First response to our backpacks!!!

YEAH! I was so excited to get this email...

Dear Dr. Deb,

My name is Lauryn, i am 9 years old and live in pleasant grove Alabama.

Me and my brother are enjoying the materials in the backpacks.

You and others who helped out are very well appreciated.

Thank you for everything.

Love, Lauryn

I am so happy to hear from a child who received one of the bags. I hope more will write and post.

Thank you to all who helped.

Deb

Concord Elementary School

It started to rain just as Ray and I pulled into the parking lot at Concord. So, not many photos here. We delivered 50 Vacation Back Packs to Principal David Foster.

Stop by the Concord Elementary School and ask for a bag from Dr. Deb. Mr. Foster or the secretary will give you one.

Please let us know what you think! We'd love to hear from you at the blog or through email.

Notes received through email will be posted on the blog without children's last names.

THANKS and ENJOY!

Dr. Deb

Delivering the Back Packs to Pleasant Grove Elementary School

Hello Pleasant Grove Elementary School!

It's GREAT to be back.

We had a nice talk with Mr. Jacks, and we all unloaded 50 back packs for kids effected by the tornado.

Stop by the school and ask for one of Dr. Deb's Vacation Back Packs.

Each is loaded with:

a jump rope, jacks, dominoes, a word game, a deck of cards, construction paper, scissors, a glue stick, colored pencils, a journal, a ball, play dough, bubbles, pencils, and a pencil sharpener.

There's a note telling about the backpacks, and my email and the BLOG address.

PLEASE write to tell us how you are enjoying the bags.

ENJOY!!!

Dr. Deb and Friends

Back in Pleasant Grove, AL

We arrived safely in Birmingham, staying with our friends, Glenn and Mary.

First thing in the morning, we drove to Pleasant Grove. Since my husband, Ray, had not been with me when I was here in May, I took him for a drive through the neighborhoods, so he could understand the severity of the tornado.

He was saddened and amazed at the damage. I explained how things were two months before, and how much progress has been made since then.

The destruction again struck me as surreal - something out of Hollywood, and not real life. Unfortunately, this IS real life, and it is a horrible situation.

But, I was encouraged by all the progress I can see in cleaning up, and wonderful people like Tonia, who posts on Facebook, at the Pleasant Grove, AL Tornado Updates. She has provided such helpful information to those concerned with the area. Thank you, Tonia, for all you are doing.

There are so many good people helping. It gives me faith in the human spirit.

Hugs to Pleasant Grove and Concord.

Dr. Deb

On the Road Again...

Sunday drive... 834 miles = 14 hours and 16 minutes, according to Google Maps.

Ray and I are ready to go. It took us 3 hours to pack the car with 184 Vacation Back Packs for the kids in Pleasant Grove, Concord, and Hackelberg, Alabama.

You can get a bag at the Concord and Pleasant Grove Elementary Schools.

THANK YOU to all who helped make these bags possible, including my husband who believed I could actually pull this off.

Young Friends, Can you see the route we took to get the backpacks from Maryland to you, in Alabama?

Please write to us (deblmarciano@aol.com) or post here to tell us how you are enjoying the materials in the backpacks. We would love to hear from you! Take photos of your writing, art work, games, to share with us, too, if you can.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Hugs,

Dr. Deb

Sweet Home Alabama

Everything is PACKED

AND READY TO GO...

We'll be on the road Sunday... Will begin to make arrangements to deliver these to kids on Tues. June 28, Wed. June 29, and Thurs. June 30. Look to Face Book (Pleasant-Grove-Al-Tornado-Updates) and this Blog for details.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pleasant-Grove-Al-Tornado-Updates/186865031359026?sk=wall

If anyone from Pleasant Grove Elementary or Concord Elementary Schools see this, please contact me ASAP so I can get bags to you.

deb

Cards from Mrs.

Cards from Mrs. Perozzi's class. Thansk, KIDS... The cards are wonderful and I am bringing them to the kids in Alabama TOMORROW!!! They will get them Tuesday...

Thanks So MUCH!!!

One of Life's great lessons is to good for others - especially those we don't know.

My former Penn State student (from my FIRST class), worked with her children and their neighborhood friends. They made the most adorable bookmarks - each with a string tie and a happy face bead. Their beautiful results have ALL been photographed and a few samples are here. Promise to post them all when we get on the road...

THANKS to: Savannah, MJ, and Dillon, along with neighbors Abella, Ava, Mia, and Greg, and of course, dear Julie...

Many thanks for the money sent early on that has helped to fund these back packs:

Jeff & Cheri, Mom and Dad (Lou & Gloria Marciano), Josh and Lindsey, Gerry, Sharon, Kyoko, Janet, Joan & Don, Cathy, Dan & Tabatha, Mary Lee, Susan, Diane & Jim, Stephanie, Kristin & Chris, Linda, Onda, Scott & Shannon, Lori, Joanne, Rotary Club of North Providence, RI...

Formal acknowledgments will be coming after delivery of the bags... thank you for your generosity!!! deb

BOOKS BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS

Wow... Thank you MARY and THERESA for the donation of more than 9 dozen children's books!

What a treat that will be to the kids of Pleasant Grove!

deb

More Good Will

Deb,

Our fourth graders made bead bracelets for an economics project this year. Their profits were $182 and change. This week, we gave them three choices for their profits: an ice cream sundae party, buying playground equipment for the school, or helping tornado victims through your backpack project. After they discussed each option, they voted to send their profits to you, to help the kids in Alabama. I'll round up their amount to $200 and send along another $100 from me.

Thanks for all your heart.

Mary Lee

THANK YOU... What wonderful goodwill... I'll be in touch... 

 deb

Final Days for Donations

Imagine the force of the wind to wedge a metal wheelbarrow into the grill of this truck!

I am following the progress made in Pleasant Grove thru this Facebook page

(https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pleasant-Grove-Al-Tornado-Updates/). It is exciting to see how they are moving forward, and the enormity of the help given by those who care.

I am overwhelmed with the generosity of people we know. Mollie, your check arrived today... Thank you.

Vanessa is bringing pictures her students drew.

A package arrived today of 50 laminated bookmarks that Julie's daughter and her friends made...

I cannot wait to see the faces of the children who receive these Vacation Back Packs!

And, with coupons from Oriental Traders, where I ordered most of the items, I was able to purchase and fill 12 more bags! YEAH!!!

Thank you, thank you!

I will scan all the pictures and bookmarks and cards and post them on the blog.

PLEASE let me know if you are sending something soon, so we will wait until it arrives.

Peace, deb

Check is coming

Hi Deb, I am so glad that we can be of help to your cause. I will be mailing you a $100 check next week as well as some items. Because the money is coming from a club within the school, I am going to need some form of receipt for our school auditor. If you could please mail me a receipt of some form once you get the check that would be great. Thank so much! Denikka

Packing time

The materials are all here except for the postcards and business cards I ordered from VistaPrint... I am so excited!!!

My friend, Cathy came over and after a dinner of great pasta, we sat on the porch amidst cards, boxes, wrappers, scissors, glue stix, bubble bottles, playing cards and soon, like little kids...

we unpacked each in an organized way, then burst out laughing, as we filled 150 denim drawstring bags with the goodies... and we made a mess!!!

Getting closer to our goal... ‎

"When you carry out acts of kindness you get a

wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something

inside your body responds and says, yes, this is

how I ought to feel."

~ Rabbi Harold Kushner ~

Got a check from my sister today... Yeah. Thank you...

Wow... The materials from Oriental Traders have arrived... a great variety of items: colored & regular pencils and sharpeners, scissors, glue stix, jump ropes, balls, dominoes... The denim backpacks are just the right size... I filled one out of excitement...

Orders from Dollar Tree are also here: playing cards.... I wonder if kids know all the games that used to keep us occupied for hours on end: War, Steal the Old Man's Pack, Concentration... I will make up some fliers with the directions on them for the kids.

I hear more pictures and book marks are being made... Will include those as well.

More checks have arrived: getting close to my goal. Thank you, Rotary Club of North Providence, RI for $500.

Now to figure out delivery...

Thank you for all who are spreading the word... Please keep items coming.

deb and the kids of Pleasant Grove, AL.

SO Excited

The first boxes of materials came today... I opened them and began sorting them into piles. Tomorrow the next 3 boxes of things I ordered is due to arrive.

I am looking forward to the bookmarks, pictures, and cards being made by my former students (now classroom teachers themselves). Thanks, Eva, Erin, Vanessa.

I received a donation and letters from Onda, and pictures done by Stephanie's first graders (thank you for the check, as well).

What a worth while end-of-the-school-year project for YOU students.

Julie and Paula P. are having neighborhood kids make bookmarks.

What a wonderful way to ket the Pleasant Grove Alabama kids know others care about them!

Thank You All..

Girls with a Mission

Hello Deb,
My name is Denikka Miller and I am a jh/hs teacher in Troy, MT. A colleague and I run a group titled Girls with a Mission. The goal of our group is to help others locally as well as nationally. We read your article in the newsletter and our group would like to help. The group itself wants to make a cash donation. We also have set up a box in our school asking students as well as staff members to help with items such as crayons, scissors, etc. Please email me back with a mailing address that we can send a check to. Thank you so much for the wonderful cause that you are contributing to.

Sincerely,
~ Denikka Miller

Sometimes you need to step outside, clear your head and remind yourself of who you are, and where you wanna be . And sometimes you have to venture outside your world in order to find yourself. ~Anonymous

Send gently used items

Teachers: as you pack up classrooms, please think of the kids in Pleasant Grove, AL who lost everything due to tornadoes. I'm running a fundraiser for Vacation BackPacks there. Gently used books, crayons, markers, etc. are much appreciated, as well as notes and drawings from your students, & cash donations to fund the materials and shipping. Please contact me if you want to participate. Much thanks. God bless. deb

First Graders Draw Pictures for Tornado Victims

Deb Marciano

The first pack of class drawings for me to send to kids in Alabama came in. THANK you to Mrs. DiChiro's class at Garden City School in Cranston RI... The drawings are beautiful and the thoughts to make these kids feel good was awesome... YOU ROCK, Mrs. D.'s class!!! (thank you for the donation, too.)

Inspiration

Deb L. Marciano, Ph.D. &

Ray C. Noll 3^rd

Dear Friends and Family,

In April, I attended a presentation at the ACEI Conference in New Orleans, by a panel who said they felt they had failed the children of Katrina. After the catastrophic tornadoes that hit Alabama those words haunted me and I decided to volunteer a week of my time to the children who were victims of the storms. Thanks to Southwest frequent flier miles, I was able to get there that Mon. Ray helped me pack two suitcases filled w/ books and paper, granola bars, jump ropes, art supplies, journals, and decks of cards. SW looked the other way when my bags were 8 lb. overweight, since I had another 50 lb. on my back.

I was incredibly fortunate to have connected with Mr. Glenn Estess, Past President of Rotary International, a friend of Dad. Glenn and his lovely wife, Mary, hosted me for my six days, helping me make a connection with the Jefferson County School Department. I was also lucky to have met Ms. Sherry Nelson, who provided me with transportation back and forth (and lots of friendship) each day. Dr. Sherri Savage brought me to help at Concord Elementary School, where I served as a substitute, reading picture books and talking with students. Two of the school students were killed in the tornado. I helped cover classes while teachers attended the services. In exchange for several books and baggies of art materials, one boy gave me a photo of his now demolished home. It was mindboggling.

I was blessed to be part of the Pleasant Grove Elementary temporary staff for the rest of the week. Although the school was fortunate to not have lost any students in the storms, more than 140 school families were displaced. The picture here shows the devastated neighbor-hood that is within two blocks of the school. I met so many wonderful people, looking for ways to help. They will need hard workers for a very long time, if you are so inclined to go there.

Despite many horrific stories to be told, my experiences in Concord and Pleasant Grove, AL taught me about the strength of community and faith. I never heard a single, “Why me?” but always, “We thank God to be alive.” The spirit of true caring for one another shone through the broken trees, destroyed homes, and smashed cars. The neighborhoods are unrecognizable to those who have lived their whole lives there. What I saw feels incomprehensible. Yet, everyone has pitched in to help one another. Donations have come from around the country, and yet there is so much to be done and so much good. EVERY student at PG Elementary went home with a donated Mother’s Day gift.

Many of you have asked me how you can help those in AL. I have decided to put together “Vacation Back Packs” for elementary students. School will dismiss for summer next week, so I will make arrangements for these bags (filled with crayons, scissors, glue sticks, pencils and erasers, balls, dominoes, etc.) to be delivered (not sure how, yet) to the area of Pleasant Grove, so the kids have something to start their summer with.

If you would like to help, you may contribute items, but checks made out to me might help hasten this process. You’ll receive an acknowledgement from me, citing your donation (you can use this on your tax returns). Ray and I will put the Back Packs together and hopefully have someone contribute for the delivery. The more money we receive, the more backpacks can be provided. No donation is too small – remember, these families lost just about EVERYTHING. Notes and photos from students or you and your family would be a nice touch, too!

I hope to have these delivered by mid June, so please let us know if you want to help. Thanks for your prayers and generosity. Hugs, Deb & Ray

Please share with those you know who may be interested in helping. Thank you.