Uniquely Different - UD

04/27/2026

Ouchie to the shears! Yowl to the electric shaver! … when haircuts aren’t your thing, Madeline Johnson of Miss Madeline’s is here to save the day! (Kudos to some future good looks, if you win her bingo prize).

04/26/2026

Sunday shoutout as fresh as hot cup of coffee. It’s magical when a manager has experience with disabilities. PJ’s Coffee on Hatchell in Denham with their manager Melissa. Thank you for your bingo prize donation of local Louisiana goodies.

04/24/2026

Shoutout to TopGolf of Baton Rouge. 4 goodies… and finally a pun that works out. This prize mission is on a roll; it takes drive. Bingo takes a lot of balls-75 of them. Sometimes a hole-in-one drops when you least expect. Other times, you just have to putt putt along until you reach the green.

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04/23/2026

Shoutout to a local Baton Rouge T-shirt and printing shop for a Visa gift card donation to community bingo. Humans have two areas to wear “things” on—your face and everywhere else. A shirt worn gets you in the door; a smile worn gets the door held open for you. The smile folks remember.

04/23/2026

Hugs to Heather and her stress relief kit with a coffee gift card and three SLT Knits hand-knit goodies (2 washcloths, 1 facial scrubbie) for a rewarding caregiver prize. An occupational therapist definitely knows how to relief the daily stressors.

04/23/2026

My second solid donation was something that took guts. As a kid, I had few friends. In 2008, in college, a peer cousin convinced me to join Facebook and reconnect with “friends”. An elementary school classmate is a superhero. Juggling three kids, her own business, and health issues. Offering to knit for her wouldn’t satisfy. I couldn’t hug her or even type the words saying “I couldn’t do what you’re experiencing now.” Instead I thought about supporting a small business. I shared the flyers and did little else. We weren’t friends in school. Acquaintances. I was the awkward, disabled, stand out kid. So, y’all thank you to Erica Scalise and Parish Lending!

04/23/2026

Our first bingo prize donation came before I actually had the guts to think that I would have success. I graduated from what is now FranU (Baton Rouge) in 2012 with a B.S. in gerontology. Many of my peers were in health sciences or healthcare administration. I’ve lost contact with all except one. That one lives in Connecticut and works for a huge company. She’s married and is a mom. The day I wrote on LinkedIn my idea for disability bingo thinking this will never work. She wrote and Amazon shipped me our first two prizes—Bluetooth speakers. And pushed some confidence as a boost. She’s not on Facebook. But if it wasn’t for that one human, I wouldn’t be here like this.

04/22/2026

A second shoutout (and pickup today): Crawfish Aquatics. They have an adaptive swim program and also have regular swim programs and lessons for all ages (infants to elders). Thank you for your aquatic bundle for a bingo prize!

04/22/2026

A shoutout to Rice & Roux on Perkins in Baton Rouge. They’re a small eatery group but have the flavors of Louisiana and the South. Thank you for donating two gift cards for community bingo!

04/19/2026

And a second shoutout today to Elsie’s Plate and Pie. Your two curated pie-boxes for bingo prizes made my mouth water.

04/19/2026

A shoutout to Javi’s in Baton Rouge. Today I picked up two sweet gift cards for May 16 bingo. Holly was wonderful to set these up. Thank you!

04/16/2026

Shoutout today to my Denham Springs bingo prize donation trip. It's difficult to physically walk into a place in person and stumble on words to ask for a bingo prize donation to a free community event for teens and adults with disabilities (especially when you also have disabilities). Emails are easy--hide behind a screen, type words, and click Send with hopes it gets read and you get a reply. No one on an email sees you nervous. ...

Duke's on Range: magical and at peak; Don's Seafood on Rushing: 2nd time is the charm (also emails don't always work, so try in person); Mr. Gatti's: seeing familiar faces makes life go smoother (thanks Phil); Airborne Extreme: I wish places like this existed when I was a kid; La Caretta: wind and a drizzle don't do well for outdoor eating especially for multitaskers, thankful for indoor seats plus they offer free WiFi; Chick-fil-A on Range: honestly, I've never been to a Chick-fil-A ever except once over a decade ago. I can see why y'all are popular. Chili's on Rushing: When a hostess holds open the door repeatedly for customers, it matters. ... Then there's Launch. Words can't describe it enough.

I ended the day in Prairieville and not expecting my last b into thing of the day. A priest friend's dad is an artist and has really green thumbs. Imagine asking a "famous" artist to consider donating a small piece of artwork. I did it twice on email recently, once on text, but in person, it's scary.

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