Past, Present and Future.... we are moving into our 4th year!!!

greetings.

wow, i can't believe so much time has passed since my last update. an amazing amount of progress has been happening with project warm hug. here's a recap of the past, what is happening now and what is about to happen!!!

winter 2006- project warm hug gifted well over 1000 gifts to local children in need. these gifts were a combination of toys from cheeky monkey, wonderful children's books, fleece scarves and hats made by local kids and moms, and a collection of new toys donated by local families. thank you all!!! it was an amazing holiday season!

january 2007- i have to admit it took me awhile to recover from the frenzy of our holiday season. once the fog had lifted... it was time to move forward into our 2007 programs. the wheels started rolling on a collaboration with friends outside of santa clara. friends outside is an organization that my grandmother started over 50 years ago. friends outside serves families that have been affected by incarceration. it is my intention for our next year to become more involved with fewer organizations.

february 2007- valentines! is here and time for our See's Candies Fundraiser. thanks to a couple of great sales gals, project warm hug raised $350.00. this money was used for securing a storage unit for friends outside's donations. yes!!! project warm hug has been adopted as an affiliate program of friends outside! we are going to be able to serve many more families in need.

march 2007- only 2.5 hours left of our third year! at the beginning of this year, i set out a goal of 5000 items donated with a budget of $28.000. as we quickly achieved this goal in just a few months, i raised our goal to 10,000 items with a budget of $50,000. before i knew it we had achieved this goal. i raised our goal just one more time to 12,000 items, then to 15,000... with a final budget of $72,000.

here is the good news!- it looks like we will surpass #20,000 items!!! i will post the final count next friday... i am still counting!

here is the bad news!- of the $72,000, we only raised just over $40,000. basically our budget is based on $5.00 an item donated, so with 20,000 items donated we really should have raised $100,000. our efforts have surpassed our fundraising... we are in dire need of financial assistance to make it through another year.

here is the good news again. Project Warm Hug now has 501c3 status!!! and hopefully the checks will start rolling in!

thank you all for your support, your donations, your encouragement!

... now my thoughts and plans for our fourth year.

beginning march 4th, project warm hug is going to kick off it's spring fundraiser.

Diapers, Dollars and Chocolate Bunnies-

Diapers- Diaper Drive. The number one donation request is diapers. We never have enough. If you have an open pack that you are not using, or you can buy an extra pack the next time you shop... we need all sizes. a number of locations will be taking diaper donations. in the meantime, give me a jingle and i will schedule a pick up. or if you are in downtown menlo park on a weekend, you can drop them off at my office; 1030 curtis street, suite 201.

Dollars- Yes, we need dollars. All financial donations are welcome! This year our budget is based on $6.00 an item. $1.00 will be donated back to one of the organizations we serve, $5.00 will be used for supporting our efforts. Go to Paypal.com, if use my email address- mrosenhart@yahoo.com, your donations will be deposited into our business account.

Chocolate Bunnies- Last year we were able to donate 304 See's Chocolate Bunnies to the local kids that we serve. Our goal this year is to donate 1000 bunnies. For $10.00, you receive a bunny and you give a bunny. This is a great program for schools, social organizations and so on... to get involved with. Please let me know if you are interested in buying and or selling!

How can you help???

Donate a few hours...

Donate your children's outgrown gently worn clothing.

Donate diapers.

Donate a gift card.

Adopt Project Warm Hug as your school's, business's, organization's non-profit to support.

Tell a friend about us!

also on our wish list.

Large plastic bins- at Target for only $3.99.
we need 100! to organize our storage units.

my hopes for our fourth year.

that project warm hug can effortlessly donate 15,000 to each friends outside and to shelter network.

that this goal can be accomplished effortlessly with community support.

that project warm hug can receive the financial support necessary to accomplish this goal.

that project warm hug can begin to become financially self sufficient through sales of a collection of children's clothing and blessing gowns that megan has designed and will be producing with the help of local moms. lots more on this topic in the next blog update.

thanks again.
with many warm hugs.
megan