Yeah, the 29th day of July, and you're listening to the Morning Brainwave with Nona Lu and Laini May.
And today we have in the hot seat Lisa Nelson from the Angel Mission, the Copper Country Angel Mission at that.
So, how's
things?
Hello.
Hi.
I'm so excited about talking about, you know, packing up the bus there for school time.
Yeah, it's just right around the corner.
Yes, it is indeed.
Lisa, tell us about the angel mission and stuff the bus and all that good stuff.
Okay, well stuff the bus is an annual event where we collect school supplies for the backpack program.
Uh, that was started by copper company angel mission about eight years ago.
And we are now partnered with the Salvation Army.
Couldn't do this program without them at all.
Yeah, they have the space.
they have the space and a lot of their volunteers are willing to help us.
It's wonderful.
It's
awesome.
So Stuff the Bus is actually going to be happening this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
That's
tomorrow.
It is.
It's happening fast.
And there will be a school bus at Walmart who is another wonderful sponsor of this program.
And if you happen to be shopping at Walmart and you want to buy something to donate a school supply for our program, we'd love to see you there.
And just so you know, all the school supplies that we get in are then put into backpacks sorted so that they are
great appropriate and families in the local area can register for their son or daughter to get a free backpack with school supplies and those will be distributed later in August.
This has been going on for like eight years?
At least eight.
I'm relatively new to Copper Country Angel missions so I don't know officially how long it's been going but it certainly is expanding greatly.
Three years ago, we distributed 130, and then two years ago, it was 220.
Last year, it was over 320.
Wow.
That's
expanding.
Yes.
Well, that just shows, I mean, that stuff isn't cheap, and
kids need a lot of things, because I know there's a lot of times that teachers buy supplies for...
their classrooms, you know, and out of their own pocket.
Yeah, it's nice to have, you know, to have the kids have a, you know, tablets and pens and, and, you know, to different, you know, like they're handy wipes or whatever.
Sometimes, you know, didn't they used to do that stuff too?
Like, yeah, I guess during COVID, you know, stuff.
Hand sanitizer and so forth and not, but oh, and then there's like
I'm running the Gazette.
I believe that, you know, like if you'd buy, you know, like socks and underwear.
Yes.
That was started a couple of years ago.
One of our volunteers recognized, you know, a lot of these families, you know, basic needs are just hard to come by.
and one of the ways we could also help maybe is by providing new underwear and socks.
So when families come to pick up their backpacks, they can also go through our supplies of socks and underwear and pick out a package for each child.
Oh,
nice.
Because that stuff ain't cheap
either.
No.
See, I went to school.
I know how to say it ain't cheap.
I went to Hancock schools system, but no, I'm just being funny.
But no, that's that.
And so somebody, they could also probably give you money
or
things, right?
Definitely.
We will be accepting donations with Stuff the Bus.
Plus you can also make donations online through the Copper Country Angel Mission website and the Salvation Army.
There are also collection boxes scattered throughout the community and at many of our local churches.
So one of the things that I love about the Stuff the Bus and Backpack program is we kind of act as the conduit.
for the local community, because a lot of us say, hey, we want to help our neighbors.
But nobody really wants to go knocking on the doors of their neighbors to say, hey, do you need our help?
That's,
you know.
It
feels invasive.
Right.
So for people who have that need to help, but don't know who.
contact us or the Salvation Army because people register directly with us, and then you know it's going to our local community.
We serve as Houghton, Keweenaw, and Barenner counties.
Yeah, and you know, when you've got like a school bus by Walmart, it's kind of like, you know, like, oh, I can do this right here and right now.
you know just because you know that's a big reminder that school is going to start pretty quick and the kids need things you know and their families
you know, can use the help with paying for what
takes to go to school.
a big enterprise and some people have, you know, like more than one, well, even one kid is an expensive thing.
I've got five of them and boy, they, you know, I'm dry as a bone as far as funds go.
No, I'm kidding.
But it takes a lot of stuff to get ready for school and all, you know, and those kids,
I just remember like a brand new you know like your new notebook and I like a new You don't need pencils.
I read that and you don't need something else I can't remember the other thing
crayons
crayons and pencils are not necessary But like but all those other things you get them like brand new and then and then when you get into school and you get like a new book You know when you're starting a new grade and or kindergarten my goodness.
What a thrill
You know, it's just, you know, it's so neat and then you, you know, pretty much, and folks, this is something that I have to do is go through a lot of my son's shirts, because he's 28 years old, but he's got a lot of shirts that would fit, you know, like kids in high school and, you know, boys in high school, or girls, you know, because there's, you know, a lot of people like the Tigers.
But I just have to go through those and get them washed and packed up and get them to the angel mission because he's like me.
He wears a certain number of clothes of different shirts and things.
And the rest of them had just been sitting there collecting dust.
Yeah, I mean it's yeah, and you're like we're creatures of habit
and you know and they're just like you feel good in them It's like your thing that you like to wear in them, but then somebody you know you might give them their new favorite shirt
Cuz if we're not you know cuz they're in great shape, you know, so that's another idea for folks if they're doing Summer cleaning and then I get some you know paths and
And shirts and things to to the angel mission, you know make sure they're they're clean and suitable and Just you know so then folks can get them cuz you know everything is expensive these days.
Oh, yeah But aren't they limiting the donations at the angel mission like one 13 gallon a three plastic bag full of stuff right now.
Yes
It's kind of a mixed blessing.
It's wonderful to be the recipient of so much stuff at the angel mission, but all that stuff has to be gone through by our volunteers and then put out and we only have so much room.
And I do like the fact that she mentioned we like the stuff to be clean and in good shape.
Used is fine.
But, you know, if it's not something you're willing to wear, please
us a lot to throw things out.
So yeah, that's why there's a limit.
But yeah, nice, you know, clothing or housewares in good shape is a blessing for this community.
and we greatly appreciate it and need it.
We do also accept used backpacks for the stuff the bus.
Again, if it's in good condition and clean, that's great.
And we do have a need for adult size student supplies.
So in other words, when going back to school,
I think a lot of people tend to think of, oh, the younger kids.
But we have middle school and high school students
that
are also in need of supplies and socks and underwear.
So we pretty much take all sizes, 40 through adult, and then, again, supplies from preschool through high school.
And you mean, well, I imagine some college students even come in.
Sure.
They certainly would be welcome.
Yeah, and um, yeah, because like the things that you wouldn't wear yourself See if there's a local garage wants to use them for rags, you
Whatever, you know, but just don't don't just like upon them off and and then you folks have to pay to dispose of them.
But yeah, but anything that's
is just in in grand shape.
And you know, like we gently use is not the word for it, you know, or hardly ever used.
Yeah.
Some of our stuff.
Yeah.
And oh, you know, I have got a backpack.
Oh, and it says not to do like certain themes or or something.
Or you
know, we've
yeah.
So what we have found is
If we get backpacks in with, say, Disney characters or, you know, pop culture from movies and such, for every kid that absolutely loves that particular character, there's another kid that doesn't like it.
And we...
you know, we're giving out hundreds of backpacks.
We cannot provide backpacks based on personal preference.
So
it's just a lot easier for us if we have relatively plain or neutral stuff.
The other thing is that quite often the manufacturers, they have to pay money, you know, to those
companies to get the branding permission.
So for the same amount of money, you can get a better quality backpack if it doesn't have that pop culture branding on
And we certainly will be happy to get those, but what we're going to try to do is hold those.
back and issue the planar backpacks and then allow kids the option to exchange it for something with a logo or something.
You know, because we just can't do that matching ourselves.
I've got a backpack that I've used once when I went to Peabody Kansas and that was my carry-on thing for the airplane.
And it's it says Sierra Club on it because I donate to charities and yeah, so so that's that's pretty Blake Blake, you know, just like bland.
Oh, that's fine.
Yeah.
Yeah, okay.
So yeah, maybe I'll uh, yeah get to get that and I like stick some money in it or something and put it in there your bus I don't know what to or no, I'll just I'll send the money to to the angel mission, but yeah put
Yeah, you know, because it's, man, that's a lot of back tax you guys are packing.
Yeah, it's quite the experience packing them.
So we do it in an assembly line.
And we'll say, OK, we're going to do grades three through five.
OK, here's the packing list for grades three through five.
And then everyone gets a backpack and they go through the line.
because we now have online registration for those who are getting the backpacks.
We can tell, we have a pretty good idea of how many backpacks to make and we just stuff them through and once those are done, then we go on to another grade and yeah, it's actually a lot of fun.
We have a lot of great volunteers in our area.
So I know you had, you were accepting donations through Superior National Bank when you needed the roof repaired.
Superior National Bank, still be a location for donating safer stuff for the bus?
I'm sorry, I don't know the specific locations.
I know that they have done a lot of stuff.
It's entirely possible that they have a box set up.
For money.
Yeah, but and for donations, probably either visiting Salvation Army or
angel mission or going online to do a donation is easiest.
Or
you can mail us a check.
I
mean,
we are not at all picky about
how we get in money.
And another thing to consider, if money is tight in your household, we have so many different volunteering opportunities, not just for backpacks, but throughout the year and things that you might not consider like
If somebody likes graphic design, well, for these events, we always need somebody to design posters and flyers.
Somebody can do that from home or they could help us reach out to volunteers to get volunteers to do some of that
more
physical activity.
Our website, it's wonderful, but it certainly needs tweaking at times.
At the website, there is a link to a volunteer registration form.
And again, this is not meant to tie you up for life.
If you have an hour to spend once a year, great.
We'd be happy to have that hour.
If you have a little more time, that's fine too.
There's lots of ways to help.
If somebody doesn't have a computer like me,
What phone number would you call for the angel mission in
Calumet?
I don't have that number.
Come
on, Lisa.
I know.
Well, I'm always using my email, but we'll find that out.
No, I'm just messing with you.
Yeah.
But that's a good point because even if you don't have a computer, if you're willing to talk to people, you can, you know,
We have a need for communication all the time to coordinate among volunteers, to maybe reach out to area businesses to see if they'd be willing to have a box for a program or a donation can.
Okay, I have a number 9067296789.
That might be it.
I don't know.
I thought
it would be a 337 number for some reason.
But yeah, so anyway, yeah, because yeah, you just can just call Elaine's cell phone and it's 906.
Okay, wait a
second here.
I better
not do that.
No, no, no, no.
So that number is 906-729-6789.
It counting up, 6789.
not all righty well um well everybody get out there and stuff that bus
you know so they can stuff those backpacks because they the kids how did you say there's like pre-registration is there a how many have you gotten registered already or do you know
um right now it's still fairly early in the process but um usually within
Probably next week I expect it's going to be at least a couple hundred if not three hundred Once the word gets out and when do they pick them up?
They pick them up depending on the location.
We have three locations the Salvation Army Copper Country Angel Mission and Lance Methodist Church
Tell us how it goes.
Yes.
Come in and tell us how it goes.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
Thank you.