on all orders over $150*
on all orders over $150*
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I, as well as all of us here at CLK supplies, have so much to be thankful for. Without all of your support, we wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't be doing this so, thank you. For the past six years, we've been working with the Newby-Ginnings Organization. It's an organization that works with veterans, active military, and their families by helping them with all of the necessities that one needs.
Newby-Ginnings is a veteran support program that started eight years ago, October 15, 2013. Since then, they have had over 4500 veteran families enrolled in their program. They accept donations from the community, anything a veteran in their family could use from clothes, shoes, housewares, furniture, appliances. Everything in their shop is free for enrolled families. They only require proof of military service, a government-issued piece of ID (military ID), or a DD214 VA card. Once they get into our program, they can go shopping as often as they need to get what they need for their family.
"My son's name is is Nick Newby. And that's why Newby-Ginnings is spelled the way it is. It's a play on his name. I know a lot of people think I don't know how to spell. But Nick joined the National Guard right in Post Falls in 2008. And then, in 2009, he graduated from high school. And then he went to basic training in 2009. He did his advanced training in 2009. And then, in 2010, he was deployed to Iraq with his unit. They went to Baghdad, Iraq; he did convoys security, he was the gunner, so he was the one that was up in the turret. Nick was ten months into his 12-month deployment when an EFP, it's a form of an IED. Everybody's heard of an IED, and EFP is an explosively formed Penetrator; it's like an armor-piercing bomb. It's like an IED on steroids, and it was the one thing that Nick said he was afraid of. On July 7 of 2011, they were out on a mission, and an EFP was detonated next to his humvee. So we lost him that day. And Nathan Byers and Jason's EPA was also in convoy in the turret that day, so he survived, but he did get injured. So I was a registered nurse at the time, and I did end up going back to work, but I ended up quitting my job; I really couldn't do that anymore, so I stayed home for a year and a half. We made that tough decision to go down to one salary for a while. And during the time that I was home, a lot of Nick's friends and battle buddies were calling, and they were having a hard time. So very long story short, I thought, well, that's what I can do. I can start a program that will help these young men and women who are hard to adjust after deployment. So yeah, we started at home, October 15 of 2013, and I thought I would do it from home. You know, like from my dining room table, I bought a new Macbook, and I was going to do it from home and had no intention of ever really getting dressed. Still, two months later, I had nowhere to park, our garage got full, and we're like, Yeah, we're going to have to move this operation somewhere else because it was just getting too full in there. And so we moved into a small little industrial unit and got full there in five months. So in the eight years that we've been doing this, we have expanded five times. So where we are now is out in Post Falls and helping over 4500 families for the last eight years, and I get to talk about Nick every day. Want to make sure nobody forgets about it." – Theresa (Founder, Executive Director of Newby-Ginnings)
A heart-wrenching story that makes you pause and take a moment to reflect on what is essential. But it's great to see that out of a tragedy, something unique happens and for Theresa's son, Nicholas, for his legacy to live off. That makes the Newby-Ginnings Organization so great, and we at CLK supplies are so honored to contribute to what they're doing in our yearly Turkey drive. This year, we put together and donated 90 complete turkey dinners but unfortunately, I could not be a part of it because I was sick. So, I want to thank all of the staff members who showed up, those who volunteered their time. Special shout-out to Jackie and her family; they went, stepped up, and did all of the stuff I was supposed to do on the event day.
Also, thank you to everyone who has supported us this year and the years past for trusting us with your lock and key supplies. We're able to do stuff like this because of your support. You're the one who was able to do this, and you were the one that was able to contribute to supporting these 90 military families. I can tell you, all of us here sincerely love to contribute to the great cause that Newby-Ginnings has. Thank you, and we'll see you next time!
