NESP Forum

Some members of NESP will be going to the Breakwater Teen
Homeless Shelter in Rockland Maine on November 30th to host a
holiday party for them. All are welcome to attend or contribute. The
auction at the holiday party should cover expenses for the shindig

Please let us know if you're planning to attend and if 7:00 works for
you as the start time. I have to confirm with the shelter asap so they
can tell us how many people will attend.

It will be mostly staff and teenagers, but some also have small
children who will attend. We're open to any and all activity ideas. I
ordered some basic stuff from Oriental Trading Co. to get us going
(beads, holiday craft shapes, teddy bears for younger ones, inflatable
microphones,etc.). For food we're thinking basic pizza party with
soda and goodies for dessert.

As the kids are homeless we can't really do gifts as they have no
place to put them. We can do things that the shelter will be able to
use (craft supplies, games, puzzles, etc.) They definitely need hats,
mittens, scarves. They also can do gift cards to Walmart which could
get them food,etc.

I know you're thinking of getting some local places to donate pizza. Try this link:
http://www.yellowpages.com/Rockland-ME/P...iCityState

What about Hot Cocoa & doughnuts?

Amy, Great idea on the hot cocoa-perfect for a winter night!

I just talked to Melissa at the Shelter. We're aiming for the party to
start at 7:00 and we can get there early to set up. They do have a
CD player-she'll try to get some requests from the kids and we can
also do holiday music to start.

She gave me the names of 2 places nearby-Snappy's Pizza and
Thorndike Creamery which does Ice Cream and Pizza right next
door. Once we have a number of attendees we can call them and
see if they'll donate. Maybe we could do make your own sundaes
too? If anyone has time or the patience to do gingerbread people that
would be a fun project too.

She loved the idea of a karaoke machine if we could find an inexpensive one...

If the weather cooperates, I should have no problem being there by 7 pm.

Ice Cream and pizza would be wonderful. We could bring toppings for the ice cream.

Making ornaments, cards and decorations is always good. You can make festive cards and decorations using scraps of wrapping paper, ribbon and old Christmas cards, so if we all go through our stash, we should come up with stuff. I'm not the most crafty person in the world, but I am pretty good with glue and scissors.. beyond that I'm stumped.

If you guys had thought of that BEFORE the party, I would've let you borrow my karaoke machine! Alas, it is all the way down here in CT with me now, and we ain't budging.

Liz, I'll talk to Cassie about music tonight. Forgot to mention it to her. Haven't seen her very much since she got home on Sunday!

Could we do something like hats, mittens and scarfs for gifts? It would help keep them warm if they are outside in the cold alot.

Deb, that would be great-they would really appreciate any items like
that! I'm going to check our local discount stores and see if I can find
some stuff tomorrow. The box from Oriental Trading just arrived

I just got a bunch of stuff at some of our area discount stores-found
some very good deals. I picked up paper plates,napkins,silverware
in a blue and white snowflake theme and a couple of snowman plates.
This should work for the non-religious thing and be okay for all. We
still need some drink cups for sodas and cocoa, bowls for ice cream,
and some bowls for chips,etc. If you find them, let me know so we don't duplicate.

I found a holiday CD sung by some current teen stars, a version of
Twister that 4 kids can play at once with dance moves, a game like
Jenga, and pick up sticks. Also found fun craft scissors, glue, tape, some markers (more needed) etc. We still need construction paper
in colors and white. Also got some holiday colored sprinkles for the
ice cream.

We can set up a table with stuff Margaux suggested-just odds and
ends to make the cards,ornaments,paper chains,snowflakes,etc.
I'm sure I have some holiday crap I mean supplies lying around
Joe would love anything that cuts down on my "stuff"!

What about trivia games for them?