The Year So Far…

Well, actually we haven’t even mentioned our Christmas Party with the kids in December 2011 yet! Not only were there cookies and hot chocolate (with whipped cream, sprinkles and all the fixin’s) but we made arrangements to bring Santa, presents, and a horse-drawn carriage to take everyone around the grounds of the children’s home. This is the second year we’ve brought Christmas to the kids in this way. We believe rather than just giving the home a donation, a unique experience and the opportunity to interact with caring and positive adults is a far more valuable Christmas present. We hope to continue the tradition next year with your help.

-The Birthday Program has continued to be a favorite amongst both the kids and the charity. We can always count on a lovely Sunday afternoon hanging out with these great kids. Pizza parties and Mr. Gatti’s Game Room make us all feel like kids, and taking the kids on a $100 shopping spree afterwards is always a joy to facilitate.

St. Joe’s always tells us that we are one of the few things these kids can count on, outside of the Home, that is consistent and positive and we’re humbled and honored to help. It’s often that we hear about a kid who’s new at the home and he or she can’t wait to meet “the guys who take us out for our birthday party.” We hope to keep this going for a long long time. the kids most certainly deserve it.

-Annually, St. Joe’s hosts a volunteer appreciation dinner to which we are invited. It is a fun evening particularly because the kids who we get to spend great times with actually help prepare the dinner, as well as act as the “wait staff.” But the best part is when they put those roles aside, sit at the table and eat with us and share a great meal. This year we had the treat of sitting with a couple of outstanding kids (who had us in stitches) along with another inspiring community volunteer. We can’t wait for next year!

-The St. Joe’s Picnic in August is of course, a huge day for the home, and as usual, we spend a lot of our energy soliciting donations to help stock not just our booth (The Duckpond!), but other booths as well. We are one of the few organizations actually soliciting donations so as to require no up-front investment from the home. Any money brought in from our prizes at the picnic will be 100% profit for St. Joe’s.

This year we have been incredibly fortunate to have all of the regional Dollar Tree stores collecting throughout the summer on our behalf. With the incredible amount of inventory they have given us, we are guaranteed not to have to spend any of our, nor St. Joe’s money on inventory for the Picnic for this year and beyond.

Vicki Webster, manager of the Westport Road Dollar Tree and a longtime friend of Starduck Charities, is chiefly responsible for this relationship, and for that we are eternally grateful.

-Unquestionably, the single most fun any of our board members have had this year was the day in May when we took the kids from St. Joe’s to Lazer Blaze on Shelbyville Road. It’s safe to say the kids would say the same thing. Together, we played three 20-minute sessions of laser tag and had an absolute blast. Girls and boys from 5-15 were running around with us 30-somethings in the labyrinth wearing our target vests and carrying lasers. But along with that hardware, everyone was brandishing an enormous smile. High fives and congratulatory backslaps were the order of the day! We can’t wait to go back – and we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the management and staff at Lazer Blaze. Their generosity was staggering.

MP3 Player Purchase

With the new year comes new projects. And with the help of donors we were successful in purchasing 33 MP3 Players for those residents at St. Joe’s who don’t have what has become a staple to today’s youth. One of our missions is to help these kids live a healthy and happy life, both at St. Joe’s and school. Todays kids have all kinds of technological gadgets and these kids should be no different. many thanks to those who helped out. This was obviously a big investment but the expense is well worth it.

First Annual Christmas Party at St. Joe’s

Star Duck hosted the first annual St. Joe’s Christmas Party. Thanks to your donations we were able host a Christmas party for all the kids at the home. We began with a round of board games while drinking hot chocolate that the kids were able to customize with their favorite toppings. Ike manned the cookie table where he cooked up a number of smores sandwiches. Bags of treats were given out by Star Duck volunteer Rob Woodford to whom we are deeply indebted for being one of Santa’s Helpers. Finally, a horse-drawn sleigh took everyone for a tour around the Frankfort Ave. area. The crew at Star Duck are already looking forward to next year’s party!

Mission for 2010

In December of 2009, board members for Star Duck met with St. Joe’s administration to discuss our goals for the forthcoming year and beyond. Star Duck board members were taken on a tour of the facility and participated in talks of what St. Joe’s hopes to be in the next ten years. The consensus was that the greatest need and therefore the emphasis of our charity should be with activities that involve the residents. In January of this year, the board voted unanimously to not only continue its birthday program that has been a cornerstone since the charity’s inception but to develop additional off campus activities that involve all of the St. Joe’s residents. This means more fundraising and more donated time from volunteers. We hope that as Spring moves on and we plan more activities that you’ll join us by pledging your support. Cookouts, sporting events, movies are all being planned as part of an initiative to become even more involved with these great kids. Check back with the website from time to time to see what is being planned. As always, feel free to email us and ask how you can help.

LEO Annual Fundraiser Concert to Benefit St. Joe’s

As was so instrumental to last year’s bedding drive, this year’s benefit concert presented by LEO, 91.9 WFPK, Mom’s Music and MERF will once again donate a portion of proceeds to Star Duck Charities to provide improved residential necessities for the kids at St. Joseph Children’s Home. Performing will be Louisville legends Bodeco, the ever-talented Tyrone Cotton, and “whatever-you-want-to-call them-but-wow-are-they-incredible”Liberation Prophecy. The show at Headliners Music Hall in Louisville gets going around 8 PM.

Swimsuit Drive A Huge Success

For the second consecutive year, Star Duck was able to give each of the 40 kids at St. Joe’s a new swimsuit, a pair of goggles, his/her own towel, and a bag to carry it all to the pool. This was only possible through the yourcontributions and as much as we are grateful, imagine how much it means to the kids! Since we receive such an overwhelmingly positive response, were even able to spring for some pool toys to be shared among the groupThis was well over and above what we initally hoped to do. Just another example of how the response of the community has allowed us to continually do more and more for the kids. Thanks again!

December and January Birthday Parties Biggest Yet

As many of you know, we have been throwing birthday parties for the kids at St. Joseph Children’s Home for well over a year now. Recently, we’ve had to change our long-standing format for these parties due to a change in policy at our former corporate sponsor. This has placed the responsibilty directly on our shoulders to raise the funds for the $100 shopping sprees we supply for each and every child during his/her birthmonth. Not only have we had an incredible response from donors like you to help us continue this great program, but our new format which kicks off the party at Gattiland for pizza, cake, and games prior to the shopping extravaganza has been a big hit.

Remember, this is on-going program that takes place every month and continually requires funding. Every donation helps make this a reality. If you want to make a donation or sponsor one of the parties, please email us or click on the PayPal link at the bottom of this page.

Christmas Bedding Drive Meets Goal In Time For New Year

Christmas time is the one time of year needy kids often receive games and toys, while other areas of need remain. That is why Star Duck has made it a tradition to address these other needs around the holiday season. Last year, we purchased a new pair of jeans for every child at St. Joseph Children’s Home and this year we supplied every child at St. Joseph with new sheets and pillows. These items were bought with funds raised from the November 29th charity concert (see below).

Forty new cozy blankets were also purchased by Robert Half International, who instead of having their annual office gift exchange, opted to pool their money together and purchase blankets for each of the children at St. Joe’s. Many thanks to Jennifer Hannah for coordinating.

Fundraiser Concert with VHS or BETA – Nov 29

Star Duck recently teamed with LEO Weekly who has generously agreed to make us and the children of St. Joe’s the beneficiaries of a fundraising concert November 29, at Headliners Music Hall. The headlining act will be Louisville’s own and internationally renowned VHS or Beta. If you plan on attending, buy a ticket early. This band puts on a great show and has been known to sell out Headliners. We will be there with a booth promoting the charity, so if you are interested in helping please see us at the concert.

Star Duck is also looking for additional sponsorship for our birthday parties. Unfortunately, KB Toy Store has decided to withdraw sponsorship and quit hosting the monthly birthday parties for the kids at St. Joe’s and we are looking for orgainizations interested in helping out. For more information on sponsoring birthday parties, please send us an email.

Meanwhile, the charity continues to grow. During November and December, we will be expanding our monthly activities to allow more options for our charity to continue helping kids in need. Be sure to check back for our upcoming events.

Sample

Shoe and Swimsuit Drives

March and April proved to be busy months indeed! In addition to the largest birthday party yet, Star Duck was able to purchase a pair of new shoes, a new swimsuit, and a pair of swimming goggles for each of the 40 kids at St. Joseph Children’s Home. Funds for the shoes and jeans were raised during our December benefit concert. Special thanks to Sara and Kevin Glogower who helped contribute to the purchase of swimsuits and goggles. An additional thank you to Sara Collins who has graciously committed to future fundraising endeavors.