Baby clothes

I didn't take pictures but today I took 16 sets of 3 baby items down to the local Alpha Women's center. It is a social organization that helps women who are pregnant and don't have finances to get through their pregnancies and deliveries and get started as a new momma. Some of the items were sleepers, some changing pads, some burp cloths, some bottle wraps, and some bibs. Made me feel kinda good to know that 16 desperate mommas out there will have a bright good experience because of my packages.

Last night we took food to two families whose wives/mommas have just had surgery. The one young woman is out of work and so is her husband. They have two very little kids. She developed a bladder infection but because they didn't have insurance, she didn't go to the doctor, hoping to tough it out. Monday the dad came home to find her onconscious on the floor and the kids by her crying. Turns out the infection had spread to her kidneys. I made a big dinner and then grocery shopped and left several bags of basics and meat. She was pretty astounded. It was fun.

The other lady had a tumor removed from her brain about 3 weeks ago across the state. She recently was brought back to Grand Rapids for rehab. Her husband is having to cope without her so I took him a meal too. They live near the young girl I mentioned.

God bless you Esther, there is a special place set at the table for you.

So many people in Michigan are hurting. And Pete just got notice that his unemployment will continue another 20 weeks. The young couple only has welfare and that thing for mothers with babies, WIC---oh and family.

Well it's one thing I can do that makes me feel good + knowing it makes someone else feel good too. Yah, it's nice to give money and maybe the young couple would have rather had the cash. But I know how to shop and cook using the bare basics and don't know the young mother well enough to know if she does. I asked her if she cooks from scratch. She said, "Yah, I have to." So that's what I took them, a lot of beans, rice, pasta and baking stuff like flour, sugar, brown sugar, oil, etc. Hot dogs were $1 and that cheap greasy hamburg was on sale for $5.99 for a 5 pound tube. Oh and the chicken tenderloins were only $4.99 for a 40 ounce bag. Puts boneless skinless chicken at $2 a pound. Not sure if that is cheaper than whole chicken at $.99 when the skin, fat, and bones are removed. Anyway, too late now because that's what I bought. Found some outdated pork on sale and clearance so that was a good price too. Cabbage was cheap, onions, potatoes, carrots on sale, and the store had a $.99 sale so was able to get a lot of stuff for $.99. In the end I saved $15.60 just buying sale items.
I had some stuff I had bought with coupons where I had to get two to use the coupon so was able to add stuff from my cupboards. For instance, the other day I bought 3 containers of laundry soap for the price of one, knowing it would take a hundred years for me to use it up. So Pete said, "Maybe we can give it to somebody." And sure enough, we did.

I'm thinking that I probably look "boasting" but really am hoping someone would be motivated to do something similar.