Offered by Melissa Rippy, Allstate Rippy Insurance/Allstate
My mom and dad were married for 45 years and together fifty. In the days since he passed, Mom said that sunbeams remind her of my dad. She also came up with the name of the non-profit I am in the process of establishing in his memory, called “Ripbeams.”
On February 3rd, 2018, “Ripbeams” was born. The mission of Ripbeams is to collect handmade beanies, brand them with an orange Ripbeams label and tag (orange is the color of leukemia awareness) and give them to children with Leukemia to hopefully bring them some “Ripbeams” as a reminder to keep the faith along their journey. Each hat is unique, just like my dad.
Our beanie inventory went from zero to over 150 in just over 30 days of collecting them. A local knitting angel, Christi Burge, has made 68 of the beanies herself and another angel has hand sewn each orange Ripbeams label onto each beanie. Dave Thomas and the rest of his local group of woodworking angels, “Toys for God’s Kids”, recently created and donated 65 wooden cars to be given to the children. My dad’s birthday is March 22nd, and albeit one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life, it was an absolute honor to be able to pass out 65 beanies and cars on his birthday through the Children’s Hospital leukemia unit.
If you sew, knit or crochet, we are gratefully collecting them at the Rippy Agency six days a week. You can follow Ripbeams on-line at: www.facebook.com/ripbeams.
Click here to view Melissa Rippy, Rippy Insurance on The Brighton Buzz Business Directory
