Recently the Portsmouth Motorcycle Club Ladies Auxiliary delivered a truck full of gently used toys and clothes for the mothers and expectant mothers of Stepping Stones House, a residential recovery program offered by The Counseling Center for expectant mothers, mothers and their children under 12 years of age.

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Recently, the Portsmouth Motorcycle Club Ladies Auxiliary delivered a truck full of gently used toys and clothes for the mothers and expectant mothers of Stepping Stones House, a residential recovery program offered by The Counseling Center for expectant mothers, mothers and their children under 12 years of age.

Auxiliary member Gidget Odle explains, “I saw the Facebook post that said the mothers and children were in urgent need of clothes and toys, and when I told our ladies about it, they all wanted to help.”

Gidget said she contacted PMC Ladies Auxiliary Head Chair Lela Dukes, and then she, Lela, and Vice Chair Rebecca Richardson, all began to spread the word to fellow club members, friends, and co workers that they were collecting the donations for the toy and clothing drive.

They worked for a couple of weeks to collect the items, ended up with about 30 boxes and bags full, and brought them all to Consumers Helping Consumers Thrift Store for processing.

The ladies all said they really wanted to help the community, and they give back whenever they can. Lela mentioned “because it not only helps us and them, but we are all working to improve our community.”

Rebecca Richardson said, “We all need a little help at some time in our lives, and we’ve all been there, so it makes you feel good to reach out to others who need help, too.”

The Toy and Clothing Drive first posted to The Counseling Center’s Facebook page on August 15, 2012, and after 48 “friends” shared the post on their personal pages, the total amount of people who saw the information about the Toy and Clothing Drive was close to 7,000 people. It has resulted in over 2 tons of donations from more than 15 individuals and groups.

Some Facebook friends of The Counseling Center even mailed boxes of donations from out of town. Stepping Stones is celebrating 20 years of service to our community this month and because of the continued, generous support from many members of the community, the program has seen over 26 drug-free babies born this year which is an increase over last year’s numbers.

To see the original Facebook post that started it all, go to The Counseling Center’s Facebook page and “like” us. Or, to speak with someone for more information, contact The Counseling Center’s community relations department at 354-3829, ext. 240 or ext. 234.