Pajama Program - Houston Chapter

There's no stopping us now..... the NY office of the Pajama Program has updated their web-site, and my Houston Chapter is now on-line. Of course, I had to send it to everyone on my eMail list.

I went to Target this afternoon, asking if they'd be interested in donating pajamas, books, and/or plastic storage bins for them all. The manager I spoke to made a copy of my "Welcome New Chapter President" letter from NY, and he will speak to the corporate offices. While I was there, I bought some pajamas for both boys and girls, as well as a few of those large clear plastic bins to get started.

The trick to all of this is to keep everything organized, so I've been labeling bins with pictures from the fronts of cards... I've always saved those and have a box of them. I came up with the idea to label the boys' bins with dog pictures, the girls' bins with cat pictures, and the baby bins with bird pictures. I have so many dog, cat and bird cards that I'll be set for quite a number of bins.

I also went to J's antique shop in League City after I got my hair trimmed this morning.... I gave the Pajama Party invitations to both J and L there. J was so excited about all of this, he could hardly speak. He offered to keep a donation bin in each of his two shops, and he will advertise that they are there. When I go into League City, which is fairly often, I can pick up the pajamas and/or books and put them in my own storage bins. J is also going to call the people he knows from the local newspapers that take care of the advertising for his store. They will get in touch with me and do a story on the Houston Chapter of the Pajama Program.

My friend B in Dallas also gave me the name of a downtown TV news reporter that he knows... but I can't go that far until I get some serious storage place. I know how generous the people of Houston are... we would be up to our knees in pajamas and books in a very short time. And I've got to keep everything in clean plastic bins-- away from our pets, away from dust or cooking odors, away from anything that could possibly bother a child.

Best of all.... one of the dealers that I know from J's shop owns various storefronts in League City. She's thinking about selling one of them... cute little shop that used to be a church... the building is about a hundred years old, but in prime condition because it's always been cared for so well. Right now, it's set up as an antique shop, but she has others and wants to consolidate. I asked her if she would consider donating that space for the Houston Pajama Program Reading Center. She loves that old church building, and really doesn't want to sell it, so I told her if she "donated" it to the Reading Center, she would always own it, and she could use it as a tax write-off. She liked the idea of the Reading Center, and she's going to think about it, talk to her lawyers, etc.... and she will let me know.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one..... if I can get that building, I wouldn't have to worry about renovations. The outside of the building is pristine, the inside has the original wood flooring, the walls are all painted. Plus there's a very small kitchen and a restroom there. Even a bigger plus... there are four separate rooms.... plenty of space for reading rooms (one for younger children, one for older), and more than enough space to store pajamas and display books on shelves. The parking is ample, and it's just a couple of streets away from the town's park-- lots of family activities in that park, so the Reading Center would get a lot of use.

There couldn't be a better choice for a Reading Center.... and I know that the founder of the Pajama Program would be so proud of what we could do with that building. From my lips to heaven's ears....... I'm hoping for the best. I am so confident that I will be able to open up a Reading Center that as I walked around J's shop, I bought some child-sized furniture at yard-sale prices...... J called up the dealers, told them what I wanted the furniture for, and they sold it to me for pennies on the dollar. J is storing the pieces in his layaway room, so they're all tucked away nice and safe till I can move them into our Reading Center, wherever it might happen to be.

My friend A in Pearland was so right.... she told me to turn the page when I was feeling a little blue a couple of weeks ago. So I took her wise advice and turned the page. And what I found was the Pajama Program. Or maybe it found me. Whichever way it was, I just feel that all of this was meant to be.