Announcement, History, and Socks to Warm Cold Feet

In recent days I made the announcement that Bridge and Beyond will cease to exist come December 31st of this year, 2021.  There are many factors involved with this decision that I've blogged about in the past week.  One primary reason is difficulty with mail service that has substantially changed; making it very difficult to ensure your donations are protected when I travel.

I've been posting totals of the amazing work so many of you have participated in over the last 13 years, as Bridge and Beyond's first blog post was Dec 2, 2008; and our first donation was received on Dec. 9, 2008 from our friend Bunny.

On December 5, 2008 Sunny Fairy designed our blog logo.  

Both Sunny Fairy and Bunny were early supporters of Bridge and Beyond.  While they are not currently active with us, I do so appreciate their help in the early formation of Bridge and Beyond.

My SIL, Jan (married to my older brother, Chuck), introduced me to Rae when I first expressed a desire to set up a charity to help the homeless here in central Ohio.  Rae was and continues to be a church friend of Jan and Chuck's.  She prepares hot meals on Sat. mornings to feel those living out in the elements.  It is her group that we first supported by supplying her with warm hats and scarves in the first month of Bridge and Beyond, December of 2008.

We continued to attract more pairs of helping hands and accepted other donated items such as socks, slippers, cotton washcloths, afghans, and mittens; as well as personal care items throughout  the years.  We were able to supply not only Rae's group, but several homeless shelters here in Columbus, as well as several schools in a depressed area in need.

As I dug out wool socks this morning to warm my feet, I thought I'd share how many pairs of socks we've donated through the years.

SOCKS:

2009    70

2010   101

2011   333

2012    281

2013   281

2014   199

2015   201

2016   135

2017    29

2018    68

2019   113

2020   107

2021   193....as of Nov 1st

Total 1,830 pairs of socks to warm 1,830 pairs of feet.

Please continue to check in to see more stats and stories about the work that's been done here on Bridge and Beyond over the 13 years it's been able to help the Homeless here in central Ohio.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Where Do Donations Come From? Mittens Totals

This is a colorful map (more so than the one at the very bottom of the blog, and this map gives the states name.  Over the 13 years Bridge and Beyond has been busy knitting and crocheting for charity, we've had participation from 41 states, 82% of the country.  AND donations from around the globe from England, France, Germany, and Puerto Rico.  That's pretty impressive I think, how about you?

The ONLY states where at least one person hasn't donated are:

Alabama

Alaska

Arkansas

Connecticut

Mississippi

Montana

Nevada

Rhodes Island

Wyoming

**Unless I've missed documenting someone along the line.

I remember the donation from England was from a man I had gotten to know in my early blogging years, he sent money and asked me to buy socks with it.  The one from Germany was a military wife stationed in Germany.  France...I think from memory was a lady who had a gift shop and sent things from the end of the year from her shop that didn't sell.  Puerto Rico was actually more than one donation, DaMaris.

Just thought I'd share some our stories, our history if you will.

Mittens aren't the easiest item to make, so thought you might like to see how we faired with those over the years.

2009 our first full year 66

2010                              151

2011                              258

2012                              300

2013                              300

2014                              130

2015                              123

2016                              108

2017                              120

2018                                75

2019                                66

2020                                81

2021                                72....so far, as of Oct 31st

1, 850 pairs of warm hands!  Our best years were 2012 and 2013 with 300 pairs each years, and our lowest year was 2019 with 66.

Remember to keep checking in, as I will continue to post donations and update totals as we make our way to Dec 31st, when we will close down Bridge and Beyond.  If you've missed the announcement, please click HERE.               

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Sunny Florida Helps Warm Ohio's Homeless.

Woot Woot.  Look at this awesome afghan.  It's lovely and crocheted in the very traditional granny style method with black edging and joining.  So many fun colors.  AND everyone loves a true granny square afghan.  These colors are perfect for men or women.  Our friend and long time supporter, Sandra R from sunny Florida has done it again with this generous donation of knitted and crocheted goodies.

She's knitted hats in a variety of colors and sizes, and her always popular mittens!!  She's also included the traditional Grandma's favorite (corner to corner) cotton washcloths in her donation, as well as scarves.  Something here for everyone.  Thank you for always tagging your hats with size; the volunteers at the shelters especially appreciate that.

We're hitting some fun milestones here folks with this donation.  Take a look at our goals for Cotton Cloths.......we just surpassed it!  AND look how close we are for both hats and mittens...in both cases we're only 13 from our goal.

I think we're going to end on a high note when Dec 31st rolls around and we close the book on Bridge and Beyond.  Have you read the important announcement?  If not, please click HERE and read. 

In our short almost month when we began in Dec of 2008 we donated 33 hats and 24 scarves, and now look at us.  Those were the items we started with and over the years we donated:

2008    33 Hats and  24 scarves

2009   335 Hats and 123 scarves

2010   592 Hats and 340 scarves

2011   969 Hats and 473 scarves

2012  1052 Hats and 666 scarves

2013  1053 Hats and 666 scarves

2014   971 Hats and  590 scarves

2015   468 Hats and  196 scarves

2016   516 Hats and  371 scarves

2017   371 Hats and  256 scarves

2018   270 Hats and  224 scarves

2019   300 Hats and  212 scarves

2020   351 Hats and  146 scarves

2021   310 Hats and  146 scarves............thus far, as of Oct 30th when this post was written.

So our biggest year for hats was 2013 with 1,053 and our lowest year for hats was 2018 with 270.  That's a whopping 7,591 hats that we've knitted and or crocheted and donated since Dec of 2008.  Think of the 7,591 warmer heads.  Together we all accomplished that.

And our best years for scarves were both 2012 and 2013 with 666 each year.  Our lowest was 2009 with 123.  And our total to date of knitted/crocheted scarves if 4,433.  I wear scarves a lot, so truly know how much warmer those 4,433 people were.  I hope you're all smiling and nodding in agreement.

So while we may be winding down the year and our work with Bridge and Beyond will be ending Dec 31st of this year; each and every person who participated throughout these past 13 years should feel very good about the people that were warmed by our hand crafted goodies.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Personal Care and Post Office Troubles, And ...

A small collection of personal care items collected on a recent short out of town with hubby.  It was on this trip to Hilton Head, SC a week or so back that I discovered all the problems now associated with doing a mail hold.  It's never been an issue before; but ..........our post office has closed which presented a whole host of problems that never existed before.

1. When your post office closes you can not qualify for a mail hold set up on line, even when signed  into your account.
2. You can not qualify for automated telephone mail hold
3. When you get a live human being, they can not do a mail hold for you
4. You must go in person, stand in line, and fill out a mail hold card (which they may or may not loose)
5. Once back in town you return to the post office nearest you, the one where you filled out the mail hold document and are told you can not pick up your mail there, you must go to the main office.
6. The following day arriving at the main post office after difficulty with finding a parking spot and it takes 3 people to find your mail.  But, hey I lucked out the lady in front of me had been back 3 times and no one could find her mail, nor her mail hold card.

Yes this is one of the reasons I've decided it's time to put an end date to this grassroots charity, Bridge and Beyond.  So, after 13 years Bridge and Beyond's last date will be Dec 31st of this year, 2021.

Hubby and I travel a good bit, and will be increasing time away as he nears retirement.  With mail issues (significant mail delays), and reduced time you can do a mail hold, and above stated problems........it seems the writing was on the wall.  Thus, I have made this decision after considerable thought.

Dec 2, 2008 I wrote my first blog post here on Bridge and Beyond where I asked a group of blog friends if they wanted to help.  It started out quite small.  We were going to help a group of folks living in the elements that a friend, Rae prepared hot meals for on Sat mornings.  Mostly men at the time, a few woman and no children.

In one weeks time, I started receiving emails asking for my address on Dec 8th, and on Dec 9, 2008 I received my first donation from Bunny.  Bunny was an avid supporter of Bridge and Beyond in the early years.  Some of you may remember her.  She moved onto supporting other charities from my memory; but it's a nice memory to remember she was the first donator to this charity, Bridge and Beyond.

I'll will continue to accept donations, and blog about them as the year continues.  AND, I will continue to share some history and memories of how we came to be and how we grew.  Please stay tuned.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Personal Care Gift Packages Help Homeless.

Thank you Tara B for this thoughtful donation.  Sorry the picture doesn't show up real well.  We were without electricity when I was processing a group of donations.  As you can see, there was some light coming in from the window, but it's not the best.  Please click to enlarge the photo, so you can see details.  In the lower left corner you'll see a soap box with soap in it, a couple of hygiene wipes (the pink packet), and 2 crocheted cotton washcloths...(hard to see as they're tan about the same color as my carpet).  This was all packaged together in a zip lock bag.  Notice all the packages on the fall right, and to the left of the scarf....I opened one package so you could see the contents and I could get a proper count.  What a cleaver way to package these needed personal items, Tara B!

Tara has also included toothbrushes, towards the top left in the picture and 2 crocheted scarves and hats.

This lovely donation will help many people in need.  The packages of personal care items really are like a gift package...very nice indeed.  AND with this donation, look where we are for our goal for cotton washcloths!  Seriously, one away.

***If you didn't read yesterday post, PLEASE DO!  Just scroll back for an important announcement was made yesterday.***

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Lots of Heart at Bridge and Beyond

One day on a recent walk through the neighborhood I spotted this lovely heart made of many colorful stones in someone's' flower bed.  Naturally I stopped and took a picture.  I thought I would share it with you all because there's been lots of heart here at Bridge and Beyond through the years.

I'll be sharing alot of stats in the coming months about where and how we started, back on Dec 2, 2008 and how we got where we are today in 2021.  A loving memory, a reflection as it were.  The reason?

I've made the decision after lots of thought, that Dec 31st, 2021 will be the last day for this grassroots charity, Bridge and Beyond.  There are many factors that played into my making this decision; but one is substantial changes in mail services.  My post office has closed down which has caused problems for me regarding holding mail when we travel.  We are away from home more each year and I see that increasing as my husband moves into retirement.  

Please know that each and everyone of you who visits the blog, who's donated through the years has made it possible for Bridge and Beyond to help Homeless for 13 years...indeed lots of heart.

Please continue to visit, as there are donations to see and stories and stats about Bridge and Beyond to see and read about between now and Dec 31st.

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.