This holiday season there’s a new, one-of-a-kind place to shop in San Antonio for gifts. And parents (and kids!) are going to love it.
From Me To You, located in Rolling Oaks Mall (on the 2nd floor, next to Macy’s and just above Santa’s Workshop!), is the newest fundraising endeavor from Big Brothers Big Sisters South Texas. President Denise Barkhurst modeled the store after a PTA fundraising shop she visited with her own children several years ago. All money spent in the store goes directly to fund the programs of the mentoring/prevention nonprofit, which matches kids with adult mentors in our community.
Imagine your child taking their hard-earned allowance to a store with quality gifts they can select for family and friends (without family and friends seeing what they’re buying). Parents sit comfortably nearby, sipping hot coffee, watching holiday movies and relaxing. Volunteer elves help the children shop and then wrap their gifts, just on the other side of a curtain.
From Me To You provides a sense of independence, even for the littlest shoppers, while parents are just a few steps away. And the volunteer elves help children stick to their budgets, providing financial literacy lessons as well. Lastly, kids learn that by shopping at From Me To You, they are helping other children: a lovely lesson of giving during this special season.
The store runs on volunteers (81 shifts must be filled to provide elf helpers for the kids). If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Armen Babajanian with Big Brothers Big Sisters South Texas via email (armen at bigmentor dot org) or by calling 210-365-9056.
From Me To You opens to the public on Black Friday (November 29) and will be open during mall hours through Christmas Eve.
More information about From Me To You.
Information on the programs Big Brothers Big Sisters South Texas provides.
I love this concept. My husband and I were discussing last night about how we want our son to volunteer with us on a monthly basis. I would love for Nico to participate as a customer and a volunteer of this event one day. Thank you for sharing.
Andrea, I’ve been considering various volunteer opportunities for my kids too. And, as it turns out, kids can even volunteer to help out at From Me To You (as long as they are volunteering with parents and they are old enough to be helpful). My daughter and I may volunteer there together.
So happy to know about this fun and *worthy* program, Colleen. Thank you so much for sharing! Looking forward to supporting From Me To You this holiday season.
Melissa, I think you’re going to love this special shop. There’s nothing like it in town!
Colleen, this is wonderful! Thanks so much- from the very beginning with the survey for market research, to today – you rock! If FMTY is a success, you played a big part!
Denise, I’m honored that you included me from the very beginning. You have always been passionate about your vision and now it’s a reality. It’s so much fun to support this amazing idea come to life!
Oh that’s really a great store that kids would definitely enjoy. Thanks for writing this wonderful post.
Thanks, Kate. Yes, I think kids are going to go crazy for From Me To You this holiday season. 🙂
This is my favorite idea of the year!! We’re going back again this week, hope they still have some gifts left …
Stacy, I took my kids a few days after our initial blogger preview and they had the best time donating to Big Brothers Big Sisters and then shopping for family members. The only problem is they want everyone to open the gifts they bought RIGHT NOW. lol 😉