Weekly Friday Update. October 26.

greetings.

i hope you enjoy this new format.
each friday i will be updating you with:
the donations we made that week.
the donations still needed.
our wish list.
the questions asked that week
an update on the adopt a family program
an update on the diaper and spare change drive.
comments by megan

DONATIONS MADE-
donations made to st francis center in redwood city.
diapers, clothing, baby items including a stroller, a crib and mattress, a bassinet.
~3000 items.
donations made to friends outside in santa clara.
diapers!!!!
~1200 items.
donations made to the pre to three program.
oodles of diapers!!

TOTAL ITEMS DONATED TO DATE- #~52,000
project warm hug found:
a winnebago for a family to live in.
there trailer is falling apart.

a car to borrow while we decide whether to
and how to fix our "workhorse-mobile"

DONATIONS STILL NEEDED-

diapers... all sizes, always needed.
if you want to order online and have them shipped directly to me, let me know and i will give you the address needed.

warm coats- children's, women's and men's.

warm blankets- new if possible.

OUR WISH LIST-

gallons of spare change!!
you can set up a jug at home, at work, at church, at school....at a holiday party.
our funding is based on a very bare bones budget,
your spare change will actually make a difference.

the remainder of our out of pocket expenses is $4300.

to refill our emergency fund is $2000

to pay megan a $1000 a month stipend is $14000 for the last 14 months.
yes, megan has not been paid for the last 14 months.

to have the repairs paid for on our workhorse is $519.00

i would love to add gift cards to our emergency fund.
safeway, target... have the most items needed.

OUR ADOPT A FAMILY HOLIDAY PROGRAM.

i have had an amazing reponse of families who are wanting to adopt a family this year!!!

i will be sending out a separate email, but if you are interested please email me and let me know. mrosenhart@yahoo.com

what i need to know is:

your name.
your email.
how much you want to spend on a family.
(we have a wide variety of families)

the matching will be made in the next 2 weeks.

OUR DIAPER AND SPARE CHANGE DRIVE.

currently:
St Timothy's in San Jose is conducting a diaper and spare change drive through the end of November.

to begin in november:
community street jam in redwood city.

and we have 3 others who hopefully be onboard for November 1st.

COMMENTS....

this has been a really challenging week for me. finally after 2 months of looking, a new roommate moved in on sunday. i had spent that rent check three times over. monday morning i find that the rent ck is missing and replaced by a note telling me that she doesn't think it will work for her.
whew, that was a shocker!
that day i posted that i was looking for a travel trailer for a family because theirs is falling apart. a few hours later, one showed up!!! wow!!!
tuesday, i am trying to figure out how to pay my pge bill without the rent money.... finally my mom helps us out, i am at the bank cashing the ck, go back out to the car and it doesn't start. the fourth time that week that i needed to have it jumped. the nicest aaa guy cks the battery and the alternator. both are shot! he actually followed me home to make sure i could get home. my mom meets us in the parking lot to pick up my bill and the cash and drives it to the pge office for payment. she manages to make it there with 10 minutes to spare.
that night i put out a post about needing a car to borrow while i figured out how to pay for the repairs or if it was worth spending the money on this car. a couple of hours later, a mom emails me to let me know that she has a volvo wagon to borrow. wow!!! so i have been able to continue picking up and donating out diapers and items all week!

i am telling you about this week because it has been a defining moment for me.
i work with families (or their caseworkers) who are in crisis, 24/7. every time i get a request from a family or caseworker, it is an urgent request!

i get it!
i understand just how much stress these families are under day to day.
i was able to find a family in need a new home, but could hardly make my pge bill because i didn't have the rent ck i was anticipating.

there are so many families living on the fringe where if any emergency happens it throws them into a crisis. these families are all one payck away from being homeless if they aren't already.

i wrote a post about 4 single moms last week. all who are needing some kind of assistance. likely you thought that these moms were unemployed, homeless, undocumented, ... or something like that. please read the post if you haven't already.

these four moms are actually my babysitter, her cousin, my next door neighbor and myself.

i ask you to please gift how you are able to; a pack of diapers, a safeway card,
a gas card, a target card, a handful of change, a hour of volunteer help, helping us reach our 2007 budget, making a pledge for next year's budget....

we are 501c3 approved by being an affliate program of friends outside of santa clara. you will be given a receipt for all donations made.

thanks so much. megan

QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK???

do you have 501c3 status if i want to make a financial donation??
YES.

where can i send a donation check?
174 spruce ave. menlo park, ca 94025. to my attention.

if i want to start a spare change drive, can you provide me with a flyer to hand out??
YES

do you have your 2008 budget in place?
YES, $50,000.
email me if you would like the details.

can i forward your information to other mom's groups??
YES.

why do you keep project warm hug going??
i understand the clients we assist. i know how hard it is to be a single mom, to have lo-income status, to be on medi-cal, to try to navigate the systems for assistance. i also know that we are one of the very few if not only programs that donate diapers, that donate these items on a consistant basis. at this point, too many families are depending on us.
i believe that if you are able to make a difference then that is what you are meant to do. and that is what i am doing.

are you participating in any holiday events???
YES.
i am usually at the campbell farmers market on sundays from 9-1.
i am going to try out the sunnyvale market tomorrow, october 27th from 9-1.
i will be participating in a number of holiday boutiques and will post my schedule.

how can i be reached??
mrosenhart@yahoo.com
650-468-3065

thanks for your kindness,
with many warm hugs.
megan

a dose of reality; single motherhood

i had a day of reality cks today.

i met 4 moms today all who are in need of assistance.
you won't find these moms in a shelter.
you won't findthese moms on the street.
all of these moms have a home/ rented not purchased.
the common thread is that all of these moms are single moms, struggling to make it here in the bay area.

first a young single mom of a 2 month old son. she has taken a leave from school. no insurance, no income, needs work where she can bring her son.
she has asked for assistance; diapers and clothing.
DIAPERS, CLOTHING PROVIDED BY PROJECT WARM HUG.
WISH- GIFT CARD FROM SAFEWAY OR TARGET.

second- a young single mom of a 2 month old daughter. she is suffering from postportum depression.
a part ofher depression stems from money stress.
has asked her mom to care for her daughter while she tries to get
more stable. has asked for diapers and clothing.
DIAPERS, CLOTHING PROVIDED BY PROJECT WARM HUG.
WISH- $100 TO CREATE A SPECIAL GIFT BASKET FOR HER.

third- a single mom of a 8 year old. she was laid off a month ago.
she has been offered temp positions but is struggling with how to get her daughter from after school care by 6pm.
has asked for food assistance. after school care assistance. or a local job. doesn't have enough to cover basic expenses.
I OFFERED TO PICK UP HER DAUGHTER ONE DAY A WEEK.
WISH- GIFT CARD FROM SAFEWAY OR TARGET.
fourth- a single mom of a 2 year old. she works fromhome.
she has had some unexpected expenses that wiped out her cking account.
she has asked for assistance to pay her pge bill. has just enough for food and gasuntil the next day of potential income.
DIAPERS AND CLOTHING PROVIDED.
WISH- GIFT CARE FROM SAFEWAY OR TARGET.
$200 TO HELP PAY HER PGE BILL.

i wanted to share these stories so that you have a clearer picture of how our services can help our community.

our wish- for a supply of target and safeway cards that we can use to gift moms like the ones in the stories above. let me know if you can help.

thanks so much.
megan

update as of october 10th.

greetings to all!

this has been quite the week.

project warm hug donated over #2400 items to la casita in redwood city, taking our total to over #40,000 items donated to date. actually #41348!!

i also downsized our storage unit in redwood city by30%. the timing on this was not my choice but the management at public storage pulled a very unethical move and i was not willing to stay there any longer. this move cost me a lot of time and a lot of money that had not be allocated to this project($1200).

i can finally get back to business for the rest ofthis week!
i have 3 businesses who are going to begin diaper and spare change drives for us! yeh!!!!

hopefully this will bring in some money for our holiday program.
aiming for $15,000 to gift #1000 children and their families.

in addition, our scarf a thon has begun. a number of moms have already commited to making quite a few scarves. i have a lot of extra yarn and fleece to add to this project! if anyone is interested in hosting a crafty evening, we could gather and create away!! i am happy to host the first if anyone is interested incoming. let me know what time and days work best for you.

here are the current numbers.
donated to date- #41,348
we will double last year's numbers tomorrow!!!
out of pocket expenses still needed to be paid- $4030
stipend needed for megan- $14,000
holiday program- $15,000 for gifts for 1,000 kids.

2008 funding- finally we are at a point with our donation results and our budget expectations meet at $1.00 an item donated.
for example-if project warm hug receives $50,000 in funding, a minumum of 50,000 items would be donated that year. this is really exciting for me... last year we were at$3.60 an item. with approx 21,000 items donated with abudget of $72,000- only ~$46.000 received.

my wish is that somewhere out there is a business/individual/ foundation... that is willing to "dare" me to donate #100,000 items, with a gift of $100,000.
this would mean that we have gone from #1500 items to#100,000 items in 5 years!!!
please tell your friends!

i know that my wish will come true!
peace. megan

let the scarf-a-thon begin!!

project warm hug's holiday program begins with our scarf-a-thon.

our goal is to have 1,000 scarves to donate this holiday season.

this is part one of our program. part two will be announced next week.

if you...if your kids...if your kid's school...if your friends...if your families...
can sew, knit, crochet, then you can help us out by making scarves, long ones, short ones, thin ones, full ones,....

kindly email me with the number you will make. we will have a day when all of them are given to project warm hug. (hope to get some press on this) the date will be in early december.

so start creating!!! have a scarf making party with your friends!!
let's hug our local children in need with warm scarves!

news flash!!!-

project warm hug has donated 11,440 diapers this week! thanks to a very generous local mom who had 60 cases of diapers delivered for us to donate!

in addition, i also donated out ~800 items of clothing, another #300 diapers, a swing, a glider rocker and ottoman, a lamp, a stool, 3 strollers...

our current total of items donated is:

26,500
11,440
1108

for a total of-
38948 items!!!

last year we had #21000 items donated!