Friday, January 30, 2009

We are Looking for.....

1. New Participants to join us in our afternoon program!

2. New Participants for our summer program (spots still available)!

3. Volunteers, always.

Contact Meaghan at friendslife2008@gmail.com if you are interested in any of these.

Thank you.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Weeks 15, 16, & 17

hello again from friends life!












it's been a busy transition back into the swing of things after the holidays. we have plenty of new activities, lots of familiar ones, and some snow days thrown in! (some legitimate, some not so legitimate).

by far, one of my favorite activities from the past few weeks was our sewing class held by Mrs. Cindy (Natalie's mom) and several other fantastic helpers. we pooled resources and supplies, provided a sewing machine and a helper for each of our friends, and let their creativity flow!
i was amazed at how quickly they picked up the skills required to operate a sewing machine (having never quite figured that out myself), loved their eye for putting different fabrics together and their joy at the finished product.

we added a new service site called mobile loaves and fishes this semester, and went there for the first time yesterday. mobile loaves and fishes is a great organization which prepares meals for the homeless and the working poor and gives them out nightly from their truck. we were able to help them prepare all the sandwiches to go out on the truck- a perfect combination of practicing our skills to be independent and helping serve others! (check out Mobile Loaves and Fishes under "Where We Serve."


a couple other great things we have done in the past weeks include a fun (but cold) hike, a tour of the recycling plant in Nashville, and lots of time reading, playing games, and enjoying each others company!


Sunday, January 11, 2009

Week 14

we are excited to be starting a new semester in the friends life afternoon program! on monday, since nashville public schools were not in session, we all got together and had lunch and helped out at feed the children.

we set our record this monday- 320 food boxes, to help them get a truck shipment out on time!






tuesday we introduced an art program that we hope to continue throughout the semester. steph, one of our staff members, is a talented artist and has agreed to hold art classes every monday. it was a huge hit. the first class was a lesson in experimenting with different mediums- to allow everyone some time to get used to using acryllics, water colors, pastels, and pencils. and of course, there was a lesson on how to properly care for our supplies!

we went to feed the children again on wednesday (2 times in one week- what a treat!) and made boxes for a group that was coming in later that day. we also had help from a couple family members- thanks to cindy and neil for helping us out!

we finished out the week with a much needed bowling session and setting up for room in the inn. we're excited to get back into our weekly routine!