What happens to potholder donations when they arrive?
The life of a potholder donation varies by what is included with the potholder, how it may already be tagged and/or packaged, and where it is sent to. Some weavers include handwritten notes or nicely done flyers with their potholders. Most send us their potholders ready for me and/or volunteers to tag, bag, and deliver.
This was the very first donation received in Towson, MD!
Volunteers took a picture and I went to visit. Here’s the story…
First, we copied the beautiful flyer that came with these Pro-sized potholders.
Sadly, the copy I kept was the one on pink paper that had no color. The original flyer was abundant with Thanksgiving color that really popped on the white paper! Apologies to the amazing Joanne Walker who crafted these potholders and also the thoughtful flyer that will go with them.
Next, we tagged the potholders with a THXGPP tag, placed the potholder in a gallon-size plastic bag, made sure the Thanksgiving wish side of the tag faced outward, placed the colorful flyer on the other side of the potholder, and voila! These 5 potholders form the beginning of the ACTC THXGPP potholder box!!
At home, I found a lovely surprise shipment at my door. So sorry that I forgot to take pictures of the ACTC process, I went to work bagging, tagging, and photographing the amazing contributions from Margie!
I love this picture not just because of the artistry and generosity it represents but also because it shows off the two most popular potholder sizes.
The smaller mug rug size is just a bit too small for giving to families who may not instinctively know what to do with them. But, wait! No work of potholder art goes un-homed! Mug rug-sized creations are tagged and bagged for use as volunteer Thank You gifts. Every size potholder finds a home!
Margie’s creations came with beautiful handwritten notes to include with each potholder!
Every potholder that arrives with a note, flyer, or tag is read by me and/or up to several volunteers before the THXGPP tag is added, and the potholder is bagged. All notes, tags, and flyers are carefully included with each gift.
The front side of a bagged potholder.
Wait for it ….
The gift side of a bagged potholder 🙂
That’s it. Now you know just about everything that goes into tagging and bagging a Thanksgiving Potholder Project potholder. Thank you for reading.
There is still time to Donate!
Potholder donations can be mailed to:
c/o Burke UMC 6200 Burke Centre Parkway, Burke, VA 22015
ACTC Attn: Tammy, 116 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Towson, MD 21204
These 2 recipient food pantry locations are staffed daily and accept donations directly by mail or in-person drop-off. If they receive more than they need, they will work with me to get extras to the third location. No worries about receiving too many b/c one of the locations can take up to 3,000 potholders! They are an Association of Churches serving multiple locations. This year’s goal is for us to help them serve one of the many locations they are connected to. Any ‘extra’ will first go to serving a second location and so on.
The November 14 deadline includes wiggle room
One pantry plans to distribute Thanksgiving food boxes on Saturday, 11/19, and another on Monday and Tuesday, 11/21 and 11/22. The third location typically distributes on Wednesdays and I have not yet confirmed if that will be 11/16 or 11/23. If you can get your contributions in on or before November 14, we will have plenty of time for tagging, bagging, and making sure each location has what they need with room for sharing any extras.
THANK YOU
to all the wonderful weavers out there for sharing your time, talent, and care with families that you will likely never meet. This is what we humans do when we are at our best. Namaste.
Questions? Email Beth at THXGPP@gmail.com