SPA-tacular Full Moon Howl for the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter (Buffalo, NY)

SPA-tacular Full Moon Howl

April 28, 2010

A gathering of Yowza Elves in the Spirit of Giving and Gratitude

to support the

Salvation Army Emergency Shelter in Buffalo, NY

Oh, my!!!  The entire evening was, indeed, “SPA-TACULAR”--due to the generosity and kindness and beauty of the women who came to “howl out loud” through their giving of spa items to the Salvation Army  Emergency Shelter http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use_buffalo.nsf/vw-text-dynamic-arrays/AFD2F02C04D2D23E85257488006B3D87?openDocument. 

      You know, I was going to write in detail about the entire event, but the saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words” truly speaks more loudly and more clearly to the success of the gathering than any lengthy blog I could attempt.  Suffice it to say – the collective spirit and heart and energy and love of the women who gave of their time and donations was overwhelming.

46 WOMEN:

               That’s right—46 fantastic women from the Buffalo-Kenmore-Tonawanda, NY were responsible for the evening’s success…

877 DONATED SPA ITEMS:

               Yowza! Yowza! Yowza!  Before it was all said and done,  877+ spa items were donated to support the women who might find
               themselves residing at the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter in downtown Buffalo, NY.  877 items!  That’s right…46 women…
               877+ donated spa items.  Oh, me; Oh, my!   Life IS good!

And so, rather than writing and writing and writing…here is the story of the magical evening through photographs. 

The Invitation to Howl

 Guests of Honor 

Carolyn Hillman, Director

Margie Delgado, Resident Manager

Salvation Army Emergency Shelter Buffalo, NY

Party Goodies...Nibbles...Drinks...Decorations

Yowza Elf Giving

Yowza Elves:

So I’ll leave you with a thought:  

What if…

what if more Yowza Elves begin to gather in the spirit of gratitude and giving?  What if these Yowza Elves gather, then more elves gather, and at each gathering they encourage others to 

“Catch the YowzaSpirit and Pass it On”….  

What if…

Phew!  The evening came and went…and the Goodies are now boxed for delivery to the shelter.

Yowza...Catch the Spirit

Yowza Elves Gone Wild: Holiday Goodies, 2009

SNAPSHOT:  Yowza Elves Gone Wild…

for the support staff at the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter

(downtown Buffalo, NY)

It has been a while since I last sat down at the computer to write…but such is life!  This past month and a half has been a veritable blur of life activities, but little windows of time for catching up on my blogging are finally opening up.

Ironically, though, as these blocks of time for writing are occurring, the warm weather and blue skies over Western New York have returned on a regular basis.  Needless to say, I find myself wanting to be outside enjoying the lure of spring rather than inside sitting in front of the computer. 

To honor this lure of being outside and enjoying this fabulous spring weather, I will use a series of SNAPSHOT BLOGS rather than longer pieces to record some life snippets.

I began my volunteer connection with the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter late last year, and that partnership has brought a great sense of personal joy and fulfillment.  Most of the work I am doing for the shelter involves room makeovers (from painting to re-designing to re-decorating to whatever the need that I can handlew).  However, it dawned on me that some "Yowza Elves" work I began back in Austin, TX. could continue right here in the Buffalo region.  With that thought in mind, I was excited to invite some of my WNY “Elf-Spirited” friends to help honor the shelter’s support staff--a staff of beautiful women and men who are the heart and soul of this agency and who work tirelessly to keep things running smoothly and successfully! 

So, at Christmas time (’09) I sent out the call to a handful of gal-pals to “come & play & give a bit of themselves”...they didn’t hesitate to answer the call with a collective YES!   Yes ma’am…this small circle of elves with good hearts gathered at my home and we iced cookies, decorated brownies, filled hot chocolate bags, collected books for reading...and more.  

There was Elf Beth.  

                                                                      And Elves Trisha & Pat.  

    

And Elves Anne & Judy.  

   

                                             And even our honorary elf…

                                my precious cat of 16 years, Galaia!

Our first Yowza Elves “gift” of giving was to surprise the shelter’s support staff—all 17 of them—with individual plates and bags of holiday goodies in thanks for all they do to help others. 

  

One of the key ideas behind being a Yowza Elf is to remain in the wings, so to speak, as unnoticed and invisible as possible.  You know, kind of like the tooth fairy!   

How fun that we were basically able to pull off the surprise…which filled us with the joy of knowing that we, a small circle of Yowza Elves, could put smiles on the faces and feelings of importance in the hearts of the staff!