the Marine Air Station in Beaufort. They were so thankful. I felt happier than they did. There is such a fullness of heart when you pass something on to people who are sacrificing so much for us and never asking for anything but acknowledgement of their service. They even run around at Christmas collecting toys for tots for our communities, and some never stop to think, who is taking care of their kids?
Well any way I've asked my family this year that I not receive any gifts. They are to" pass it on " to our military men and women. Thu donations of canned and boxed goods, calling cards, commissary gift certificates etc. Until they all come home after completing their mission, I want them to feel appreciated and know that those of us who are safe at home are taking good care of their families.
That's all for now. Thanks for the blog, Dawn, I am honored."
Pretty inspiring, huh?
I hope to hear from you all in the next few days. I know this is a busy time for everyone, both personally and also business-wise, but please make time to give to those who make it possible for us to have our busy lives.
We will work with you to make this work.
With much appreciation and Christmas Blessings, and the Happiest of Hanukkahs to our Jewish Friends,
Dawn Duff
President, Greater Bluffton Republican Club