Novembers Deliveries!

Shaun was a single dad, who just received custody of his 4 & 6 year old son and daughter. He is a UWM full time college student in accounting. His apartment was darling, and we loved him and his children! We brought in a bedroom set for dad, a bed and bedding for his son along with a lamp, mixer, coffee pot and vacuum.

November's Pewaukee Family

Stephanie was a single mom who is a full time student and works part time. She has 2 & 4 year old daughters and they live in Pewaukkee. Mom had saved for 2 toddler beds, and the quality was so poor they ended up breaking! We delivered these 2 beautiful wicker beds and bedding. We brought a kitchen set and a desk and chair for studying. Inta a apartment that the case-worker said was dark and depressing....we brouth the light of lamps, and a bag of new clothes was shared with each of the girls. In a minutes time the 2 year old had put on a new pair of footed Barbie pj' s and was prancing around the house with the tags still on! Before we got the kitchen table legs put on....she was fast asleep in her new bed!

A Urgent Delivery!

Healthy Families contacted us about a client with a urgent need and we were able to help thanks to your generosity! A mom, dad and their new baby girl had just moved into a new apartment... life couldn't be better they thought...then they received the call that the husbands 2 boys were coming to live with them! They were so excited....but they needed 2 twin beds and a dresser ASAP. We delivered them, along with linens and a beautiful table and chairs for their growing family in a few days time! Thank you for these beautiful donations, they were so grateful. This was a very special family....

October's Deliveries!

1 trailer and an SUV were filled with a queen bed, bedding, dresser, a chair, new silverware, dishes pots and pans, utensils, bath and kitchen towels, sheets and a handmade quilt. All were delivered and shared with a cognitively disabled women who just moved in to a new apartment. She could not believe the beautiful things and said that it was October 6th was her best Christmas ever!

October's Project- Collection for the Homeless Shelters of Waukesha

33 VLC volunteers staffed the Oconomowoc Piggly Wiggly, and the Waukesha Sam's Club along with 4 of the Klements Famous Racing Sausages on Saturday Oct. 23rd. A van and 2 SUV's full of donations along with $750.00 in cash donations were shared by their generous customers! We also just received word that a Community Grant that VLC facilitated will be donated by Sam's Club for the Hebron House in the amount of $2,000.00! Thanks to the volunteers, customers, Klements and the stores...thanks for making a difference!

Learning to help others can begin at a very young age!

Thanks to the Oconomowoc Junior Women's Club Kids Who Can! They received a grant and wanted to do something special for the VLC Clients of the Month Project. They used the money to fill 16 beautiful wicker baskets with cleaning products, kitchen utensils, kitchen towels and plasticware, and then presented them to VLC. We will be sharing them each month when we deliver.

Trauma Therapy / Post-Tramatic Stress Disorder

Someone had donated a beautiful white loveseat to VLC awhile back. Because it was white, it was not the most practical item for a family. Along came a beautiful blue wing back chair, and a glass top, silver framed cocktail table...all a bit impractical for a family with children! And then came a call from Human Services. A new office space has opened up in their building for a Trauma Therapist. She would be working with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder patients. A new therapist....a new office....patients...but no furniture....A perfect fit!

Septembers Client

We delivered to Katie who is a single mom with 3 children. She works a full time job and is struggling since a divorce to keep the bank from taking the house that they have owned and lived in for the past 10 years. We brought a dresser for each of the boys, a twin bed and bedding. After we set the bed up, we opened a brand new set of sheets and a comforter for the bed. Clients are so grateful for gently used....but they are truly overwhelmed when they see that someone gave them something new....something just for them! We also shared a wicker basket of plush bath towels, bath and body lotions and a candle that someone dropped off for Katie. A basket filled with luxuries....when right now, she is living in a world of neccessities... She was so grateful, and she sends her thanks to all of the donators!

Collection of Children's Books for the new VLC Children's Free Library

In August the Volunteers of Lake Country launched the Children's Free Library hosted by the Hope Center of Waukesha. Studies have shown a correlation between children having books in their homes and their success in school. VLC's goal was to get books into the hands of children whose families cannot afford them. Hundreds upon hundreds of individuals (sorting their own and donating) and groups (churches, schools, and businesses doing book drives) stepped forward to donate thousands upon thousands of books! 1,000 books are being given to children each month at the Hope Center. With the present inventory, and the upcoming drives that are already in place, we are set until spring! Thank you for the amazing response!

Food Drive for the Hartland and Pewaukee Food Pantries!

Volunteers of Lake Country staffed 3 two-hour shifts at the Hartland Pick 'n Save on Saturday Aug. 28th collecting food for the Hartland Food Pantry. Summer months are a crisis time for the pantries, and their shelves were close to empty. Volunteers passed out fliers to customers with a list of most needed items, and collected their donations as they exited. Customers were happy to help and their generosity filled many cars with food by the end of the day! A commitment of just 2 hours of time....thank you for making a difference!

The Pewaukee Kiwanis volunteered to staff the Pewaukee Pick 'n Save on the same day as the VLC drive...allowing us the opportunity to run 2 Food Drives for 2 Food Pantries on the same day! Donations poured in for their local Pantry, and shelves were full again....at least for awhile! Thank you all for commitment to helping others....thank you for your gift of time!

August's Second Client!

This is a story about a dedicated caseworker named Susan who drove to Hartland with her pick up truck, about Kathie the Arrowhead High School Key Club advisor who rounded up the muscles to help load, and finally about Cindy the donator of a beautiful couch, who has been keeping it in her dining room for 2 months because there was no room in the VLC locker....who all

came together to load up a couch, two LR chairs, a table and a lamp and deliver it to Susans client! The mom and dad both work, have 5 children of their own and have just accepted placement of their 8 year old nephew, who needed a home. Thanks to all who made this happen!!

August's Client of the Month

After losing her job, and then her apartment, Amy, her son (7) and her daughter (8) lived in a shelter for a few months. she is now back on her feet with a new job and a new apartment. they moved in the day before VLC delievered. It was an easy move, they had very little. They all slept that night in mom's bed, as it was the only one in the apartment, and they were unable to cook, because they had no cookware. The outpouring of donations for this client were amazing. It was Christmas on our porch 3 days in a row! On delivery day the couch, loveseat, table and lamp were set up in the living room. The kitchen cupboards were filled with dishes, silverware, pots and pans, utensils, kitchen towels and mitts you shared. A dresser in mom's room and bath towels in the linen closet. A beautiful metal lofted bed for Sienna, and another matching (but shared by another donator!) for the son that we tucked beneath, as the room was very small. We still had room for dresser and shelving that was shared, and made up the beds with new linens. Amy could not believe your generousity and she thanks you all. Her comment to her children....volunteers did this. They made our apartment a home!!

School Supplies for Children in Need!

Volunteers of Lake Country staffed Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, and Walgreens with volunteers on July 31st. We collected mountains of school supplies for children in need estimated at $5,800.00, $550.00 in cash donations, a $1,000.00 Community Grant donated by Sam's Club, and a $500.00 Community Grant donated by Wal-Mart. VLC donated almost $8,000.00 in supplies and cash to the Backpack Coalition of Waukesha County. Volunteers had so much fun, and were so amazed at the generosity of strangers! One women filled her cart with $285.00 in school supplies to share! She recalled when her husband taught school, that many of his students were unable to afford school supplies. She was so happy to have stopped the day that VLC was collecting and so happy to be able to help!

Delivery to July's Client of the Month

Beds....Beds....Beds! We shared 6 of them in July! VLC delivered to 2 families this month. The first was a mom with 3 teens, 2 which had disabilities. All were sleeping on blow up mattresses, none of which held air any longer. We shared 4 beds and all of the bedding. The 2nd family was a single mom with health issues and 2 teenage children. They came to WI after Katrina with very little. We brought a bed for mom who had been sleeping on the couch, and another for one of the children. We shared bedding for all of the beds, a dresser, and boxes of dishes, silverware, utensils, and pots and pans for mom. Mom was going thru her boxes of kitchen items with the excitement of a child at Christmas!

Volunteers of Lake Country were contacted by a youth group of 9-11 year olds who signed up for a one week summer camp...5 days of volunteering! They were looking for volunteer opportunities. We set up a Food Drive for them at a Pick N Save in Wales, and a Pick N Save in Waukesha, to benefit the Kettle Moraine and Waukesha Food Pantries. Thanks to the 65 Volunteers....95 Volunteer Hours....4 vans of food collected...and $230.00 in cash donations!

June's Client of the Month

The 8 and 5 year old daughters shared a bedroom. It was empty except for the white and pink sheer curtains on the windows. They shared the floor. They were so excited we were bringing beds and dressers for their bedrooms, that they had been waiting and watching for us since 1:00. We arrived on time at 7:00! We set up the two platform beds, with drawers beneath, moved in 3 white dressers, made the bed each with a new set of sheets, and new comforters....we brought the pink ones by coincidence! The girls were so excited. Thank you to all of the donators that made this delivery possible! The caseworker sent this note:

Maria, her family and I can't thank you enough for last night's donations. Maria had tears in her eyes and was extremely excited for her children. Please let the deliverers and donators know how much it was appreciated. I know I have said this before....but I can't say it enough, we're truly blessed to have friends like VLC. Adriana / Healthy Families of Waukesha County

June's Project-VLC's Garden for Good

Saturday June 19th....over 20 volunteers working in the VLC Garden for Good. The entire produce of this garden is donated to area meal sites, and food pantries for the families that they serve. 50 volunteer hours of trenching, weeding and mulching. The garden looked amazing! Thank you to everyone! However.... 2 weeks have passed....more sun....more rain....more weeds! Please let us know if there is 1 day this summer, when you can give 1 hour of time to stop and weed a bed, and we will put you on the schedule! This is a continuing project that we need continous help on!

May's Client of the Month

I asked the caseworker to share a few words about May's Client. She said "Beth is a hard- working, responsible, single mom with a 3 year old son. She is a wonderful success story, and an inspiration to me." We found out that she was right, when we delivered. She was so sweet, so excited, and so grateful for the items we shared! A computor desk, to house a computor she had saved for...and had purchased with a few learning games for her son at Goodwill, a beautiful kitchen table and matching hutch along with 2 bedroom pieces to help them keep the bedroom they share organized! And...to whomever dropped off a box of dinosaurs, a dinosaur lamp, and dinosaur books, on our porch...please know they now have a new home...and they are loved!
Other May Shares!
We received calls from 2 donators who each had a washing machine and a dryer to share. We can all imagine how much must be added to a family budget when laundry must be done at a laundromat. One of the moms has 2 children both with substantial disabilities... so just going was difficult. 2 families...both so grateful! Thank you again for this very generous donation!

This beautiful armoire was donated by a family. It was too big for an apartment...but thanks to the muscles of a new volunteer with a trailer who picked it up and transported it to the Women's Center. They shared: " Thanks to VLC for coordinating this wonderful donation, and to the donor. It is truly a beautiful piece of furniture, and is pictured above in one of our transitional homes, where it will be enjoyed by one of our families"
May's Final Share: We had accumulated many extra sets of gently used twin sheets over the past 16 months. Rather than continue to hold them we decided to share 18 sets of them with social services. We received this note from a caseworker, "I have a non verbal 16 year old autistic girl named Sara who functions at a 3 year old level. Her parents were thrilled to receive the sheets with the cartoon characters on for her. She is enthralled with all of the characters. I am sure you assumed that they would go to a small child but as soon as the caseworker saw them, she thought of Sara. Her parents were very appreciative.

May's Project

VLC gathered teams of volunteers on Saturday May 22nd and Sunday May 23rd to help the elderly and disabled in the Lake Country communities of Hartland, Delafield and Pewaukee with spring yard clean up. They washed windows, cleaned gutters, raked the lawn and flower beds, spread mulch and planted flowers. Pictured are two families who shared 2 hours of time. Thank you to all who participated, I know the clients were so grateful.

Grounds Clean Up at Old World Wisconsin April 17

20 Volunteers of Lake Country joined 150 other volunteers from other groups at Old World Wisconsin on Saturday April 17th. A perfect spring day for raking, mulching, trimming and working in their gardens. We each worked from 9:00-12:30...only 3 1/2 hours each....but together we logged 600 volunteer hours and saved Old World $5,000.00! Thanks for joining in...on to our own yards!!

Collection for Children in Crisis.

Children coming to the Foster Care Program or teens coming to the

Juvenile Center are often arriving unexpectantly, and with very

little. The month of April we asked you to share the basics for the
Foster Closet....socks and underwear, and for the Juvenile Center...socks, underwear, sweats, teen books, teen games (board or electronic), footballs, basketballs and DVD's (G, PG, PG-13). We delivered 14 boxes today! The caseworkers for both departments were amazed and so grateful that you shared these items with their clients! We had 7 boxes of for each location. Thank you so much for your generosity and for participating! If by chance you are spring cleaning and come across these items in the coming month...or just didn't get around to gathering them in time, I would be happy to drop again at the end of May. (We didn't receive any sports items, teen games or DVD's in this month's collection!)

Volunteers of Lake Country's Garden for Good.

Every Sunday at 1:30 (except Holidays), VLC Garden Volunteers will be found at the Garden for Good. April 18th was their first 'work day', and work they did! They rolled up their sleeves, put on their gloves, dug, double dug, weeded, mulched, planted, and built pea and bean poles! There is still much to do! All are welcome, please stop in on a Sunday for however much time you have to share. Come to check it out...come to learn...or come to help! All of the produce will be donated to area pantries and meal sites.