Our Team
Debi Calligaro
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Gail LaLonde
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Mission Statement:
We are dedicated to help the homeless with Blessing Bags, Move In Kits, Mats and other items in Southeastern WI. This outreach will provide necessities, which are basics we all take for granted.
We are dedicated to help the homeless with Blessing Bags, Move In Kits, Mats and other items in Southeastern WI. This outreach will provide necessities, which are basics we all take for granted.
Board of Directors
President - Debi Calligaro
Vice President - Gail LaLonde
Treasurer - Roxanne Fassbender
Secretary - April Amundson
Members:
Denise Lewis
Hailey Calligaro
Vice President - Gail LaLonde
Treasurer - Roxanne Fassbender
Secretary - April Amundson
Members:
Denise Lewis
Hailey Calligaro
What are Blessing Bags?
There are many kinds of blessing bags that are made for those in need of any age. When we decided to
create and distribute the bags, we decided to focus on everyday essentials pertaining to warmth and
hygiene for adults.
create and distribute the bags, we decided to focus on everyday essentials pertaining to warmth and
hygiene for adults.
What is in a Blessing Bag?
Each backpack is filled with a re-closable pack of wipes, a single deodorant, a first aid kit, an individual pack of Kleenex, a travel size of shampoo; conditioner, body
wash/bar soap and a lotion. A toothbrush, travel size toothpaste, floss, lip balm, a comb, a razor, a
flashlight, a sealed pack of plastic utensils, a mylar blanket, one pack of two handwarmers, a washcloth, hand sanitizer, 2 facemasks
a reusable water bottle, a fleece lined hat, a pair of warm gloves, a pair of thermal socks, a scarf, a fleece
blanket and a small bag of hard candy along with a note from Love & Blessings that says they are not
forgotten. For the women's bags, we include an Ipsy bag filled with pads, tampons & hair ties.
wash/bar soap and a lotion. A toothbrush, travel size toothpaste, floss, lip balm, a comb, a razor, a
flashlight, a sealed pack of plastic utensils, a mylar blanket, one pack of two handwarmers, a washcloth, hand sanitizer, 2 facemasks
a reusable water bottle, a fleece lined hat, a pair of warm gloves, a pair of thermal socks, a scarf, a fleece
blanket and a small bag of hard candy along with a note from Love & Blessings that says they are not
forgotten. For the women's bags, we include an Ipsy bag filled with pads, tampons & hair ties.
How Love & Blessings Started
In 2016, I saw a picture on Facebook that showed fleece blankets for $2.50 each right around
Thanksgiving at Walmart. I asked my friends Roxanne and Gail if they would be interested in
buying some and finding a place to donate them. We each put in $20.00 and got 24 blankets.
Gail, Hailey and I dropped them off at the Hope House. On the way back from the drop off,
Hailey asked if we could go past the Milwaukee Rescue Mission to see if the gardens she had
helped plant with school were still there. On the way around the building, we saw gallon Ziploc
bags hanging on the fence. We got out to look and they were hygiene blessing bags. Gail and I
really liked the idea. We decided to combine the blanket idea with the hygiene blessing bag -
and we got going.
In 2017, Gail, Rox and I decided to set a goal to make 10 men’s bags & 10 women’s bags.
Laura got involved by donating and
volunteering to build the bags at Roxanne’s house. Gail, Hailey, Rox and I hung 12 men’s & 12
women’s bags on the fence at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. I also made 15 scarves to hang.
We had a lot of other donations from people and left over from our purchases. We dropped that
off inside at the Mission.
In 2018, we set a goal of
raising $1,000- and 25-men’s bags & 25 women’s bags. We also decided we wanted to pass
them out versus dropping them off. Our Facebook page was started, and we were featured in a
UWM presentation. We teamed up with
another non-profit, the White Stone Warriors, at Kosciuszko Park in Milwaukee. Gail, Rox,
Hailey and I distributed the bags along with other donations we had.
In 2019, the 4 of us decided to up our goal to 36 men’s bags & 36 women’s bags – with the same
$1,000.00. We received more in donations and were able to purchase clearance items for future
years and invest in some storage items. We became incorporated. We reached out to
HUHS to get a website. Colin came through and got our website and logo set up.
In 2020, we became a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit & got the WI sales tax exemption!! Jody Purtell revamped our logo & website. We received 89 mats from Mat for the Homeless from IA. We distributed to multiple partners that we work with.
2021 we added Spring Blessing Bags. distributed 200 winter bags and made 11 deliveries.
2022 was another great year distibuting 100 Spring bags and 300 winter bags to 15 locations.
In 2023, we distributed 150 Spring bags, 4,500 pairs of socks, 450 winter blessing backpacks and 59 mats!!
It is a very exciting journey we are on!! Thank you all for coming along with us-
Love & Blessings,
Debi
Thanksgiving at Walmart. I asked my friends Roxanne and Gail if they would be interested in
buying some and finding a place to donate them. We each put in $20.00 and got 24 blankets.
Gail, Hailey and I dropped them off at the Hope House. On the way back from the drop off,
Hailey asked if we could go past the Milwaukee Rescue Mission to see if the gardens she had
helped plant with school were still there. On the way around the building, we saw gallon Ziploc
bags hanging on the fence. We got out to look and they were hygiene blessing bags. Gail and I
really liked the idea. We decided to combine the blanket idea with the hygiene blessing bag -
and we got going.
In 2017, Gail, Rox and I decided to set a goal to make 10 men’s bags & 10 women’s bags.
Laura got involved by donating and
volunteering to build the bags at Roxanne’s house. Gail, Hailey, Rox and I hung 12 men’s & 12
women’s bags on the fence at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. I also made 15 scarves to hang.
We had a lot of other donations from people and left over from our purchases. We dropped that
off inside at the Mission.
In 2018, we set a goal of
raising $1,000- and 25-men’s bags & 25 women’s bags. We also decided we wanted to pass
them out versus dropping them off. Our Facebook page was started, and we were featured in a
UWM presentation. We teamed up with
another non-profit, the White Stone Warriors, at Kosciuszko Park in Milwaukee. Gail, Rox,
Hailey and I distributed the bags along with other donations we had.
In 2019, the 4 of us decided to up our goal to 36 men’s bags & 36 women’s bags – with the same
$1,000.00. We received more in donations and were able to purchase clearance items for future
years and invest in some storage items. We became incorporated. We reached out to
HUHS to get a website. Colin came through and got our website and logo set up.
In 2020, we became a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit & got the WI sales tax exemption!! Jody Purtell revamped our logo & website. We received 89 mats from Mat for the Homeless from IA. We distributed to multiple partners that we work with.
2021 we added Spring Blessing Bags. distributed 200 winter bags and made 11 deliveries.
2022 was another great year distibuting 100 Spring bags and 300 winter bags to 15 locations.
In 2023, we distributed 150 Spring bags, 4,500 pairs of socks, 450 winter blessing backpacks and 59 mats!!
It is a very exciting journey we are on!! Thank you all for coming along with us-
Love & Blessings,
Debi
Donate Today! |
Donations go to helping us create more blessings bags for the homeless people of our communities.
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