Operation Shower Blog

Please watch this space. We really will be back soon with a ton of new posts and news about what we’re up to and why it’s been quiet around this blog!

Sneak Preview:

A very special shower at Walter Reed Hospital for wives of wounded soldiers.

National fundraising parties. Everyone is invited!

New friends in Kennebunkport and Texas hard at work toward a shower next year.

Wonderful Sponsor highlights.

Why we took a trip to New York this summer.

Volunteers…Uncle Sam said it best: We Want You!

Lots more to come. Oh, did we mention a new website?

Stay tuned….it’s getting more exciting by the day around here.

We have many more professional photos to show you from this incredible event but wanted give you a peek as they start to trickle in!

We also want to use these posts to thank some of our amazing sponsors and donors.

All photos in this post (other than the bookshelf of treat bags and red wagon full of candy) were shot and generously donated by the talented, Velia, of Velia Roldan Photography.

Baked goods for the sweets table were donated by Cinotti’s Bakery. They.Were.Delicious.

Printed items such as sweets labels and shower in a box labels were designed by me, Amy of Operation Shower and Stem Parties, and generously printed by Print Today in St. Louis.  Thank you, Huck and team!

The “Oprah” moment when 36 PGA TOUR volunteers walked in with a car seat for each mom was incredible and made possible by Kmart. Not only did Kmart donate the car seats but also donated almost all of the items for our moms! We can’t thank you enough!

Those “blue boxes”…Tiffany & Co donated gorgeous crystal serving pieces.  What a special treat!

Whole Foods went above and beyond in donating food for the event, gorgeous floral centerpieces for the food table as well as gift cards attached to a long stemmed rose for each mom. We love Whole Foods!

Thank you once again to our incredible invitation sponsor, TinyPrints, for our continued relationship. We treasure you!

We are so excited to have a new connection with Build A Bear. We love this fellow hometown St. Louis group and look forward to many more smiles to come with the donation of darling teddy bears.

Happy Moms? You bet! Thank you Peace Love Mom for always being such a great supporter of Operation Shower and donating your adorable tshirts. A picture IS worth a thousand words and so is a Happy Mom tshirt!

More photos and thank yous to come. Until then, carry the thoughts of Memorial Day with you every day with grateful hearts for those that have served and presently serve our country.

Operation Shower is so excited to announce our collaboration this weekend with The Magic House in St. Louis.  

This holiday weekend is such a wonderful time to take the family out and explore all The Magic House has to offer! Not only is the weekend a good time to spend with your own family, but it’s the perfect opportunity to honor those that are separated from theirs due to military deployments.  What a wonderful teaching opportunity for your children about the reason we have Memorial Day! 

The Magic House has generously partnered with us to give each visitor who donates a new baby item over Memorial Day Weekend free admission for that day.

We are specifically looking for donations of the following: board books, onesies, bibs and burp cloths. You can bring these with your or swing into the Museum gift shop and purchase them there. We’ll then take all these items and give them to some very deserving military moms-to-be!

Thank you, The Magic House for helping Operation Shower honor our military moms and families while providing lots of fun for local St. Louis families year-round!

We have so many people to thank for helping us make the recent Red, White & Coo baby shower with THE PGA TOUR and March of Dimes such a success, and we look forward to getting to each and every one.

To say that this event was “amazing” would be an understatement. We (who are a very chatty bunch of four women) truly have no words. So, until we find the words, we leave you with a wonderful video recap of the day which aired originally on “Inside The PGA TOUR” on The Golf Channel.

You can look at the smiles of the moms and see the excitement in the air and just know that all of us at Operation Shower felt that a million times over. Serving those that serve is truly an honor that we take very seriously and humbly.

We can’t wait to see what the future holds. Oprah? Ellen? Stay tuned to find out how you can help fulfill our next dream!

Yesterday we officially started packing boxes for our upcoming Red, White and Coo baby shower with THE PGA TOUR and March of Dimes on May 1st. Today, I spent the day outside working on part of the decor.

Painting blocks in the sunshine for an event honoring our military families….does it get any better than this?

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks of things to come!

Cheers,
Amy and your Operation Shower team!

Our “Red, White and Coo” baby shower with the PGA TOUR and the March of Dimes is fast approaching. Want a sneak peek of our adorable invitation?

Each Operation Shower baby shower is a chance to let our military families and moms-to-be know how much we appreciate their service and their sacrifice. Sure, we have such amazing product in our boxes that we could do punch, cake and doilies and have a great shower. OR we could give each shower its own theme, pay attention to every little detail and make them events to remember. Guess which one we do???

The first chance to set the stage for our showers is with our invitations. Operation Shower is so lucky and so grateful to have the support of Tiny*Prints as our official Invitation Sponsor this year.  Our relationship with Tiny*Prints started last year and we are thrilled to have them on board for our 2010 events as well! One look at the Baby Shower invitation section alone is proof that with their selection you can never run out of cute party theme ideas with style.

It’s not just baby shower high style though. From weddings to birthdays to holidays to  personal stationery – Tiny*Prints has all of your paper goods needs covered.

Thank you, Tiny*Prints. Companies and people like you make what we do possible!

You can thank Tiny*Prints for their gift to you, too. Use the link above to get 10% off of your order of $49 or more for a limited time.

OPERATION SHOWER’S “SHOWER IN-A-BOX” KITS

Help Operation Shower express our gratitude and support to military moms-to-be as we give them the baby shower they deserve.

Have you ever wondered what goes in our “shower in a box” ?  Well, a baby shower, of course !   But to be more specific, we have put together this list of items which make up a typical Operation Shower “shower in a box.”  We have divided the items into “kits” that, when put together, complete a shower for a military mom-to-be.

We would love it if you wanted to  select one or more of the kits for your group/company/friends to collect and assemble for Operation Shower. Think inside the box! It’s the new thing!

All items must be new.   All sizes are needed, but sizes 3 to 6 months or above are preferred.  We also accept preemie sizes.

The items should not be wrapped, but may be tied together with ribbon or put in clear gift bags if appropriate. Operation Shower must be able to clearly see the donations.

Ideal Baby Shower Items

1.    The “Play and Read” Kit

• Toys
  • Stuffed animal
  • 2 long-lasting infant toys
  • 2 Rattles/teethers
• Books/Cds
  • 2 to 4 board books
  • 2 Cds/dvds
• Sibling gift
  • Dvd/CD/or Book

2.    The “Rubber Ducky” Kit

• Bath items
  • Hooded towel
  • Wash cloths
  • Bath toy
  • Bath wash, shampoo and lotion
  • Bath seat

3.    The “Mommy” kit

• Things for Mom
  • Parenting books
  • Blank journal/notebook
  • Camera (could be disposable)
  • Picture Album
  • Cute tee shirt or gown

4.    The “Sleepy Head” Kit

• Bedtime
  • Pajamas — 2 pair
  • Baby gown
  • Blanket — swaddle or sleepsack
  • Blankets – lovie –
  • Blanket – large (stroller or floor)

5.    The “Baby Style” Kit

• Clothes
  • Onesies — set of 5, 2 individual
  • Baby outfits, 2 outfits
  • Shoes, one pair pre-walkers
  • Socks, 2 pair or pack
  • Hats — 2 hats

6.      The “Basics” Kit

• Diaper Bag Needs
  • Diapers
  • Wipes
  • Burp cloths (2-4)
  • Bibs (2)
  • Bottles (2)
  • Sippy cup (1)
  • Breast feeding items (pads, etc)
  • Handheld mirror

It’s been awhile since I have written, but I am glad to be back!  I am very excited to let you know about an upcoming event we are doing with the PGA TOUR.

I do not have a lot of details yet, other than it will be the weekend before Mother’s Day and we are thinking of going with a red, white and blue theme for the military shower.  We would love to hear any ideas for the shower or if you  would like to donate, please contact me at lena@operationshower.org or go to our website –www.operationshower.org and donate !

It’s going to be a lot of fun and we are proud to partner with such a strong supporter of the military!

I just wanted to post a short note of thanks for all the great work the March of Dimes does for pregnant women and babies. We have joined with the March of Dimes for a wonderful shower at Portsmouth Naval Hospital for military moms and dads with premature babies (see our A is for Apple post here).  We hope to be joining with them this year as well for a shower or two –  or three.

Although I was well aware of the March of Dimes as an organization, I did not fully appreciate the great work they do until I was able to work closely with their team this past year.   They have a wonderful program since 1995 — the NICU Family Support program — which they are working to expand to more military hospitals.   They are also re-launching Mission Healthy Baby, to provide military service members and their families with the information they need for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy newborn.   These are the  programs Operation Shower is supporting, by providing showers to these same women and also helping to distribute the information from the March of Dimes.

So, thank you to the March of Dimes for their great work for pregnant military women and families — and for all families.