Hailey's Hope Birthday Delivery

We're excited to tell you about a recent special delivery made by local project, Hailey's Hope, which currently serves The Children's Hospital at The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

As a bereaved parent, Kristin, project leader of Hailey's Hope, worried about her daughter's first birthday. She wanted to make sure the day was one of celebrating her daughter's life and a reason for joy instead of a day full of grief. To help make this happen, Kristin set a goal that Hailey's Hope would make a very special delivery on Hailey's birthday to the NICU where Hailey stayed.

This fall Hailey's Hope had been holding item drives and doing other small local fundraisers so that the project could deliver its goal of 50 basic NICU bags and 10 memory boxes on Hailey's 1st birthday, December 1, 2010. After several successful fundraisers and receiving overwhelming support and donations, Hailey's Hope reached its goal and had enough extras to have a great start for its donations in 2011!

On December 1, Hailey's birthday, Hailey's Hope delivered its 50 bags and 10 memory boxes to The Children's Hospital. This was the second delivery for Hailey's Hope, and this delivery Kristin was able to go to the NICU and talk with several of the NICU nurses. The nurses were all overjoyed about the donations and expressed how grateful the families were who had received bags from the first round of donations that Hailey's Hope donated back in June. They were extremely thankful to have more bags to give to more families, especially during this difficult time of year, and are already looking forward to the next time Hailey's Hope can donate more bags.

Overall, the delivery was quite the success for Hailey's Hope and Kristin. Kristin felt her daughter's birthday was celebrated the best way it could have been and is extremely grateful for everyone who helped make it possible.

Here are a few pictures from the delivery (to see more pictures from the delivery and to stay updated on the latest new for Hailey's Hope please visit the project's Facebook page:

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Shelby's Sunshine Polar Plunge

On November 28, 2010, Shelby's Sunshine hosted a Polar Plunge fundraiser at their local Moose Lodge in Indiana.

Tickets were sold for $20 each and enabled participants to take 'the plunge' and receive a Shelby's Sunshine t-shirt. All proceeds from the event went towards purchasing items to fill gift bags for families with a child in the NICU.

We are happy to share that this event turned out to be a HUGE success!

There were 16 people who dared to jump in the lake waist deep and take the plunge into frigid waters, and many spectators came out to watch!



Shelby's Sunshine had many people make additional donations, purchase raffle tickets for the 7 raffles, and buy polar plunge polar bears.

Because of the event and the support, project leader Stephanie was able to raise over $1000 that day for Shelby's Sunshine!

From Stephanie:
We are so very thankful to so many people, companies, friends, and family.
Christy--Thanks so much for the basket!! It was a huge hit!
Kate--Thanks for the raffle prize and for making the trip.....It means so much to my family. Corin--Thanks for all the help with the fliers, wavier and all you did to support this event. Thanks to all who supported this event via Facebook, supporting us with your words.

To see more pictures from the event and to stay updated with Shelby's Sunshine, please visit the project's Facebook page.

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Stephen's Stroller Roll & More Deliveries!

Kate, project leader of Shannon's Star in Pennsylvania, has a wonderful event going on benefiting the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in honor of her son's (Stephen's) first birthday:

If you're interested in participating please contact Kate by emailing her at: Kate@projectsweetpeas.com.

We'd also like to share that Kate and Shannon's Star recently delivered 32 NICU bags and 120 name tags to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Magee Women's. The name tags were leaves hung by ribbons so the nurses could put the babies' names on them. They were delivered just in time for Thanksgiving!

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2 Projects Make the News!

On Wednesday, November 10th, local project Ava's Angels located in Minnesota made the local news!

An article appearing in the Sun Newspapers shares about project leader's, Lisa's, experiences with her daughter Ava, and shares about the local branch of Project Sweet Peas Lisa started in her memory.

To read the entire feature written about Ava's Angels please visit the story here.


Local project Hailey's Hope located in Alabama also made the local news in Illinois, where project leader Kristin is originally from.

The articles share about Kristin's experiences with her daughter Hailey and explain about Hailey's Hope. The articles came as a result of the school where Kristin used to teach at taking the initiative to bring the school district and community together to show their support for Kristin and Hailey's Hope by raising money and holding an item drive for Hailey's Hope's delivery coming up on Hailey's first birthday on December 1st.

The articles are not available online but can be read below (for better viewing click on the picture to enlarge).



We are so proud of all our local projects and so thrilled to be spreading the word and raising awareness about our cause!

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Pepsi Commercial Featuring PSP!

Hey everyone!

Back in July Pepsi shot a commercial for the Pepsi Refresh Project featuring Project Sweet Peas. It originally aired on a local channel in Texas. We recently got a hold of the file and wanted to share it with you!

The video features project leader Megan of MJ's Memories and was shot at their local hospital, Stormont Vail. We'd like to add that MJ Memories delivered over 30 bags that day!

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Shelby's Sunshine Recent Delivery!

On October 29th local project Shelby's Sunshine delivered 70 bags to a NICU in Indianapolis, Indiana!

Project leader and mom of Shelby wrote this:

This was a wonderful delivery. We feel truly blessed to be able to help families with babies in the NICU. We were there with Shelby and understand the feeling of hopelessness. It is our time to give back, and it is such a great feeling.

Stephanie

Here are a few of the photos Stephanie shared from this amazing delivery!

Above: Shelby with the 70 bags!

Above: Shelby along with her mom and project leader Stephanie and the other girls

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Shannon's Star Silpada Jewelry Fundraiser

Project Shannon’s Star in Pittsburgh, is having a Silpada jewelry fundraiser!

Now until November 13th 20% of retail sales (before tax and shipping) will be donated to Shannon’s Star.

You can view the online catalog at http://mysilpada.com/sites/linda.thomas1/private/content/home.jsf .

Please e-mail Linda (lthomasrdh@yahoo.com) your order and let her know you are ordering through the Project Sweet Peas fundraiser.

Each and every piece of Silpada Designs jewelry is one of a kind. Silpada artisans meticulously handcraft each piece and incorporate the absolute finest .925 Sterling Silver. Their use of spectacular semiprecious gemstones, natural materials and eclectic designs is what makes Silpada Designs' line of handcrafted jewelry truly exceptional. All Silpada Designs jewelry is backed by a lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects – NOT NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR.

Christmas is right around the corner! Buy a gift for someone you know and help support Shannon's Star!

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1,000th Bag Delivered!

Project Sweet Peas has had a little contest going on our Facebook page to see who could guess when we would reach 1,000 gift bags delivered.

Well, WE DID IT!!

On October 15th, project leader Megan Skaggs of MJ's Memories delivered our 1,000th gift bag!

The winner of the contest was Brett Baer, who guessed October 14th! Congratulations Brett on your new Project Sweet Peas water bottle!

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Kiernan's Kindness Candle Memorial

We would like to share about another special event held on this past Friday in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day: Kiernan's Kindness Candle Memorial.

On October 15th Kiernan's Kindness lit candles to remember those "gone to soon but not forgotten."

While Kiernan's Kindness's project leader, Julie, originally planned to join the PSP balloon release, she was unable to due to unforeseen circumstances; however, Julie still wanted to honor the angels and pushed on doing her own memorial.

Several candles were lit each bearing the name of an infant or a special name of a pregnancy that ended too soon. Each name was handwritten and included a single heart if representing one baby lost or two hearts if representing a pair of twins lost. Each candle was photographed separately and then beautifully put together to form a pair of angel wings.


Julie wanted the families to know they are all loved and that their special angels got to help in making a special memorial for their families.

There were also candles lit bearing a cause of pregnancy or infant loss to represent those who were not able to be named.


More pictures can be found in an album on the Project Sweet Peas Facebok Page and on the Kiernan's Kindness page on Facebook. Please feel free to tag yourself, friends, and family. Please enjoy the keepsake video montage featured below and know that your angels were remembered in many ways.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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1st Annual Memorial Balloon Release

This past weekend Project Sweet Peas held our 1st Annual Memorial Balloon Release in honor of Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day, October 15th.


We wanted to honor babies lost by writing their names on balloons, releasing the balloons in remembrance of them, and photographing the balloons. Through our Facebook Page Event Wall, emails, and personal contacts, families from across the country submitted their babies' names to be remembered in our release.

On October 10th we began compiling all the names submitted to us onto one list and then divided the names up amongst the participating projects. We had seven of our local project leaders volunteer to host releases where they lived and take pictures of each balloon released in remembrance of the babies on their list.

Project Sweet Peas is extremely honored to share with you that we had over 400 names submitted and remembered in our release! Therefore, we believe that Project Sweet Peas had the country's largest Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day balloon release this year, and maybe ever!


Project leaders who held the balloon releases have been working all weekend to upload pictures of the balloons to albums on our Facebook Page where people are invited to tag themselves in the picture of their baby's balloon. To find the albums from the balloon releases please view this link to our Project Sweet Peas Facebook Photo Albums. There are several albums, and we hope to have all of the pictures uploaded by tonight at the latest.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their baby's name, participated, helped, and supported our 1st Annual Memorial Balloon Release. Project Sweet Peas is honored to have had the opportunity to help you remember your baby in this way.

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Project Sweet Peas is a Registered Non-Profit Organization!

We have some big news that we are so excited to share with you today! We have officially become Incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania where our headquarters is located!

This means Project Sweet Peas is now an Incorporated Non-Profit Organization!

However, we still DO NOT have tax exempt status; therefore, donations are NOT tax deductible until we have our status approved. Our lawyer is still in the process of filling out and submitting that paperwork in the next couple of weeks.

What this means for the status of Project Sweet Peas as an organization: Project Sweet Peas is a REGISTERED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT IS WAITING ON APPROVAL FOR OUR 501c3 TAX EXEMPT STATUS.

We will update you as soon as the remainder of our paperwork is completed, and we have our official 501c3 tax exempt status.

We are extremely excited to be making progress on this. Becoming a registered NPO and receiving our 501c3 tax exempt status will be a huge benefit for Project Sweet Peas and will open many new doors for us to expand as an organization, which ultimately will help us help many more families in need.

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Reminder to "Craft for a Cause"

We wanted to remind everyone about Craft for Cause ~ 24 days left!

Here's all the information you need to know:

Do you like to sew or craft? You can win $1500 and help Project Sweet Peas win $50,000!

Here's how:

1. Buy your supplies from Jo-Ann Fabrics (save your receipts!!) - find a store near you!

2. Make your items and take a few fun pictures of them

3. Upload them to the Craft for a Cause site at http://www.joann.com/joann/common/content_noleftnav.jsp?catName=craftForaCause

4. In the -Or- Box type "Project Sweet Peas"

5. Donate your items to any of our 15 local projects

6. Wait and see if you are chosen as a $1500 winner

7. VOTE for Project Sweet Peas to win $50,000!!

Contest Dates

Crafting contest begins August 15, 2010 and ends October 30, 2010

Charity voting ends December 4, 2010

Crafters — Enter to Win $1,500 Gift Card

Using materials purchased from Jo-Ann make and donate useful crafted items to your favorite charitable organization. Experience the satisfaction of giving! Submit photo of each donation — crafted items will be judged for prizes! The makers of the top five* crafted items will each win a $1,500 Jo-Ann gift card.

*Judged on creativity, quality & functionality for the charitable organization receiving item. Open to legal U.S. residents age 14 or older. Void in Maryland & Vermont.

Jo-Ann Donates a Total of $90,000 to Three Causes

The three charitable organizations receiving the most donated items become Craft for a Cause finalists. Then you can join other crafters and go online to vote for your favorite among these three.

Please let any of our Board of Directors know if you have any questions!

Kate@projectsweetpeas.com

Corin@projectsweetpeas.com

Stephanie@projectsweetpeas.com

Megan@projectsweetpeas.com

Christy@projectsweetpeas.com

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NICU Hallowboo Fundraiser for Shannon's Stars

A donation of $6.00 will allow Shannon's Stars to buy 24 Halloween themed named tags for Magee-Women's NICU.

October 17th is the deadline for donating.

For more information email Kate@projectsweetpeas.com

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PSP Water Bottles for Sale!

Are you thirsty? Would you like to support Project Sweet Peas?

Two of our local projects, MJ's Memories and Shelby's Sunshine, have special Project Sweet Peas water bottles for sale!


The PSP water bottles are $3 each or $4 with shipping for each. All proceeds will benefit their local projects.

If you would like to place an order or want more details, please contact Megan, project leader of MJ's Memories: Megan@ProjectSweetPeas.com OR Stephanie, project leader of Shelby's Sunshine: Stephanie@ProjectSweetPeas.com.

Also, Megan is doing a special promotion for MJ's Memories: For anyone looking to make a donation to MJ's Memories, you will be given a FREE water bottle as a thank you!

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Donny's Shining Light Shares News and Makes the News!

We are pleased to update you on the latest exciting happenings for Project Sweet Peas local project Donny's Shining Light in Illinois.

For our first bit of news, back in July we updated you on a fundraiser yard sale for Donny's Shining Light (you can read that post here), and we also mentioned that Theresa , the project leader of Donny's Shining Light, was going to host another yard sale fundraiser in September.

Well she did, and she is thrilled to report that her second fundraiser was another success! Theresa raised $600 for Donny's Shining Light thanks to both yard sales.

Theresa said, "I will be trying hard to budget this money as wisely as possible so I can get as much as possible from it!"

~

For our second bit of news, we are so proud and excited to share that Chicago's Daily Herald reported on Donny's Shining Light. Today they published the wonderful article they wrote called "Project Sweet Peas leaders donate to keep son's memory alive," and you can read it online here.

~

And last but not least, Theresa's next fundraiser event is in the works; it's called "Decorate the Tree" for Donny's Shining Light. Details to come later so stay tuned!

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Ava's Angels Delivers 50 Bags!

We are thrilled to share the latest gift bag delivery made by one of our local projects, Ava's Angels. Ava's Angels is in Minnesota and is led by Lisa, Ava's mom.


This past Wednesday, September 8, 2010, Ava's Angels delivered an amazing 50 gift bags to the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis!!


Lisa was thankful to donate Ava's Angel's bags to the Ronald McDonald House "since the people the bags will be going to have all been uprooted from their homes (often times from another state) in addition to having their baby in the NICU."

For more information visit Ava's Angel's webpage or email Lisa at: Lisa@projectsweetpeas.com.

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Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Balloon Release

Project Sweet Peas will be honoring angel babies on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, October 15th, with a memorial balloon release.


If you would like an angel to be included in our balloon release here is what you need to do:

Write the child's name or loving nickname (such as "Sweet Pea" or "Baby Jones") on the Facebook Event Page Wall.

OR

Send an email with the baby's name and the subject "Oct 15th" to info@projectsweetpeas.com.

All submissions must be made by October 10th.

Participating project leaders will take part of the list of names submitted and write the names on balloons which will be photographed and released on October 15th in memory of all infants lost.

Photographs of the balloons will be published on our Facebook page, and you will be able to tag the picture of your child's balloon if you'd like. If you do not have a Facebook account and would like the photograph emailed to you, please email us and let us know.

If you have any questions please email: info@projectsweetpeas.com.

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Welcome Jordon's Journey!

We have another very exciting new local project in Jordon's Journey that we would like to welcome! Lisa Arndt is Jordon's mom and the project leader of Jordon's Journey, which donates bags in Missouri.

For more information on Jordan's Journey, please email Lisa at LisaArndt@projectsweetpeas.com.

Here is Jordon's Story . . .

Hello, My name is Lisa and I would like to share Jordon's Journey with you.

My husband Jim and I got married in September 1994. We knew that we wanted to start having children right away and in May of 1995 we got the exciting news that I was pregnant. But, at that time I was already 3 months along and losing a lot of weight. My doctor put me on bed rest and within the next 3 months we were over joyed to find out we were having a boy, and right away we decided on the name Jordon Tyler.

In late August I went to my doctor for my monthly checkup. I had lost 60 pounds in the last few months. He was worried about Jordon's weight so he sent me to the hospital for a ultrasound at which point they saw that I had lost all my placenta. The doctor admitted me to the hospital to be monitored and steroids pumped in me to build up Jordon's lungs. A couple of days later the nurses saw Jordon's heart rate dropping, she called the doctor and right away. Within minutes I was rushed into the operating room for a emergency c-section. With my husband by my side and my parents in the hallway waiting, little Jordon Tyler was born on September 4th, 1995. I was just a few days away from being 7 months along. Jordon let out a little cry, and he was taken to the NICU with my husband by his side. Later that night I was wheeled down to the NICU to see my baby. He weighed 1 pound 10oz and was 12 1/2 inches long. He was hooked up to all of these machines to monitor him and help him breathe. I was in shock; the NICU was such a scary place to me as I had never seen anything like it before. Jim and I felt so alone and could have never image something so small and fragile.

The next few weeks Jordon continued to be a fighter, he was gaining weight slowly but surely and was off the oxygen and able to be in room air. The doctors were very hopeful that Jordon was going to gain weight and pull through and make it. His only issues were that he was born so early that he would have developmental problems, but soon would catch up with children his age.

After 2 months and 18 days in the NICU, Jordon weighed 4 pounds and 7oz and was released from the hospital with a heart monitor the day before Thanksgiving. We were ecstatic and took him shopping for his first train set to put under the Christmas tree. We spent Thanksgiving day with family and friends and finally being able to be our little family of 3.

Those first two nights we kept him in our bedroom in the bassinet at night and the day after Thanksgiving he woke to be fed. As I held him in my arms that early morning his heart monitor went off, and he was gone. My husband did CPR while I called the ambulance. After they came and rushed him to nearest hospital, an hour later the doctor came into this little room and told us, "I'm sorry there was nothing we could do." They let us in the room with him, and we sat and held him and cried. Later after the autopsy we found out that he was missing the left pulmonary artery to his heart and that his kidneys and liver were damaged.

He is now our angel and watches over us everyday. He is dearly missed, and I hope Project Sweet Peas will help to honor his memory.

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MJ's Memories Delivers in Memory of MJ's Angel Day

Project Sweet Peas is so happy to share about another delivery made by local project MJ's Memories!

Megan, project leader, made the special delivery on Labor Day with her husband and MJ's twin brother Will to Children's Mercy Hospital in Missouri (this hospital is where MJ lived and passed away). The delivery was made in memory of MJ's "Angel Day." MJ lived from July 25, 2009 - August 29, 2009. To read more about his story and their local project click here.

Their delivery included 18 basic NICU bags (the hospital was only in need of 18 since they had bags left over from the last delivery by MJ's Memories). They also did a special delivery of 35 Angel/memory boxes, one for each day MJ lived.

Here is a picture of some of the bags and boxes that were delivered:


Megan said, "The delivery went great, and we were so happy to be able to donate those items for MJ's Angel Day. It was hard walking back in there, as it always is, but we are very thankful to be able to do this."

Here is a picture of Megan, her husband, and MJ's twin brother, Will making their special delivery:


About 6 weeks ago, Megan brought in two example memory boxes to the hospital to make sure that everything in them was going to be okay to donate. When she returned she was told that they had given out both memory boxes in the past six weeks. One of the chaplains who gave one of them out told Megan that the family was so thankful to have it, and they started using everything in it right away!

Stories like this make everything we do that much more special.

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In the News, Watch Online

In case you missed the recent, live news coverages of two of our local projects, you can view them online!

To view the official news clip of Shannon's Star please visit the following link:

'Sweet Peas' Offer Comfort To Parents - Video - WTAE Pittsburgh

To view the unofficial news clip of Drake's Doodlebugs please visit the following link:

"My Montage 9/1/10"

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Shannon's Star Delivers & Makes the News!

**UPDATE POSTED FRIDAY SEPT. 3RD: THE SEGMENT WILL NOT AIR TODAY; INSTEAD IT WILL AIR TOMORROW, SAT. SEPT. 4TH DURING EVERY NEWSCAST - SO TUNE IN TOMORROW! THANKS!**

Exciting things are happening for Shannon's Star, our local Project Sweet Peas project in Pennsylvania!

Kate, the project leader of Shannon's Star, made a wonderful delivery today to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. Shannon's Star donated 30 bags, 7 memory boxes, and 7 handmade mobiles.

And that's not all!

A local news station anchor read about Project Sweet Peas winning the Pepsi Refresh grant and being on GMA. The news anchor found Kate through Facebook and shared that she also knows what it's like to have a child in an intensive care unit. She was deeply touched by Project Sweet Peas' mission and was so pleased to do a story on us.

The news story covering the latest delivery made by Shannon's Star will air tomorrow (Friday, September 3, 2010) during the news at 5pm on WTAE channel 4. Be sure to tune in if you live in the area!


*As soon as the news stories about Shannon's Star and Drake's Doodlebugs are made available for viewing online we will share the links with you.

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Benefit Concert for Nimkee Blessings

Project Sweet Peas would like to share a very special event with you coming up this weekend. Melissa and her PSP project Nimkee Blessings and Melissa's son's band Introducing Bennett are co-hosting the event. Nimkee Blessings serves the Sick Kids Hospital NICU in Toronto, Ontario. Here is everything you need to know:

WHO: **~NIMKEE BLESSINGS & INTRODUCING BENNETT~**

WHAT: Benefit Concert

WHEN: Sunday, September 5th, 2p-10p

WHERE: Gordon's Park (18777 Hwy 6), Tehkummah, Manitoulin Island

WHAT: We will have lots of great entertainment for young and old alike, & fun things for the kiddies to do! ALL PROCEEDS go to helping families with babies in the SICK KIDS HOSPITAL NICU in Toronto, Ontario.

ADMISSION:
$10 for ages 15+
$5 for children 5-15
FREE for children 4 & under

FEATURING:
2-2:30 Introducing Bennett (Brendan, Pete, Jason, Tedd)
2:30-3 Tedd Jensen
3-4 Pat Peltier
4-4:30 Leslie Neshkiwe
4:30-5:30 Dave Southwood & Darren Madahbee
5:30-6 Digger Wyman
6-7 Brand New Eyes (Brendan, Jason, Cindy, Justin, Matt)
7-7:30 Damien Thibodeau
7:30-8 CJ, Brendan, and probably Jason!
8-9 Low Guns (Luke Sellen & Dwayne Trudeau)
9-9:30 CRYPT (Michael Stevenson)
9:30-10 Introducing Bennett (Brendan, Pete, Jason, Tedd)

CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES:
Magician, face painting, rock painting--make something for the garden, colouring & drawing station, playground, bubbles, (for a park fee) mini-putt, heated swimming pool WITH ADULT SUPERVISION for anyone under 16, Nimkee Blessings corn roast, BBQ with funds going to The Manitoulin Islanders---come on out and support your local team, and bake table!

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Local news to cover Drake's Doodlebugs & PSP!

Drake's Doodlebugs, our local Project Sweet Peas project led by Christy, which serves Ochsner Medical Center Saint Tammany Hospital in Louisiana, is going to be on TV tomorrow!

The local news station, WWL-TV channel 4, is featuring Drake's Doodlebugs with Project Sweet Peas on their segment "Quiet Heroes!"

The feature will be broadcast live tomorrow, Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 5pm CST. You can tune in live online by viewing the stations website here and clicking on "Watch Live Newscasts" at the top or you can click here for the direct link to watch live at 5pm.

We are so excited! Be sure to tune in if you can!

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Craft for Project Sweet Peas & Win $1500!

Do you like to sew or craft? You can win $1500 and help Project Sweet Peas win $50,000!

Here's how:

1. Buy your supplies from Jo-Ann Fabrics (save your receipts!!) - find a store near you!

2. Make your items and take a few fun pictures of them

3. Upload them to the Craft for a Cause site at http://www.joann.com/joann/common/content_noleftnav.jsp?catName=craftForaCause

4. In the -Or- Box type "Project Sweet Peas"

5. Donate your items to any of our 15 local projects

6. Wait and see if you are chosen as a $1500 winner

7. VOTE for Project Sweet Peas to win $50,000!!

Contest Dates

Crafting contest begins August 15, 2010 and ends October 30, 2010

Charity voting ends December 4, 2010

Crafters — Enter to Win $1,500 Gift Card

Using materials purchased from Jo-Ann make and donate useful crafted items to your favorite charitable organization. Experience the satisfaction of giving! Submit photo of each donation — crafted items will be judged for prizes! The makers of the top five* crafted items will each win a $1,500 Jo-Ann gift card.

*Judged on creativity, quality & functionality for the charitable organization receiving item. Open to legal U.S. residents age 14 or older. Void in Maryland & Vermont.

Jo-Ann Donates a Total of $90,000 to Three Causes

The three charitable organizations receiving the most donated items become Craft for a Cause finalists. Then you can join other crafters and go online to vote for your favorite among these three.

Please let any of our Board of Directors know if you have any questions!

Kate@projectsweetpeas.com

Corin@projectsweetpeas.com

Stephanie@projectsweetpeas.com

Megan@projectsweetpeas.com

Christy@projectsweetpeas.com

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Thank You Name Your Wish Images!

Recently Project Sweet Peas received the wonderful gift of a beautiful photograph with our name on it!

Here is the extremely creative and wonderful picture made for us by Name Your Wish Images:

Don't you just adore it?!

From all of us at Project Sweet Peas, thank you so much Name Your Wish Images! Your talent and artistry is amazing!


If you'd like to learn more about Name Your Wish Images please visit their website.

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Kiernan's Kindness - 1st Annual Frog Race to Christmas

Project leaders of Kiernan's Kindness, Julie and Danielle, have been wanting to start an annual fundraiser for their local project of Project Sweet Peas for some time now, and they are excited to share the great idea they have come up with:

"Kiernan's Kindness ~ 1st Annual Frog Race to Christmas"

The event begins today, August 20th, which just so happens to be Kiernan's birthday, and will run through October 1st.

Kiernan's Kindess will be collecting frogs as well as donations to fill bags to be delivered on December 1st for the holiday babies. Frogs are the official symbol of Kiernan's Kindness so frogs in the form of stuffed animals or on fabric or even clothes would be wonderful!

Any donations will be accepted. There is also a PayPal account set up to help make donating easier. Remember to include an address in a message if using PayPal.

Please email julie@projectsweetpeas.com or danielle@projectsweetpeas.com for further information and to get the address or PayPal name to send your frogs or donations to.

Let's hop to it and bring some holiday spirit and joy to the families spending Christmas in the NICU!

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100 "Sweet Dreams" for Project Sweet Peas

Operation Sweet Dreams is a fellow Pepsi grant recipient. The goal of this organization, headed by Cynthia Delgadillo, is to provide new pajamas, toothbrushes, and books to local needy children and ultimately make a difference in the community.

Recently, Operation Sweet Dreams generously decided to help Project Sweet Peas by using a portion of their Pepsi grant winnings to donate 100 baby jammies to us! These pajamas, adorably packaged as cupcakes, will be included in our PSP bags that will be delivered to families and babies in need.

To learn more about this amazing project visit their website.

You can read more about them on the Pepsi Refresh Project website. To see the picture and brief write up about their awesome donation to PSP click here.

From all of us at Project Sweet Peas,
THANK YOU OPERATION SWEET DREAMS!!
Your thoughtful donation means so much to us and is greatly appreciate!

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Visit Our Online Shops!

Do you love to shop? Would you like to be able to shop and support Project Sweet Peas at the same time?

Well you can! Project Sweet Peas has an online store where you can buy items with the PSP logo like t-shirts, hoodies, ornaments, journals, coffee mugs, water bottles, and more. Check out our store here today! All proceeds support the general Project Sweet Peas fund.

Did you also know that several local projects make and sell their own items online?

Currently we have 3 local project stores. All local project stores are run separatly by individual project leaders. All proceeds from these stores go directly to the local gift bag project.

Gabriel's Gift (New England) has an online store that sells handmade flannel burp clothes and more. You can visit this project's store here.


Hailey's Hope (Alabama) has an online store that sells flower headbands for babies called Blossoms of Blessings. You can visit the website here.


MJ's Memories (Kansas/Missouri) has an online store that sells beautiful handmade bracelets called MJ's Awareness. You view the items here.

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Item Drive for Shannon's Star

Calling Pittsburgh Members:

Kate is holding an item drive from now until August 24th!

Donate item(s) to her local Project Sweet Peas project, Shannon's Star, and you will be entered to win some really neat Project Sweet Peas prizes! Winner will be announced on August 28th!

This round of deliveries will be in honor of her two NICU survivor's 2nd birthday!

To donate contact Kate@projectsweetpeas.com

Items you can donate:
Gift cards (gas, food, etc...)
Travel size toiletries (toothbrush, deodorant, comb, shaving kit, shampoo, conditioner, etc...)
Blanket
Disposable Camera
Birth Record Pillow
Lip Balm
Hand Sanitizer
Pens
Caps
Booties
Eye Covers
Scratch Mittens
Tissue Packs
Children's Book
Puzzle Books
Stuffed Animal
Picture Frames
Hand/Foot Molds
Baby brush/comb

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Fundraisers for Nimkee Blessings

Melissa, project leader of Nimkee Blessings, also had a yard sale fundraiser this past month. All items sold were donated by others and all proceeds are benefiting Nimkee Blessings.

This yard sale was sort of an impromptu fundraiser that fell into Melissa's lap. She says, "I decided to just allow people to make donations as they felt compelled to and didn't put prices on anything. It isn't my stuff to price, and I felt that as long as they knew it was for charity, they could be as generous as they wanted to be!"

Like Theresa, of Donny's Shining Light, mentioned about her yard sale, Melissa also feels that the yard sale fundraiser gave her a wonderful opportunity to share about Project Sweet Peas. Melissa said, "A lot of people were very interested and showed genuine compassion. I placed a couple of framed photos of Bennett on my table, alongside the plaster mold of his foot with his brothers' hands surrounding it, and was able to print off a few pages to put into a booklet that was shared with whomever wanted to take the time to look at it."

The yard sale will be on-going. She says, "I will try and keep it set up for as long as possible and also am willing to take in donated items from people that just have stuff to get rid of and don't want to host their own sale."

Melissa also explains, "We are still wanting to do a benefit concert in September." More details about this fundraiser to come later.

For more information on Nimkee Blessings visit the project's page on the PSP website by clicking here. Or contact Melissa at Melissa@projectsweetpeas.com.

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Donny's Shining Light Fundraiser Results

At the beginning of July we let you know about a fundraiser for Donny's Shining Light (you can read the post here), and now we'd like to share the results of that fundraiser with you!

This yard sale was the first fundraiser for Donny's Shining Light. Here are some of Theresa's thoughts on it:

"Yard sales are a lot of work...whew! However it was all worth it! I know I touched a lot of people's hearts as I told them about my son and about Project Sweet Peas. I received a genuine hug from one mom who kept saying how sorry she was... She was so nice. Had one lady take a business card and flyer and tell me she would copy it and pass them out at her church. How sweet of her. Had some people, after they heard exactly why I was having this yard sale, put money in my bottle banks I had on the table. I thanked them a lot!...I even met with a mom who lost a baby herself. She, along with many others, were very thankful towards me for delivering gift bags to families that have babies in the NICU. They said how nice it was of me. I, in return, said I do it because I know the road they are on. I do it in my son's memory. I feel so good about doing this. It is such a feeling to say to the world 'this is my son. He lived. He is loved every day. He brings us joy. It is through him that we spread love to others.'"

The yard sale was a success in more ways than one and raised over $450 for Donny's Shining Light!

The fundraiser went so well that Theresa plans on doing another yard sale fundraiser for Donny's Shining Light with her mom in September.

Here are some pictures from the event:

(Donny's Light Shining Down)

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Kiernan's Kindness Delivers!

Kiernan's Kindness donates gift bags to St. Joesph's NICU and Scottsdale Shea's PICU in Arizona and is led by Julie, Kiernan's mom, and co-led by Danielle. In total this past week, Kiernan's Kindness donated 65 bags to the two hospitals thanks to the help of the Pepsi Refresh grant!! Here are the bags waiting to be delivered:

On July 22nd, Kiernan's Kindness made their first delivery to Scottsdale Shea Hospital (where Danielle's son spent time at in the PICU). They were able to donate 26 long term bags, 5 breastfeeding bags and 2 item specific bags.

Here is a picture of Kiernan with some of the bags that were donated:

Julie had these words to say about the first day of deliveries: "[The hospital has] a 26 bed level 3 NICU so they don't get a lot of publicity or outside help since they are a smaller NICU. It was an amazing delivery. They took us directly into the NICU and I got to hand deliver 2 bags to 2 families of preemies. The first one I met was a mom who's husband had to move to Georgia without her while the baby is here in the NICU. She was born at 24 weeks and.... lost her twin at 6 weeks gestation....The strength of this mother was just tremendous and to know that I got to give her this gift of support from us was HUGE...This mom was so greatful and over joyed with just the simple fact of getting a PSP bag. Kiernan got to go with me and get his picture taken with the babies. He would NOT stop staring and smiling at them. It was almost like he just knew something we didn't....I cannot tell you the amazing feeling it was to do this today."

Here is a picture of Julie & Kiernan delivering a bag to one of the mom's and her baby:

Kiernan's Kindness made their other delivery to St. Joseph's (where Kiernan spent time at), and they were able to donate 34 bags. They had another amazing experience with this delivery. Below is an excerpt from an article written by St. Joseph's Hospital about the deliveries (to view it in its entirety on their website click here):

"Family donates to support families with children in the ICU

Julie, Kory, and Kiernan Leonard of Gilbert recently donated Project Sweet Pea bags to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.

The Leonards spent time at St. Joseph’s when their son, Kiernan, was born on August 20, 2008 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and a chromosomal defect. Kiernan spent nearly a month in intensive care at St. Joseph’s, with his family by his side. The Leonards said despite the trying situation, their experience with the staff at St. Joseph’s during this difficult time was great. After leaving the hospital, they wanted to find a way to support other families going through similar situations..."

For more information on Kiernan's Kindess please visit its page on the Project Sweet Pea website by clicking here.

Last but not least, Kiernan's Kindness was also featured in the local paper for their recent deliveries thanks in part to the Pepsi Refresh grant money. Here are two pictures of the article (click the image for a larger view):

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Pepsi Refresh Winner: Project Sweet Peas - ABC News

This morning at 7:32am Central time, Sam Champion, of ABC's Good Morning America, made America aware of Project Sweet Peas! His segment covering us was short but beautiful! Sam did a wonderful job sharing about our project!

We have to admit that several of the project leaders were skeptical at first when hearing we might be featured on GMA, thinking it might be too good to be true, but we were more than overjoyed when we learned that this dream was going to become reality.

This project started because those involved personally know what it is like to have our babies in intensive care units. We know the unmet needs these parents and families whose babies are in intensive care units have, and we are happy to be able to give back to them and to bring them items they need as well as a touch of comfort.

Stephanie, project leader of Shelby's Sunshine, explained her feelings, "Watching GMA this morning made me tear up. After what all of us have gone through with our precious children, angels.....it touches my heart deeply to be able to give back to families that need support."

Julie, project leader of Kiernan's Kindness, also shared her feelings, "I was so excited when I learned we were going to be on GMA. Winning the Pepsi grant has opened up so many doors and opportunities for Project Sweet Peas. I could never have imagined that this would go so big so fast. I had hoped it would in years just never dreamed it would be only 1. Then seeing our bags and pictures of leaders and deliveries on NATIONAL television was unbelievable. It brought tears to my eyes. This is just the beginning, and we have come so far."

Julie and Stephanie's comments are reflected by many of the other project leaders. More and more wonderful things keep happening to Project Sweet Peas that are beyond most of our wildest dreams, and it's so awesome and touching for us to see Project Sweet Peas grow like this with national coverage. We are so thankful for all of the blessings being poured out on our project and for all of the support we've received from people like you!

Jeanne, co-leader of Gabriel's Gift, explains that one of the huge benefits of Project Sweet Peas winning the Pepsi Refresh grant and this media coverage is more people are offering to help out in different ways and are taking our cause more seriously. Jeanne explained that for her personally this has given her the push she needs to spread the word more and make more connections.

We all feel that this experience with GMA is a HUGE honor for Project Sweet Peas, and we all hope that this will help so many families with babies in the NICUs. Julie put it perfectly, "My hope for all the projects and Project Sweet Peas as a whole is that we continue to climb up and grow bigger and become well known among as many hospitals as possible and to be able to have multiple projects in every state and eventually every country. Yes it's a big dream, but I believe that every one of us has the drive and determination that makes anything possible. I love Project Sweet Peas and what we represent. Thank you everyone for making Project Sweet Peas what it is!"

To view the clip of Sam Champion, from Good Morning America, talking about Project Sweet Peas and the Pepsi Refresh Project please click the following link (this originally aired this morning, July 27th, at 7:32am Central Time):

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/pepsi-refresh-winner-project-sweet-peas-11257915

-Kristin

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Project Sweet Peas on GMA!

Project Sweet Peas is going to be featured on ABC's Good Morning America!!

Sam Champion will be covering our story the morning of Tuesday, July 27th. This is our first national media coverage, and we are so excited about it!

Be sure to tune in and watch!

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Shelby's Sunshine's Birthday Delivery

Project Sweet Peas is excited to let you know that another set of gift bags have been delivered!

Shelby's Sunshine delivered 30 bags to Saint Vincent's Hospital in Indiana on July 6, 2010. Stephanie, project leader of Shelby's Sunshine and proud mother of Shelby, who spent a few months in the NICU at Saint Vincent's in 2006, worked hard at making the delivery successful.

This delivery was extra special because it was in honor of Shelby's 4th birthday! What a wonderful way to celebrate and give back!

Here is a picture Stephanie took as she gathered donations for the bags.

This is a picture of Stephanie and the birthday girl, Shelby, getting ready to deliver their bags.


And here are special friends, Shelby and Caty.
For more information about Shelby's Sunshine and to read about Shelby's story, please visit the Shelby's Sunshine page on the Project Sweet Peas website.

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New Project Sweet Peas Pictures and Video!

View the "Sweet Memories from Project Sweet Peas" photo-slideshow. (This link will take you to the Project Sweet Peas Facebook page). It's a MUST see!

Here are a few of the AWESOME professional photos taken by Annie Kennedy (annie-kennedy.blogspot.com) and edited by Project Sweet Peas co-founder and local project leader, Kate! To see more pictures visit the Project Sweet Peas Facebook page!

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Donny's Shining Light Fundraiser Yard Sale

Donny's Shining Light donates gift bags to The University of Chicago Comer's Children's Hospital in Illinois. Teresa, the project leader for Donny's Shining Light, will be hosting a fundraiser yard sale at the end of this month.

Teresa will be handing out business cards and flyers to promote the yard sale as well as explain about Donny's Shining Light and Project Sweet Peas. She will also have yard sale signs posted and a monetary donation box set up. Five different families have generously donated items to be sold at the Donny's Shining Light Fundraiser Yard Sale.

Teresa explains, "I know to many people this might be just a plain old yard sale but to me it something a whole lot more. This is my very first chance to do a fundraiser in honor of my son and help other families because of his Shining Light!"

The fundraiser yard sale will be on July 23rd, 24th, and 25th.

For more information please email: Theresa@projectsweetpeas.com

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Gabriel's Gift Donates 62 Bags!

Project Sweet Peas is happy to announce that Gabriel's Gift, led by Corin (Gabriel's mother) and co-led by Jeanne (Corin's mother-in-law), donated another round of gift bags this past weekend!

On Sunday, June 27th, Corin, Nate (Corin's husband), and Jeanne drove up to Mass General Hospital in Massachusetts where they delivered 62 gift bags to the NICU. Mass General Hospital is the hospital where Corin's son, Gabe, spent 53 days out of the 55 days of his short, sweet life.


Carolyn Pelley, one of Gabe's respiratory therapists who stayed in contact with the family over the past few years, met Corin, Nate, and Jeanne to accept the 62 gift bags which included 42 Basic NICU bags (21 girl/21 boy), 16 Angel Bags (8 girl/8 boy), and 4 Item bags filled with over 40 toiletry kits for parents who stay overnight in the hospital family rooms. The delivery went great, and the hospital is very thankful for the donation.


This was the first of two deliveries Gabriel's Gift will make this summer putting to use the items funded by the Pepsi Refresh Project grant along with items donated by many others to complete the gift bags.

Project Sweet Peas and Gabriel's Gift would like to give a special thanks to:

• Carolyn Pelley and Danielle Doucette for accepting the gift bags on behalf of MGH and putting them to use
• Lea from Angel Wings Boutique (http://angelwingsmemorialboutique.blogspot.com/) for donating handmade angel wings for the angel bags
• Pepsi for the Pepsi Refresh Grant
• Everyone else who has donated to Gabriel's Gifts, or voted for Project Sweet Peas in the Pepsi contest

You can also read about this delivery on the Project Sweet Peas Pepsi Refresh Blog.
For more information on Gabriel and Gabriel's Gift please visit the project page on the Project Sweet Peas page.

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Help Us Celebrate Our One Year Anniversary!

This July marks the one year anniversary of Project Sweet Peas!

A project that was started by a few parents looking to give back has, in one year, blossomed into an unbelievable success as it has grown to include 15 local projects donating a total of 578 bags to hospitals located across the U.S. and in Canada. Thank you to the founders, local project leaders, hospitals, and everyone who has supported us!

To celebrate Project Sweet Peas' one year anniversary, we have decided to help the crisis in the Gulf.
Throughout the month of July, we are collecting special edition Dawn dish soap bottles. The special edition bottles have animals on them and $1.00 will be donated to wildlife groups like the Marine Mammal Center and the International Bird Rescue Research Center; their goal is $500,000. We will donate the bottles to an organization working on cleaning up Gulf Sweet Peas in Louisiana.

Wondering why we are doing this? 1% of Dawn soap is used in one tub of water. A SINGLE ANIMAL can use up to 30 tubs of water. Larger animals, like a pelican can use to to 300 gallons of water! That requires a lot of soap and love. It is no different than a nurse taking time to ensure the health of our babies in the intensive care units.

If you would like to help, please send the bottles to:

Project "Gulf" Sweet Peas
717 Simpson Way
Covington, LA, 70435

Collection ends July 31, 2010

Look for this label:

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