The Binky Brigade website (www.binkybrigade.org) will be discontinued in the next week. Due to lack of funding, we cannot afford to maintain the current website. The majority of our donations are blankets and/or materials, which we truly appreciate. However, our monetary donations are extremely limited and we have been forced to pay operating and shipping costs from the directors’ personal bank accounts. We would like to thank everyone for their gracious donations and hope to continue the program in the future.

I was able to donate some blankets to The Stephen Center in Omaha, NE.  They currently shelter 23 kids and were greatly in need of blankets!  I am also arranging a donation to the Omaha Children’s Hospital and the Bellevue Medical Center’s Maternity/NICU.

We have such an abundance of blankets that I am working with shelters and hospitals in the Omaha area and hope to donate binkies to local children. The Stephens Center at 2723 Q St in Omaha will be the first recipient!!!!!

www.stephencenter.org

Approximately 3,000 blankets will arrive in Afghanistan later this week.  The folks at International Orphan Care will be distributing the blankets to local villages, orphanages and hospitals.  I can’t thank Mr. Brett Dettmann and the local FedEx office in Omaha, NE enough.  The shipment cost in excess of $4800 and they picked up the entire cost.  I couldn’t have shipped this amount of blanekts without their help!!!

Thanks to Mr. Dettmann and the Omaha FedEx office for offering to ship blankets to Afghanistan for us. This is wonderful news and we couldn’t be more appreciative.

Also, Kabul has had their first snow and the kids are in need of larger blankets for warmth. If anyone would like to send any size blanket, it doesn’t have to be extravagant, please do so. They are greatly needed right now.

A local radio station in the Omaha metro will be doing a public service announcement for The Binky Brigade. I’m so grateful to the girls that are putting this on the air. Thanks Christina, Sophia and Stephanie!!!

Big Papa’s Cookies was started by a good friend of my family.   The company began in the home kitchen of Dennis Aldridge “aka Big Papa”.  Dennis began working with a youth organization, Caring for Kids. Caring for Kids is an organization that provides needy children in Las Vegas with a backpack of food for the weekend, when they may not eat otherwise.  Through Big Papa’s website, you can also send cookies directly to deployed troops who love to get “a little taste of home.”

We want to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.  Merry Christmas!!

Angela will be participating in a fundraiser for The Binky Brigade, in conjuction with the Omaha Rollergirls (ORG).  The ORG is a flat-track roller derby league in Omaha, Nebraska.  The ORG is doing a Skat-A-Thon on Dec. 17, 2009.  The participants will skate from 8:00-10:00 pm.  Angela averages 2-3 laps per minute so she anticipates completing about 250 laps during the course of two hours. 

A person can donate by sending a flat rate donation or by donating a set amount per lap.  For example, if you donated $0.10 per lap and Angela completed 250 laps, you would be donating $25.00 to the cause.  75% of the proceeds go  to The Binky Brigade to off-set shipping costs.  The remaining 25% will go to the ORG equipment fund.

You can make donations via PayPal to angelaparker24@yahoo.com.  If you are donating per lap, I Angela’s lap results will be posted on Dec. 18th and you can make your donation at that time.  Also, if you plan on donating per lap, please send an email to Info@binkybrigade with your name, contact information (phone and/or email) and the amount you plan to donate per lap. 

For more information, please visit www.omaharollergirls.org.  Thanks!!

We just wanted to let you know that there are still openings for the Debbie Bowles Workshops. Debbie is a National Teacher from Burnsville, Minnesota.

To be exact there are 12 openings for the Wallet and Grommet OR Long Lines Class on Sunday, November 15 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Hilton Garden Inn on 180th & West Dodge Rd. The cost is $45.00 for Cottonwood Members and $55.00 for Non-Members. Pictures and Supply Lists are on the Cottonwood Website. Patterns are free to class participants.

There are also 3 openings for the Eureka OR Carnival Class on Monday, November 16, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Hilton Garden Inn on 180th & West Dodge Rd. Again the cost is $45.00 for Cottonwood Members and $55.00 for Non-Members. Pictures and Supply Lists are on the Cottonwood Website. Patterns are free to class participants.

If you are interested, please email or call us. We really need to fill these classes.

If you are already signed up – thank you very much!

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Sharon and Deb

beadtat@cox.net (Sharon)

deb619@gmail.com (Deb)

402-451-1202