Volunteer Spotlight: Milt Cruver

Thank you Milt!

We would like to introduce you to one of the volunteers at Holly House who does so much for us behind the scenes. Milt Cruver signed up to be a volunteer just before our 2014 Holly House event, but we didn't know the extent of his abilities or his dedication until after that event. Since then, he has been a go-to person for our Director and our program. He is a go-getter, and a doer; he has never ending energy, and a drive that will inspire you.

Some of Milt's contributions to Holly House include: picking up and sorting donations all year long for us whenever he's called upon, disposing of all of our recycling, procured donations for our 2015 Gala (the Ride with a Cop and Swim Party), procured items for our 2015 event (2 refrigerators, curtains, carts and plastic from Lowe's, and a trailer truck from U Haul), covered the windows with wrapping paper, and so much more. Most notably, he led the tear down of the 2015 event, and it was the smoothest it's ever been - the site was left in immaculate condition.

Covering the site windows with wrapping paper

The most rewarding thing he has found volunteering with Holly House has been seeing family members of the children we serve become volunteers themselves for Holly House in their free time. They may not be able to afford some items for their children, but they have time and can sort, collect, or work the event set up or shopping day. Knowing they don't have to volunteer but they do it because Holly House has touched them is something that proves the work we do is so valuable.

When he is not living in Arizona or traveling with his wife, he lives here in WA to help his son's family by babysitting 2 of his grandchildren (his daughter-in-law is an elementary school teacher, so they come for the school year). Holly House is something else he takes part in while he is in WA, and he says he volunteers "...for the children. Without Holly House, 2,000 children wouldn't get what they need; socks, pajamas, books, underwear, and even toys at Christmas". He learned of our program through his other grandchildren's school, who attend an Edmonds School District school. He has 3 children of his own, and 4 grandchildren.

Hard at work!

Milt is a 20 year Marine Veteran, and also spent 15 years in local law enforcement - and he has a lot of experience in the volunteer world. While in AZ, he also volunteers with Toys for Tots, Home For Our Troops, and their local VFW #7400. What amazing organizations he has chosen to support, and we are proud to be one of them. Thank you Milt! With parents who served in the military, he was taught from a young age "service above self" - and this is apparent with his efforts to help people in need when he finds them.

When asked what he would like people to know about Holly House, he said "Like other non-profits we are able to get donations of materials (eg. Carters, Mattel), but it also takes funding to run the operation. The day to day takes money. If I had to ask for one thing from the public, it would be a lead for a full time facility where we can collect, sort, and have a drop off location. Right now we are working out of 4 storage units and they are insufficient for what we get by the end of the year (in addition to sorting items outside in the driveway). A 5-6000 sq. ft. store front either donated or leased at a great discount would be ideal."

Holly House: Fall Update 2015

Volunteers at a prior event - will this be you this December?

We are starting to really ramp up our activities for our 3 day event in December. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes, and there will be a lot coming up! Stay tuned for volunteer requests and details about our shopping event the weekend of Dec 11th. Be sure you're on our email list so we can inform you of the site and volunteer details for the event by filling out our form on the volunteer profile page.

Here are some updates from Pam, our Executive Director:

• We are broadcasting our very first ever year-end plea for financial support for Holly House. Our operational funds are in the negative.
  
  Please consider giving a monthly donation of $10, $15, $20 or a one time donation (or partner up with your company!). We need to be able to keep our lights on so we can continue to help our children with gifts and necessities.Holly House cannot continue without your support - Our children need your help! 

• We are searching for an underwriter(s) for our 3 day event - this person or business would cover costs such as location rental fee, table rentals, chairs, etc. and in return their name(s) would be displayed at the event. Estimated costs are $2500. See our Sponsor page for more details. 



Homemade cookies needed!

• Our official website has been launched! Visit us at hollyhouseforkids.org. Thank you to Eric Cruthird and Jen Winckler for getting this up and running. 
• We are beginning to sign people up to bake homemade cookies for our clients waiting in line to enter Holly House to shop for free for their children. Please contact Karen at orstad4@frontier.com to help. 
• Donations are rolling in for our kids, including 30 pallets of new toys from one of our donors and 4 vanloads of toys from another donor. Thank you!!! 

Drives are under way

• We have begun pajama, sock, underwear, sports equipment, and stocking stuffer drives. If you, your business, or organization would like to host a drive or drop box, please contact us! Neighborhood schools have also begun organizing drives. Our teens historically are most under-served by Holly House, and we are pushing to get an abundance of items for them this year. If you can't host a drive but still want to donate items, we are collecting them now! 
• Our Macaroni Grill Fundraiser was a huge success, thank you to everyone who came out to support us. We don't have final numbers yet, but we do know that sales for their typical Tuesday increased greatly because of our event. 
• All of the paperwork has been submitted to the IRS and we are awaiting final approval for our 501(c)(3) status. This means we would no longer need a fiscal sponsor and will be our own entity. We are currently still interviewing for additional Board members.



We love your Trick or Treat leftovers 

• We will have a Volunteer Handbook for all volunteers helping with the 3 day event this year. Thank you to Dominic Aldridge for your offer to help with this huge task! 
• We accept Halloween candy to use in stockings! Donate any unwanted candy to the kids of Holly House. 

• We are so excited about our amazon.com wishlist - you can go to the wishlist, select gifts and necessities for our kids, and the items will be shipped directly to us. This link is also listed on our website. 

  

  click to visit our wishlist!

Thank you for your continued support of Holly House and our kids. We could not do Holly House without all of you!

Pam Martinez

Volunteer Spotlight: Cindy Goodman

Here is Cindy at a PJ sorting event

One of our dedicated volunteers found us while working with children in 2 of our supported schools. Please meet Cindy Goodman: she sees on a daily basis the struggles that our families are in, and how it affects their children--no jackets, socks, or food can really impact their ability to learn. Not only does she volunteer, but she is a fierce financial supporter.

The impact that volunteering with Holly House has had on her drives her to help in many ways, most recently by procuring items and sponsors for our first ever Gala and auction, and she hopes to continue to find annual sponsors for Holly House.

I think her experience is best told in her own words, which she shared in a letter to Pam about what Holly House means to her:

"For many years, my husband, Greg, has gone out shopping during the holidays to buy toys to donate to various children’s charities and women’s shelters.  When our favorite women’s shelter shut down, he was referred to “Holly House”.  It was always rewarding and simple to donate either toys or money, but I learned that Holly House was also in need of volunteers, which seemed, to me, a much more personal way of giving help and seeing how these charities manage the tremendous need in our community.

I contacted Pam Martinez, who invited me to help with the Holly House holiday “shopping” event for low income families. I was humbled by the incredible number of items available, but mostly with the unbelievable amount of work put into this event and the enthusiasm each volunteer contributed. It was, by far, the best organized event I had seen, with everyone knowing their job and giving hours upon hours of their time to make it work like a well-oiled machine.   Most of all, I was touched by the genuine love and respect that showed on the faces of each volunteer, which is, to me, the most important part of any charity.

As a paraeducator, I see children on a daily basis who come to school with no socks, jackets, boots or gloves in the dead of winter. My first instinct is to bring these items to give them but, due to the pride and/or shame of the parents, we are not allowed to do so (we do provide these items for use while they’re at school, however). At Title I schools, two out of three meals a day are given (to approved students) by the school district, but I knew those kids were getting little to eat when at home, the most needy taking home backpacks of food on the weekends.

At Holly House, these families are given tickets based on their income, and are free to come “shop” for gifts and necessities for their children.  They are among other people who are in their same situation for a multitude of reasons, and they feel much more at ease. Accepting charity is not easy for most people, but through Holly House, the parents can provide their children with toys, pajamas, socks, underwear, dental supplies, stuffed animals, toiletries, hats, scarves and books while being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

I am a small player in this wonderful program; I have participated in a couple of planning meetings, and donate my time when my schedule allows.  Truckloads of necessities and toys come in from donors, and every item must be sorted and organized for efficient storage until they can be distributed.  The volunteers come from far and wide to get the job done, with shared camaraderie and a sense of purpose.

Pam Martinez is the driving force behind Holly House (along with many volunteers, without whom none of this would be possible).  Pam seems to have had a “calling”, and somehow manages to overcome every obstacle thrown at her. When there is need, she finds a way.  I am honored to know each and every person I’ve met through Holly House, and hope to continue working alongside them to give a hand up to families who need it." 

                               ~ Cindy 

How to host a toy drive

We have had a few schools hold toy and pajama drives for us and we thought we'd give you a step-by-step process in the event you wanted to organize one as well! These details can also be used to organize a drive at your workplace or business. Read about of one of the past school drives, and a touching example of student involvement.

Brier Elementary had the support of the
Principal and Student Council

·  Contact Pam Martinez (425-673-0526) and let her know of your plans, discuss details. Plan your drive for the week before the Holly House event to minimize storage issues. 

·  Work with school administration and PTA to make sure they are on board. 

·  Offer your time and support to fully execute the drive; this alleviates any pressure for someone to say "no" since you're volunteering to do the work. 

·  Get some upper grade level students to paint some signs a few weeks before and post them around school. Include it in the PTA newsletter the month/weeks before. 

·  Enlist the help of the student council - they may be able to make daily morning announcements a few days before and the week of the drive. If your school has a Facebook page, use that to post updates and reminders. 

·  Create a project meter or tally (a thermometer goal, or number of boxes collected count, etc). Set a goal of # of boxes filled, or number of items collected, number of students supported, etc. We recommend not offering incentives, but rather help kids feel good about their participation. 

·  Be mindful of the fact that many students at your school may qualify to be a participant in Holly House, and may have nothing to give, but may be very willing to give their time somehow (encouraging participation, making signs, standing in collection zone, etc) 

·  Set up brightly colored (wrapped in holiday paper) boxes in the Office or Library. Make sure they have a sign for when they are unattended. Have someone stand at a box in the drop off/pick up area morning and afternoon, perhaps wearing a funny hat or with a big sign. These are your cheerleaders, friendly faces to help people remember why they are donating. 

School families sorting donations gathered
over the week in a volunteer's garage

·  If the school doesn't have room to store the items (or doesn't want to be responsible), transport the items to a location off site daily, but tally the items so the students can still visually see progress somehow. 

·  Keep in mind that Holly House currently has no permanent storage facility, so it is preferred that you keep the items and deliver them to the Holly House event itself rather than having us find a place to store them. (Someone's garage works well for the week). 

·  Sort the toys - stuffed animals, games, teen gifts, pajamas, etc. Create an inventory to give to Holly House including # of toys and clothing items and estimated value (you can use an average cost!). You do NOT need to inventory each item separately, just a count is fine. 

·  Arrange drop off the morning of the first day of the event. Bring your donation and see what Holly House is all about at the same time. It may take several car-loads if you're successful! Plan to caravan and make an event of it. 

·  Organize members of your school to volunteer for the Holly House event and help to set up for the event and/or work the day of the shopping event, and/or clean up. It's a 3 day project and we need LOTS of hands to move in and out of a gymnasium, while at the same time creating a holiday wonderland for our clients. 

Toy delivery to Holly House - what a good feeling!!

Holly House currently only collects new toys for distribution - sports equipment and teen gifts are especially needed. New pajamas, socks, and underwear are also popular items to collect at drives. 

Volunteer Spotlight: Ingrid Adams

We would like to introduce you to one of our long time volunteers at Holly House: Ingrid Adams. Ingrid has been working with Holly House for the past 5 years and her outgoing personality are a true asset to us and the kids we serve. Her career experience is in property management and the skills she brings to Holly House benefit us in many ways.

Promoting Holly House at one of our community events

Ingrid is a procurement magician - she talks to anyone and everyone about Holly House and often they are surprised to hear about us. Ingrid says "It's amazing how many people want to help but just don't know how or where." She has arranged drop boxes at businesses she frequents, spreads the word to friends who may want to volunteer or donate items, found people who love to knit scarves/hats for us, as well as procured auction items for our recent Gala. She's also a whiz at selling raffle tickets at our events - maybe you've purchased a few from her! As our Director says, "Ingrid can sell ice to an Eskimo!"

Ingrid reminds me that we often don't realize the talents we have - for her, talking to anyone or approaching them about an opportunity to help is natural, but not everyone can do that. Her hope is that more people learn about Holly House and find ways to contribute in whichever way comes natural to them.

Busy at the Gala selling raffle tickets

She started with Holly House by procuring books from local businesses and managing the book booth at the Holly House event. She loves how the volunteers all come together and how some clients will volunteer out of appreciation for the help they receive.

It is rewarding to Ingrid knowing that all of the work being done benefits families right here in our own neighborhoods. "All of the parents are so appreciative and often many come back year after year and say they don't know what they would do without Holly House"; and that's something she is very proud to help with. Volunteering has been eye-opening for her, "to learn that these families don't have change to spare to buy things at Goodwill for a few dollars - everything they receive makes a big impact in their lives, and in turn makes a huge impact on the children. By helping the parents, we are helping the children".

Through family ties, Ingrid knew Holly House's Director, Pam Martinez, and heard about Holly House through her. Ingrid loves children (she has 5 grandchildren through marriage, and lots of nieces and nephews), and the fact that Holly House is local made it a good fit. Coincidentally, she has several good friends named Holly! She also is a volunteer usher at the 5th Avenue, Paramount, and Village theaters and has volunteered to help find sponsorship for community events for other organizations she works with. Currently on a career break to spend time with family, she's enjoying the Western Washington scenery and seasons.

Thank you, Ingrid, for your dedication and effort that you have given to Holly House over the past 5 years.

Holly House: May update

You may or may not know that our Director, Pam, is busy as a bee all year long making sure everything is ready for the event in December. Several dedicated volunteers work alongside her and help when needed, but there is always need for more!

Here are some updates of what's been going on behind the scenes at Holly House:

Lots of dolls to dress still! 

• The event location used the past 3 years is no longer available to us, so a new one has been secured. A team of volunteers is going to look at it on June 15th to ponder logistics and new challenges with a new location. 

• Our new website is close to launching (it will link up to this blog).

• We are close to submitting all of the paperwork for becoming an official 501(c)(3) and will no longer need a fiscal sponsor. 

• We are scheduling another Dress the Cabbage Patch Doll party soon- we are still looking for doll accessories (see link for details)! 

• 3 grants have been submitted, with more in the works. GRANT WRITERS are needed! 

New toys ready for new homes

• Partnered with Clothes For Kids to maximize the influence of both of our organizations - we both serve the same student population in the Edmonds School District. 

• Mountlake Terrace Senior Center donation bin is half full. Thank you! Donations accepted year round here and at Armadillo Storage. 

• Conducting Board Member interviews. If you would like to interview for the Board or think you know someone who would be a great board member, please contact us! 

• Fall Fundraiser determined - Save the date! Dine at Macaroni Grill Alderwood - September 23rd.  More details to come. 

• Accepted an invitation to have a booth at the Mountlake Terrace National Night Out, Tuesday August 4th, 6-9pm. (See calendar here for more information). We will also be holding a sock and underwear drive at this event.

Many things still need YOUR help! Please contact Pam if there is something that fits your skill set. 

Donations for teens needed

• Grant writers - we rely 100% on donations and grants to fund our work. The more grants we can apply for and receive, the more we can help our kids. 
• Teen gift collection - our teens often do not have enough items at our event. We are putting a focus on seeking donations for this age group (art sets, cosmetics, sports equipment, headphones, gift cards, etc). Some of you pledged to purchase a new item for our teens every month as a New Year's Resolution - how is that going?
• Fall Fundraiser - a steady income is required to keep Holly House functioning. How can we meet our financial needs? Ideas and volunteer involvement are both still needed for this big task.
• Board Members - we are actively seeking Board Members who can bring experience, dedication, financial backers and planning, and enthusiasm to our team. Will you join us? 
• Warehouse space is still desperately needed - does anyone have a contact to introduce us to?

That's the update from last month. Whew! What a lot to cram in to one month. 

Thank you for your continued support. Our network of supporters has doubled over the last year! 

Cabbage Patch dolls get a makeover

Everyone hard at work getting dolls dressed

Volunteers of all ages came to our "Dress 200 Cabbage Patch Dolls" work party last week, and it was a huge success. Although we didn't get all of the dolls refurbished, we made a huge dent in the project. It was a gorgeous sunny day so we pulled the tables outside the storage unit and went to work. It was so much fun. We had several youngsters helping as well. We can't wait to do it again!

If you have gently used Cabbage Patch Dolls and/or accessories that we can put in their little hands, let us know. We want every doll to come with accessories. Did you know that Preemie baby clothes fit the dolls perfectly? We could sure use more:
- clothes
- shoes
- socks
- plain preemie diapers
- pacifiers
- doll baby bottles
- small stuffed animals
- My Little pony sizes toys, etc.

Robin showing off some finished dolls

Several of our volunteers took some work home - dolls that needed some TLC (fixing hairdos, mending clothes, removing marker that previous owners used to draw on their faces, etc.). We had a few ladies from the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center join us, and one of them was overheard saying "Dressing dollies made me think of my childhood." Imagine the look on a child's face Christmas morning; opening a gift of a doll with accessories that has been meticulously groomed and styled just for them.

We have many volunteer opportunities, and this is one of them. If doing something like this is interesting to you, please contact us here on the blog (click the Contact button on the right)! You can also stay up to date on volunteer opportunities like this by checking the calendar on the Volunteer page.

First ever Fundraiser Gala was a huge success!

Guests having a ball raising their paddles

Well, we did it!! Our Gala Committee put in many hours of hard work to pull off an amazing event that helped us raise just over $13,000 for Holly House. If you were one of our guests, we are so grateful that you joined us. If you missed it this year, please plan for next year! We'd love to have you in on the fun.

Many of our supporters were unaware that kids go to school without socks and underwear, or sleep in cold rooms because heat is not a luxury they can afford. The pajamas, necessities, and coats are not just gifts during the holidays, they are basic needs that often go unmet. Holly House is more than just toys and gift giving - it's helping families provide things to their children than they so desperately wish they could, but just can't at the moment. Many of our clients become volunteers because they want to give back to the organization that helped them at a time when they needed it.

One of our clients sharing her
experience with Holly House

One of the highlights of the night was hearing from two of the mothers of families supported by Holly House. Their moving stories brought a feeling to the room that was both inspiring and humbling. The work that Holly House is able to do because of volunteers and donors is truly appreciated by our clients, and hearing it in person makes it very motivating to want to continue.

At the Gala (which was held at the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center) photos with Alice in Wonderland characters were taken, raffle tickets purchased, silent auction items were won, live auction items were fought over, and in the end, money was raised for Holly House to continue to support the 2,000 kids we serve in 15 Edmonds School District Schools. We also collected from guests quite a few bags of donations of toys, stuffed animals, and other items that they brought to contribute to the cause.

Hot, cold, and passed appetizers
plus desserts filled our plates

What a spread we had, thanks to the Red Dragon Casino! There was wine, dessert, and lots of laughter. Troy McVickers was our MC and auctioneer and encouraged everyone to participate; from the sounds in the room and the looks on people's faces, he really did a wonderful job.

Thanks to David Pan from MLTnews.com for writing an amazing piece for the online papers, and David Carlos for taking beautiful photographs. You can find the article here - please check it out and read more about the evening! Go to our Facebook page to find the photo album with all of the photos from the night. Feel free to share any you have taken as well!

Photo booth fun

PHOTO BOOTH: If you chose to partake in the photo booth at the event, you can find your photos here. Thank you Heidi Marletto for donating your photo booth.

Some of the live auction items

Thank you to our sponsors for the night: Red Dragon Casino, Thrivent Financial, System Solutions of WA, Pinnacle Electric, Electonic Business Machines, Golden Insurance, LLC, and Aramark. In addition, all of our auction items were donated by local businesses; without them, our Gala wouldn't have been the success it was. A huge thank you to the Holly House volunteers who gave tirelessly to plan, decorate, organize, and execute a magical evening; Karen Orstad, Lisa Alfie, Ingrid Adams, Cherry Smith, Janine Kirkpatrick, Ella Nakamura, Monty Reed, Aimee LePage, Jen Winckler, Leslie Smith, Milt Culver, Annie Nygaard, Briana Wirtz, Kim Gorney, Cindy Goodman, Alicia Carter, and the crew of High School students - we couldn't have done it without you all!!!

What one mom's volunteer experience at Holly House might teach us all

About a month ago at my mothers' group, I expressed the sense of sadness and helplessness I feel when thinking of individuals in need.  More specifically, now that I am a parent, I have this all-encompassing ache for parents struggling to provide a safe and warm home for their children.  And then there are the children hoping for a Christmas or Hanukkah filled with lights, presents, and for their parents to be relaxed and free of worry.

Aimee and her daughter

The next morning our discussion was followed up with a private message about Holly House and the event on December 14th.  The instant flow of excuses began to build in my head- I'm so busy, I should be at work instead, I should be home with my family, I should be Christmas shopping... and that did it.  The fact that I could go buy presents without a second thought was a reality check on how I could better spend my time.  I signed up immediately before I could change my mind. 

Holly House For Kids 2014.  I would like to begin by acknowledging that I was ignorant about how many families in our area need our help.  After parking several blocks away due to a clog of cars in the parking lot, I assumed that it was from the dozens and dozens of volunteers arriving for their 2 pm start.  I was wrong.  The handful of 2 pm volunteers were far outnumbered by the hundreds of guests in line to collect much needed items for their families.

The volunteer sign in leader was an eleven year old girl.  She would quickly become my greatest inspiration of the day.  After helping me get suited up with a name tag, she sent me on my way to get some training from Pam or Monty.  Unable to find them in my first sweep, the girl suggested I just get to work.

And so I did.  Coffee spill clean up and an overflowing garbage can quickly got me promoted to unpacking stuffed animals.  From there, I was able to personally assist a woman on crutches (having to wait a very long time for a much needed surgery) who was shopping for her four children.  At that moment, I thought this person had the hardest time of anyone there that day.  And then I met the next person.  And the next person. 

After an hour or so, I landed what I considered to be the best position on the floor.  I became the gatekeeper, the person who called in the guests from the waiting area (which sadly resembled the line at the DMV- long wait and too bright fluorescent lights) and introduced them to the shopping area.  While I took tremendous joy in calling the guests in by number, it was agony making every other person wait for their turn. 

Aimee's "greatest inspiration of the day"
11 year old Jessie

This is where the 11 year old girl came in.  After a few rounds of calling out numbers, "16, 17, 18!" with an apologetic look to the rest of the crowd, this young woman vacated her sign in post (only after checking to make sure her station was tidied up), and informed me that I needed to improve my delivery. 

"They can't hear you, who taught you to yell?" 

I stared at her blankly. 

"I'll call out the numbers," she announced. 

And so she did, along with another excited friend.  The guests started smiling as she pranced around by the white board, announcing the numbers with delight.  After a few rounds, she took over writing the numbers on the board, telling me to focus on my job on the other side of the wall. 

Within the hour guests were jumping up at the sound of their number.  Several people yelled "bingo!" which made the whole crowd relax a little and smile.  Others did a little dance, shook their yellow shopping slips in the air, or were cheered on by friends and family.  When I led these now smiling faces through the door into the shopping area, most lit up like children walking into the famous over the top toy store, FAO Schwartz.

At some point I stopped being nervous.  I stopped caring that I had worn a sweater that made me look like a little too fancy, and that I rambled when I taught the guests how to use their yellow sheets, or that I had eaten candy and nothing else for lunch.  I was helping people, and it was fun.

Over the course of the evening, hundreds of parents, some carrying babes on their chests or in their bellies, made the pilgrimage through Holly House For Kids.  One pregnant woman was scheduled to deliver her baby daughter on Wednesday via cesarean.  She treated the afternoon of waiting like a last minute spa day away from her kids at home, entertaining guests and volunteers alike.

The fallout.  I sobbed so hard on the drive home that I had to pull over.  I kicked myself for leaving before the last guest had walked through, and for not figuring out a way to help them more.  For the pregnant woman I wanted to bring diapers to her house and fuzzy slippers for her to wear in recovery at the hospital, maybe some chicken pot pie for her kids to eat while mom recovered.  I thought of my own c-section this year and all of the free help I had to care for this tiny single baby while I healed.  And I thought about if my family were to fall on hard times, would people be kind and generous enough to help my daughter have warm shoes and a sparkly gift to open on Christmas?

To the 11 year old girl.  Thank you for teaching me that people who are in a serious struggle don't necessarily want to be met with more seriousness.  Part of what Holly House For Kids does is create an event that fulfills needs but also treats the guests like regular people.  I had been calling folks in like a robot - my only focus had been to make sure that they heard this bullet point list of information.  But the real impact, what made people smile more than finding that perfect toy or book for their child, was breaking down the barrier between those helping and those being helped.  

~ Aimee, first time volunteer at Holly House

August 2014 Update from Holly House

Where has the summer gone? Already it is nearing the end of August, and we are well under way for getting things ready for our event in December ...but still lots of work left to do! Here are some highlights from the month, and ways you can help.

Dropping new underwear in the collection bin, thank you!

We were privileged to be invited to have a non-profit booth at the Lynnwood Farmers Market last week. We were lucky to have Princesses Anna and Elsa come to visit with the children and help us collect new socks and underwear, and spread the word about the work that we do for the 2000 low income children in the Edmonds School District.

Don't worry if you missed us this time around! We collect donations YEAR ROUND! Feel free to drop them off at Armadillo Storage on Hwy 99 in Edmonds (Tues - Sat, 9:30-5:30).

A huge thank you to Marielle Harrington and her staff at Lynnwood Parks and Rec for inviting us

We received an anonymous donation of 1600 Pearl Jam t-shirts from their 2013 tour. Some kids are surely going to appreciate those!




We had a great shoe sorting party, and got through 1500 pairs of shoes that were donated by Redeeming Soles. Thanks to the Director, Jessica for the generous donation and help!

Thank you to the Westgate Chapel for letting us have your remaining garage sale items. Our families struggle to put food on the table. Seldom do they get to buy things we take for granted - A picture for their living room, a beautiful serving bowl, a floral arrangement, a blender, some tools...things that enhance and make our lives just a little easier, that bring smiles to our faces or just make our environment pleasant.Thank you for being so generous to us Westgate Chapel and thank you Christine Deasy for all your help that day.

Some examples of items we received from Westgate Chapel

We were given access to collect unsold items from the Northshore Senior Center rummage sale. This was a great gesture, and really helps us supplement our families' gifts - they are able to take home 20-30 gently used items. This is a great thing for the parents who often go without so that they can provide necessities for their children.  Unfortunately, due to lack of enough volunteers, we left many items behind that we weren't able to pack and haul with us. PLEASE CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING at these one day events - even a few hours helps! 

Want to be on the gala/fundraising committee? We are looking for energetic, well organized people to help us plan our first ever gala event March 7, 2015! If you are interested in helping please contact Pam at 425-673-0526. 

Getting clothes sorted for the
Holly House event in December

We are having another clothing sorting party Monday August 25th from 6-9pm at Armadillo Storage. If you can make it please RSVP to Pam above or contact us using the "contact us" button on the right! 

If you are looking for ways to help in your local community, please consider volunteering with Holly House, or making a financial donation. All donations are tax deductible. Use the links at the side of the page to get more information. 

Thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped keep Holly House going. 

~ Pam Martinez, Executive Director

Holly House Summer 2014 Update

Holly House volunteers are busy year-round getting things ready for the event in December that helps 2000 low income children in the Edmonds School District. We are always looking for volunteers and other ways we can meet the needs of Holly House (fundraiser ideas, collection bins, etc). If you are available to help or have some ideas, please contact us using the button to the right!

Here's a look at what is going on this summer:

• Planning is commencing for our 2015 Fundraiser Gala event. If you'd like to be part of the planning committee, we would love your help! Our first meeting will be 7/23/14 - see Volunteer link for more details. 



The Mountlake Terrace knitting group at work

•  Garage sale donations needed – Christmas, household, and kitchen items.  By gathering items that might otherwise go to Goodwill or Salvation Army, we can provide (for free) our families 15-20 gently used items to help supplement their households.
• The Mountlake Terrace Senior Center knitting group is busy making scarves and hats for the children. We acquired some adorable hats for our Holly House kids and needed scarves to match. Thank you all for taking the time out of your knitting group to make sure the kids have matching hats and scarves this winter. They are adorable and the kids will be the "cats meow" when they wear them. Oops, I think I just dated myself...

Here are some of our current volunteer opportunities. Also see the Volunteer page to learn more! 

• We are still in need of a warehouse manager to help facilitate effective storage solutions for the donations we receive year-round. 
• We are in need of volunteers to help sort/organize/pack/move donations 
• We are in need of volunteers to pick up donations from collection bins throughout the year. 

A big THANK YOU to:

Thank you to our volunteers who have helped us these past 7 months of 2014 already, we can't do it without you!

Volunteers helping pick up the shoe donation

Thank you to Redeeming Soles for a giant shoe donation of 1500 pairs of shoes! These shoes may be just what a fast-growing child needs this winter and we are so happy to have them to distribute.

Work party with Target employees

Thank you to employees from the Lynnwood and Everett Target stores who helped us sort and re-pack the storage unit at a June work party.


Thank you to Run to Win for donating sports camp scholarships for our kids. This camp provides a week of sports related activities, and our kids can go for FREE this summer!





There you have our summer update. We have many more activities and plans in the works, stay tuned! Please contact us if you are looking for ways to get involved - even a few hours can make a huge difference.
~ Pam Martinez, Executive Director

Slide Show presentation - Holly House overview

Last week, we had our first "Learn about Holly House event" and met some wonderful people who are excited to help with Holly House. We explained our mission, with the help of the presentation below, and wanted to share it with everyone who couldn't make it. One of our past clients shared her story and it was very moving to hear how Holly House has helped her, and now she is giving back.  

Four years ago she wasn't sure how she was going to take care of her two little girls. Unforeseen circumstances had placed her in a place of great need and she didn't know where to turn.With tears she began to talk about finding Holly House, the help she received and how it has led her to volunteer for the last 3 years and to bringing other volunteers with her.

It was a moving and humbling story for those of us listening. How so little, a coat, some socks & underwear, a pair of pajamas, a few toys and books did so much to turn a family around.


Volunteer opportunities are plentiful, and it takes a lot of work year round to get the one day event pulled off for these low income families. Please join us - from collecting and/or donations, small tasks, unloading a truck or two, or larger responsibilities like a warehouse manager, we have somewhere you will fit in.

(use the buttons at the bottom of the slideshow to view the slideshow)

Sock and underwear drive under way

The children that we support are in need of necessities, in addition to the gifts that make their holidays a little more special. We give them each new pajamas, socks and underwear.

To support this goal, we need a GIANT pile of new basic necessities. It amounts to 5000 pairs of underwear, and 5000 pairs of socks.

Mark, Michelle, and George: Volunteers helping to promote and gather socks & underwear at Fred Meyers

We have drives under way right now at Fred Meyer on 196th in Lynnwood and Spartas Pizza on Hwy 99. We are so grateful for their support! These locations will be collecting sock and underwear donations through Sunday 3/29. You can also drop them off at our normal year round drop off locations.

Mark and George have been looking for ways to help their community and have become more active with Holly House this year. They were courteous and energetic and encouraged customers to participate in the drive at Fred Meyers. We're so glad they are part of the team! You can read a full write up about their experience at Lynnwood Today.

Ways you can help:

• Consider hosting your own drive between your friends and family!  
• Drop some socks and underwear off at our drop box locations
• Click the "donate" button on the blog to contribute funds we can use to purchase some to fill in what we didn't collect

Pajama Sorting Party update

We had an amazing turnout for our big pajama sorting party this past weekend. Thank you to the 22 incredibly hard working volunteers who came to unwrap, size/sort, re-package, and move 2100 pairs of pajamas!

The night started with a small hiccup with the van (which was filled to the brim with pajamas) not starting - but quick work to move all of the boxes to a different vehicle enabled Pam to get to the storage facility just a few minutes late. Everyone jumped on board to get things set up. Phyllis 'conducted' what became a symphony of workers.





Two truckloads of sorted pajamas were moved to a different storage facility during the party, and the rest were moved about 8:45 once everything was complete - including clean up! It could not have gone more smoothly and would definitely taken much longer had we been short some
helpers. These sorted pajamas will now be ready to display for our December Holly House event.

The 2100 pajamas came to us from a very generous donation. Most of them were sized infant to 5T (and mostly for girls), so we look forward to being able to fill in the gaps for older kids and the boys throughout the year with more donations. Our goal is go give every one of our 2000 children two pairs of warm pajamas this year - one to wear and one for the wash.





Thank you to Molina Health Care, Wells Fargo Bank, Kohl's, the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center, Windemere, kids and teachers from several of our schools, pizza from Garlic Jim's and of course, our Holly House Team for a job well done.

Holly House....it's THAT important

At a recent team member meeting, we recounted the "feel good" moments of the Holly house event. It reminded us why we do this, and that we are doing it for the kids. It gave us a boost...after all of the energy had been poured into countless hours throughout the year, but especially those 3 days of set up and the event itself. Are we ready to do it again? The resounding answer was YES.

One of the toy areas - Photo copyright by Bob Adams

The vision of Pam Martinez, Director, is that Holly house is a magical place for these families. It's a place for fun, where they are respected and maintain dignity. They don't see "behind the curtain". They don't know what it takes to get that gymnasium to look like it had been there for weeks - and they shouldn't. When they arrive, some of them have tears of joy streaming down their faces. "This is all for us?" one of them was overheard saying.

Is Holly House important to these families? Absolutely. This event provides families with necessities as well as gifts for the holidays (which may be the only gifts these children receive). When families have to choose between heat, food, and extra things during the holidays, food and heat always win.

A volunteer accompanies a mother while shopping

A shopping escort helps each family through Holly House, carrying their bags, providing companionship, and making sure they understand where to go and what to do. This is a personalized shopping experience for the parents. They get to hand pick and tailor the gifts for each one of their children.

One woman waited patiently for her turn to enter Holly House. It became apparent that she was in active labor, with contractions about 9 minutes apart. While she shopped for the 6 children on her list, she breathed through the pain, yet continued on. As she left with a full heart, she mentioned that her water had just broken. Imagine her relief as she could head to the hospital knowing that Christmas was taken care of for her family.

We had a shortage of volunteers to escort families this year. At one point, this put our schedule behind by an hour. Our Program Manager alerted the families in the waiting area that we were doing the best we could. Another hour gone by, now about 2 hours behind, he sheepishly went to the waiting area again to update them. When he mentioned the volunteers we were lacking, several people looked expectantly at him, and he ventured "...unless any of you would like to help?" About 5 people raised their hands immediately. Another 20 soon joined the ranks.

After a short orientation, these people gave up their place in line and helped others through Holly House, then got back in line. One man, after seeing his wife had come through and received things for their family, sent her home yet continued to volunteer until Holly House closed down. His parting words to the Program Manager was that this opportunity was "the best Christmas present he had ever received".

The impact that Holly House makes on these families is great. We couldn't do it without our donors, volunteers, sponsors, and team members. We are grateful and blessed to be able to do what we can, and hopeful we can continue to expand Holly House with your help. 

Photo copyright by Bob Adams