Miracle on Walnut Street

Carol Graber, an adjunct professor at IU Kokomo, sends this Cheer:

“On Dec. 6, 2012, my S104 freshman class and I delivered mountains of Christmas gifts to the eight special needs residents of Walnut House, a Mental Health Association group home in Kokomo. ‘Miracle on Walnut Street’ provided a life-changing experience for many individuals involved, and several folks have made a commitment to stay in touch with the residents for the upcoming year.

“Although my class was fortunate enough to deliver and share in the resident’s excitement and pure joy of their Christmas gifts, the Miracle on Walnut Street would not have been so successful without the help of so many others.

“First, a special thank-you to Bre and the staff at the Walnut House for allowing me to bombard them with numerous questions, and for also sharing your wonderful residents not only with my class, but the entire IUK campus! A special thank-you to the IUK faculty, staff, student body, friends and family for shopping from our Miracle Tree list of wants/needs (donations came from as far as California from the Chaplin family). Thank you, Kohl’s employees, for providing a team to help wrap the multitude of gifts collected and for providing a $500 check used to purchase warm winter coats for several of the residents. Your willingness to participate in our project was fundamental to our success, and I thank you!

“A sincere thank-you goes out to the minister and congregation of New Horizons Church, whose donation made it possible to finish purchasing items not collected from our drive. Pizza Hut’s donation of gift cards were used to provide a pizza party for the residents and staff. I’d also like to thank Dr. Virjee and his family for the gift card to Wal-Mart that helped purchase much needed clothing for a resident in need. MC’s Barber Shop and staff donated their time and provided haircuts for the residents, and we thank you. We would also like to thank Half Moon and McDonald’s for the gift cards they provided to all of the residents. Chi-Town Grill gave each resident a warm, heavy hoodie, and they were much appreciated. First Savings Bank of Hegewich, in Crown Point, participated in an art supply drive and provided the residents with three large totes of supplies that will bring hundreds of hours of enjoyment to the residents. And, last, a special thank-you to Simply Sad Children’s Foundation for their gift of Benny’s blankets, and as promised, each blanket was indeed hugged before being placed in the waiting arms of each resident. A sincere thank-you to each and every one of you who reached out to this most worthy class project and helped us indeed make a Miracle on Walnut Street happen! May you all be blessed with a joyous Christmas as you have helped create for eight very special people on Walnut Street!”

‘You’re love in action’

The Rev. Mark Sloss of Habitat for Humanity sends this Cheer for a local business:

“Habitat for Humanity of the Kokomo Community sends out a Cheer to Accurate Roofing.

“Ryan Cook sent out a crew to help us finish off a roof repair project on Saturday, Dec. 1st. We still had half a roof yet to do, tearing off four layers of shingles, three of asphalt and one wood, then installing decking and new shingles.

“Working in conjunction with some other volunteers, the job was pretty much completed and cleaned up by noon.

“You guys were a godsend! And a big thanks to everyone who helped out. You’re love in action!”

Thanks from Edward Jones

Lisa Russell, office administrator of the Edward Jones Kokomo branch office, sends this Cheer:

“All of us at the Kokomo Edward Jones offices would like to thank the local businesses that donated items to our 2012 We Care wreath. With their help, our Edward Jones ‘Let It Snow’ wreath was the second-place seller this year, raising $3,700!

“Without the donations from these local businesses, none of this would have been possible. They were so gracious to help us support We Care, and we know their generosity will be rewarded:

“American Driving Academy, Banner Flower House, Bowden Flowers, Carousel Styling Salon, Chili’s, Club Fitness 24, Coffee Junkiez, Cook McDoogal’s Irish Pub, Carter Lumber, Country Catfish, Curt Trainer, Dan’s Bakery, Designing Lines, Discount Tire, Dress Barn, E-clips Salon - Amy Schorm, Flowers by Ivan & Rick, Frittatas Restaurant, Gingerbread House Bakery, Gifts by Pals, Gold Fever, Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery, Healing Hands Natural Therapy Spa, Here We Grow Again, Home Team Golf of Kokomo, J. Edwards Fine Chocolates & Gourmet Cakes, Jim’s Pizza, Kokomo Flipsters, Kokomo Sport Bowl, Krush Hair & Nail Salon, A Lady’s Place, Mac’s Market, Malibu Tanning, Margie’s Sports & Therapeutic Massage, Midas, Missy’s Fitness, Moore’s Pie Shop, North Street Carryout & Puckett’s Pies, Plate Street Grill, Ray’s Drive In, Rice’s Golf Center, Roby’s Bullseye Outdoors, Sound of Music, Southside Marathon, Sun City Tan, Sycamore Cottage, The Sun Spot Natural Market, Top of the Line Auto Detail, Tropic Tan, Victory Bike Shop, Whiskey Creek Woodfire Grill, Worldwide Pawn & Jewelry.

“We also want to say thank you to Howard Print Shop for printing our list for the display. And, a very special thank-you to Jeff & Anita Myers for purchasing our wreath.

“Thanks again to everyone who helped make this another amazing year! We just can’t say thank you enough. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!”