We Are Ready for Easter

One of the lovely things about the Wish Closet is that not only do we prepare for seasonal changes, we also prepare for holidays and special days like Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day. In the week leading up to any of these special days, we run a raffle for beautiful gift baskets that have been lovingly prepared by our volunteer, Bernadette.

And inside the Wish Closet, we have decorations and gift ideas that are holiday themed as well.

Operation Cinderella

One of the little known secrets of the Wish Closet is what the volunteers call "Operation Cinderella" This is a collection of clothes that have been set aside for special occasions. This can be grade 8 grad, grade 12 grad, a wedding, a church event, a job interview or any other special event that requires fancier clothing. The items in this collection are kept separate from the Wish Closet, so if you are in need, please speak to one of the volunteers on duty.

 Operation Cinderella is for fellas, too. We have a selection  of suits, dress shirts, dress shoes and ties.

Not only do we have a selection of dresses, we also have dress shoes, pantyhose, bras and underwear.

Cooking Class

On Monday night, not only was the Wish Closet a beehive of activity with shoppers looking for summer clothing (in March!), but the Community Room across the hall was buzzing with activity as well.

In partnership with Grand River Health, Community Food Advisors were on hand to teach kids and adults alike how to prepare healthy snacks with seasonal foods. Seasonal foods are not only healthy, they are in abundance and often inexpensive to boot.

 This is a pineapple carrot cake which has been cut into pieces and formed to make a bunny. This young man is diligently adding the icing as he prepares to create his Easter dessert masterpiece

Its starting to look more like a bunny now!

And these young ladies are making fresh fruit kabobs with bananas, strawberries and apple pieces.

These fruit kabobs are a great after school or after activity snack. They are great by themselves or dipped in vanilla yogurt.

The "Dungeon" Gets a Makeover

Most people are not aware of our large storage room. We affectionately call this teh "Dungeon" It is the room where all of the donations go to be sorted and stored so that we have enough new items every week for our shoppers.

This past school year, we have had a big problem with flooding. As a result, Betty's husband offered to help make the Dungeon more functional and worked to make storage and sorting space that was off the ground and  less susceptible to flooding damage. The make over also means a tidier room which makes it easier for volunteers to find special request items as they come in.

Cleaning up the dust and getting the space ready for a makeover

Labelling the work areas

Creating shelves for storage 

Building cabinets

A new sorting table

Thank you Mr Finley for your work behind the scenes to create a functional workspace and for helping to clean up the Dungeon.

Thank you Audra for your continued dedication of hours and hours of sorting in the Dungeon. You are a powerhouse and your organizational skills keep us in great shape for our shoppers each week.

You are both Angels.

We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by assisting one another.  ~Luciano de Crescenzo