BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY CHARITABLE DROP OFF PROGRAM

Need has no limit. Blue Grass Community Charitable Drop Off Program provides necessary items donated by area residents to organizations who feed, clothe, and shelter people and animals in need.

Blue Grass Community Charitable Drop Off Program began November 21, 2020, while Tammy Stoffers, Founder/President and her sister, Tina Kress, Vice President, were driving home from errands. Tammy felt a huge calling in her heart to help people and animals in need. She turned to Tina and said, "I just heard from God and He says we need to help animals and people." Once home, they began contacting local business owners, decorating donation boxes, and placing them inside these businesses for donations.

As the donations grew, boxes inside the businesses were used less. Now, perishable items were placed in the lower-level of Tammy's home and all other donations were stored in an outbuilding. Items were then sorted and delivered to 20+ charities throughout the Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois area.

Essential donation items include household, small appliances, bedding, coats, shoes and gloves for homeless men, women, veterans, and family participants living on and getting off the streets; hygiene products for children, men, women, veterans, foster children, families, homeless and senior citizens; non-perishable food items for local and surrounding food pantries; free clothing, and accessories to anyone needing such items; animal supplies ranging from food, medication, grooming, and hygiene.

Due to the success of the program and support within the community, in March of 2022, remodeling began on a new location for Blue Grass Community Charitable Drop Off Program, 207 W. Mayne Street, Blue Grass, Iowa. In addition to the donation center, a high-end resale store, Blessings Boutique, 215 W. Mayne Street, was opened June 18, 2022. Tammy says, “We were getting so many donations of home décor', china, glassware, jewelry, etc. that is not a necessity for someone getting off the streets. This is why Blessings Boutique was created. We can sell these items and donate the proceeds to help organizations purchase essential items for their personal mission”. Blessings Boutique motto is, "The more you buy, the more you save (animals and people).

The irony of this story is the location of the new Blue Grass Community Charitable Drop Off Program donation center and Blessings Boutique resale store. It once served as Two Sisters’ Bakery & Café (plus a not-so-silent mom), and was ran by Tammy, Tina, and their mother, Lolita Baker. In September 2011, Tammy was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma and given two years to live. The family was forced to close the restaurant because of treatments and fatigue and Tammy's inability to manage the restaurant as needed. Once the fatigue subsided, they decided to reopen in October 2012, but by September 2012; the cancer spread to Stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma. During her twelve year journey and years of treatments, the cancer has spread to her lungs, liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and brain. She has undergone 25+ procedures and surgeries, including two brain surgeries in 2015. In 2021, it reappeared in her bone, but she is still here. Tammy truly believes she is here because she has much left to do and this is only the beginning.

Between September 1st, 2022 and March 31, 2023, Blue Grass Community Charitable Drop Off Program has donated $23,550 to area organizations helping people and animals in need. This could not be possible without the support of our community, their amazing donations and purchases.

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." - Aesop