More pajamas, more books.....

The totals continue to go up for our Houston Chapter of the Pajama Program... to date, I have collected 132 pajama sets and 197 books. 60 of those books came from our local Half-Price Bookstore, with promises of more to come. I went to the bookstore this afternoon, to take a group photo of the three people there who are responsible for setting aside the books for me each week. They're saving me such great books for the kids... I'm impressed with their selections, and with their decision to let me sort through them to take what I believe to be appropriate.

C's mom stopped by this afternoon after work to bring me pajamas and books from one of the teachers she works with. I thought she'd be bringing a couple of pajama sets and a few books. So wrong---- she brought 29 pajama sets and 48 books. The teacher (BD) was most generous, and went shopping at the local Carter's store and picked out pajamas for boys and girls of all sizes and ages. The books came from the Book Fair right at the school. I was so overwhelmed with B's donations that I was speechless. I've already called B at her home, to thank her for her generosity... and she immediately volunteered her time when and if we open up a Reading Center. (I knew I wouldn't have a problem finding volunteers for that!)

I've already made one delivery of pajamas and books to a local shelter for battered women and their children, and I will make my second delivery to another shelter as soon as the director there calls me tomorrow to tell me what sizes she needs for the boys and girls currently living there. Once again, they don't have too much storage room, so I will bring her what she needs right now, and she'll call me when she needs more for the kids.

I met a realtor this morning at the empty storefront near Half-Price Books. The interior of the store was in very good condition, and would just need a freshening up... nothing major. It's bigger than I thought it would be..... two small bathrooms, a private office in the back, a huge front space near the windows for the Reading Room, a storage room for the extra books (with floor-to-ceiling shelves) and a storage room for the pajamas. Also, two other rooms.... I could make one a quiet room for teenagers to read and/or play board games, and the other one would be for the parents of the little kids, so they could just relax and pick out books of their own. This storefront also has a tiny kitchenette, which would come in handy as well.

The rent was on the high side, being that the space is so large, and I don't think I'll be finding a sponsor to cover both the rent and the utilities, although I plan to keep trying. I told the realtor to let me know if the space gets rented before I find a sponsor, and I also asked her to look around the area for other spaces which are smaller, with a more reasonable rent.

So we'll see...... you never know what could happen. For the time being, the bins of books and pajamas are in the corner of my sitting room. And the more bins I need to put in here for storage, the larger that "corner" is going to grow.