Hey there! It’s Claire again. 

For those of you that read my first blog post, you will recall my friends and I created a "dinner club" (much cooler than the Breakfast Club) where we meet for dinner every other month to catch up with each other and make it a point to hang out in the midst of our busy lives. But my goal in creating this dinner club was to also create a culture of giving back within my “millennial” generation, so before dinner, we provide a meal and other essential items to Terry's House - a hospitality home for family members of critical care patients at Community Regional Medical Center. 

 

Dinner Club getting ready to deliver their snack bags to Terry’s House after eating dinner with each other

We have now successfully completed our second Terry's House event! This time we decided to switch things up and make "snack bags" for the residents to take with them across the street to the hospital. We collected $235 dollars and bought non-perishable snack items, including protein bars, water bottles, chips, cookies, etc., to fill simple brown paper bags. The best thing about the snack bags is they allow the residents to be at the hospital bedside without having to leave to get food.  We also provided Terry’s House with toiletry kits, a much needed item for individuals who find themselves at Terry’s House un-expectantly. 

So we collected all of our goodies and all met at a friend’s house for dinner. During our "happy hour" we took turns filing the sandwich bags with the various snacks and after the work was done, we all sat

A few snack bags left in the lobby of Terry’s House for residents to grab on their way to Community Regional.

down to dinner and caught up on life! It was such a wonderful night filled with love and laughter. After dinner, a few of us dropped off the bags to Terry's House and before we could even unload the bags, residents were grabbing them before walking across the street – it was so rewarding to see their appreciation!

Special thanks to Craig Meredith, Ian and Allie Wieland, Katelyn and Jarod Ashton, Nick and Kim Rocca, Larry and Susan Jameson, Drew Maurin, Tim and Ashley Bartell, Mackenzie Hartung and Anthony Waters, and Karen and David Gill.

It is our group's hope to generate interest among millennials to engage in philanthropic activities so if you are interested in creating your own group, please contact me at clairetmeredith@gmail.com or Terry's House directly at 559.459.2700. Terry's House operates entirely on donations and is thankful for all donations received.  Creating your own "dinner club" is a great opportunity for you to socialize with your friends and help Terry's House in the process! 

If you are interested in creating your own group but are worried about the hassle of collecting money, don't despair!  We use an app called "Venmo."  It is seriously the easiest way to send and receive money.  You just download the app, link your bank account and voila!  You can send and receive money from anyone you are friends with on Facebook – super easy. 

We have our next event scheduled for October. We are planning on delivering pumpkins and decorating kits to the house as well as other essential items. Stay tuned!

Best,
Claire Tuttle Meredith