UPDATE (11/30/2009) - A BIG thank you to those of you who participated in ANY way with this project.  Although it has come to an end, may your service continue!!  I welcome you to continue helping and serving those at the Ronald McDonald house, or else where.  There are so many needs and ways to serve.  You are all amazing people and I am so grateful for your willingness to serve and help others.  THANK YOU!  You are welcome to continue donating cards and/or blankets to your local Ronald McDonald house or you can mail your donations to Sherrill (address is below)  ANY TIME and she will see they are put to good use.  For your information, we donated 7,372 cards and 831 blankets.  THANK YOU everyone!!!!!  ~ Melanie  : )

I am starting a new tradition here at SugarDoodle.  The last few months I have been thinking about starting an annual service project and I am going to go for it and hope you will join me.

I am teaming up with Sherrill Graff to help fill a desperate need for homemade cards and blankets for the Ronald McDonald house.  Most parents with sick children can not afford to go to the gift shop to buy a gift for their child. Your cards would allow them to cheer up their children often during their stay.  Most children are in ICU rooms....which means they don't allow flowers and balloons; however, they do allow cards :)

The houses also need little blankets to give each child when they arrive. The blanket goes home with the child when they leave the house after recovering from their hospital stay.

This particular project will last for three months starting September 1 and ending November 30th.  So how will it work exactly?  Let me explain....



Organize a group of family or friends and create some cards and/or blankets.  You could also do this as a Relief Society, Young Women group or as a Primary activity, Young Single Adults, girl scouts, Activity Days, school, etc., etc....  You could set up a monthly date that you and your friends get together and make cards or blankets, turn up the music and get creative.  Now I can hear some of you now.... "But I don't know how to sew....." or "I don't do cards."  Just do the best you can.  If you don't feel that is something you can do, consider donating the supplies necessary to someone who can. 



When you are ready to turn in your donations, you can either.....

1st option  - Take them to your local Ronald McDonald house and save yourself the postage.  Now if you are asking yourself, "Where do I take my donation?  Where is the closest location?"  CLICK HERE to find the address of the closest Ronald McDonald house.  They are located in 52 countries around the world.

2nd option - Mail them directly to Sherrill.  Her mailing address is:

Sherrill Graff
605 Kendrick Place
Boulder City, Nevada 89005

I will be keeping a update on my side bar to let you know how many cards and blankets have been donated. 

PLEASE....if you donate your materials directly to your local Ronald McDonald house (instead of mailing them to Sherrill), e-mail me and let me know how many cards and/or how many blankets you provided.  That way your efforts can be included in our totals.  Please title the subject line (in your e-mail) as Fall Service Project.  THANKS!



I will be hosting my own card-making-full-of-fun evening!!  So, if you live in the Salt Lake area and would like to join me and some of my friends, PLEASE come!!!!!

Mark your calendars now to reserve the date. I would love to meet you in person!  Just bring your card making supplies and a treat to share (if you'd like) and even a friend.  Come and stay a while.

DATE? - November 7, 2009 (Saturday)

WHEN? - 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. - Come for a few minutes or come for a few hours.  Either way, I'd love for you to come.

WHERE? - LDS Meetinghouse at 1555 Lovely Road in Taylorsville, Utah (84123).  We'll be meeting in the cultural hall.  If you are not familiar with the area, you can type your starting address here (http://tinyurl.com/m6lnoj) and it will give you the driving directions.  

CHILDREN? - There will not be a nursery...this is your night out!  You deserve it.

OTHER... - You can also just stop by for a few minutes and bring any donations you have already completed.  Or if you have supplies you'd like to donate so others can make cards or blankets, please let me know. 

Q & A:

Do the cards have to be homemade? - Hand crafted please. The hand crafted ones always get used up first. I know they handmade cards go directly to the families using the RMhouses all over the USA. Stampin Up has been working with RMHouses for the past 5 years supplying product cardstock, ink and stamps to make cards for the children. The back cover on their catalog shows the special RMH stamps they created to help raise money. 

Are there specifications on the blankets? - Nope.  Any size or kind is great, new or in like-new condition.  They can be any color, style, size, etc.  They are given to newborns up to age sixteen.  For those of you who don't sew, fleece blankets are very easy to make.  Just buy enough fleece to make a blanket and tie the edges.  Plus they are very warm and soft.

Is there a particular sentiment you are looking for on these cards? - Anything along the lines of “I love you” or “Feel better soon” or “Thinking of you”….. or holiday specific cards such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.

If you have any other questions, feel free to e-mail myself or Sherrill:

Melanie - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Sherrill - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it     

LINKS - If you want to read more about this project here are a couple of posts Sherrill has put together:

- http://rmhc.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/30-ways-in-30-days/spread-the-word-by-sharing-your-story/ 

- http://latenightstamper-stampandscrap.blogspot.com/

YAHOO GROUP - You are welcome to join the Cards for Ronald McDonald Yahoo group.  Sherrill just started it and can be found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CardsforRMHkids.  

I'm excited and look forward to this challenge and hope you'll join me!  THANK YOU!

---

** If you'd like to take pictures of your groups hard at work...or a picture of you donating your blankets/cards, I'd love to post them here!  Just e-mail them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  THANKS again!!!

September 27, 2009 - The Young Women and Young Men of the Tuttle Branch of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma South Stake made 60 cards for the Ronald McDonald house children.  We also took the youth on a tour of the house to visit some of the children they made the cards for. Thanks Sugardoodle for the great idea!

September 27, 2009 - The following three pictures are from Bangkok, Thailand.

September 29, 2009 - The following three pictures are of the Woodruff Ward in Logan, Utah

October 12, 2009 - Yo Doelling writes, "We are from Williamsburg Ward in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We got together for one YW Wednesday night activity (an hour is all we had) and made these cards to support Sugardoodle.net service project efforts.  We made 19 cards.  We hope to support Sugardoodle.net's efforts in the future!"

Thanks gals, you're wonderful!!  ~ Melanie

October 19, 2009 - Lisa McGrath writes, "Every General Conference my dad always takes all the men and young men in our family who go to priesthood to dinner.  So all the girls get together to make a craft.  We always order in takeout and just have fun being together.  So this time we decided it was time to give back and joined in your service project. We made 160 cards and 14 blankets."

October 20, 2009 - Kalu Lor writes, "My name is Kalu and I'm the Primary President for the Sacramento 3rd Hmong Branch in Sacramento, California.  Here are some pictures of our Primary children hard at work making blankets and cards. We decided to come together yesterday and do a service project. Overall we made 14 blankets and about 25 cards. Thanks you so much for this great idea. I hope to do it again next year."

October 21, 2009 - Mrs. Kraupp writes, "We are from the Washington Fields 2nd Ward Young Women in Southern Utah.  We had a young woman organize and carry out making cards for the Ronald McDonald House as a value project.  We made a total of 302 cards!  It was a great evening for everyone there.  We donated the cards to the Ronald McDonald House in Boise, Idaho.  Thanks for allowing us the opportunity to serve!"

October 23, 2009 - I'm from P.A. Washington Stake, and our Primary has been making cards at what we call "the gathering activity" -- the first ten minutes before Primary opening exercises.    We always have some sort of activity planned each week to tie in with the monthly theme, and when I originally saw your post about the R.M. House project, I knew right away what we'd do from September through November!  The children run from the chapel after sacrament to primary, and since this particular project began, they look forward to the new materials we place out every Sunday to create a new card.  Even though the younger ones attempt 'in their own creative way' to produce a card for someone they will never meet, they are actively engaged in this effort, and I applaud all of them for their willingness to help other children.  In the past we've had first aid kits for ward families, and foster care kits for displaced children on the Olympic Peninsula, assembled over 3-4 months time, and apply the finishing touches to the canvas bags at our annual Trunk or Treat Ward Activity.  (At this ward event, families who have never been to the church witness service, and alongside other children attending that night, paint their handprints onto the bags which will hold the contents.)  So thank you for suggesting this activity; we have also enlisted Activity Days Girls, Young Women's, and Relief Society.  The Primary children decorated (with stickers) a large box which hold the cards, as well as 'infant' size fleece blankets some are working on.  (Comments by Diane Carriveau)

October 25, 2009 - Natalie Roper writes, "Our Young Women of the Roy, Utah 9th ward have been focusing on serving others, and your fall service project gave us another great opportunity to do just that! Thanks for the wonderful idea! 


 

November 3, 2009 - Denise Maseuli writes, "Here are two photos of our primary (Junior and Senior) making blankets during sharing time for the Fall Service Project (The theme this month is service!) It was fun!  I will be delivering 10 blankets to the Ronald McDonald House in Sacramento, California."

November 5, 2009 - "My daughter decided to have a Service Party and make cards with some of her friends on a day off of school.  She made invites and could hardly wait for the girls to come.  They had a great time making cards to send you.  It was a wonderful way to teach these girls that service is fun.  They made 40 cards and enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you for putting together this way to serve others." (by Cricket Veenker)

November 18, 2009 - Wendy Beus writes, "The Pasco Activity Day girls added 32 cards to the "pot" and will be delivering them to the nearest Ronald McDonald House in Spokane, Washington.  Thenaks for organizing such a fun service project!
 

November 19, 2009 - Brook McCune writes, "Thank you so much for the service opportunity you have given us.  I got a group of women together from my ward (St. George, Ut) and we had a great time sewing and making cards.  I hope that you can count what we made even though we did not donate to the Ronald McDonald house.  We instead donated to the Jubilee house which is local to St. George but serves the same purpose as the Ronald McDonald house.  We were able to donate 56 blankets and 364 note cards."

November 20, 2009 - The Philadelphia Spring Garden (spanish) Ward Primary writes, "The Activity Day girls and the Cub Scouts got together for a very fun day of blanket making. We brought it back to where it all started. The children thought it was neat that the first Ronald McDonald house opened here in Philly. He they are hard at work and excited to give these warm blankets to children who need them. Thanks for the fun idea and for the opportunity to join you in your project to serve!"

November 21, 2009 - Emily Grigg writes, "I wanted to let you know that we managed to make 5 blankets with our Beehive's and Mia Maid's classes. We decided to try to help the girls learn to sew, so we made flannel blankets. Now all I need to do is figure out how to get them to the Ronald McDonald house!  Thanks for suggesting this service project, I think it's really great."

November 22, 2009 - The Peterborough Branch, NH  YW got together and made these cards last month. We sent them to Ronald MacDonald House in Springfield, MA. We got a great thank you note and they even want to use one of our designs for their volunteer thank you notes! Thanks for the great service project idea. We plan to do this again soon. Eleni Garcia, Bizh Kelly, Savannah White, Jenn Horne and Pat Maynard


 

November 27, 2009 - Tiffany Kingston writes, "I just wanted to let you know that the Olive Knolls Ward, Bakersfield, California Stake, are donating 40 blankets and 150 cards to our local Ronald McDonald House.  We will be taking them in the week after Thanksgiving.  Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful service project.  As a primary, every fall we do a service project along with our last quarterly activity.  We do a Toy-Drive-In. Our kids look forward to it every year.  The children make a car (cardboard, wagon, tote, laundry basket) whatever they can think of.  They come to the church with their cars. We have a parade where we give out 3 awards for each group (jr,sr) then we split them into their groups.  One group goes to the Drive-In movie, they use a toy or book that they brought to donate (if they choose+ then the  watch the movie, eat popcorn, and have drinks, the other group is working on the service project.  This time we had card kits that the kids assembled. Then they swi  tch. We already had the blankets done (scouts, activity days, and families that volunteered) so we collected most of them that night too.  This year we watched "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" each year the movie, and the service project is different, but the cars, the toys, and the feeling of helping and serving is the same.  Thank you for being a part of it."

November 30, 2009 - The Sycamore Primary writes, "Our primary presidency loved your service project idea. We had planned a while back as a primary presidency to do a service project in November, so it worked out wonderful to be a part of this group effort.  On November 14 the Sycamore Illinois Ward Primary did the fall service project. We taught the kids about service and the Ronald McDonald houses. We then had groups rotate making cards and tying quilts. Our primary sent 160 cards and 9 fleece blankets to the Ronald McDonald house in Oakbrook, IL (Chicago).  The children loved it and felt the spirit of service.  Thanks for the great idea."

I wish you could have seen their faces when we walked in to give them the blankets. What a great experience for me and my girls! They explained to us that every time a new checks in to the house, they are given a welcome package with different items, one of them being a blanket. She says that you can tell the families especially love the ones that are handmade! They know how much time and effort and LOVE goes into each blanket.   

I wanted to thank you again for giving the Escondido Hills Ward in Escondido, CA the opportunity to serve others in our community! (I obviously got more out of it than the children!) I am definitely going to continue this tradition each year! Maybe I can get the entire stake to participate!"  = )