July 12, 2009 – 5 East

 

 

What’s better
than watermelon on a hot summer day?

 

Gate Roster:

Jane, Gladys, Bob, and Janelle

 

Arrived at Gladys’ around 2 PM Saturday.

Went over shopping list, supplies list, and
to-do list with Gladys and Bob.

 

Left Gladys’ at 2:30 to shop. Went to Sam’s,
Wal-Mart, and Dollar Store.

 

Left Bob in charge of chicken baking in the
oven and the job of putting together the encouragement note packets
which included emailed notes, handwritten notes, an MM-B comb,
and a special “Star”.. (Thank you Chris, Florida G.S Troop 681,
Linda and Larry, Jan, Maria, Gramma Pam, Marcia, Teresa and Family,
Miller Family, Nathan and George the Kitten, Shawn and Family,
and someone who didn’t sign their name.)

 

Arrived back from shopping at 5:00 PM, had dinner,
relaxed a little bit, Gladys got busy; Jane and Bob relaxed a little
more then joined her; finished up, relaxed some more and at midnight,
turned the crockpots on and went to bed. Up at 5 AM, made the sandwiches,
packed up. Janelle arrived at 9 AM, out the door at 9:15, arrived at
hospital at 10 AM.

 

Menu:

Kielbasa and Meatballs in tomato sauce with
green peppers and onions on hot dog rolls, 2 large crockpots full
(none left)

Chicken salad (Thank you, Gladys) on croissants
– 24 large croissants cut in half (none left)

Chicken salad on the side (none left)

Cheese and olive appetizer tray (a few olives
left)

Medium, jar of pickle spears (a few left)

3 sliced tomatoes (1/2 left)

Pasta salad (Thank you, Janelle.) (none left)

4 lbs. Potato salad (none left)

Garden salad with choice of three dressings.
(1/2 left)

Watermelon, grapes and cantaloupe (small bowl left)

 

Oh wait… there’s more!

 

24 Individually bagged asst. chips (Thank you,
Amy.) (none left)

Smoothies – whole milk, frozen strawberries,
bananas, yogurt (a little milk left)

Assorted cookies (none left)

Brownie bites (2 left)

Pound cake (a few slices left)

Candy (left in pantry)

Case of coke, diet coke, sprite, asst. fruit
juice (6-six packs left, 3 Sprite and 3 Diet Coke, divided between
5 East and Mercy Hall when luncheon was over.

 

 

Cost: $298.23

Averaged $6.63 per person going by the headcount;
fed more than this; cost includes a few gift bag items..

Headcount included patients, families and staff.
We put out 45 plates, and then added more twice. (Added a few
in the headcount just in case more patients arrived in between
the time we received the headcount and the day of the luncheon;
turned out to be fewer patients than anticipated. We were in a
lull in between some having moved on and some arriving that evening.)

 

Our escort was GREAT! He made sure to let everyone
know we were there, not only on 5 East, but also in ICU and over
at Mercy Hall and anywhere else he thought there might be patients
and families; even checked in on us a few times to make sure everything
was going okay.

 

All leftovers were wrapped and left in the
5 East pantry, dated and labeled.

Box of assorted pantry items were left in pantry,
dated and labeled – three assorted bagged cookies, candy, drink
mix, instant coffee, tea bags, sugar packets, nuts, trail mix,
microwavable rice. (All donated – thank you, Amy and Jim.)

 

We met a mom and her wounded son who had been
there awhile. Spoke with them and gave them nifty gifties to take
with them. Then the girlfriend of a Marine came in to check things
out and then brought her Marine back for lunch. They sat in the
room and chatted with us while they ate. She’s a Marine too, and
ooo boy… they make an awesome couple! Both so full of fire and
spirit! There is no doubt that they both have a bright future!

 

We gave out a “Mom” quilt and two homemade
pillow cases (Thank you, Bayside Quilters), one Marine fleece
blanket (Thank you, Carol), one travel pillow with a homemade
pillowcase (Thank you, Nancy), gift bags that included hand lotion,
an MM-B comb, a disposable camera, and a candy bar (Thank you
Chris, Elfs, and WA
State Operation Thank You.)

 

A gift bag full of candy with a thank you note
we had each written a note in was given to the 5 East Staff as
a small token of thanks for what they do for the men and women
who serve our country. They are Angels on Earth!

 

There were some out-patients over at Mercy
Hall who weren’t able to make it over to the hospital ward so
a Marine and I loaded up two trays of food for them and took it
over, also gave them some Stars. I had a special handwritten note
for the Sailor who works there at the desk from a Marine Mom who
lives in the state he is from. She was so sweet to send him a
card and he really liked it. Little touches like that make the
day so special…

 

The Stars I gave the guys from Jan were special,
too. We had enough with us to give to Liaison staff and some of
the doctors and other staff. Next time we’ll take more of them!

 

 

Thank you to everyone who made the day so
special!

 

If you would like to help us with our mission
please check out our “Baskets
of Love” quilt raffle.

 

 

Postmark date is July 27th, 2009.
The drawing for the quilt will be held August 13th,
our next luncheon at Mercy Hall. EVERY penny goes toward the luncheons,
gift bags, and pantry items for the wounded/injured combat Veterans
and their families on 5 East and Mercy Hall. We are all volunteers.
Printing, postage, phone calls, gas money and sometimes food and
gift items are out of our pockets.

 

While you are surfing, please take a minute
to check out this awesome Marine. Richard was wounded during his
second tour in Iraq and is out of the Corps now, traveling the
west coast clear on up into Alaska to bring awareness about PTSD
to the public.

http://www.richardvgilbert.com/The_Trigger_Journeys.html

 

Don’t forget to vote for Gold Star Mom Dee
every day while you’re online through August 7th! If she wins,
she plans to use the $15,000.00 for postage for her care package
project that serves our guys and gals who are deployed. She is
the one with the American flag and the USMC flag in the background.
You can read her story when you click on her picture. http://www.energizerkeepgoinghalloffame.com/

 

Until next time, continued prayers for our
military and their families…

 

Love and Hugs,

 

 

 

 

I was recently at Bayside Quilters annual “Sew
In” with our “Baskets of Love” quilt. They all came together for
the day to finish up their mission projects. It was so nice to
have the opportunity to thank the ladies in person for all they
do in their support of the troops at Bethesda.

 

 

They are a very caring group of women. They
do sooooo much for others and have a good time when they get together!

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