Becky's rulers

My friend Becky went and bought 50 rulers---yeah!!!!! So here are two pictures of her boys, Chance and Kesler. (sorry Becky if I missed the spelling.

Smiley face with the rulers.

Funny Face with the rulers!!!

I think we will meet the second week of september to sew bags and then the third week to stuff!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Helpers in Seattle!!!!

Here are pictures of helpers in Seattle purchasing items for school kits. We are still shooting for the 2nd week of september to make and assemble the bags!!!

Sam putting the notebooks in the cart

Mason and Sam putting items in the cart

Mason smiling....he's so happy cause he is helping others :)

Kendall getting items for kits

Counting notebooks for children that need them to attend school.

Kendall is concentrating on helping sam count the notebooks!!!

Sewing Instructions

I am thinking if we could sew the kits ahead of time, then we could save time with the kids when they stuff. So here are directions. If you want to get together to sew....let me know. I'm totally game for a sewing party. (I've never been to one before, but I am sure we can make it interesting) I am going to try to sew a kit within the week with step by step pictures. But for now...here are the directions.

Bag:

• Cut one piece heavy, durable fabric 14x36 in or two pieces 14x18 inches
• with right sides together, sew side seams and across the bottom, 1/2 inch seam
• serge or zig-zag all seams
• serge or zig-zag around the top opening of the bag
• turn top hem down 1 1/2 in and sew

Handles:

• Cut two handles 24x3 1/2 in (1 in webbing may be substituted) --Margie....what is webbing?
• Fold long sides in 1/2 in then fold in half, lengthwise and sew down both long sides
• attach and reinforce handles 2 in from side seam along hem. Repeat on opposite side. Handles should be able to hang comfortably over a shoulder like a purse, length about 21 in long
• sew a 3 in strip of Velcro on inside of bag between handle straps.

Here is a link to the school kit page

Update

Hey Family and Friends,
I have some Fabric!!!! Syracuse Jr. High was getting rid of some curtains and so I took them. I think we should be able to make a few bags out of them. here is a picture below. Also Jaquline, my sister-in-law, was able to get some fabric donated as well. (awesome job jaquline!!!!) I am thinking we should choose a day and try to sew the bags and then get together the second week of September with kids to stuff the bags. What do you think?
Here is the awesome curtain!!!

I also went to walmart. They had notebooks for .15 I have enough for 12 bags!!! I also have enough pencils, erasers and colored pencil. I think a 6 pack of erasers was about 1 dollar and the colored pencils were a dollar. It's all super cheap!!!

Save all your receipts and I will find out if there is a way we can use them to deduct from our taxes. (julie banta...you will be getting a call from me)

If you want to shop with your kids, I have a shopping list with pictures on it. I don't know how to attach it on the blog, so email me and let me know you want it. I will send it to you!!!

First project----School Kits!!!

Since the start of school is rapidly approaching, I thought we could make school kits for orphans in disaster areas. We will be making bags and providing school supplies for students that need them. Once these are made, we will donate them to the Humanitarian Center in SLC. This is a great time to shop for these items as some of them are as little as .25 at Walmart.

Here is what we need for each kit:

• 4 unsharpened pencils
• 1 rubber pencil eraser (approximately 1x2 inches)
• 1 pair blunt nosed scissors with metal blades
• 1 pencil sharpener
• 1 straight edge ruler (12 inches with metric)
• Glued or spiral bound notebooks with lined sheets 8x10 1/2 or 8 1/2 x 11 in) Notebooks should be total approximately 450 sheets (no more than 6 notebooks per kit)
• 1 set of assorted colored pencils (at least 12 per set, approximately 7 in long)

Bags: (I am hoping we can get fabric donated from stores)

Dimensions: 14 x 36 inches of fabric or two 14 x 18 in of fabric.

Directions coming later

I'm thinking we can do 50 bags total. Maybe 25? What do you guys think? Is that too many? Give me your feedback.

Even if you committ to just making one bag...it will be appreciated!!!!

For people in Utah:

This is what I'm thinking. When you start buying the items, you should let me know what you buy and how many. Then we can start a running total. Then we can get together, sew bags and stuff 'em. (Chandra: I was thinking whatever you guys do will be included with the 50 bags. So you can email me what you purchase and maybe still assemble on the same day)

Inspiration

A few weeks ago my sister brought her family to Utah to visit. During her visit she took her family to the humanitarian center. She wanted to have her kids see how service can benefit others. We both left there wanting to do more. So we were talking that we should try to do service more frequently. But sometimes we struggle with finding out way to serve. So we came up with the idea of doing big service ideas as a family and then post pictures on a common blog so we can see what everyone is doing. Thus the idea was created. My family is all over. I have a sister and mother here in Utah, my father and step-mom are in California, a sister in Washington, and a brother in Texas. I hope this will be a great way to bring us closer while serving others.



PS This isn't just for the Kunz family. If you want to involve friends in your community...they are welcome to join!!!