Sorting, sorting, and more sorting

We have literally spend every minute of every day since Saturday outside sorting through piles and piles of donated items! Thank you to everybody who has donated! There is some awesome stuff out there! This is the kind of garage sale that I wish I could find! :) Seriously...if you have children and need BRAND NEW NEVER WORN or ONLY WORN ONE TIME clothing. Come to this sale. It is crazy! :)

Not only do I want to recognize who have played such huge roles in this but this is my way of keeping track! So......

Thank you to Sara Moore and family for donating an entire car load of great things, baby girl things etc to our sale and for your support.

Deanna Rice and family for the mountain of things they brought over in their truck. The teens and children will surely find something they like in there!

And to Rachael and Greg McKinley for the spotless, flawless, brand new looking truckload of toys, clothing, baby gear, etc that they brought over. There is some cute, cute, stuff in here folks. So...if you have a 3T boy I would HIGHLY recommend coming to look through these items.

Also thanks to Greg McKinley for "taking on" the banner project. I had a banner professionally made with no way to hang it. And if we put grommets in it it would not look very nice flapping in the wind etc....SO.....

Greg says that he will "figure something out". Figure something out is JUST what he did! This think looks like it is professionally done. Something a realtor would place! Check it out. It is on 99W right by the entrance to our house by Fred Meyer! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! It is perfect and I love the arrow too! Good thinking!

We found people to wear the Coyote Joe's Costume that Marc Willcuts is letting us borrow! Thank you to Tiffany Lenard and the boys from the Chehalem House for taking on this project!

We got a cash box thanks to Linda Sattler. :)

Our newest list of needs includes:

-More bags - we can use as many as we can get

-People to help Thursday day/evening/night pricing, and setting out etc. We will literally be out there all day and night. If you have some time please stop by!

-Another clothing rack. I have been told that Sunshine cleaners has one they have graciously allowed people in the community to borrow. Anybody want to hit them up and see if we could borrow it?

I think that is all for now! Thank you and SEE YOU AT THE SALE!

A HUGE THANKS!

To so many wonderful people of our community!

Marc Willcuts of the Willcuts Company http://www.willcutscompany.com/ for taking the time out of his incredibly busy life to stop by our home and come and meet us and Riley and see what he could do to help with our Journey! It looks like Coyote Joe's (The Coffee shop by our house and the carwash we always go to) is going to do a fundraiser for Riley! Where a portion of all proceeds will go to Service Dog for Riley! Marc and I will talk soon to arrange this! Keep checking for details as to when this will be! Also help with advertising our sale this weekend! This is incredible! What a dream to have the Willcuts behind us! And to have them want to help make a difference in our sons life. Unbelievable! And a super nice guy too!

Another thanks to somebody by the name of Becky Meyer. Whom I don't know. According to Pepsi Co this woman directed them to my blog about the Million Dollar Pepsi. They contacted me and are donating promotional items to our sale! This is Phenomenal! Thank you Becky! And please...if you come to our sale, introduce yourself!

Thank you also to the people who have donated so far for the sale. Tiffany Olea and tons of friends for arranging for truckloads to be brought to our home after their sale. Paul and Nicole Wong for bringing down some great things to be sold. Pat Smith for bringing many, many nice things over and supporting us 100%! Joelle McCormick for a car load of nice, fun things that kids will love! Breck and Sara Meyer and family for bringing over a truck load of donations and for their constant love and friendship to our family and our son. Their children also hosted their own families garage sale today and placed a donation jar out for Riley apparently. They showed up tonight with a donation jar filled with change! INCREDIBLE! I LOVE THIS FAMILY! :)

Thank you also to Robyn Peterson, Laura Jackson, Tim Feighery, Paul and Nicole Wong, and Tiffany Olea for letting us borrow things and helping us to have a successful sale!

Thanks also to Darcy, Lori and Clint Peebles for our first sale! :) (They bought a dresser right after it was delivered tonight!) We love having you as neighbors! Seriously couldn't ask for better ones! Our children, Riley especially love you! Thanks for always taking the time out for them!

Can't forget the Sattler Family. Linda and Pat Sattler. You are incredible. This would never have happened without you. We can't thank you enough!

Lastly, THANK YOU NEWBERG and DUNDEE and surrounding communities! You are Awesome!

And a couple of more pictures that I forgot to include!

Aunt Katie came with us! Playing with puppies with Aiden

So adorable!

Brennen holding a Golden pup!

Aggie and Brennen trying to lure away the pups from their Momma! (Who didn't want anything to do with them nursing anymore!)

Sunset Goldens of Oregon visit

Don't have time to write this minute even though I have so much to say but wanted to share these cute pictures! Here is a couple of the pictures from a visit to Sunset Goldens of Oregon. http://www.sunsetgoldensoforegon.com/ . This were different puppies and not our actual dog just so you know! :) But we went to visit and Riley LOVED them! Looking at these pictures makes us so excited! I will post more as I get them from my little sister! Thanks Katie!

PS. I think that if you click on them you can see them bigger!

We need some things!!!

I promise to stop in again shortly and update! Been busy and then went out of town for a bit to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! In the meantime though we are in need of a few things. We are hoping to borrow for the sale. Does anybody have any of these items?

-Cash box to borrow

-Grocery sacks for purchased items

-Anybody have some old wire hangers?

-Donation cans -Wilco Farm Store has graciously allowed us to place donation cans! Lambs Thriftway in Beaverton also would like to place some! We just need something that will work...Coffee cans with lids? Old candy tubs that can be covered...etc Or can you think of something creative? My brain is on overload! :)

On another note, Riley escaped the house again yesterday. He has learned to scoot the chair over to the front door and unlatch the lock that was our only saving grace. Found him four houses down in their garage. He is starting to think about climbing our fences that we have padlocked too. Caught him climbing it the other day. Ugh....that would just be the worst. Then he couldn't even go outside anymore. I'm am so thankful that this is finally happening. Although it is going to take time for the Dog to grow and get big enough to do a sit/stay we are excited to at least begin this journey. :)

Million dollar Pepsi

I really have to tell you.....back when I was a (out of home I will add :) )working mom I needed a morning receptionist to fill a hole in our staff. An incredible candidate came in and stole the show. Without a doubt we knew she would be our new receptionist. She quickly became a huge part of our team. The only problem was..... She always was struggling. Being a receptionist, she didn't make good money, benefits were not offered for her, and her hours were part time and crummy. We had conversations quite often about her making it day to day with the costs of living. I remember clearly the day she drove to work with a shiny black car and the smile on her face! She drove a baby blue clunker before that. It was so great to see her happy! She was SO PROUD! Yet, she still struggled financially. She was alone and paying all bills solely. Now just so you understand. This lady has incredible skills. Finding a place to pay her for her vast amount of knowledge is something else. Just brilliant. Just no jobs.

She eventually went on to work for a large Grocery store chain where they quickly saw her abilities. We were happy for her move. That she might be able to get things straightened out. Later I quit that job for health reasons and have very rarely kept in touch over the past 4 years. Once in a blue, blue while. Although she is still in my address book of course since I want to stay in contact with her.

While sending out the initial letter regarding Service Dog for Riley I attached her name to the email. She was always a dog lover. ;) And I knew she was friends with a local vet in town. Maybe she would have some friends that would like to help out!

Well a couple of weeks had passed since the letter went out and a knock came at my door. It was this dear friend holding a tattered case of Diet Pepsi with one can gone. She hugged me and said she didn't have anything of value to sell at the garage sale but she wanted to be a part of it and that she thinks that somebody would buy the case of soda. It was truly a heartwarming experience. I know first hand how badly she struggled. We would talk about it all the time. Trying to make it paycheck to paycheck. Asking me for more hours, and always looking for a raise. (which she did deserve). I just find it SO INCREDIBLE that she wants to help the cause so badly that she would look around to find something like that. That is pure, unconditional love. I will always have a place in my heart for this lady. The day we met her (and all the other 50 + applicants) I knew she was special. She still four years later makes me smile! Thanks for being you, being a friend and caring enough to help out little Riley. It is people like you who will make this happen. If you are reading....you will know who you are. You have no idea what an impact your Pepsi made on me. Thank you for the Soda! It is worth a million dollars in my eyes. HUGS to you.

Sarah

P.S. I have tons to write about our first Class with All is Pawsible! It's late though. Will write another time!

All is Pawsible!!!

We are heading to meet with our Service Dog Trainer Mary Lou Cook at All is Pawsible tonight! We are excited to get enrolled in the program and get started even BEFORE we get our dog! Will update after we participate in the first class! I have a touching story I want to add later too. Our community is awesome! :)

One week closer!

.....to our fundraiser sale! Things are coming into place nicely. I received the banner and flyers in the mail yesterday. Also had to open a new account for Service Dog for Riley because of the issues we were having with paypal. So those pending donations will soon finally be accepted. Thanks for your patience. You are so kind. It is so nice to walk into the local West Coast Bank http://www.wcb.com/ and let them know the cause and they immediatley set you up with a VIP account for the money raised from fundraising :)

I heard from Trisha at Sunset Goldens of Oregon and she said that she is going to come to the sale and bringing a couple of her Golden Retrievers to meet and greet yard sale goers!! She has a pup named Butter that may come and the Sire of the litters Drake! Yay fun and so great to have her ongoing support. She is guess-timating that our pup will be ready by Thanksgiving 2009! I visited her website this morning and found an entire page dedicated to Service Dog for Riley. How awesome! We are spreading the word for an incredible kid! I know we found the right breeder the minute we got there. A compassionate, responsible, breeder who really knows her stuff. A huge thanks to Trisha and her human and canine families. Go check out her page for more information about her dogs! She currently has one adult female available for adoption for a pet home. She is GORGEOUS! We had the oppurtunity to play with this beautiful lady! Smart as a whip!

We are so grateful for the love and support we are receiving from the community. An ad has been placed in the Newberg Graphic and will run the week prior to the sale, it is also being placed on Craigslist.com, a local 4-H group has decided to do a fundraiser just to support Riley, a family in Carlton is going to do a car wash for his SD, and the Newberg Class of 89' 20 year reunion committee will be doing a donation table at the reunion this September that my husband and I will be attending. This is so exciting! How did we find such incredible friends?

We now need to get going with getting flyers placed at local businesses, and bulletin boards. I know Linda has volunteered to help with this. Please let me know if you are able to help! Email me at servicedogforriley@yahoo.com

Until next time!

Argh!

I have to apologize. We ran into problem with Paypal and are still waiting to be verified. It is because of a fraud case via the internet that we were the victims of years ago. :) They are protecting us.....just a little too much. So much that if we make a large purchase at all the bank calls to confirm it was us. :) We are working things through with the bank to communicate with Paypal. Just to reaasure you though...paypal is Safe. I still can't accept the donations that are sitting there. But it will happen soon! Bear with me and thanks so much for your support!

Wow!! and Thanks!!!

We are already receiving donations toward Riley's dog! This is amazing! I have to let you know though that I forgot to get the Service Dog for Riley paypal account verified so I can't accept any donations until I do that which will be most likely tomorrow. The bank has to do their part. So until it is verified it will sit. Thank you SO much for those of you who have donated! This means so much! If Riley could speak I am sure he would tell you how grateful he is. We are so blessed. I can't wait until I can post a picture of Riley with his dog! :)

Don't forget....

to go to the top of the Blog and click on FOLLOW THIS BLOG to keep updated on Riley's progress! We want to know who is following!

Cheers

Letter to Friends and Family

Dear Friends and Family of Riley,

Many of you know that we are on a journey to getting Riley a service dog. One that will help him gain independence and also provide unconditional love and companionship to him. As you may have guessed it is extremely expensive to get a SD. We are talking upwards of $15,000. We have chosen the least expensive route (out of center training) but have a lot of fund-raising to do and hoping for community support for a little boy in need. His safety depends on it. We live in constant fear that one day Riley will disappear and never return again. Highway 99W is four houses away and he has made it to the highway before without anybody ever seeing him escape. I can never thank the Hispanic family that once lived there enough for grabbing his hand before he entered the oncoming traffic. They couldn't speak any English but they knew from our tears they were Hero's in our eyes. We almost lost our son at age 3. Unfortunately I could tell you a hundred more stories just like this one. Him running straight into pure danger.

Riley's dog would be trained to stay with Riley constantly. The training also includes Alerting us as the parents should Riley ever try and run away while in the home and not harnessed. In public Riley would be harnessed to his Dog (which by the way will be a Golden Retriever from excellent Obedience, Rally, Grand Champions Titled parents) . The harness is attached to Riley and then attached to the Dog. Then there another leash for the parent to hold from behind. Riley feels independent without the constant holding hands or sitting in the stroller (at age 5 is frustrating). And we in turn get to go on one outing where we aren't in constant fear. We currently have the use of a GPS device. Although we can locate Riley it does not stop him and often it is too late. For example....running into the Ocean, down an embankment, into the lake, river, swimming pool, into the highway, street, parking lot, loose dogs, crowds of people etc.Try to imagine the state of fear we constantly live in with our young son. It is quite overwhelming. When the Service Dog Team gets older we won't need to hold the leash anymore and when Riley feels the compulsive need to run the dog will automatically go into a sit stay and use it's massive body to stop Riley. Our doctors, specialists and therapists are behind this 100%. And we are elated that we are finally on our journey! The only problem is....we can't do it without you.

Here is the link to his blog: http://servicedogforriley.blogspot.com

Our Fundraising efforts will start with a Service Dog for Riley Yard Sale August 28, 29 and 30th at our home. We have tons of stuff to sell and we come here asking to see if there is any way his friends and family can help! I am hoping a few of you would like to come forward and help us out and help Riley get his service dog. I understand many of you won't be able to and that is ok! In fact there are a couple on the list that live many states away. :) I included you anyways! Even a couple hours of help would be so great!
We are hoping to have this event well organized and advertised and know that the Newberg/Dundee community is an awesome community. We feel confidant that when the word gets out about our benefit sale that we will be able to fund raise enough to get Riley his dog.
All proceeds will go toward the purchase of his dog, the extensive training, and the vet care.


Ways to help would be:

Donating goods to sell
Rounding up tables to use in the sale (We don't have any)
Anybody have a clothing rack? We have tons and tons of namebrand childrens clothing in excellent condition.
Helping sort, organize and price the items the week prior to the sale
Child care during the week prior
Child care the days of the sale
Helpers during the sale ( I will be honest with you. I don't do yard sales, never have, and don't know how to. I'm too nice and would give everything away :) Is anybody good at this? Dawn??? You seem so savvy. You free to help??? Please?? :)
Advertising ( I have purchased a large vinyl banner with graphics, pictures and info to place on 99W right by our home to get business and very nice high gloss professionally printed flyers that will need to be placed in the community)
Donating Services
Monetary donations


With that said......Who's on board? :)

Love to you all,

The Smith Family

Morgan, Sarah, Brennen, Aggie, Riley, and Aiden

Garage sale banner and flyers coming! Who wants to help spread the word?

Yard Sale to Benefit Riley

August 29,30, and 31st we will be having a Yard Sale. All proceeds will go straight to the purchase of Riley's SD, the extensive and expensive training and the care of the dog.

We need tons of help. The week before getting things ready and priced, sorted and ready. Child care during that same week, during the sale, etc. Donate items to be sold to help Riley or know somebody who would like to make a monetary donation?

Please consider helping out. It can't happen without friends and family of Riley.

We really need your help

Where: Riley's house 1205 Hadley Road

When: August 29,30, 31

9am -4pm

What: Everything you could possibly imagine!

Watch for flyers and banners!

Deposit!!

The official deposit has been placed for Riley's service dog. We are looking at a time frame of about 6 months or so before he would have his dog! This is exciting news! Now the fundraising begins. To pay for the dog, the extensive training, and the general care. I know we can do it. He is well known in the community and people who know him know how important this is to him and our family. I just hope we can get tons of support. We are going to need it.

Sarah