Earlier this summer, our LaunchPad was completely remodeled by the amazing architecture firm Ottolino Winters Huebner. They gave the apartment a whole new makeover including painting the walls a chic gray as well as picking out stylish and modern furniture. They made it not only pleasing to the eye, but also functional beyond belief. A cozy gray couch welcomes out as you first walk into the room; in the back right, a beautiful sitting room with a large window to gaze out at the yard; last but not least, beautifully redone bedrooms that will make you feel right at home. Our LaunchPad is a transitional apartment for those who will be aging out of foster care in the near future. We wanted to give them a place they could call their own! We could not be more grateful to our friends at Ottolino Winters Huebner for the beautiful remodel. Oh, did we mention they did it for free and out of the kindness of their hearts? Truly amazing people. 

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After:

On average, babies and young children go through 5-10 diapers per day. We have several houses with multiple diaper-aged children living there. There is also a possibility we are adding another diaper-aged child to the Angels’ Arms family, therefore we need your help! Below is a link to our Amazon wishlist for the needs of our families; included in this list are all of the sizes of our diaper-aged children. When you buy from this list, the item will be sent to our office then we will deliver it to the family who needs it most. Amazon has made donating to non-profits so easy – it only takes a couple of clicks and you can help someone more than you can imagine. If you have the means, please consider donating to our wonderful families.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/MM03I3IICUFB?&sort=default

Over the weekend, our Junior Board held our annual BBQ for all of our foster families. We grilled, played and laughed. On top of that, the kids were given a very special surprise. Sneakers with Soul is an organization dedicated to positively impacting children in the greater St. Louis area; their mission is to ensure that one day no child will go back to school without a new pair of shoes. Maurice “Moe” Parisien, the founder and president of Sneakers with Soul, and his wife joined us at the BBQ where he made sure all of the new Adidas shoes fit our kids just right. We were blown away by the generosity of Moe and his organization. “Thanks so much for this generous donation,” one of our foster parents exclaimed. “The kids LOVE their new kicks!” There’s something special about a brand-new pair of tennis shoes to start off a new school year.

Over the past few days, we have witnessed an outpouring of support from our community for our foster children. Going back to school can be stressful for foster children, and we wanted to make the transition from summer break to a new school year as easy as possible for our families. Our Back-to-School clothing drive fundraiser exceeded our $6,000 goal in only three short days; because of these donations our kids will be able to pick out brand new clothes for the upcoming school year.

Aside from the clothing drive, several groups and organizations donated backpacks, school supplies, shoes as well as clothes, which will help our kids walk into their new classrooms with confidence and a ready-to-learn attitude.

We want to extend our immense gratitude to the following people and organizations:

 

Linda Robben with RedKey Reality for making a matching contribution for the first $1,500 raised for the Back-to-School clothing drive. Also, to Jennifer Wallner for using her Facebook birthday fundraiser to support the clothing drive. And last but certainly not least, Nick Matlock for getting his donation matched by his employer, helping us surpass our goal.

 

 

 

 

The Crossing Church who collected 20 new backpacks, filled to the brim with supplies, to give to our kids.

 

 

 

 

Distribution Management for donating countless school supplies such as notebooks, binders, pens and pencils among other must-have supplies for a successful school year.

 

 

 

 

 

Sophia Chrysler and Clothes4Confidence for putting together gift bags for the children. Each gift bag contained new school clothes for the kids that donors personally bought.

 

 

 

We truly couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for your continued support!

Before saying goodbye to sweet summer time, say hello to a tasty new treat. The Cup, St. Louis’ Original Bakery, will be selling limited-edition “back to school” cupcakes from August 12th-24th. These special cupcakes will feature a french vanilla cake with multi-color and alphabet sprinkles, vanilla buttercream and a school themed ring topper. Besides being delicious, these cupcakes have a dual purpose – 20% of every “back to school” cupcake sold will benefit Angels’ Arms. Also, when you buy a “back to school” cupcake in store or online, you will be entered into a raffle for a $50 CUP gift card. Both the Central West End and Edwardsville, Illinois locations will be participating in the promotion. Indulge yourself with a hand-crafted cupcake and enjoy the last few days before homework and carpools.