Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Today's installment of saving babies

Today was one of those "odd jobs around the office" kinds of days that leave me exhausted but happy. While waiting for a grant proposal draft to edit, I answered phones and sorted donations.

Donations make me happy. It's so satisfying to organize piles of baby wipes or Gerber jars knowing that one day soon all these things will help make some mom's expenses a little easier that month. Today's highlight was the high school home-ec class that came en masse to deliver "the blankets we made, um, for the babies who don't, um, have any." It wasn't just blankets either - there were also cheery tote bags that held fuzzy sleepers complete with zippers, hoods, and little mitten cuffs.

Monetary donations, like the pile of checks I processed later in the day, are good too, especially anything that can help meet an emergency need. If I ever have a memorial fund in my name, I'd like it to go for NFNF discretionary funds. (Not to be morbid. Just putting the idea out there so no one attaches my name to something goofy like transcendental meditation or saving obscure birds in the Azores.) Today I answered a call from a woman whose father had just died and needed Greyhound tickets to get to his funeral. Normally we don't just give out money for stuff, but this time I think there is a real need we can meet. St. Vincent de Paul would probably agree with me that it was a privilege to be able to listen to that woman's story and offer my condolences.

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