October is the Month for Harvest and for Thanksgiving

The Wish Closet has been the lucky recipient of two wonderful harvests this month, and we are truly thankful. The first event that we received a donation from was the Shop Til You Drop event at the Polish Hall on October 13. This is the second annual Shop Til You Drop and the organizers use this opportunity to fundraise for the Food Bank. Betty Finley was fortunate enough to get a call to see if the Wish Closet would like to be given the clothing items that didn’t sell. What a wonderful gift for the customers at the Wish Closet. Armed with garbage bags, 3 Wish Closet Volunteers set to work to gather a variety of items like belts, shoes, purses, sweaters, prom/graduation dresses, plus size clothing and work wear for woman returning to the work force.

Nine garbage bags filled with wonderful items were returned to the storage area of the Wish Closet that night. We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Cathy Bohemier for offering these items to the Wish Closet so that others in the community can benefit.

Then, following the Multiples N More garage sale at the Civic Centre on October 22, the Wish Closet was able to once again receive donations of much needed baby items. This is  a very special partnership for the Wish Closet. All of these items are saved for a very special night when a teen parenting group comes to shop for their babes. This opportunity allows them to get clothing, toys, bedding, furniture and many other things that these parents struggle to provide. Freeing up the money for these items allows the teens to make other important purchases like laundry soap, cleaning supplies and other expensive items that often get left because there is only so much money to go around.

Look for the blog post after November 7^th when this very special group comes to the Wish Closet for their fall shopping.

Saturday’s donations included 10 bags of various clothing, shoes, boots, toys, books, a swing and bedding. It required 2 vehicles to haul away all of the wonderful donations for storage at the Wish Closet.

Thank You once again to the amazing moms of the Multiples N More group.

It's Cool to Be Kind - Meet the Wish Closet's Great Kid

When the nominations opened this year for the Expositor's Great Kids Contest, Wish Closet Creator Betty Finley knew just who to nominate.
Christopher began volunteering on Monday nights when the Wish Closet first opened in September 2007.

He would get picked up from school at 3pm to be "on deck" at the Wish Closet at 3:30. He would sign out at school and always gave his reason for leaving as "going to work" In the four plus years that Christopher volunteered, he carried donations in and out of the Wish Closet, assisted at pick ups from Winners and from the Multiples and More garage sales.

Christopher helped to sort, fill special requests, keep little visitors entertained, broke down boxes and made sure visitors signed in each week.

Christopher continues to keep the statistics of our monthly visitors. At the end of each shift, Christopher would sweep up and spray the room to keep it fresh for the next group of visitors.

When Christopher decided to retire from Monday nights and to continue to help out "behind the scenes", Betty wrote to the Toronto Rock, Christopher's favourite lacrosse team to ask for a special prize for him. He was thrilled to learn that he won 2 free tickets to any game he wants in the 2012 season.

But, Betty wasn't finished yet. She also nominated Christopher for the Great Kids contest through the Expositor. Christopher found out in early August that he had made it as a finalist. His category (Cool to be kind, ages 6 - 12) was the most popular category with the most number of kids being nominated. Making it as a finalist meant Christopher was in the top four. Quite an honour for any kid.

Our table with the Kid of Honour

A thank you and congratulations to all of the nominees from Phil McColeman

Christopher's story is shared with the audience

Our nominee listens to his story

The Wish Closet's Great Kid wins in his category of Cool To Be Kind and celebrates by sharing his spotlight with his nominator, Betty Finley.

Christopher's story will be featured in the Brantford Expositor on Thursday, October 20th along with the other nominees.

As a winner, Christopher received a $500 RESP from RBC, certificates of congratulations from both Phil McColeman and Dave Levac, a gift certificate for Chapters, Cineplex and Wendy's as well as a gift card from the Oh Canada, Eh dinner show in Niagara Falls (which just happens to be one of Christopher's favourite places!)

But best of all, he gets acknowledged for all of his dedication, his caring heart and his years of service to others. Thank you, Betty, for nominating  Christopher. Thank you to the judges for believing in him. And CONGRATULATIONS, Christopher. You ARE a GREAT Kid!