BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

I just spent the last few hours unpacking donations to Marine Corps Kids.
First, I must apologize to our crafters. Many of these gifts were sent months ago. Life circumstances and some health issues prevented me from unpacking your donations in a timely manner. I have more packages to unpack and photograph, and then I will post photos and thank yous to the donors. I'm very sorry that these acknowledgements are so delayed, but please know that your gifts are very much appreciated!!!
Whenever I open gifts to Marine Corps Kids, I am overwhelmed by the talent and generosity of our donors. We receive incredibly beautiful hand crafted items from both new and long time donors, and seeing these gifts always warms my heart! At a time when the news seems to be so grim and depressing, it is a wonderful reminder of how much goodness there is in the world!

Over the years, it has been my privilege to process all of the gifts to Marine Corps Kids, so I know better than anyone how incredibly generous our donors are and how much great work this group has done. We have sent gifts to thousands of families, and the thought of this effort ending is very sad.

So......

I am delighted to announce some GREAT NEWS!

MARINE CORPS KIDS WILL NOT BE CEASING OPERATIONS AT THE END OF THIS YEAR! We have too many wonderful people doing wonderful things to allow our work to stop. We will, however, be reorganizing and streamlining our efforts to save money and deliver the goods to our military families in a more timely manner.
I am reaching out to volunteers on military bases to try to arrange for our donors to ship gifts directly to the base. This will save us the expense of double postage, and allow gifts to reach the families faster. Rather than receiving and processing your gifts, I will become a liaison between volunteers on base and our crafters. I will post where gift items are needed, so that our crafters can ship their gifts directly to where they can be used. Crafters will be able to post photographs of their creations here on our Facebook page, volunteers can share stories, the public can read about what we do, and most importantly, we as a group can continue to support our military families with our handmade crafts.

As I announced early, I will be accepting donations through the beginning of November, so that we can send out many gift bundles during the holiday season. Then, early in 2015, I will post more details about our new operating style.

I hope that our Marine Corps Kids Crafters will continue to support the families through this new system. Our crafters are an amazing group of people, and I know that we can continue to support our military families in 2015 and beyond.