Happy summer, y’all!! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday celebration with family and friends over the 4th of July! Over our summer hiatus, many of the FH Hospital Auxiliary volunteers will be busy at home sewing 230 Christmas stockings. In May, several of us got together at the Community Center to cut large bolts of green and red felt into all the pieces that make the stockings. Below are pictures of these little elves at work in step #1 of our BIG stocking project. Once the stockings are carefully put together other elves will be filling these stockings with goodies for future patients, such as: small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotions, toothpaste, toothbrushes, small puzzle books, decks of cards, pens, and small pads of paper. We have been collecting these items from our volunteers all year long, but if you’d like to contribute any of the above items (they must be new) please contact Ruth Blackwell, our stocking committee chair at 704 506-2669 or email at luvybear@gmail.com. Ruth has also set up a wishlist account on Amazon and I checked it out and it’s so easy to order and deliveries will be made directly to Ruth. The address is: https:/amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2GCVQ3PY5CZZ1?ref Please type it in exactly as you see it. Other elves are hand knitting mug rugs, wash cloths, eye glass cases, and beautiful picture frames that we put into the stockings, as well.
Top Left Photo--Back Row (L to R): Barbara Hoekman, Janell Ringuette, Patti Dalton, Mary Florence, Pam Gaskill, Judy Gates, and Jane Haeussler. Front Row (L to R): Ruth Blackwell (Stocking Chair), Lucille Durst, Joyce Stull (Co-Stocking Chair), Debbie Harris, and Linda Neylan (photographer).
Top Right Photo --(L to R) Ruth Blackwell and Lucille Durst tracing and cutting green crowns and Christmas trees for stocking decorations.
2nd Row Left Photo--(L to R) Joyce Stull and Debbie Harris tracing and cutting red crowns and Christmas trees for stocking decorations.
2nd Row Right Photo--(L to R) Barbara Hoekman and Patti Dalton are cutting out red stockings.
3rd Row Left Photo--Janell Ringuette is placing stocking template on red felt and tracing outlines for cutters.
3rd Row Right--Janet Keefe cutting Christmas trees for to placeon front of stockings for decoration.
4th Row Left--Mary Florence tracing green stocking outlines for cutters.
4th Row Right--(L to R) Mary Florence & Pam Gaskill tracing and cutting the green stockings and sharing a laugh with each other.
Bottom Row Left--(L to R) Jane Haeussler and Judy Gates are coordinating ten stockings with crowns & attachable decorations into bags for sewers.
Bottom Row Right--Linda Neylan is holding up the stocking pieces that are used to sew together to make beautiful stockings for patients at Carolina East.
During our April meeting, Shaellen Thompson, Carolina East’s Volunteer Services Manager, let us know that the hospital pediatric ward needed toys for children, so Ingrid Kaplin and Pam Gaskill got busy knitting and sewing some adorable stuffed animals for our little ones. Please see their cute creations in the pictures below!
Left -- Ingrid Kaplan shows us her adorable, handknit animals for children under pediatric
care at Carolina East Hospital.
Right -- Pam Gaskill is holding her cute handsewn animals that she makes for children at the hospital.
Volunteer Highlight
We thought it might be fun and interesting to highlight one of our volunteers every so often, so this month I nominated myself. 😊 My name is Linda Neylan and I hail from San Diego, CA. My husband, Michael, and I share four adult children and three grand- kids with another on the way. I was a 1st and 2nd grade teacher for almost twenty-five years and was a manager for a department store before that. Once I retired, we moved to New Bern in the summer of 2018, just before Florence! That was quite the storm, but we weren’t frightened quite so easily and have loved living here. Soon after we moved here, I knew that I wanted to help others by volunteering. I started at Carolina East Hospital in November 2018 and have continued to volunteer in the Camillia gift shop each month. I also serve as the first-grade teacher for Faith Formation classes (aka Sunday school) at Saint Paul’s. I absolutely love teaching “firsties” again, and it gives me so much joy to watch their faith grow. I joined the FH Hospital Auxiliary shortly after we moved to FFH in 2020. I soon became our auxiliary historian and later began writing articles for the Beacon newspaper. For the past six years, I have worked part time at a long-standing consignment shop in the heart of our beautiful historic downtown called Twice as Nice. We are located in the old City Hall building across from Mitchell’s Hardware. My previous experience in retail has come back to life, and I’m so thankful I can help the owners, consignors, and customers with everything they need in our little shop. I also enjoy making crafts, particularly for Christmas décor, and selling them at local craft fairs. In all that I do, I love meeting new people and sharing life experiences with them and helping our community in the process. I live with the guidance of our Heavenly Father in my heart, and He brings me so much joy through my efforts to help others. I can’t think of a better place to live with the most heartfelt genuine people!
The FFH Hospital Auxiliary meets on the third Monday of most every month, at the Community Center from 9:30 to 10:30. The auxiliary does not hold meetings during the summer months of July and August. It’s a great way to meet new friends and become involved in our community in helping Carolina East Medical Center. Our organization is free of charge to become a member, and we would love both men and women to join us. For membership information you may contact our Chairperson, Ruth Blackwell or membership chairs, Pat Geres and Judy Gates.
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