12/25/2021
UPDATE!
THE BOYS ARE HOME FROM ! And YOU ALL ARE AMAZING!
When Jayson Geisler and Jaycob Geisler arrived at the donation site on Wednesday, they were greeted with, "Oh, wow! You have so much stuff! We'll need you to go to the truck donation line instead." After arriving at the front of that line, they were met with 15 volunteers who were blown away by what Idaho had sent. One of the workers asked which boxes were new items and which were used. Jayson said, "Every single thing in this van is brand new. Everything." 🙂
**One thing that really stood out for Jayson was the look on the face of the volunteer who he handed a giant box of skateboards to. [TOTAL AWE]
The donation director (Jayson stayed in contact with her throughout the week) was so happy with the toys that you all gave for the kiddos. The community has a plan; until the residents have temporary housing to "go home" to, they are handing out "portable" toys to the kids (cue the Barbies & Hotwheels). Then, in January, when life is less hectic and housing is available, the town of Mayfield is putting on a sort of "New Beginnings" celebration where they'll give out the bigger, wrapped gifts, household items, and clothes.
FYI: We are fairly confident that there was close to $50,000 worth of CHRISTMAS in that van.
For those of you who have been following along, I thought you might like some fun facts about this little project in that made a BIG impression on the people of Kentucky.
Amongst the hundreds of kids' clothes and toys, here are some specific totals (yes, I counted...and then we got more of everything...and then my OCD Anxiety kicked in...so I started adding plus signs):
100+ Blankets
$6280 in cash
207 Boardgames
250+ Tubes of Toothpaste
341 Toothbrushes
500+ Toy Cars
53 Pairs of Shoes
91 Pacifiers
3,580 Babywipes
15 First Aid Kits
100+ Etch-a-Sketches
1,000 Glowsticks
8 Skateboards
1 Bicycle
450+ Barbies & Dolls
300 Bungee Cords
22 Extension Cords
4 Large Toolkits
25 Hammers
40 Ratchet Straps
25 Pairs of Work Gloves
15 Tarps
688 Diapers
39 Pillows
48 Pillowcases
24,000 Antibacterial Wipes
100+ RubixCubes
12 Mr. Potato Heads
131 Tubs of PlayDoh
14 SquishMellows
131 Sticks of Deodorant
700+ Tubes of Chapstick
**Keep in mind that this list is not even close to everything that you gave. There was too much stuff in that van to keep track of. 🙂
Thank you to everyone for filling our family's hearts with joy this Christmas by making this mission possible. ❤❤❤
Love,
Jayson, Emily, Jaycob, & Sydni Geisler