I know Christmas and the holidays are far behind us now, (and I'm every bit as glad as the next guy) but I know you'll want to hear all about this. So, practically spring or not, I want to catch you up on something really neat we did last year. Each year the Awana kids hold a baked potato fundraiser. It's a big hit at our church, very highly anticipated. They do everything: chopping veggies, scrubbing potatoes, serving drinks, cleaning up. It's a well oiled machine, it is. The money raised goes to adopt 'angels' from the Angel Tree Project. This means that we split up the money raised, choose needy children and buy Christmas presents for them. It's a LOT of fun...but pretty serious too. It is probably the sweetest thing you'll ever see, these kids who have plenty, choosing ever so carefully just the right gift for a child they may never know. We make sure each kidlet has a hat and gloves, plus socks and a brand new Bible. Beyond that, the Awana kids may have a couple of 'wish list' items provided with the child's profile, then they're on their own. This is my second year to be privileged to go shopping with the group, and I was every bit as impressed this year. It was an absolutely awesome day!!

This is our entire group of shoppers. They definitely earned the right to go shopping with how hard they worked at the Potato Bake!

The kids got to choose their 'shopping buddy'. No big surprises here. :o)

Or here. :o)

Dear Leslie actually VOLUNTEERED to go with this group. She is a SAINT, agreed? I'm just teasin'...these boys were absolutely perfect.

And, of course, this group was a given, right?

We had so much fun that day! I had lots of adult helpers along who kept everything moving smoothly as well. Thanks to all of them! It was a real blessing to take part in this project once again.