Catching Up

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged in such a long time.  I guess there is just too many things going on around here with the holidays.  Here is a quick recap of what we have been up to here at Ella's Halo the past month!

Minnesota Paralegal Association Fall Gathering-

We were selected by the Minnesota Paralegal Association to be the nonprofit at their Fall Gathering. We held a book drive at their event on November 17th and collected over 150 books for our book drive.  It was a fun evening collecting books, sharing our story about Ella's Halo, and meeting others within the community.  Thank you MPA for letting us be part of your evening!

Taryn standing at our table with the books collected at MPA

Taryn speaking to the Minnesota Paralegal Association about Ella's Halo

Plymouth Creek 5th Grade Class-

Ms. Kostik's 5th Grade Class decided they wanted to help Ella's Halo this holiday season by making blankets and doing a book drive.  I went to talk to their class on November 21st, told them about Ella and how Ella's Halo was started.  They were an excited bunch of kids eager to help out babies.  It was a fun morning and we look forward to the awesome donations they will be delivering to Ella's Halo in the coming weeks.



Taryn with Ms. Kostik's 5th Grade class and the kids showing their Ella's Halo bracelets

Ella's Halo Helping Hour-

We hosted our first ever Ella's Halo Helping Hour on December 1st.  We invited our volunteers to come to help us put together 500 welcome bags that would be delivered to NICUs this holiday season.  It was a fun evening with over 25 volunteers who helped put 500 bags together in 20 minutes!  We had appetizers and wine to help our helpers get in the holiday spirit.  We are looking forward to putting together another volunteer event in the future to help us continue to make bags.

Volunteers at Helping Hour making bags

500 bags our volunteers put together

Donating Bags to Amplatz-

Our bags are now being donated to the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children's Hospital in Minneapolis.  This is now the third hospital in the Twin Cities that are giving our bags to families in the NICU.  We are so excited to be able to donate these bags to families in the same NICU we were in with Ella.  On December 9th we donated 50 bags to families currently on the unit and another 50 bags for future families.  It was a great way to start the holidays by being able to donate bags that will help families in the NICU.

Taryn and Ryan donating bags to Amplatz

Staff at Amplatz that helped with dropping bags off to families in the NICU

So as you can see it has been a very busy month for us here at Ella's Halo.  In addition to all of these things we have been doing, we are still holding our book drive.  While you are out shopping this holiday season, remember to grab a book to donate to Ella's Halo. 

Happy Holidays from Ella's Halo!