spotlight - wordpress.com · 2013. 11. 10. · kim klumpp, a former ccs member invited pam to...
TRANSCRIPT
P R E S I D E N T ’ S C O R N E R
“Let not a day pass without having learned something, without having overcome yourself in something, without having performed a kind act, without having accomplished something.” - Mary Virginia Merrick
The members of Christ Child Society never fail to impress me with their talents, gen-erosity, skills, and “thinking outside the box.”
Case in point: the August Layette and General Assembly was scheduled to be held at St. William Cath-olic Church’s pavilion. In the past, Wendy Bierschenk’s husband, Kevin was “volunteered” to haul our supplies in a trailer from Miss Mary’s Cottage in Georgetown, TX to the church located in Round Rock, TX. After the assembly, Kevin picked up the leftover supplies at the church returning them back to the cottage.
Prior to each layette assembly, CCS volunteers took an inventory of the items needed; loaded the trailer; and set up the supplies on the tables at the pavilion the night before the assembly. After the assembly, we packed the leftover supplies in bins; loaded the trailer; and once the bins were returned to the cottage, volunteers put away the supplies at the cottage. Whew!!! This was a lot of work, which has been done for years!
When Wendy and Kevin were going to be out of town during the August assembly, we had no way of transporting supplies to/from locations. The Layette Committee decided to hold the assembly at the cottage. Remember, our “cottage” was once a doctor’s office. The exam rooms are not very large. The only semi-large room is the reception area.
It was a bit of a challenge as we were not all in the same room during the assembling of layettes as in the past. The various assembling stages took place in the different rooms. Additionally, a pot-luck lunch was included as part of the agenda. What a grand idea!
Thank you, members, for being receptive to a new way of assembling those much-needed layettes. Several mem-bers requested/suggested we continue to hold future layette assemblies at the cottage.
The next Layette Assembly and General Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 19, at Miss Mary’s Cottage. Please join us…and bring a covered dish to share.
In an effort to familiarize members to our chapter’s website located at www.christchildsocietyoftexas.org, please visit the website to find the answer to the following question. The answer is located on the website and on page 5 of this newsletter. Remember…don’t look at the answer until you’ve gone to the website. Question: What items are suggested as in-kind donations to bring to the October 19 layette assembly?
Serving humbly as your president,
Ofelia Melendez 1
October 2013 Volume 12 Issue 4
A G O O D WA Y T O S H A R E T H E N E W S O F T H E C H R I S T C H I L D S O C I E T Y
The LayetteI NSI DE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT pg.2,4
CALENDAR OF EVENTS pg.3
BOARD MEMBERS pg.3
BABYSHOWER pg.5
LINUS CONNECTION pg. 5 LAYETTE pg.6
UPDATE: NCCSWEBSITE pg.6
OUR CHAPTERWEBSITE pg.6
SCHLOTZSKYS pg. 7
MUST FIND NEW HOME pg.8
FRIDAY KNITTING GROUP pg.8
WELCOMENEW MEMBERS pg.9
LAGO VISTA NEWS pg.9
COTTAGE BAG LADIES pg.10
CRAFT SALE pg. 10
THANK YOUDONORS pg.11
PRAYER TEAM pg.11
AUGUST LAYETTE pg.12
VANILLA BEAN pg. 12
NEWEST LAYETTE RECIPIENT pg.13
WORKDAY pg.13
ANNUAL GIVINGNCCS pg.14
MEMBERSHIP DUES pg.15
SCHOLARSHIP pg.15
C H R I S T C H I L D S O C I E T Y o f T E X A S , C A P I TA L A R E A I N C .
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Christ Child Society now accepts PayPal!This was inaugurated at the Evening for the Ladies and we will be incorporating this into fundraising,
donations, etc. in the future.
C O T T A G E O P E N H O U R S
Miss Mar y’s Cottage is open ever y T hursday from
10 AM – NOON
Items can be picked up and/or dropped off at the Cottage. T he address is 2116 Scenic Drive, Georgetown, TX 78642. If you have questions, call Julie Schul-tz at (512) 468-8934.
I N T H ESpot l igh tBy Ofelia Melendez
Pam F inley has touched the lives of hundreds of students. She is the Library Assistant at Blackland Prairie Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas. As such, this summer afforded her the opportunity to do some-
thing different with her “free time” during summer vacation. Pam was a “bag lady” at Miss Mary ’s Cottage. Bag ladies are volunteers who work at Miss Mary ’s Cottage, in Georgetown, sorting the various donations brought to the cottage in bags. Our chapter is blessed with donations of packages of wipes, diapers, yarn, fabric, etc. In addition to this valuable service to our chapter of sorting and storing dona-tions, members comment on what fun they have getting to know each other better. Pam could not pass up the opportunity to join the “fun” this summer.Kim Klumpp, a former CCS member invited Pam to attend a Prospective Member dinner in 2004. Pam comments, “I believe we had a member from the National CCS board come to speak. It was a very delightful evening.”When asked what interested her about CCS that encouraged her to join, Pam responded, “When my oldest son was born, he was very sick and spent a lot of time in the hospital. I always wanted to give back in some way and a friend and former member asked me to join CCS. After all that we saw while at the hospital, I feel very blessed to have healthy children and be able to play a small part in helping others.”Pam is currently serving on the Board of Directors as Membership Chair. She has also served as vice president of Fundraising, Provisional (Member-
ship) Chair, and was on the Fashion Show committee. She states, “A number of years ago, the Fashion show was the big fundraiser event.” Pam added, “We did not have many ‘committees’ when I joined CCS.” She is most proud of starting the Provisional Membership Chair position. Pam states, “Although we have had some bumps in this area, I think there is a lot of potential in it.” Last year, Pam and I represented our chapter as delegates at the National Christ Child Society convention hosted by the Detroit, Michigan Chapter.Of the events or activities in which Pam has participated in, she states, “I really enjoy the Layette Assem-blies and seeing the fruits of our work come together. I also had a wonderful time at the Cottage this sum-mer.” In the future, Pam would like to volunteer on the Layette committee.Members who have joined CCS because of an invitation from Pam have been Renee Mabr y and Chonita Olivas. (cont. on pg. 4)
Pam F inley
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Mark your
Calendar
CHRIST CHILD SOCIET Y OF TEXAS, CAPITAL AREA, INC.
P.O. BOX 5953Round Rock, Texas 78683
www.christchildsocietyoftexas.org
Spiritual AdvisorFR. DEAN WILHELMSt. W illiam Catholic Church
512-255-4473
PresidentOFELIA MELENDEZ
Immediate Past Pres. /ParliamentarianJULIE SCHLU TZ
President-Elect/Ser viceBARBARA FORBY
V ice President/FundraisingROSE [email protected]
TreasurerSUE RIDLEHUBER
Recording Secretar yJANIE [email protected]
MembershipPAM FINLE Y
LayetteBECKY COOK
Corresponding Secretar yWENDY BIERSCHENK
Managing EditorARDETH HADLE Y
Inventor y ManagerCHONITA OLIVAS
HistorianJACLYN JOHNSON
Newsletter/PublicityREBECCA MARTINEZ
2013 Calendar of EventsOct 5 Craft Workday, Saturday, 9am – noon, at Stitching Studio (corner of Hymeadow and Mellow Meadow Dr, Suite 4-102)Oct 10 Schlotzsky ’s Fundraiser, Thursday, 5:00 pm – 8:00pm, 2700-B parker Dr, Round Rock, in La Frontera Shopping CenterOct 19 Layette Assembly & General Meeting, Saturday, 9am, location: Miss Mary ’s Cottage *** Bring potluck dish to share ***
Nov 2 St W illiam Fall Craft Sale – Saturday, 9am –4pm, location: St William’s PavilionNov 16 BOD Meeting, Saturday, 9am, location: TBDNov 30 Send 2014 dues to Pam F inley, Membership Chair
Dec 10 CCS Christmas Social – Tuesday, 6:30pm, location: Seton Community Rooms
2014Jan 18 BOD Meeting, Saturday, 8:30 am, location: TBDJan 23 Prospective Members Dinner, Thursday, 5pm - 10pm, Community Rooms, Georgetown, TX Feb 15 BOD Meeting, Saturday, 8:30 am, location: TBD
Mar 29 Layette Assembly and General Meeting, Saturday, 9:00 am, Miss Mary ’s Cottage
Apr 19 BOD Meeting, Saturday, 8:30 am, location: TBD
May 14 Evening for the Ladies, Wednesday, 6:30 pm – 8:30pm, St William’s Parish HallMay 17 BOD Meeting, Saturday, 8:30 am, location: TBD
June 14 Founder ’s Day Mass, Saturday, 8:30 am, St William Catholic Church followed by Induction Ceremony of new members, Installation of new Officers, and reception June 21 BOD Meeting, Saturday, 8:30 am, locaton: TBD
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(cont. f rom IN THE SPOTLIGHT ) I asked Pam to tell us something about herself that probably no one else in CCS knows about her, she said, “This one is hard. I am a twin and am a member of the largest family in the state of Texas. I also love to make new recipes and try them out on my unsuspecting family.”Pam grew up in Killeen and moved to Austin after she graduated from college. She added, “When I got married, my husband (Harrell) and I lived in Round Rock. We moved to Victoria for a couple of years. We have been back in Round Rock since 1997.”Pam and Harrell will celebrate their 20th anniversary in November. They have two sons, ages 16 and 13.Pam concluded the interview by stating, “With the Christ Child ’s help, we are not only doing a service for others, we are enjoying fellowship with each other. I have enjoyed my time as a member of CCS and hope our chapter will continue to grow stay strong for many years.”
Teresa “ Terr y ”Carreon has been my friend for over 40 years. We were best friends in high school. Ter-ry was the Managing Editor of the Pow Wow, the Ysleta High School newsletter when I was the Edi-tor-in-Chief. Terry was also my Maid of Honor many, many years ago.
Teresa moved from El Paso, Texas to Fort Worth where she lived for over 34 years. She has a daughter and a son. Before Teresa retired from the City of Fort Worth, she worked in management. Teresa’s talented daughter lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico designing and making jewelry. A couple of years ago, Teresa moved to Austin to be c loser to her son and his family. When Teresa moved to Austin, I was very happy and I invited her to a Prospective Member dinner. Teresa states she was so impressed with the way “…everyone was so giving and working for a good noble purpose.” Teresa became a member in December 2012. She laughs and states, “My friend Ofelia is so busy, and I figured this is the only way we were going to be in touch.” “I am a people-oriented person. I like to meet people and saw the oppor-tunities not only to help children but also to meet other women as well,” states Teresa. Thus far, Teresa has helped in Layette Assemblies, the garage sale, and delivered layettes to Emmaus Catholic Church, where she is a member. Teresa lives in West Austin. She was very instrumental in connecting leaders of The South Austin Pregnancy Resource Center with the Layette Committee. Consequently, the South Austin Pregnancy Resource Center
is our newest layette recipient. Teresa states she really loves living in the Austin area. “I like my house, the area, and the church I attend. Of the houses I ’ve owned, I really like this one best of all. I ’m only five minutes from my son and four grandchildren.”What people might be surprised to learn about Teresa is her enthusiasm in start-ing a family tradition of following 4.4 miles round trip up Mt. Cristo Rey locat-ed in Sunland Park, New Mexico on Good Friday. At the top of the mountain, elevation4,675 feet, stands a 29ft. tall limestone statue of Christ. It serves as a shrine to thousands of faithful in the El Paso and Southern New Mexico area. The estimated time to do this pilgrimage is approximately 2 ½ hours. The pres-ent statue was dedicated in 1939. The first statue was a wooden cross and was dedicated in 1933. The current Christ statue can be seen in three states: El Paso, TX; Sunland Park, New Mexico; and Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihua-hua, Mexico.When I lived in El Paso, I invited Teresa to participate in my church’s pilgrimage to Cristo Rey during one of her visits to see her El Paso relatives. The rest is history. Teresa loved the experience and began inviting new people to join her on the trek up the mountain. Now Teresa has been walking up to Mt. Cristo Rey for 16 years taking brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews as they pray the Stations of the Cross and the Rosa-ry. Every year they take a picture to capture the family tradition. “I love that trip. It is a big tradition in my family. I used to stay through Easter, but now with grandkids, I come back on Saturday so that I may attend Easter mass with them.”Teresa concludes, “I really have enjoyed meeting all the nice and generous ladies that belong to this organi-zation. I ’m very impressed with everyone’s willingness to help others.”
Teresa “ Terr y ” Carreon
Cristo Rey statue may be seen in three states.
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St. W illiam Baby Shower – A Huge Success! Christ Child Society (CCS) held our 3rd Baby Shower at St. William Catholic Church during the month of July. A playpen was placed at each entrance along with an announcement in the bulletin and an an-nouncement by the priest at each mass. We received 6,837 diapers, which will be enough diapers to make 570 layettes. The donations we received (see below) greatly reduce the items CCS needs to purchase to meet our goal of 600 layettes each year.
Thank you, Teresa Micek, Patti Goertz, Ardeth Hadley, Ofelia Melendez and Olga Castillo for picking up the items from the playpens each week. Thank you to all who helped to coordinate the baby shower. Thank you, Ofelia, for delivering and picking up the playpens and to your grandsons for cutting out the hearts.
Here are the items we received from St. William’s Baby Shower:• Diapers 6837 (570 dozen) • Sleepers 139• Caps 15• Socks 50 • Toys 16• Bibs 17 • Wipes 248 • Onesies 385 • Receiving Blankets 11 • Burp cloths 10• Wash cloths 27• Quilts/Blankets 7 • Hooded towels 3• Books 61• Playpen and other assorted baby items.
The items listed above are included in each layette. Many members sew, knit or crochet the caps, bibs, receiving blankets, burp cloths, wash cloths, quilts and hooded towels.
We would like other churches to host baby showers. It is very easy, takes little time and is very worth-while, as you can see. If you are interested in having a baby shower at your church, please contact Barbara Forby at (512) 773-8749.
*ANSWER: WIPES, SLEEPERS, BOARD BOOKS FOR CHILDREN 3 AND UNDER.
Among the generous donations by St. WilliamCatholic Church, parishioners are enough diapers to include in over 500 layettes.
Christ Child Society Partners with Linus Connectionby Mar y Beth Dennehy
O ver the last year, Christ Child Society (CCS) has made some new friends. Most of these new friends are layette recipients. However, we are now the recipient of approximately 40 beauti-ful handmade quilts and blankets from the Linus Connection each month. Linus Connection meets on the third Saturday of each month at St. Phillip’s Methodist Church. Linus Connec-tion members deliver the quilts and blankets to the recipients.
At our August Layette assembly, CCS members were treated to a presentation by Marge Len-tricchia, the Linus Connection member who delivers the blankets to CCS.
Janie Castillo and I attended the August Linus Connection meeting. Janie’s presentation was ver y well received. Linus Connection members were interested in hearing about CCS histor y and our other ser vice projects. After the presentation, Janie answered questions about our dif-ferent programs such as sewing bereavement gowns and filling hygiene bags.
During these presentations, both Linus Connection and CCS members became aware and ap-preciative of each group’s function in the Central Texas area.
T hank you, Linus Connection, for all that you do to help CCS reach our goal of “helping one child at a time!”
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit Our Chapter ’s Website* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *The Christ Child Society of Texas, Capital Area, Inc. website is www.christchild-societyoftexas.org. Please send any news, updates, CCS information, and/or pictures to Julie Schultz [email protected]. Julie maintains the website.
Current newsletters as well as older versions are available on the website. This is great if you cannot find your copy of the newsletter with Becky Cook’s lasa-gna recipe, which was printed in the October 2011 newsletter. I f you want to double-check the date and times of upcoming CCS events, you will find this information on the website. Also posted on the website are instructions for many of our handmade items.
Any new people you meet that are potential members can check out our web-site for upcoming events such as workdays, assemblies, and meetings. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Layette and General Assembly Date Scheduled
Mark your calendar!
Our next layette and general assembly meeting will be held at Miss Mary’s Cottage in Georgetown on Saturday, October 19th at 9am. If you need additional information about the layette assemblies, or if you are interested in helping to plan the layette, please con-tact Becky Cook at [email protected]. We are always in need of more volunteers!
THE LAYETTE COMMITTEE NEEDS THE FOLLOWINGIN-KIND DONATIONS TO FULFILL OUR GOALFOR THE OCTOBERLAYETTE: Sleepers
Board books for chil-dren 3 years & under
Travel Size Packages of Wipes (80 count)
Update: National CCS WebsiteT he NCCS website nationalchristchild.org has been updated. Another 50 newsletters from various Chapters are now included.
To access the website as a CCS member and view the “inside pages” members must login:
Username: chapter Password: redwagon
To view the recently added newsletters, select Chapter Newsletters from the far r ight column and enjoy! T he 2013 newsletters will be shown and the 2012 are in the Archived Chapter Newsletters shown on the bottom.
Reading other Chapter newsletters for program, fundraising, and membership ideas can be ver y helpful.
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Friday Knitting GroupNew Knitting Group hours: 10am to Noon
We knit blankets and crochet baby bonnets. Using a circle loom, we knit baby hats and most of all, we talk and have fun! We are currently making items for the Craft Fair in November.
Don’t know how to knit or crochet? No worries; we will teach you. There are needles, hooks, looms and yarn at the Cottage that you may use.
If you want to know more about this group, e-mail me at [email protected] or talk to me at Layette Assemblies, workdays, and/or meetings.Hope to see you soon!Chonita Olivas
Cottage News: WE MUST FIND A NEW HOMEThis October marks the beginning of our 4th year in “Miss Mary ’s Cottage”. We have quickly fil led our 1200 square foot space. All our layette, bereavement, and hygiene service project items are stored at the cottage. We also have all k inds of other items such as our blue CCS tablecloths, Evening For the Ladies supplies, craft booth items, flannel fabric, cotton fabric, yarn, all our CCS brochures and literature, our CCS scrapbooks from the start of our chapter, even a tiny fridge, and first aid kit – just in case we need water or a Band-Aid.
Soon, the exact date is not known at this time, our cottage building will be sold. I t is imper-ative that we find a new home. We have been fortunate to have our current space rent free, including utilities.
We are preparing for the time when we will have to pay for our CCS space. Ideally, we would like to find a generous building owner who would be willing to house our non-profit 501(c)3 organization in some vacant space. This location could be an office building, warehouse, empty home, or storefront. We are not picky.
There are several advantages to having a non-profit l ike CCS in a building:
• tax-exempt(nopropertytaxesarepaidontax-exemptspaces)• lowerpropertyinsurance(insuranceratesarehigheronvacatebuildingsthanon occupied buildings)• charitablededuction(reduceyour incometaxes)• quiet,easytenants(wearerarelythere–2hoursaweekplusoccasionaldaysfor assemblies or meetings)
Please keep your eyes and ears open for a new location that we can call “home.” Ask your friends, neighbors, church members, co-workers, spouses, family, person in front of you in the checkout line at Jo-Ann’s , ANYONE. You never know when a potential opportunity might present itself. Pass along contacts to:
Ofelia Melendez at [email protected] or (512) 786-4705 or Julie Schultz at [email protected] or (512) 468-8934.
Chonita Olivas teaches Julie Schultz how to use a loom to knit small caps that will be included in layettes.
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Welcome New Members!By Sue Ridlehuber
A few months ago, Ardeth Hadley, Barbara Forby, Pam F inley and I got together to begin a CCS Welcome Committee with the goal of making new members feel more at home in our Capital Area chapter.
Most new members have at least one ‘sponsor ’ who invited them to join our organization. We would also like new members to have another contact, such as someone who could an-swer questions and help them integrate into chapter activities.
The Welcome Committee called each new 2013 member, as well as a couple of prospective members, and suggested a visitation at their convenience. Admittedly, summer has not been the best time to plan such activities because of travel and family time. Every new member has had the opportunity to meet with the Welcome Committee to hopefully forge a stron-ger link in our already powerful chain.
On July 9th, for example, Pam and I met with new member Teresa Carreon for lunch at the Oasis on Lake Travis. We spent more than two hours talking, eating, laughing and getting to know each other better. It was a great day! We shared stories about our families, our hobbies and even our spiritual life, and we found that we have lots in common. Teresa asked us some excellent questions about CCS and I hope that we answered all of her ques-tions aptly. We had so much fun that I didn’t want our time to end. I think we could have stayed even longer, but they were itching to c lear our table!
We will be scheduling the remaining visits as soon as possible. I personally am looking forward to having a grand time making new CCS friends.
When you see the RED new-member name-tags, be sure to greet these special ladies with a smile. Make them feel welcome for they are sure to become a wonderful new friend and a valued addition to CCS.
Members from Lago Vista Area Busy with ActivitiesThe Thursday “Bag Ladies” gladly accepted donations delivered by the CCS Members of the Lago Vista, TX area who have been quite busy. Jan Broxterman, Linda Foerster, Mae Sukup, and Frances (Jan’s granddaughter) needed help in carrying the items from their vehicle to Miss Mary’s Cottage. Jan explains items were donated at a baby shower held during the first three weeks in September at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lago Vista. The parishioners were very generous. Recipients of the dona-tions were CCS and Annunciation Maternity Home. This is the sec-ond year for a baby shower at St Mary. Jan stated that they passed out little paper hearts with a requested baby item on one side and a candy Life Saver on the other. She explains the candy was added because the donation helps in “saving babies.”The Lago Vista members also participated in St Mary’s Ministry Fair in August were 14 people expressed various levels of interest in CCS.
Please visit St Mary’s Craft Show on October 19. The Lago Vista members will be selling mostly baby items while displaying samples of our layettes and bereavement sets. Last year, this group sold $280 worth of crafts.
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Cottage “Bag Lady” Volunteer Information
We have a dedicated group of members who help every Thursday at Miss Mary’s Cottage. Please consider joining us. We have lots of fun and accomplished many tasks in a short amount of time. Additionally, on the third Thursday of the month (September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19), we go out to lunch as a group. Get to know some new friends in CCS by volunteering at the cottage.
When are we open?Thursdays, 10am-12pm
When will we be closed?November 28th – Thanksgiving HolidayDecember 26th – Christmas HolidayJanuary 2nd – New Year’s Holiday
What do we do at the cottage on Thursdays?We sort, count, and store any new items that have come in during the previous week.We also assemble any needed hygiene bags, backpacks, bereavement sets or layettes.Some members come by just to say hi and drop off finished items and pickup more supplies.
What do we have at the cottage?• fabriccuttosewburpcloths,receivingblankets,ragquilts,andhygienebags• allkindsof yarn–forblankets,caps,orcraftitems • boltsof flannel-readytobecut• cottonfabricforquilts,hygienebags,orcraftitems• finishedlayettes,bereavementsets,hygienebagsreadyforpickup• craftitemsforourcraftboothinNovember• plusallourlayetteinventory
Visit CCS Booth at the St. William Fall Craft SalePlease come and visit the CCS booth at the St. William Catholic Church Fall Craft Sale on Saturday, November 2, 9 am to 4 pm, in the Pavilion.
Thanks to our members and friends who share their creativity and donate items to sell at the CCS booth, we have many beautiful handmade items! In addition to handmade layette items, there are pin cushions, baby quilts, miniature mangers, Christmas items, gift bags, teacher gifts, Christening Day/Wedding Day Bonnets, note cards, luminaires, tree ornaments, and many more reasonably priced items ranging from $1 - $25.
If you’ve dreamed of owning a “Janie Castillo” quilt, here’s your chance! Donations for tickets are $3 each or two for $5. Donations for tickets for a miniature decorated Christmas tree, under a glass dome, are $1 each or 6/$5. The lucky winners will be drawn at our Christmas Social on December 10th..
What better place than at our craft sale to do your Christmas shopping and at the same time you will be helping children in the Diocese of Austin area served by Christ Child Society?
Make a purchase at the show and you will be entered into a drawing.
CCS Volunteers are needed to help set up Friday night and Saturday morning as well as to work a two-hour shift during the show. Contact Linda Foerster at (512) 267-1289, Janie Lopez (512) 251-0939, or Ardeth Hadley (512) 733-0936.
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Thank You Donors F O R Y O U R S U P P O R T !
Christ Child Society, Capital Area Chapter, receives many In-kind and monetary donations throughout the year. In addition, members donate 30 service hours each year – a “precious gift of time and love.” Without any one of these generous donations, our chapter would not be able to serve as many of God’s children as we do. A huge thank you to all and may God richly bless each and every one of you!
June, July and August DonorsMemorial Donations from:• Philip Terrell In Memory of Ben Marroquin, • Sue Ridlehuber, Mary Urbanowski, Dan & Julie Moore, Teresa Micek, Julie Schultz, Virginia Pargmann, and Jan Huelskamp In Memory of Sean Hadley• Mary Urbanowski In Memory of Audrey Nelson • Jan Huelskamp In Memory of James Rocke
In-Kind Donations from: • Christine Alcantar, • American Heritage Girls Troop 6201,• Dorothy Blanco, • Carus Dental (Dr. Tran), • Janie Castillo, • Pat Conger, • Laurel Dunn, • Lois Feist, • Pam Finley, • Genevieve Friesenhahn• Ardeth Hadley, • Barbara Hoelscher, • Susan Horvath, • Rachel Jones, • Sandra Leal, • Linus Connection, • Janie Lopez, • Barbara Mancini, • Teresa Micek, • Melissa Kirking,• Iris Miller, • Pat Miller, • Chonita Olivas, • Joan Paduano, • Virginia Pargmann, • Renaissance Sewing Group, • Sue Ridlehuber, • Lorraine Schuckman, • Julie Schultz, • Sew Much Fun, • St. William Baby Shower, • Theresa Sismilich• Marie Stauber, • Maggie Sullivan, • Louise Valero, • Carol Woisin
Monetary Donations from:• Suzie Hebert• Rose Mary Kennedy
This article recognizes June, July and August 2013 donors. If you made a donation which was not listed, we apologize for the omission. Please send an email to Ardeth Hadley at [email protected] so your donation may be included in the subsequent issue. We would like to thank everyone in our newsletter.
Prayer Team RemindersBy Joan Watkins
Do:• Send in your prayer requests to [email protected]• Join the Prayer Team by sending your email information to [email protected]• Send urgent requests by text (I ’ l l hear those come in day or night) to (248) 760-3957
Do not:• Be shy. We are here to support and pray for each other.• Forget to send in updates and requests for continuing prayer requests.
“I find I am often led away from God by the 1,000 preoccupations and interests of my family, by the grief which I have allowed to absorb my heart and mind. When this happens, I should rest a while, think and pray, and God will surely come to my assistance.” Mary Virginia Merrick
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August Layette Assembly - Turning Lemons into LemonadeBy Julie Schultz
The Layette Committee turned lemons into lemonade when planning for the Summer Layette Assembly and General Meeting held on August
3 at Miss Mary ’s Cottage. A big problem arose when Wendy Bierschenk’s husband was not available to use his trailer to haul the boxes of supplies from the cottage to the designated location and then back to the cottage. What initially looked like a bleak situation turned into a positive experience. We turned lemons into lemonade by changing the way we assemble layettes. We had a wonderful turnout - 24 members and 3 guests.
Our new setup for the assembly worked very well and our members were very adaptable and flexible. We had several work stations. One group bundled diapers received from our very successful shower at St. William’s. Another group tied the ribbons on our new layette bags and stuffed the
Shaken Baby Brochures and prayer cards into the outside pocket. A third group assembled layettes.
We started slowly as we were learning a new way to assemble but quickly got into a rhythm. We com-pleted 130 gir l layettes in about 2 hours. We were going to break for food, but instead, we quickly shifted gears, put everything gir ly away, and did 110 boy layettes in just about 45 minutes as several of our layette recipients were ear ly and wanted boy layettes. We have a few adjustments/suggestions to incorporate for next time but we feel that everyone liked the fellowship at the cottage. We weren’t rushed to finish up by a specific time as we are at an external location. We did not have to load or unload a trailer and all our items were easily recounted and put away.
We distributed 153 layettes to four organizations. One group didn’t make it and will pick up their layettes at a later date from the cottage. We also replenished our finished layette supply at the cottage so that any group needing layettes between the assemblies can be accommodated. Our next assembly and general meeting is Saturday, October 19 at the Cottage.
Only Four Vanilla Beans Left! Christmas is just around the corner! Are you looking for a great Christmas gift?
Christ Child Society has the answer! Give the gift that is unique, useful and lasts for 20 years – a vanilla bean in a bottle for only $15.
All you have to do is split the vanilla bean and fill the bottle with vodka, rum or brandy. Store it in a cool, dark cabinet for 3 months and your vanilla is ready to use. As you use the vanilla, continue to add alcohol to the bottle. To purchase one, call Ardeth Hadley at (512) 733-0936 or email at [email protected] .
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Learning and Laughing at Layette WorkdayAttendees of the Layette Workday held at the Stitching Studio in
Cedar Park, TX on September 7 learned, laughed, and en-joyed fellowship with other members.
Various stations were set up to demonstrate and work on items included in the layettes. These included how to: • Sewreceivingblankets, bibs, and hooded towels; • Howtocutboltsoffabricforbibs andreceivingblankets; • Howtousealoomandyarnto make litt le caps.
A large display of craft items to be sold at the November craft show was also available for purchase at“special” prices to members.
Formemberswhodonotsew,pleasedonotshyawayfromtheLayetteWorkdays.Wehaveothertasks/ac-t ivit iesthatdonotincludesewing.Forexample,CCSpurchasedseveralsmall plasticloomstomakelitt lecaps.Thisprojectwasthemostpopularactivityoftheday!Somemembersborrowedtheloomsbecausethey wanted to continue making caps at home. “I enjoy making caps while I watch TV,” said one member.
Light refreshments were enjoyed by attendees. Many thanks to members who helped with the demonstra-t ions,broughtsupplies, andsetupthisevent. ThisincludesJulie Schultz, Chonita Olivas, Becky Cook, Ardeth Hadley, Mar y Beth Dennehy, Barbara Forby, Pam Finley, and Ofelia Melendez.
MEET OUR NEWEST LAYET TE RECIPIENTSouth Austin Pregnanc y Resource Center
By Becky Cook On July 9th, Chonita O livas, Ardeth Hadley, and Becky Cook visited South Austin Pregnanc y Resource Center located at 4611 Manchaca Road. T his center is our newest layette recipient.
During the visit, we had the opportunity to meet director, Lore Cottone, and many of the volunteers. We also learned about their ministr y to pregnant mothers. In addition to providing emotional and spiritual support to expectant moms, the pregnanc y center also provides practical assistance such as access to ultrasounds, baby items and maternity items. Moms-in-need who visit the center, will not only be met by a fr iendly volunteer who is ready to listen and share her faith, but will also be offered much needed items for her baby. South Austin Pregnanc y Resource Center is ver y excited to become our newest layette and bereavement recipient. T hey were ver y touched by the handmade items included and look for ward to sharing the layettes with families in need.
V isiting the South Austin Pregnanc y Resource Center are Abigail Grace Cook, Becky Cook, Chonita O livas, and Ardeth Hadley.
(Left)Valerie Melendez practices cutting fabric as her mother, Ofelia Melendez looks on. (Right)Barbara Forby demonstrates how to sew burp cloths included in each layette.
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Craft Workdays at Stitching Studio On August 17th, CCS members gathered at the Stitching Studio to make items to sell at the November craft sale. After snacks (no one can work on an empty stomach!), Rachell Beltran, Becky Cook, Pam Finley, Barbara Forby, Sue Greene, Ardeth Hadley, Janie Lopez, Ofelia Melendez, Teresa Micek, LaVerne Rinken, Julie Schultz , and Jill Willis began working on different projects. We made burlap Christmas trees, bracelets, baby wipes, luminaires and put the finishing touches on bead ornaments and gift tags. A preview of some of the items that will be sold at the craft sale were on display and could be purchased. Orders are being taken for miniature mangers ($9), luminaires ($1.50) and homemade hand scrub ($5). You can also buy your tickets to win one of Janie Castillo’s baby quilts and/or a miniature decorated Christmas tree. Join us on at the Stitching Studio
on Saturday, October 5th, from 9am to noon , for our next workday. We will decorate jars for the hand scrub, make bracelets and earrings, decorate the burlap trees, and make gift bags, memo books and flower pot angels. Please join us for fun and fellowship and learn a craft in the process.
Rachell Beltran, Sue Greene, and Barbara Forby volunteered to make
Christmas tree ornaments to sell at the November craft show.
Janie Lopez and Ardeth Hadley busily work on
crafts for the St. W illiam Catholic Church craft
show in November.
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NCCS Conference 2013 Provides Great Ideas & informationBy Barbara Forby and Sue RidlehuberPresident-elect, Barbara Forby and Treasurer, Sue Ridlehuber attended the NCCS 2013 Con-ference in Bethesda, Maryland on September 20 & 21. The theme of this year ’s conference, inspired by input from chapters all across the country, was entitled Facing Challenges Together. Barbara and Sue returned home with an incredible amount of information and some great ideas for fundraising in our very own chapter. Mini-Seminars, Panel discussions, and Speakers in-formed and inspired us. We ate VERY well and we enjoyed the company of many friends, both old and new alike.
On the final evening, the speaker was a special young woman from the Detroit chapter who touched our hearts and left us all feeling enthusiastic and hopeful. We want to thank you for giving us this wonderful opportunity. We would also encourage other CCS members to attend in the future.
Barbara Forby and Sue Ridlehuber at the National Christ Child Society 2013 Conference
Members Encouraged to Par ticipate in Annual Giving CampaignBy now, most of you have received the Annual Giving mailing from the National Christ Child Society (NCCS) office encouraging members to support this campaign with a donation. Dona-tions enable the national office to:
• Preserve our legacy and maintain the Society ’s historical and other records.• Unifies the Chapters through the assistance and support of the National Office and an active National Board of Directors.• Create learning opportunities through mini-seminars and workshops at our Conventions and Conferences.• Provide Chapters with resource materials, and teleconferences to help us prosper and grow.• Maintain a website that all members can use. Please visit the NCCS website at www.NationalChristChildSoc.org
W hat is “chapter suppor t ”?Each chapter supports the national office by contributing $20 per member. Our chapter current-ly has 50 active and 13 contributing members, which totals 63 members. $20 multiplied by 63 totals $1,260, which our chapter will send to NCCS.
How much do I need to donate to the NCCS Annual Campaign?Members are encouraged to send at least $20; certainly, more would help offset our chapter sup-port for those members unable to contribute their portion. Your donation helps to reduce the amount of $1,260.
In 2012, our chapter support bill was $0 because of the generosity of our members. If all mem-bers donated at least $20, this will help pay the amount our chapter needs to send NCCS.
By when do I send my contribution? Please send your donation by December 31, 2013.
W here do I send my contribution?Use the envelope sent with the campaign appeal. Or, you may send your check or credit card information to the following address:
National Christ Child Society, Inc.6110 Executive Blvd, Suite 504Rockville, MD 20852
You may contact NCCS directly by calling (800) 814-2149.
W hat other information should I send?
Please include your name, address, telephone number, donation amount, and our chapter name, which is Christ Child Society of Texas, Capital Area, Inc.
If I have other questions, whom may I contact?
You may contact Ofelia Melendez, president of our chapter at (512) 786-4705 or send an e-mail to [email protected]
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Changes to CCS Membership and Dues ExplainedChrist Child Society (CCS) is truly blessed to have so many wonderful ladies as members. I am happy to say that we keep growing and already have three Prospec-tive Members since our induction ceremony in April. Please invite family and friends interested in joining CCS to any event. Members are able to join at any time during the year and will be initiated as active members at our induction ceremony in June 2014.
Our Board of Directors have proposed and approved the following changes to the dues policy Membership dues must be paid on or before November 30, 2013. Dues are considered late after November 30, 2013. There are two types of memberships:
• Activemembers-duesare$45;30hoursminimumvolunteerserviceis required per calendar year.• Contributingmemberduesare$55;noservicehoursarerequired.
The official cutoff date for our roster is December 31, 2013. We must pay chapter dues and chapter support to National CCS. Any dues paid during the month of January 2014 will have a $5 late fee added and any dues paid after January 31,2014,will have a $10 late fee added.Wewill start collecting dues at the LayetteAssembly and General Meeting in October. You can also mail dues to:
Christ Child Society of Texas, Capital Area, Inc. P.O.Box5953 Round Rock, TX 78683
Reminder, please keep track of your hours as this helps us when we apply for grants. You may email them to me each quarter or turn them in at any event you attend. If you email them to me before the October assembly, you will be entered in the door prize drawing that day.
Thank you for all that each one of you does for the Christ Child Society and His little children.
Pam Finley, Membership [email protected](512)246-8262
SCHOLARSHIP ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE FOR MEMBERSHIP DUES
Beginning with the 2013 membership dues, members generously donated to establish a schol-arship fund to cover dues for those members who are unable to pay. Scholarships are awarded to active members.
All active members are required to volunteer at least 30 hours per calendar year. Scholarship recipients are required to volunteer 45 hours of service, an additional 15 hours.
If a member is unable to pay dues and assistance is needed, please feel free to contact Ofelia Melendez, president at (512) 786-4705, Sue Ridlehuber, treasurer at (512) 255-7390 or me. This information will be kept in the strictest confidence.
Pam Finley,Membership Chair(512) 246-8262
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CHRIST CHILD SOCIET Y OF TEXASCAPITAL AREA, INC.
P.O. Box 5953Round Rock, TX 78683
www.christchildsocietyoftexas.org
Christ Child Society of TexasIs a chapter member of
National Christ Child Society4340 East West Highway Suite 202
Bethesda, MD 208141-800-814-8129 fax: 1-301-718-8822
www.nationalchristchildsoc.org
Please direct questions, information & ar ticles to
Newsletter Editor, Rebecca Martinez
Facebook? Be a fan of the CCS facebook page. T he page will contain current information on upcoming events, loca-tions, dates, and times, etc. Please contact CCS member Valerie Melen-
dez at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Any suggestions or ideas on how we can bet-ter keep you informed? Is there information you would like that we’re not providing? Let us know. Contact the newsletter editor.
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M ISSIONOur motive and spirit is love for the Christ Child, expressed in fellowship and ser vice to our community ’s youth who are most in need of spiritual, physical, emotional or economic suppor t, regardless of race or creed.
Mark your calendars!!! - 2013 Christmas SocialOur Christmas Social will be Tuesday, December 10th, at the Seton Hospital Community Rooms in Round Rock, the same location as last year. Last year, the Christmas Social was enjoyed by about 35-40 members. In lieu of a gift ex-change, members were asked to bring donations of wipes, sleepers, onesies, diapers and hy-giene items. Members are encouraged to bring these same items again this year. Please plan to join us as we play games, laugh a lot, socialize, and mingle with our new mem-bers. It will give us a chance to get to know everyone.One of the big hits last year was the punch (ginger ale and Sonic Route 44 limeade) and it will be served again this year. Members brought delicious food and there was plenty to eat.We will have door prizes and an opportunity to do some Christmas shopping with items from our craft sale. The winners of Janie Castillo’s baby quilt and the miniature Christmas tree under a glass dome will be drawn. Please plan on attending this wonderful evening out with your fellow Christ Child Society members.
We hope to see you there!!!