Friday, November 3, 2017

Friday, November 3, 2017

Tonight's picture was taken in October of 2006. That little pumpkin you see with a candle in it, was created by Mattie in preschool. He got to use a pumpkin carver for the first time and he made his own jack-o-lantern. He was very proud of himself!





Quote of the day: The great thing about candy is that it can't be spoiled by the adult world. Candy is innocent. And all Halloween candy pales next to candy corn, if only because candy corn used to appear, like the Great Pumpkin, solely on Halloween. ~ Rosecrans Baldwin

The candy frenzy has begun! I am answering at least 40 emails daily about the candy drive. Such questions as....

• What is the drive for? 
• When is it? 
• Where do I drop the candy? 
• Will you pick up our candy? 
• Can you find a convenient drop off location for me to deliver the candy? 
• How do you sort the candy?
• Must the candy be sorted? 

The photo above features the orange Mattie Miracle bins that sit on my friend's doorstep. The bins come outside on November 1 and I am hope to pull them in by November 6. I am hoping that limiting the collection this year to a week Post-Halloween, will cut down on the volume coming in! But given the frenzy of emails, I have a feeling we are going to get slammed with candy. Needless to say, the bins are checked throughout the day, and candy is pulled inside my friend's home. Then of course, candy that isn't sorted, get sorted. Thankfully there are groups of volunteers who get together to do this, and apparently they really enjoy this sweet task. I have a feeling while sorting, they bond and connect with others and NO ELECTRONICS are involved! A novelty these days! But unlike in typical group situations, there is no awkwardness here, because everyone is focused on the same task..... sorting candy. 

This was the first large candy delivery we received today. Has to be at least 200 pounds. We want to thank the Washington Fine Properties (Robert and Tyler) folks for this very generous donation. They are first time donors and apparently really enjoyed collecting and sorting! We look forward to continuing our work together.

The candy was delivered to me, and tonight I will be taking this trunk full to Alexandria, VA (our main drop off location). It is helpful to have the candy consolidated in one place because eventually I have to deliver this candy to 15 different locations, spanning Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, Bethesda, MD, and Baltimore, MD. LOTS of time on the road.