Five on Friday Week 10

Welcome to Five on Friday Week 10! 

1-3      Well the Hurricane Drive is over. I have been in distribution and clean up mode all week. We have helped so many in need! It was so amazing to see the faces of the people when they were told to just pick and take whatever they wanted or needed. The animal shelter and homeless shelter were also incredibly grateful!                                                                                                                                    I couldn’t get an exact count of all the items because I lost count when we got in the hundreds of each thing donated. Here are the estimated numbers: After helping numerous children and their families at school who took carloads of clothing, household supplies, bedding,strollers and more, we still donated 75 fifty gallon bags of clothes and shoes to the local homeless shelter. We donated 10 bags of bedding including sheets, comforters, and blankets to the homeless and Puerto Rico.  We donated about 1,000 lbs of dog food, cat food, cat litter, puppy pads, and dog bones to the Buckingham Animal Shelter. We collected 20 boxes of kids toys, 3 chairs, 3 car seats, 15 boxes of food, and 4 cases of water that will go to the Salvation Army. We collected dozens of packages of toilet paper, paper towel, diapers, feminine products, shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes to be sent to Puerto Rico.   A set of bunk beds and a twin bed was also donated to kids in need at our school along with gift cards so they could purchase something new and needed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Thank you to my wonderful sister who runs the Gulf Coast Town Center Starbucks and who is sending these items to Puerto Rico for us. Thank you to my awesome neighbors who are in the process of dropping off the donations to the homeless shelter.  Thank you Sheri for calling all of the people in need and getting them to come to the school. Thank you Janet for dropping the pet supplies off at the shelter and picking up furniture with me after school. Thank you to my co-workers who have helped get stuff to the stage, collected items, encouraged others to help, and who have put up with me running on very little sleep. Thank you to my students for getting your families involved, for helping to get stuff organized in the morning before school started and while attending the after school program. Thank you Ms. S and Ms. Torres for letting me take over the stage the last few weeks. Thank you to the janitors for helping to set up tables and carry heavy items.  Thank you to Mr. Teacher for putting up with take-out food, me being over tired, and a slightly messy house over the past two weeks. Thank you to everyone who donated time, money to purchase gift cards and items, or items. Words can not express how much you are appreciated!!!!!  If I have forgotten anyone I am truly sorry, it was not done intentionally!!!!

This is me with my wonderful class and a few amazing co-workers along with the stage full of donations. Sadly not everyone could make it to the picture.

Please ignore my messy counter! OOPS!

These turned out great! They were also really easy. You’re going to love them!

4. Some gracious person donated 3 huge boxes of peppers to the food drive portion of my hurricane drive. I put them on the stage and asked everyone if they wanted peppers. Apparently many people are not huge fans of bell peppers. When none were taken by the needy families, I begged the janitors at school to take some, and I also convinced my dear friend Sheri to take a few too. It was Friday night at 5:30 and I still had about 50 peppers that I didn’t want to rot, so I decided I had better take them home and put them to good use. So Saturday I washed and prepped the peppers. I ended up with a gallon bag full of sliced and 3 bags of hollowed out ones to put in the freezer for later, I kept out a container of sliced for Mr. Teacher and I to eat this week. I also decided it was the perfect time to perfect my Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers which I did using the orange peppers to give them a Halloween touch. Here is what they looked like. I will post the recipe next week. 

5. Today is Friday. I am so happy that I can sleep in past 6 tomorrow! I am so happy that it’s Happy Cart Day at work and we get lots of coffee! I am so happy that I have the weekend to get caught up on housework, report cards, and sleep! 

Remember it’s the little things that count! Have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to share your top 5 below. Also don’t forget to sign up for weekly emails!

Happy Friday! 

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