We drove to Toowoomba and then on to Kingaroy to see a friend.
All in aid of the Queensland Flood Appeal Dolly Drive.
(Miss Moo Moo, my little helper, was happy to carry a small box in from the car park)
On Tuesday morning we hand delivered 48 dolls/softies to the lovely ladies at the QCWA in Toowoomba. Jan and the other branch volunteers have been working closely with families in the Lockyer Valley, providing them with basic items when they return to their homes. When we arrived, other items such as children clothing and bedding were being delivered also.
What an amazing job these ladies are doing, working so closely with individual families in need. That afternoon they were putting things together for a family who are expecting their first child. So I guess that is one little softie on it's way to a new home.
The ladies at the CWA were eager to have a look inside the boxes and were truly astonished and touched by what they found.
Zoe, Treann, Alison, Heather, Lindsey, Crafty Mermaid, Elsa, Megan (Mousehouse), Jan, Melissa, Jane, Ceila, Roslyn, Karen (Weathergirl), Rachel, Fran, Isabelle, Vanessa, Amanda, Mary Jo and Prue.
Your dolls/softies have all been taken to Toowoomba and will be distributed in the Lockyer Valley communities over the coming months.
We drove through the Valley on our drive to Toowoomba and were certainly struck by the devastation that we were still able to see, particularly in the town of Grantham. Homes, without walls, just a frame and a roof, homes that clearly had half of the house missing, homes surrounded by barrier fencing, looking as it they would crumble in the breeze, barrier fencing surrounding furniture, a washing machine and debris, but no house, homes slowly being rebuilt, a corner shop, almost on it's side. Most roads marked "local traffic only."
So while I did not organise shelter or food or counseling, I hope that we (that's you, the softie makers and I) can at least pass on some of the warmth that is the human spirit. I hope too, that in other parts of the world and during other disasters, that others will do the same, in whatever way they can.
Thank-you to the 27 women who made the 58 dolls/softies that I received.
In the words of an amazing lady doing great things on the other side of the world:
"Your doll/softie donations are quintessentially the meaning of hope" Stephanie, president of the Abundant Ground Foundation
And I must not forget to thank Sarah, because if it wasn't for Sarah, I would never have had the idea to have a dolly drive in the first place.
