Sunshine Baskets

Sometimes we need a little sunshine!  The Women's Ministry at my church was looking for a project to take on for their upcoming retreat.  I am the leader of Doorways, our local outreach program, and I had an idea... my inspiration came from Shelly, from Dolen Diaries.  She facilitated our mom's meetup group to bring Sunshine Baskets to the families with children in the NICU at a semi-local hospital.  So, my idea?  Let's put together Sunshine Baskets for the women at House of Hope, a safe place for women and their children to go when they find themselves in abusive or unhealthy situations.  These women work so hard to get their feet back underneath them - and sometimes they need a little encouragement & in North Bend, Washington, they literally could use a little sunshine most of the winter and spring.  The gals from the Women's Ministry contributed some fun items and Doorways added to them!  This was an easy project and doesn't have to be expensive!  Anything yellow or orange makes the gift shine!

 Not everything needs to be orange or yellow, but the more you can find, the more fun it will be!

 Special items like good lotion, nail polish and shaving cream don't always make it on the must-have grocery list when money is tight.  We thought it would be special to include a few "treats" that these women may not purchase for themselves on a regular basis.

All of the items were stashed in a re-usable plastic bin.  Although a yellow basket would have been great, practical is often better!  Inexpensive candy helps add color and there are usually loads of colorful items in the toiletry aisle at the grocery store.  We made 9 baskets in all, so I'm not sure on the cost breakdown for each - but it was worth every penny!

A cellophane bag kept it all together and a fun ribbon was the finishing touch!  A small group of us delivered the baskets and were able to see the looks of surprise and joy on the faces of some beautiful women and their children!  Thank you to everyone who contributed.

This project was a lot of small things coming together for something great.  It's in the small things!  Never miss an opportunity to shine some sunshine on the people around you... and be creative!