Please, see Barbara's update about food drive and delivering food to Rudiskes here .
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Food Drive Update
Dear Ladies,
Did you know that 5 am on Monday morning the temperature was minus 35. No wonder our cars would not start!
For our monthly social evening we went to Daiva Archipovaite's lingerie shop as Erin has already mentioned. I would like to say that the items I bought there are wonderful and I will certainly be going back for more. Other ladies that bought things at the same time are also extremely pleased. Well worth a visit Ladies.
After the Prisma food drive I was going to write and thank everyone including the embassies that also took part, for all the good work and time and effort that was put into the event. Then I thought I would wait and write to you after I had delivered the food to the homes in the Rudiskes area where I live so that I could tell you about that at the same time.
None of you will be able to imagine the conditions that these families live in, and I mean that with the greatest respect to all of you.
I came back so depressed and almost in tears.
My neighbour Wim helped. We loaded the food into the van and set off. He told me that it was not a good idea to divide the food into bags as the majority of the men in the homes were alcoholics and would sell the excess food to get some vodka. We went to each home and assessed the situation, how many children etc and then gave them food. Wim will go back again to give them more.
They live in cardboard houses with bits of carpet tacked to the walls inside to keep out the cold - wonder how it worked in minus 35!!
They have no running water, no room for a fire. One house had three families living in separate rooms. When we asked if anyone else was in another room they said no. As we drove away, an old man with a walking stick was hobbling towards us carrying a small container of water he had collected from somewhere. He told us that he lived in another room in the same house on his own.. His face as he clutched a bag of food to his chest will stay with me for ever.
In another house the four small children were so beautiful and clean but there was nothing else in there. One tiny 5/6 year old had learned a few words of english and we coaxed ' how are you' out of him.
Another house we went to had a HUGE pool of frozen blood outside the house. The woman's husband was alcoholic and she was crying so much that she found it difficult to tell us that he had been fighting, hence the blood. Who he had been fighting with or where he was at that time, we couldn't find out.
These were just a few of the homes I went to.
This is the REAL Lithuania and this is Europe.
Ladies, this food was a life-saver and I do not use that term lightly. Thank you so much again for everything that was done by everybody. You have certainly improved the lives of some families even though it is only for a short time.
If anyone would like to visit some of these homes then let me know.
Coffee morning on Friday Ladies.
Come along and catch up with all the ongoing events.
Barbara
(posted from an email)
Monday, 18 January 2010
A Long Walk In The Snow
Look at this photo! Doesn’t it look terribly cold?! Brrrrrrr! And it looks so different from what we see in the streets of Vilnius… so white and snowy. Yesterday, Barbara with some ladies from IWAV and hash members had a 1 1/2 hour walk in the snow at her house.
In the photo from left to right: Terry Amos, Liliana, Mike, Eva Amos and their son Stuart, Barbara, Francoise and Mauricette. Three more people enjoyed this adventure but are not in the pic as they joined in later because they got lost trying to find the house.
Looks like fun!
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Christmas Parties Update
Here we are! The last weekend before Christmas!
We have two charity projects going on during Christmas week: the Christmas party at the Sisters of Mother Teresa Shelter and some giving goodness at a Gerontology Rehabilitation Center on Kalvariju, in the Verkiu forest (Stations of the Cross).
For the party at the shelter, I would like to thank Judith for her generosity! Thanks to her the children attending the party will each receive a snowman baggy with a candy cane, a Christmas tattoo, a felt ornament or a little Chrismtas critter -- plus some other homebaked goodies. I also have a humongous teddy bear to give away to the lucky winner of a drawing.
Also, thanks to our members we gathered more than enough gifts for the female residents of the shelter; we still need a few for the male occupants.
On Monday we'll be preparing food crates for the families. On Tuesday morning we'll be preparing goodies and decorations for the party at 2 pm.
Most of you probably don't know about the event at the gerontology center. When Barbara and I decided that we wanted to target older folks for our gift-giving at the MMS, I had contacted a home near my house to find out how many residents they had: 140! We ended up asking for a more manageable number of gifts for the Mother Teresa shelter. But I had already got the gerontology center excited!
So I've managed to put together 65 gifts so far, which will be used to embellish common areas (dining room, living rooms, etc.). With a little groveling on my part, the Italian Embassy generously donated five of the beautiful blankets they were selling at the Christmas Bazaar, plus four pandoro (my favorite: a kind of panettone without the dried fruit and with powdered sugar to sprinkle on top) and other yummy sweets.
In the midst of my scouring Vilnius for goodies, Barbara called up and asked if I wouldn't mind having some money for the party at the shelter -- a donation of some extra proceeds from the Christmas Bazaar! We came to a decision to split the donation between the shelter and the gerontology center. So now both recipients have money to buy extra Christmas trees, decorations and food for their holiday celebrations!
I hope to see some of you at the shelter on Monday or Tuesday!
Sydney
IWAV Charity Coordinator
We have two charity projects going on during Christmas week: the Christmas party at the Sisters of Mother Teresa Shelter and some giving goodness at a Gerontology Rehabilitation Center on Kalvariju, in the Verkiu forest (Stations of the Cross).
For the party at the shelter, I would like to thank Judith for her generosity! Thanks to her the children attending the party will each receive a snowman baggy with a candy cane, a Christmas tattoo, a felt ornament or a little Chrismtas critter -- plus some other homebaked goodies. I also have a humongous teddy bear to give away to the lucky winner of a drawing.
Also, thanks to our members we gathered more than enough gifts for the female residents of the shelter; we still need a few for the male occupants.
On Monday we'll be preparing food crates for the families. On Tuesday morning we'll be preparing goodies and decorations for the party at 2 pm.
Most of you probably don't know about the event at the gerontology center. When Barbara and I decided that we wanted to target older folks for our gift-giving at the MMS, I had contacted a home near my house to find out how many residents they had: 140! We ended up asking for a more manageable number of gifts for the Mother Teresa shelter. But I had already got the gerontology center excited!
So I've managed to put together 65 gifts so far, which will be used to embellish common areas (dining room, living rooms, etc.). With a little groveling on my part, the Italian Embassy generously donated five of the beautiful blankets they were selling at the Christmas Bazaar, plus four pandoro (my favorite: a kind of panettone without the dried fruit and with powdered sugar to sprinkle on top) and other yummy sweets.
In the midst of my scouring Vilnius for goodies, Barbara called up and asked if I wouldn't mind having some money for the party at the shelter -- a donation of some extra proceeds from the Christmas Bazaar! We came to a decision to split the donation between the shelter and the gerontology center. So now both recipients have money to buy extra Christmas trees, decorations and food for their holiday celebrations!
I hope to see some of you at the shelter on Monday or Tuesday!
Sydney
IWAV Charity Coordinator
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
IWAV December Social - Christmas Cocktails and Desserts
Here are some photos and a video from the Christmas MMS party at the Radisson Hotel last night. I can not give you a complete account of the evening as I could only attend for a few minutes. But even in this short time I really enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of the Radisson bar and the friendly and attentive service. As you can see from the video there was a good turn out and everyone was having a very nice time!
:-) Galina
:-) Galina
Volunteer for Holiday Cheer!
Volunteers needed for Christmas. We have a lot going on. This is your chance to get involved.
When: December 21st at 9 am
Where: the Sisters' soup kitchen on Sv. Stepono/Paneriu g.
What: preparing food crates for families in need
When: December 22nd at 9 am
Where: the Sisters' soup kitchen
What: preparing/decorating/conducting 2pm Christmas party for families in need
When: sometime very soon :-)
Where: VU EKMI gerontologijas centras (gerontology center) on Kalvariju g. 323
What: buying and transporting a couple of Christmas trees, some ornaments and some sweets, plus delivering gifts (taken care of), and "warming some hearts"
For the first two, just show up.
For the gerontology center, please contact me directly at rea.ebnother@gmail.com
Sydney
IWAV Charity Coordinator
When: December 21st at 9 am
Where: the Sisters' soup kitchen on Sv. Stepono/Paneriu g.
What: preparing food crates for families in need
When: December 22nd at 9 am
Where: the Sisters' soup kitchen
What: preparing/decorating/conducting 2pm Christmas party for families in need
When: sometime very soon :-)
Where: VU EKMI gerontologijas centras (gerontology center) on Kalvariju g. 323
What: buying and transporting a couple of Christmas trees, some ornaments and some sweets, plus delivering gifts (taken care of), and "warming some hearts"
For the first two, just show up.
For the gerontology center, please contact me directly at rea.ebnother@gmail.com
Sydney
IWAV Charity Coordinator
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity
Breda and I had a lovely meeting yesterday with Sister Francilene of the Sisters of Charity. The sisters, all English-speaking and from all four corners of the earth, run a soup kitchen and shelter for homeless and recovering alcoholics near the train and bus stations. They are currently housing 16 adults, serving about 150 homeless people in the soup kitchen, and providing takeaway crates of food to 100-150 families in the Vilnius area who do not receive any government assistance. These families are personally monitored by the sisters who have selected them for assistance on the basis of need and absence of anyone in the family who might trade the food for alcohol or drugs.
The sisters have many needs!
Immediate Needs:
* Towels
* Footwear
Food:
We saw the pantry. For a soup kitchen serving hundreds of people, there is not a huge stock of food in there. We will cover some of their needs thru the food drive in January.
But they will also take fresh food leftover from receptions. I have asked our member, Lis, to head up a project of collecting leftover food from embassy receptions. But, please, if you have leftovers from any of your holiday events, please take it down to the Sisters.
Drivers:
The Sisters visit needy families every day. They use public transportation and also visit homes in the suburbs, so these visits are very time-consuming and, probably, tiring for them. If anyone is interested in spending a morning driving one of the sisters around town, please let me know. Again, all of the sisters speak English.
Kitchen Helpers:
Anyone is welcome from 9 am on to help out in the kitchen, peeling, chopping, cleaning, filling up the takeaway food crates, and doing whatever might be helpful.
Christmas Parties:
The Sisters are organizing Christmas events for each of the different groups they serve. There will be a party for the homeless who use the soup kitchen, one for the residents of the shelter, one for the children (we chatted with a lovely sister -- whom I know has been struggling to get used to life in the shelter after working in Calcutta -- who was sewing up gorgeous little puppets for a puppet show.), and one party for the families who receive the crates of food. This party will take place on December 22nd and IWAV Members are invited to whip up some goodies and come help decorate the dining room for this special Christmas event for families in need. Baked goods, candies (I have some candy canes), fruit salad (I doubt these families get a lot of fresh fruit) are all good ideas. Buying stuff is also permitted. There will probably be sandwich fixings available for us to put together starting at 9 am on December 22nd. I think I'll get some of my spiced apple cider going on the stove. And thanks to one of our members, I now have plenty of little goodies to pass out to the children!
Christmas Gifts:
You are also requested to provide a small wrapped gift for the shelter residents (11 men and 5 women, 3 of whom are currently in hospital) at our December 14th Social at the Radisson.
Suggestions for Gifts:
* Combs/hairbrushes
* Shaving supplies
* Soaps/shampoos
* shawls or warm socks
* towels
I thought I'd get a rest after the Christmas Bazaar but I'm glad to stuff more giving into my holiday season!
Quotation of the Month:
Sv. Stepono g. 35 (corner of Paneriu g. across from Lukoil)
Either go down Mindaugo towards the train station area and turn right on Paneriu (the shelter is on the left, on the corner, diagonal to the Lukoil (there is a courtyard to pull into and park); or from the train station, cross the station square and take the hill down on the right side, turn right and it's the first courtyard on the left.
The sisters have many needs!
Immediate Needs:
* Towels
* Footwear
Food:
We saw the pantry. For a soup kitchen serving hundreds of people, there is not a huge stock of food in there. We will cover some of their needs thru the food drive in January.
But they will also take fresh food leftover from receptions. I have asked our member, Lis, to head up a project of collecting leftover food from embassy receptions. But, please, if you have leftovers from any of your holiday events, please take it down to the Sisters.
Drivers:
The Sisters visit needy families every day. They use public transportation and also visit homes in the suburbs, so these visits are very time-consuming and, probably, tiring for them. If anyone is interested in spending a morning driving one of the sisters around town, please let me know. Again, all of the sisters speak English.
Kitchen Helpers:
Anyone is welcome from 9 am on to help out in the kitchen, peeling, chopping, cleaning, filling up the takeaway food crates, and doing whatever might be helpful.
Christmas Parties:
The Sisters are organizing Christmas events for each of the different groups they serve. There will be a party for the homeless who use the soup kitchen, one for the residents of the shelter, one for the children (we chatted with a lovely sister -- whom I know has been struggling to get used to life in the shelter after working in Calcutta -- who was sewing up gorgeous little puppets for a puppet show.), and one party for the families who receive the crates of food. This party will take place on December 22nd and IWAV Members are invited to whip up some goodies and come help decorate the dining room for this special Christmas event for families in need. Baked goods, candies (I have some candy canes), fruit salad (I doubt these families get a lot of fresh fruit) are all good ideas. Buying stuff is also permitted. There will probably be sandwich fixings available for us to put together starting at 9 am on December 22nd. I think I'll get some of my spiced apple cider going on the stove. And thanks to one of our members, I now have plenty of little goodies to pass out to the children!
Christmas Gifts:
You are also requested to provide a small wrapped gift for the shelter residents (11 men and 5 women, 3 of whom are currently in hospital) at our December 14th Social at the Radisson.
Suggestions for Gifts:
* Combs/hairbrushes
* Shaving supplies
* Soaps/shampoos
* shawls or warm socks
* towels
I thought I'd get a rest after the Christmas Bazaar but I'm glad to stuff more giving into my holiday season!
Quotation of the Month:
This is the first year that I have honestly, truly, thought more about giving to others and helping those in need than worrying about presents for my family and it feels GREAT. Very little stress or worry, just good feelings! -- an active memberShelter/Soup Kitchen Address:
Sv. Stepono g. 35 (corner of Paneriu g. across from Lukoil)
Either go down Mindaugo towards the train station area and turn right on Paneriu (the shelter is on the left, on the corner, diagonal to the Lukoil (there is a courtyard to pull into and park); or from the train station, cross the station square and take the hill down on the right side, turn right and it's the first courtyard on the left.
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Monday, 7 December 2009
Friday, 4 December 2009
Coffee Morning: IWAV Coffee Klatch
Today was IWAV traditional coffee morning which took place at my favorite venue – the Radisson Hotel. As always the atmosphere was warm, relaxed, cozy and elegant… Everybody talked about this year’s Christmas Charity Bazaar. IWAV raised an impressing amount of money for its beneficiaries and it was time to celebrate!
For those who have not yet been to a coffee morning, it is a nice monthly event for newcomers and members to come together. If you are new to IWAV you get a chance to introduce yourself, learn more about the association, chat and find out about IWAV events, plans, and of course to drink coffee with delicious cookies.
This morning was as always very enjoyable!
Galina
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