MMDC #20

The group from Gray Summit/Labadie, MO, went touring Lincoln sites on Wednesday, so here are photos from the rest of their week at MMDC. On Thursday and Friday in the workroom we began folding 8,675 copies of letter to be mailed out to MMDC patrons. It is a job still in progress, although the volunteers also put the 3rd class postage permit on 5,000 envelopes (and unsticking the adhesive that had stuck some of the envelopes closed), and moved on to inserting the letter, a donation envelope, and a new brochure into the envelopes. As of the end of the last full week of February, eleven trays with about 400 to 500 envelopes in each tray (or over half of the total) are DONE. We appreciate all you volunteers who helped with the project. They’ll be in the mail by March 2, thanks to you. Also in these photos are members of the team from Polo, IL, in the BEEP Connection, and from Arch UMC in Hannibal, MO, as well as local volunteers.

Barbara and Laverne spent MANY hours folding letters.

Caretaker Dick stops by as local volunteers Steve and Marilyn Marcus helped fold.

February volunteer coordinators Susan and Carl and BEEP volunteer Dorothy helped fold letters, too.

Warehouse/Clerical Assistant Mary helps Barbara and Laverne put 3rd class postage permit stickers on envelopes.

BEEP Connection members Dorothy and Judy fold letters.

John, Dennis, and Linda from Polo, IL, also folded letters.

And then EVERYBODY got into the act, including David, Glen, Bill, and Bob.

And a group from Hannibal, MO, came for the day and also folded letters.

We had so many people helping that we moved the sewing machines to have more work space!

Caretaker Judy helps, too, ...

...and Volunteer Coordinator Susan. So we were done folding letters by noon with all of those helpers! The brochures hadn’t arrived yet, so we could move on to other tasks in the afternoon.

 Warehouse Supervisor Mark washed the spilled laundry soap off the concrete.

Caretaker Dick took a group of guys out to use Murphy’s Oil Soap on the treadle sewing machine cabinets. 

Boy, it really makes that wood shine! 

The gals from the BEEP Connection ironed school bags and handles to prepare them for the Monday sewing group.

And the women from Gray Summit/Labadie, MO, rolled trash bags for flood cleaning buckets.

 Oops, Susan spilled the labels and rubber bands for the trash bags.

The workroom was really busy because part of the volunteers from Hannibal sewed handles for school bags... 

 ...while others rolled a dozen trash bags into bundles for the cleaning buckets.

Then the guys out in the warehouse worked on school desks.

Dennis and Bob assembled desks.

 Gene and John sanded and sealed desk parts.

It was only a minor puncture wound, requiring only a band-aid and some hydrogen peroxide for Bob’s finger. No accident report form required.

And Bill continued to work on the sewing machines.

Local volunteers Willis and Bob took on a special project. They built shelves for a cabinet to be used to store nuts & bolts in the desk shop.

Bob puts in a shelf.

And Willis puts a shelf on the reinforced metal rails inside the cabinet.

After lunch the brochures arrived, so we started stuffing envelopes. The teams who helped were from Gray Summit/Labadie, MO; Polo, IL; and Hannibal, MO.

And for a second day we stuffed envelopes.

Since sewing is a skill that not everyone possesses, these gals from Hannibal continued on school bag handles.

Here's the team from Arch UMC in Hannibal, MO.

Every day we end the day with cleaning up. Gene from Gray Summit, MO, would you take the garbage out to the dumpster, please?