Give Back with Blessing Bags 

The elderly often are overlooked during the holidays. But one Fanwood resident is making sure that dozens of local nursing home/assisted living residents feel LOVED this Thanksgiving, by distributing a Blessing Bag filled with goodies to each of them! 

Korri Toll lives with her husband and two high-school children in Fanwood. She said, “We don’t have any local family here, and we really wanted to give back this year. We thought about volunteering on Thanksgiving at a soup kitchen. Then I saw a friend successfully create blessing bags for cancer patients, and I thought it could be a great way to give back locally. I live in Fanwood and work in Cranford at Trinity Episcopal Day School (TEDS), so I contacted both The Chelsea assisted living facilities in Fanwood and Cranford Hall Nursing Home in Cranford, and both facilities were so appreciative and welcoming. I talked with staff members about what residents would need, and together we came up with the Blessing Bags. We hope to get one into the hands of every resident of both nursing homes by Thanksgiving.”

Korri is doing all the shopping for the items that will go into each Blessing Bag, including toiletries, snacks, large-print activity books, and fuzzy socks and gloves, and more. It costs a little over $25 per bag, so Korri is seeking sponsors–for every $25 you donate, another Blessing Bag will be created and distributed. Just imagine how happy these residents will be when they get surprised with a special bag full of items that they want and need, not to mention they will be reminded that they are appreciated! 

According to Korri, the students at TEDS will help assemble (and possibly distribute) the Blessing Bags to the Cranford Hall residents, and Korri’s own children have been busily making the bags for distribution to the Chelsea. Few things make me as happy as seeing kids gladly volunteer to help others! This could be a great fundraiser for any local volunteer organization (Girl Scouts, etc.) where they raise funds to sponsor some of the Blessing Bags.

So how can YOU help? You can personally sponsor a Blessing Bag by donating $25 by paypal or check. 

• To donate via paypal: Send your donation to Korri Toll (username dktoll@aol.com), select “friends and family” as your recipient to avoid any fees, and in the Notes section write “Blessing Bag” and write the name of the Nursing Home you’d like to receive your bag (The Chelsea or Cranford Hall). 
• To donate by check: Make your check out to TEDS Preschool, and in the memo write “Blessing Bag” and write the name of the Nursing Home you’d like to receive your bag (The Chelsea or Cranford Hall). 
  • If you select The Chelsea, mail your check to: Korri Toll, 62 Montrose Ave., Fanwood, NJ 07023. If you select Cranford Hall, mail your check to: TEDS Preschool, 205 North Ave. East, Cranford, NJ 07016

Spread the word about these Blessing Bags and donate by NOVEMBER 15th, to ensure that the bags get out by Thanksgiving! It’s acts of kindness like this that will make sure everyone enjoys the holiday this year.