GNO:DGD (Girls Night Out: Does Good Deeds)

Since April, I've been trying to get the girls in our circle of friends together to meet one night a month for drinks and eats. Earl has his fly fishing buddies and his group doesn't 'allow' women to attend their 'special group', so I figured we should do the same and exclude the guys. Besides, it's hard to talk about them if they are there, plus who is going to watch the kids?

The first GNO (Girls Night Out) consisted of four of us girls meeting at the Purple Cafe in downtown Seattle. The purpose was for eating great food, drinking delicious wine, catching up with friends and making new ones without distractions of our guys on one arm and kids on the other. Turnout was low, but I still had hope. I planned it for the next month and we met at Jules Maes in Georgetown. I really wanted to create an outlet for the gals I know to meet, gather, network, and make new friends.

Well, it all came together when I started spring cleaning and came across a bunch of stuff to get rid of. Things too good to toss out, or not worth the time selling in a yard sale, or not knowing the right person to give it too. I just didn't want to throw stuff in the trash if someone could re-purpose it. I had a boat load of 'Gift with Purchase' Clinique lipsticks that just weren't my color, but must be someone's! The next GNO soon had it's own purpose... reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose and reward. Our first official 'Sharity' was launched for the next GNO.

After a little research I found an organization in downtown Seattle called the Women's Wellness Center http://www.ccsww.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homeless_womenswellness where they provide a place for homeless women to shower, wash their clothes and get cleaned up. They took shampoos, soaps, lotions, towels, bath robes, makeup, and anything a woman would want to feel better about themselves.

I put word out to the GNO gals about what the purpose of the gathering was, what we need, who we are helping and why was not even a question. Turnout was great! We had 14 gals bring in enough toiletries to fill four boxes. The shelter was grateful and we all went home feeling pretty damn good about ourselves.

The second official GNO was for Pasado's Safe Haven http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/. Again, another great turnout and a good supply of food, leashes, animal care items, gift certificates, cleaning supplies and re-usable pet supplies. Michelle is on the board for Pasado's and was able to deliver the donations and received a grateful, heartwarming response.

The third GNO we focused on Northwest Harvest http://www.northwestharvest.org/. Apparently the food banks tend to get overlooked during the summer months and that is when they have a huge need... especially during these tough times. This was another great turnout. Everyone brought in items out of their pantries, bought bulk from Costco, and secured donations from their workplace. It was great to be able to turn over eight boxes of goods to Northwest Harvest. The delivery driver asked about the donations and I filled him in on our GNO group. He was so excited and appreciative that we chose NWH to help out, especially during this time of year.

The fourth GNO was our latest one... 'Back-to-School'. The task was to round up a bunch of school supplies and new or gently used clothing for kids who need a step ahead. We had some scheduling snafu's and had to post-pone the date to late August, but turnout ended up good and the donations were unbelievable! Casandra came up with ~40 backpacks courtesy of her workplace and all the girls out did themselves with buying supplies and backpacks to help more than 50 local kids. A selection has been donated to Treehouse for Kids http://www.treehouseforkids.org/, we have more to deliver to Project Cool http://www.homelessinfo.org/cool.html, and some to deliver to West Seattle Helpline http://www.westseattlehelpline.org/ along with four boxes of clothing.

The next GNO in October will be the Art Roundup. All the gals in the group are artistic in some aspect because of their profession or their hobby and they value what art brings to their lives. Everyone is gathering art supplies, paints, brushes, musical instruments, dance shoes, old cameras, film, etc. The creative fields get lost in the education system these days, so we are working on making it easier for kids to explore the creative outlets. They just need the resources to try it and we plan to help.

Livin' up to the title: GNO:DGD (Girl's Night Out: Does Good Deeds)

Maybe this group will inspire others to join in or start their own. Here is a good web site that makes it easy to find charities in need http://www.donateseattle.org/

Thanks to all the gals and their resources for making this successful!