Thursday, December 17, 2009

Status Update

We have to thank you all as a community for what you've done for us this year.

It's been a tough year, we must admit, with predictions mid-year of a $60,000 defecit. While we were proactive by cutting staff and expenses in anticipation of the shortfall, we'd also like to recognize those who stepped up to help close this gap, which has now narrowed to an anticipated $15,000.

In October, we received word that our Thanksgiving distribution to over 400 families was threatened. Our long-term supporter decided to shift focus to a local community, leaving our community to find alternative resources. You all stepped up, providing us with not only enough donations for this year, but some overflow to help lead us into next year as well.

As we look back on a year with such uncertainty, we cannot begin to thank you enough for all of you who have increased your giving. We had churches donate as much as 4 times the amount as last year. 3 churches designated $1500 to our programs (this is an increase from 2008 for all three), with another church conducting a special offering on Christmas Eve in our name.

And we cannot forget our individual donors, like the donor who called and let us know they would be sending us $2800 to support Thanksgiving programming and the countless other donors that dug deep to support us this year.

Thank you all for your teamwork, your efforts, your love, and your encouragement. We cannot keep our mission going without you.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Christmas program now completed!

Thank you to our community, we have now sponsored all families and children in our programs for Christmas.

The final numbers:
-868 children and 47 seniors served through our Stars program
-315 individuals served through our Family Sharing program

Thank you to all who stepped up in sponsoring our families in most need this holiday season.