Black Friday Wrap-Up

We have been so excited about your support for our Prematurity Awareness Month Fundraiser!  With your support we raised $2,300.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this campaign!  You keep our mission alive!

During the early morning hours of Black Friday 2011, TPP volunteers were spread throughout Iowa, and even Kansas, with coffee in hand, ready and waiting to dash in Jo-Ann Fabrics and grab as much fabric as possible.  Why the mad dash?  On Black Friday, flannel that is usually priced $5.00/yd to $6.00/yd was a mere $1.49/yd.  With such an amazing deal we seek to purchase enough flannel to last the whole year.  We were all so happy to have great weather this year for the hour place wait in front of the store.

Group #1 was located in Topeka, Kansas.  Heather Borgren and Linda Aker were first in line at Jo-Ann Fabrics and started the line at 5am.

Group #2 consisted of Laura and Brian Pabich, who were first in line at 5am in front of the Jo-Ann Fabrics in South Des Moines, Iowa.  Getting up early and waiting outside in the dark is easy when it’s for the babies!

Group #3 consisted of die hard TPP volunteers Audrey Knox, Carla Lyons and Mary Anne Sheets (plus family member visiting for Thanksgiving) who were also first in line in front of the Jo-Ann Fabrics in Iowa City.  When the doors opened at 6am there was a similar scene at all three stores.  Our volunteers madly dashed for carts and began quickly filling them with bolts of flannel for the babies.  In less than ten minutes we had everything we needed and then the long wait at the cutting and measuring table began.  We were all lucky to get out of the store by 8am.  However, many people in line behind our groups waited for hours to have their fabric measured and cut.

Here is a look at the Iowa City group waiting to have their choices measured.  Looks like they did a great stacking job with their carts!

Laura Pabich’s husband, Brian, was in charge of placing bolts of fabric in carts as Laura handed them to him in the Des Moines Jo-Ann Fabrics.  He stacked two carts higher than his 6 foot frame before Laura was done!

The group in Topeka, Kansas came away with an impressive amount of fabric that traveled all the way back to Iowa two days later.

Over the last two days, these three groups combined all of the fabric to be rolled off of the bolts, sorted, measured and cut for the year.  Funds from our Prematurity Awareness Month Fundraiser and Holiday Craft Sale were used to purchase Flannel and Fleece for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Iowa City, Iowa.  Volunteers cut the flannel into flat sheets and fitted sheets for the NICU beds and fleece into pads to place over the sheets.  The fleece pads provide a soft and warm environment for the NICU babies to lay on.  Here is an example of what a UIHC NICU bed looks like with our bedding:

This year, due to your overwhelming support, TPP will be providing the UIHC NICU with all of this bedding!  The bedding provides a soft, warm surface for preterm and critically ill infants and a warm, home like environment for NICU families.
550 Flat Flannel Sheets
235 Fitted Flannel Sheets
400 Fleece Pads

Linda Aker, our work group chair, also had volunteers scouring Jo-Ann Fabrics to purchase fleece at discount prices.  She was also on her computer at 4am on Thanksgiving Day purchasing discounted fleece online.  All of this fleece will go towards making Blanket Sleepers for the UIHC NICU over the next year.  Wonderful job Linda!

Wow, that is a lot of fabric!  This will benefit approximately 800 infants and families who go through the UIHC NICU over the next year. 

This year we also had the privilege of purchasing fabric for Blank Children’s Hospital NICU in Des Moines, IA.  The nursing staff at Blank graciously donated funds from a unit fundraiser so that we could purchase fabric to make bedding for their 35 bed unit.  We are so excited for this project.  Laura Pabich purchased enough fabric at the Des Moines, Iowa store to make the following:
300 Flat Sheets
160 Fitted Sheets
300 Fleece Pads

Once again we are so grateful for all of the support via bake sales, craft sales and financial donations that allows us to purchase the materials to fulfill our mission.  We also woudl like to thank all of the volunteers who stood in line in the early morning hours to make the purchasing possible on such a large scale.  Now that we have our materials the real fun begins.  Get your sewing machines ready!  Check out our upcoming events to find out how you can help!