The Fortune Girls Rocked the House!

Last Friday evening, Rock Paper Scissors was full of an amazing group of young ladies - the Fortune Girls.  They came together to embroider hankies for our troops deployed overseas and they rocked the house!!

Everywhere you walked, there were girls, girls and more girls.  They stitched and chatted and ate pizza and laughed and made new friends.  And, all the time, they were embroidering these beautiful hearts and other messages on oversized camouflage hankies for the troops.  They also attached short notes to each hankie with a message of support and encouragement.  It was a beautiful sight indeed.

We were honored to have some service members join us, including two young women who have recently returned from deploymet in the Middle East.  MASN Chelsea Kepenis and BU3 Penny Zack, joined by Lt. Cmdr Michael Fourte, shared with the girls how much care packages from home meant to them when they were deployed.  They also fielded questions from the girls, helped them to stitch and took some time to read the notes.

The hankies will be sent to the troops in care packages that are shipped by Operation Gratitude, a California-based volunteer organization that ships 100,000 care packages to service people every year.  Please check out their website when you have a minute.  They are an amazing organization that epitomizes the word "volunteer". 

It is not too late to contribute to these care packages.  Through Memorial Day weekend, we are still collecting toothpaste, toothbrushes, beanie babies, and notes of support and encouragement for Operation Gratitude to include in care packages.

Fortune Girls is a lifestyle brand started by local Glen Ridge residents Madison Ruiz and her mom, Barbara.  It is dedicated to the empowerment of girls ages 7-12, helping them to see all they can be in their lives.  We were honored to host the first Fortune Girls Operation Hanky evening!!  Sponsors included PNC Bank, Super Scoop, and Notions Marketing.

We thank all of the girls who stitched, the service people who took the time to help us understand the importance of what we did, and especially to the service people (including my own son) who put their lives on the line every day for us without regard to personal gain.  They are the true heroes.

Till next time,

Beth

Operation Hanky

Rock Paper Scissors is honored to be hosting Fortune Girls Operation Hanky, a special event to support our military troops, on Friday, May 20th, from 7-10pm. At the gathering, a joint effort with Fortune Girls, Inc., girls between the ages of 7 and 18 will embroider large camouflage hankies with hearts as a message of gratitude to the service of our troops overseas.


The event will be held at the store on Friday evening, May 20th, from 7:00-10:00pm. We will serve the girls pizza, teach them to embroider and have loads of fun!


We are expanding the store's partnership with Operation Gratitude, a California-based charitable organization that sends care packages to troops overseas. They ensure that the hankies and their heartfelt messages will arrive safely to their destination.

Helping to host the festivities will be two local service women who have recently returned from deployment.  We hope you can stop in and say a personal thank you to these brave women and their Lieutenant Commander.

To sign up, just call the store at 973.337.6759!  There are just a few places left so call soon!

Adults can participate by donating toothbrushes, toothpaste, small stuffed animals (such as beanie babies), or writing a note to the troops. All items can be dropped off at the store.

Read more about our efforts in the Montclair Times and Montclair Patch.

Fortune Girls, Inc. is a multi-cultural lifestyle brand created by Glen Ridge residents Madison Ruiz and her Mom, Barbara. The brand is dedicated to the empowerment of tween girls between the ages of 7-12, encouraging them to discover their own unique gifts.

We hope you will consider joining us in this amazing event!!!

True Hero Event 12/11/10!

Hero Arts will debut their new line of stamps for 2011 and we are hosting a debut party! Stop by the store to check out the new line of wood stamps, as well as the entire new catalog. We are not sure what stamps we will be receiving but if it is Hero Arts, we know they will be cool, creative, and the highest quality! Order your stamps now before the catalog is released everywhere on January 5th.

We will have lots of fun things going on that day but the nearest and dearest to my heart is the "True Hero" part of the event. As the mom, aunt and daughter of past and present servicemen, I know how hard it is to be away from home for such long stretches. Just this Christmas alone, I have one son and three nephews, either in the military or working for the military overseas, that will not be home for the holidays. And this happens all year long - through holidays and birthdays and births and major family events.

Starting this Saturday, we are kicking off a year-round "True Hero" card making effort. Stop by the store and make a card or note for a service man or woman who is serving anywhere in the world. It can be short or long, simple or not. You can also just make a card that will be shipped to bases overseas where cards are not accessible. We plan on keeping this effort going year round, not just at the holidays.

We have hooked up with Amillionthanks.org and Operation Gratitude to help us deliver these cards through mail and care packages to service men and women stationed all over the world. It is easy and can be done by kids and adults alike. Take a minute and let them know that we care and we remember.

In addition to "True Hero", we have raffles and make-n-takes and stamps to play with and "ugly Christmas sweater" day - all to celebrate Hero Arts' debut!!! Any Hero Arts purchase comes with a raffle ticket for fabulous free prizes! Anyone who wears an "ugly" Christmas sweater (any Christmas sweater, really) gets a raffle ticket. Winners will be drawn at 2:30. Winners need not be present to win. Stop in to try out the new stamps on a note to a "True Hero". Join us for refreshments, prizes and stampin' good fun!