Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Address to send gift cards and checks.

hi

i hope to make this easy for everyone who is interested in donating to our adopt a mom/family programs.

please send all gift cards and cks to:
megan rosenhart
174 spruce ave.
menlo park
ca. 94025.

please make cks out to:
project warm hug.

please indicate with a note or in the memo section
whether the ck is for our adopt a mom program
at $40 a mom.

or

our adopt a very special family project.

or

towards our out of pocket expenses.

that way i can keep track of the "accounting".

one last "to-do". if you would please email me with
what you are sending so that i can make sure all
gift cards and cks are received.

thanks so much!!!
megan

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Our Holiday Boutique is Monday, Nov. 26th!

You are cordially invited to
Project Warm Hug's"Give a Little – Get A Lot" Holiday Boutique
Monday, Nov. 26th * 2-5 p.m./5:30-8 pm

You'll be so ready to step away from the turkey by then,
so get out your Treos & Iphones to mark down a very special date on your calendars –Nov.26th!

Come sip tea or champagne and spend a little "you"time shopping for a good cause.

Please join a wonderful group of moms and designers for this upcoming boutique that will benefit *Project Warm Hug*, a local program that provides diapers, warm clothing and cool books to local children in need in association with Friends Outside of Santa Clara County.

This will be an intimate holiday shopping opportunity to purchase unique, handcrafted items to help you get a jump start on your gift giving for friends, family, teachers - and maybe yourself, too!

Date: Monday, Nov 26th, from 2-5 pm; 5:30-8pm
Location: 1621 Portola Avenue, Palo Alto, in the Southgate
neighborhood (cross street is Miramonte).
Hosted by: Pamela Weiss

Browse & buy during tea time in the afternoon or drop in after dark for a glass of champagne and a bite of dessert while you cozy up to local designers &artists including:
•Ashley Jane Designs: Ashley Jane offers distinctly unique handmade clothing and gifts for babies and little girls and will feature vintage postcard reproduction wall plaques as well as a new product – fabric wallets for moms! Ashley Jane is a one woman show run entirely from the East PaloAlto home of designer Ashley Higashi. Her designs are sold exclusively through home shows and local events.
Website:Ashleyjaneonline.comhttp://ashleyjaneonline.com/
•Copper Moon Apothecary: Katy Thompson is known for her healing lotions and potions - handcraftedsoaps and lotions using organic, natural sustainable ingredients with no animal testing.
Website:http://www.coppermoon.net/
•Sara Jane Jewelry: For women, Sara Jane features handcrafted jewelry using sterling silver combined with gemstones and/or freshwater pearls.
For the sweet little girls in your life, there are fresh water pearl bracelets with crystals and sterling silver necklaces/bracelets with charms. Also,for girls, handmade whimsical and dainty hairclips,headbands, and bows!
A darling addition to any little girl's outfit!
•Shalini Bitzer: Shalini presents beautiful embroidered shawls and wraps in many different styles. Wool and silk pashminas, fun and funky little handbags in festive colors - even quilts and bedspreads!
•Jewelry designer Anna Yee: With her beautiful handcrafted jewelry, Anna blends a combination of pearls and gems to create the perfect jewelry to wear for all occasions.
•Big Heart Designs: A fun collection of whimsical and retro-inspired children's clothing and accessories handmade by local moms and represented by Megan Rosenhart, director of Project Warm Hug.

Truly in the giving spirit?

Donations of gently worn children's clothing and diapers (all sizes, loose and open packs are fine) will be collected at this event, so take a moment to clean out your little one’s closet to make room for holiday bounty while providing a new home for your kids’ outgrown clothes and too-small diapers!
Proceeds from this event will directly benefit Project Warm Hug’s holiday Adopt-A-Family program that seeks to match area families with their specific holiday needs and wishes.

More info: For more information about the “Give A Little, Get a Lot” Holiday Boutique or Project Warm Hug, email mrosenhart@yahoo.com or call (650) 468-3065.

Update as of November 20th!

hi

i have a lot to update you on.... our holiday program is going full steam ahead.
our adopt a mom program launched last week. we have been honored to gift a really special family. donations of goods are coming in and going out. financial donations are beginning to come in as well!! and life is very full right now.

details on:
our holiday program.

as of last night we have 16 families with a total of 70 people who are a part of our "adopt a family" program. thanks to this wonderful community of parents, all of these families have been matched up!!! i am sure that i will have a couple of last minute requests! thank you all for your support with this program.
if you are still interested in "adopting" a family, email me with your name, budget of what you are willing to spend, and any special interests... like single mom with small children...
our adopt a family program will continue year round!!! so, please sign up if you are interested in helping out this season or next year!!

i was overwhelmed with how many single moms are struggling with living here. so, i have put into place an "adopt a mom" program. i am really excited about this program!!
here are the basic details.
each sponsorship is $40.00/per mom.
each mom will receive a big heart designs handcrafted item such as a large receiving blanket, a stroller blanket or a nursing poncho. local moms will be making these items, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to project warm hug and moms will receive a beautiful gift. big heart designs is my attempt to have project warm hug be self sufficient, train single moms how to sew and be able to earn money by working from home, and put all of my many years of design, production, retail, wholesale skills to work.
in addition to the big heart designs gift, these moms will also be gifted with some practical items such as diapers, wipes, clothing....
i am thrilled that this program will be offered year round as well.
my goal is to gift 200 moms this season. so far, we have 112 sponsorships!!!
please email me if you would like to adopt one, two, ten or a hundred moms.
mrosenhart@yahoo.com


project warm hug has been contacted to "gift" the following family.
i see this as a huge honor!!
please let me know if you are interested in being apart of this gift giving team.
i will be "assigning" a gift wish to you this weekend.
gift cards will also be helpful.
project warm hug will be continuing to be this family's "secret Santa" year round!!!
here is the latest email i have received from their social worker.
thanks so much.megan
project warm hug. ___________________________________________________
Hi Megan
Thank you so much for your help with this family. I have written a short introduction and a wish list for the girls and their mother.Yurelia and Fiorella are two year old conjoined twins. They were successfully separated at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital on 11-12-07. The twins have overcome many hardships since their birth. They have strong spirits and were able to endure a high risk surgery, where they only had a 50% chance of survival.Yurelia has already undergone a second surgery to correct a heart condition. The twins parents have very limited resources. Their parents, Maria and Jose have 9 other children, in Costa Rica, where the family is from. One of their son's has cerebral palsy. Jose only earns $200 dollars per month. Maria and the twins will remain in the United States for a prolonged period of time while the girls recover and possibly undergo other surgeries. Jose will return to Costa Rica to care for the other children and Maria will have to care for the twins on her own. It would be wonderful to have these girls and their family receive unexpected Christmas gifts .thanks again, maria.

since receiving this email, i have also received the wish list for the other members in their family. if you would like to donate to this family, please email me as well. mrosenhart@yahoo.com

donations are coming in... still need diapers!!! baby clothing, strollers, car seats,
i have some new donation drop off sites. in redwood city, community street jam on veterans blvd and celebrate art on main street. email me and i will set you up with the donation site closest to you. mrosenhart@yahoo.com

financial donations are trickling in... we still need $4300 to meet our out of pocket expenses this year. i am also hopeful that my stipend will be covered for the last 14 months @ $1000 a month... our 2008 budget is a mere $48,000,
i bumped it up from $36,000 in order to have an assistant to help out with office "stuff".

i will be attending a lot of holiday events during the next two weeks. i will post them tonight on this site!!!

happy thanksgiving!!
megan

Friday, November 09, 2007

who we are and how you can help.

project warm hug
our mission is to provide dry diapers, warm clothing and
cool books to local children in need.
...
our vision is that through our efforts, an increase in
social awareness of our economic diversity will occur.
...
how can you help?
* donate diapers. all sizes, open packs and loose diapers are fine.
...
*donate gently worn children's clothing, newborn to 5T.
larger sizes as well as women's, men's and
maternity clothing are also needed
...
* donate your spare change. we operate with a bare bones budget.
your spare change really does make a difference.
...
* donate gift cards; safeway, target, salvation army, savers. these cards are used in emergency situations as well as for our adopt a family program.
...
*sponsor a family for our year round adopt a family program
simply email me your name and any details of a family
you would like to assist, and i will match you up.
...
* offer a financial donation to help us with our emergency program.
...
*offer a financial donation to assist us meet our bare bones budget.
...
*offer a couple of hours of volunteer help!!
...
*refer us to a business or a social organization that might be
interested in adopting project warm hug as community service project.
...
2004/2005- 4000 items were donated.
2006- 21,000 items were donated.
2007- so far, 53,000 items have been donated!!
...
thank you for your interest.
megan

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

update as of November 6th, 2007

greetings all.

this past week has been all about organizing our adopt a family program.

the response from the community has been wonderful!!! it looks like as of today we have 21 families who will be either adopting a family, providing gift cards, volunteering or cooking for them.

this week is all about matching up families with families.

if you are interested in getting involved, please email me at:
mrosenhart@yahoo.com
with your name, phone number and your interests...

________________________________________________________

also, the big news of last week is that our "trailer family", received their donated RV and moved into it on Friday!!! truly an amazing donation from a very generous family.

we also received a generous check to cover all the fees and expenses for this transaction to happen!!! thank you.
________________________________________________________

so while i was coordinating this donation to happen, my car died! come to find out the repairs needed are more than the car is worth. i can have a portion them done but i still run the risk of it dying again. i have loved this car, it was donated to us last year from a very generous family.

in the meantime, another very generous mom has lent me a car.

________________________________________________________

oh, and yes, we also donated a bunch of clothing, a crib, a couple of strollers, some diapers and some housewares last week as well. #500 items to add to our
#52,000 totally.

#52500 for the year so far.

________________________________________________________

still need the last of our out of pocket expenses covered... only $4200 left!!!
and then it would be awesome to fill our emergency fund with $2000 and
it would really be awesome for my stipend for the last 14 months covered, $14,000....

______________________________________________________

my wish list includes:

gift cards to add to our newly formed emergency fund.
these will be handed out to families who are needing a helping hand during a challenging time in their life.
Safeway and target are the most useful cards.

the purchase of my "borrowed car". the seller is a single mom and this would be so helpful for her as well. if someone bought the car, then they could donate it to us and receive a receipt for tax purchases...

this is my big wish!!!
i would love for "someone" to adopt project warm hug for 2008. this adoption would include having expenses covered including a small salary for me!
our total bare bones budget for next year is $36,000. this could be a great opportunity for a business/foundation to show their community support!!!

that's all for now!.
megan