Updates and News from the Past 90 days

Hey friends,

What a last 90 days the world threw at everyone. You have all had your share of curveballs recently, and we are in that boat with you.

Despite the constant change and unpredictable environment we have all been in, the team at Fleece & Thank You are finding ourselves extremely grateful.

We are grateful for the things we still have and grateful for the things we can count on.

We are grateful for the resources, talent, and passion to innovate during crises and emerge with better solutions and brighter ideas.

We are grateful to still be able to serve kids in the hospital.

This past quarter was a time of introspection for us, as I am sure it was for many, and when we looked inside ourselves, we learned some pretty neat lessons.

 

The Significance of Sanitation

We made two important additions to our sanitation protocols this past quarter.

First, we partnered with BioGreen Michigan to have our entire warehouse deep-cleaned monthly.

BioGreen Michigan has an EPA approved, food grade, bio-mist that is sprayed on every square inch of our warehouse and office, killing 99% of germs in the facility. We are very grateful for their consistent support.

Second, as the current environment has continued, we saw our health systems forced to shut down all outside donations that were not sanitized.

While this is easy for a toy or book, this proves difficult for thousands of fleece blankets. Our purpose is and has always been to guarantee comfort to kids in the hospital, so, like many during this time, we innovated.

We ran a successful #GivingTuesdayNow campaign that gave us the final push of funds needed to bring an industrial strength hospital-grade washing machine, dryer, and ozonation system into our warehouse.

There are still loads to figure out about this process, but we are grateful for the outside support on Giving Tuesday to help us cover the cost of this machine.

 

Volunteers

We realize that, because of the current environment, volunteering opportunities in general will undoubtedly look different in the future.

As the pandemic subsides, we will work together to develop a plan that allows you to continue to volunteer with us in a way that is safe and healthy, whether it is supporting in the warehouse, delivering blankets to hospitals, or helping at an event. We would love to hear your thoughts on this topic as we learn more too.

We are very much interested in learning our volunteers’ talents, opinions, and feedback.

We will be asking all volunteers to take a few minutes to complete a short talent inventory survey where we will get to learn more about the amazing skills they have (and maybe hide) as a volunteer.

We will keep everyone posted as to when volunteering with us will be in full swing again!!

 

Virtual Events

For an organization that makes its name on large group events in person, this has certainly been a roadblock.

Like any good journey, sometimes the detours teach you the most. Once things in person started to be shut down or cancelled, we immediately switched our model to be able to accommodate remote events.

The response has been overwhelmingly supportive, and we have had hundreds of people around the country ordering blanket kits, having them shipped right to their front door, and shipping them back once completed.

If you know of a group that wants to get involved or is looking for a virtual way to give back please send them our way!

 

 

Patient Testimony

“Thank you so much for the wonderful blanket. It has brought me a lot of comfort and warmth through my healing process. I will cherish it forever! You guys are awesome.”