$170.00 The total is growing

$220.00 Thanks all, two 50.00 donations this evening.

Come on people lets make this a record year and get enough for 3 families!

$250.00 Wow, keep em coming folks, Doesn't have to be a lot, every dollar counts.

Me =

That's enough for 2 families! I'll email the social worker and let her know! I would LOVE to get a 3rd - keep those donations coming!

$275.00 Thanks to everyone.

Here is the specific info on the two families we are sponsoring this year!

The first family consists of a single mom, currently in school, with 3 kids, one of whom is disabled. They've had some losses in their immediate family and consequently their support network is thin.

The kids are:

7 year old girl. She is blind. She is very small and is on growth hormones and is now wearing size 5 which is a bit big on her. She loves to have any jewelry she can put on her stuffed dog who is about 14 inches long. She really likes name tags or anything she can use for that purpose and puts them on the plastic coil wrist keyholders - key bungie type things.

5 year old boy. He also wears size 5 and loves anything boy related -Spiderman, Transformers, Sponge Bob. He is a very active boy. They live in an apartment but have access to playground and sidewalks. He said a Play Station would be nice!

2 year old boy wearing 2 T shirt and pants. He would enjoy any toys designed for toddlers.

Mother would like a coffee maker and wears medium tops and size 5, 6 jeans.

The second family is headed by another single mom, described as VERY VERY hard working. She has three older kids:

12 year old girl: size 1 junior pants/small womans shirts. Loves mystery/fantasy type books, jewerly making, computer games

9 year old boy: wears size 10 boys clothes. Loves computer games, nerf (like those guns) legos, cars, rocket ships.

10 year old boy, wears size 30/29 pants, mens small shirt. Likes the same things as his brother, plus legos and knex. Likes to build things.

The mother would like queen sheets, single sheets, bath towels and silverware.

Edited to add - I have a request in to find out if all 3 children need bedding, or if it is just one, so we can buy the appropriate color and amount!

Remember, $5 & $10 donations are ALWAYS welcome!

$325.00 What a generous bunch

So we need 600.00 to sponsor 3 families??? I thought I read that it's an average of 200 per..

Just wondering what our goal is to be able to sponsor the three families..

I was thinking earlier that we could probably squeeze through 3 families with $325, but now that we know the actual makeup of the families - that isn't going to cut it. The first family consists of mainly younger kids, so they are pretty easy to buy for (cheaper), and the mom is just asking for a coffee maker. The second family - they are going to swallow a lot bigger piece of the pie - with preteens and all the household goods that have been requested. Bedding is NOT cheap - especially if they need 4 sets of sheets and comforters - and neither are towels and silverware!

I'm thinking out loud here - I think we normally spend around $30 per person on clothes (that's after the coupon discount we've been getting at JCPenney* and hitting the sale racks at TJMaxx). So that's 8 people times $30 totaling $240. Then maybe $20 in toys for each child - 6 x 20 = $120. So that would be $360 just for clothing and toys. The first mom's coffee maker - could prolly get that around $20-$25 at Walmart. So that brings us to $385, WITHOUT any household goods at all for the 3rd family.

Bedding - we could get 3 twin-size bed-in-a-bag sets for $30 a pop if we get lucky. Let's say $100 total. A queen will prolly run us $50 - maybe cheaper, but I'm being safe here. So $150 for bedding. Towels - sales will be important here. I think we got a REALLY good deal at JCPenney last year, but I can't remember the price. I think, right now Walmart, bath sheets are like $6 a piece, but we can go with the smaller standard ones - what are they, like $4 each? I'd want to get at least 8, which would be 2 towels per person. So that's around $35. So the total is up to $185. Silverware - I think I can be safe at saying $15 would do it. So we're looking at $200 just in household gods for the 2nd family.

$385 + $200 = $585.

I was really wanting to throw in a Wegmans gift card for each of these moms, but that looks a little unrealistic at this point.

Yeesh. In the past we've been lucky in that the family sizes were smaller. This year, not so much. I didn't think to ask the social worker not to give us big families - that's my fault. I just didn't think about it. In the past, when I was requesting families from CAPP, I did make a point to look at family sizes. This year I didn't do that. Definitely my fault.

That said, I do believe the social worker is giving me the families that have the most need on her caseloads.

We need at least another $260 just to round out these two families.

Nailing down a few corporate donations would be helpful - as we discussed at our meeting. I know that Sue initially approached both Walmart and Wegmans, but then she fell ill. Tom'sdad - have you had a chance to contact them yet? Two $25 gift cards from Wegmans would rock socks right now. And anything at all from Walmart would assist in buying some of the bedding. I know someone at Walmart I could approach if you haven't yet - let me know.

Also, Mama, does that total include the donation promised from Forever Windows? Sue said they would give $50. Gotta see about picking that up so we know we have it for sure!

*which reminds me - if anyone receives a "$10 off a $10 purchase" coupon that JCPenney sends out near the holidays, we'd appreciate if you'd pass it along to us!

I don't think family size really makes a lot of difference since larger families usually have a greater need anyway? I think we're doing well considering it's only the first week of November.

Like Holly said even if it's 5 or 10 bucks every little bit helps.

Thanks again for all the generous donations so far.

I'll hit Forever Windows, WalMart, Wegmans, and whatever time permits, working my way up the east side of Main St. today.

tomsdad:
Walmart needs a letter. I will write that up and get it in the mail today. TJ and JC both need follow up. I will try calling them. One idea given some of the items are how would approaching Big Lots?

4mrbam wrote:tomsdad:
Walmart needs a letter. I will write that up and get it in the mail today. TJ and JC both need follow up. I will try calling them. One idea given some of the items are how would approaching Big Lots?

I'll scratch WalMart for today and add Big Lots.
Let me know when the way is clear for TJ & JC.

$425.00 and climbing

$485.00 WOW

WOW. That was quick! Minions are AWESOME.

$100 more and these two families should be set. Then we can start thinking about a third family.

We do have a promise of another $100.00

Group meeting & drop-off date at Phoenix Coffee on Saturday, November 21. 10 til noon.

All minions invited to attend! Stop by to drop off your donation and stay to have some coffee and chat. We can discuss where we're at with fundraising efforts and family selection then too.

Hope to see you all there!

The Last day for online donations will be December 8th, 2009 to give me time to transfer the money for the Great Shopping Expedition on the 12th.

The shopping trip is on the 13th Mama.

Opps, sheesh

We will have the Drop-off day for anyone who wants to hand off the cash in person

Remember, if you donate through PayPal I will know who you are BUT I do not divulge contributors unless I have express permission to do so. Your identity is safe with me. OK, I might mention it to Jeff but he is the head honcho whether he likes it or not. Besides it might mean the difference for you getting the reserved parking space sometime. But I won't even tell Jeff if you tell me not to. You can also contact Jeff, Holly, or Myself to make an anonymous donation.

The shopping trip is on the 13th Mama.

Nice work, Jeff.

Thanks, TD.