Some news type stuff.

I just have a couple news items on the agenda to discuss.

1. The one year anniversary for recovery buddies passed a couple weeks ago(Aug 22nd). So in honor of that we would like to send a notebook around to interested parties for people to write it, tell their recovery stories, give words of wisdom, and of hope. There will be some rules for this notebook. So if you are interested watch for a blog post about it in the next week or so- or shoot us an email with " recovery notebook" as the subject.

2. We now require consent form for minors to receive buddies. The consent form actually just gives you(minors) permission to give us(the team) your contact form. All minors who haven't received buddies yet will have to submit a signed form. If you need one, and have not been emailed one yet please email us.

3. Due to mailing issues, if you are sending a box of donation buddies, we strongly recommend that you add a tracking number so Allie can confirm delivery. If you want information on how to send us donation buddies, feel free to email us.

Karl

Meet Karl! Karl is very generous and great at giving advice. He loves playing checkers and is pretty good at it, too. Karl hates square dancing but secretly thinks dancing to polka music is kinda cool. He is a very good cook and makes a mean green bean casserole.

Mary

Say hello to Mary! Mary is smart and sophisticated. She loves children and is good at telling stories. Mary is very helpful and loyal and is great at encouraging and comforting others. She likes to dance and wants to be a hula-hoop champion!

Valencia

Meet Valencia! Valencia is a hard worker and very determined. She has a great sense of humor and is very compassionate. Val's favorite color is purple and she loves to garden. She also loves traveling and really wants to see Niagra Falls.

We are turning ONE!!

Can you believe it? This project is turning a year old on August 14th. I know I can hardly believe it!

I know for the rest of the team and I, this is a big moment. The past year has been filled with so many memories for us. As a team we have been thinking back over the last year, thinking of all the milestones that we crossed. Did you know that just in our first year we have send out over 100 buddies? How awesome is that! That is a lot of stitches, yarn, stuffing, sewing, and LOVE. If nothing else I hope this past year has given some of you some hope, love, and a few more steps down the road of recovery. Every stitch that we knit or crochet. Every Buddie that we stuff with love and sew up with hope, is for all of you reading this. We love you guys.

So we want YOU to help us celebrate!!

For those of you that have received buddies: We are looking for Artwork of you and your Buddie to feature on the blog the week of/or day August 14th. So photos, stories, poems, etc.

Some Ideas:

Photos/Drawings:
A photo of you and your Buddie.
A photo of you and your Buddie in your favorite place and/or doing a fun activity together.
Or just your Buddie in a fun place
Not OK with your photo being on the blog? What about a drawing of you and your Buddie doing something together?

Written Word:
A short story about you and your Buddie.
What do you like to do together?
Has your Buddie taught you anything new?
What is does your Buddie mean to you?

We want you guys to be as creative with this as you would like, and have fun with this. After all this project is for you guys and gals.

Deadline: August 12 by 12pm EST (US)

So what about those of you that are reading this saying "well that's great but I don't have my Buddie yet! And I still want to be a part of the celebration!"
What about telling us a story about what you and your Buddie will do?
Or we are always wanting to hear from people what this project means to them.

For everyone: We hope to still be sending out buddies come August 2010. If you can, consider making a Birthday Contribution to the project to keep us going for another year. We are, as always completely funded by your support.

Thanks everyone for an awesome year! Can't wait to start seeing your artwork!

Bethany
Founder and President
Recovery Buddies Project

Benedetta!

Meet Benedetta. Benedetta is very optimistic and is a real fighter. She is very bright and wants to go into the medical field when she grows up. She writes in her diary every day without fail and she likes to use different colors to write in. Sparkly gel pens make her the happiest. Benedetta is a very good listener. She's also very good at being helpful, and if you're extra nice to her, she'll even make your bed for you!

Sebastian

Meet Sebastian. Sebastian is very brave and adventurous. His favorite animal is a cow for a reason even he does not know. Sebastian likes creamsicles and lemonade (but not together). He likes to draw with sidewalk chalk and play four square. Watch out, though, because he's pretty competitive!