I'm so encouraged to see how many caring people we have on RS and I have an idea about a Help Network I would like to create for us all.
At this time of the year there are so many who need help, especially children and I'm thrilled that we have so many here that care and want to make a difference. I am also thinking about the rest of the year, how these families and children need help at other times too. There is summertime without school lunches, back-to-school shopping for clothing, help with birthdays and all sorts of other needs. I know that getting help at other times of the year is difficult with their local agencies as most donations come in during the holidays and fall off during the year.
I'm inspired by modestneeds.org and how they help people with all sorts of expenses. I am also disappointed in modestneeds because they only seem to help when the donation would result in the person evenutally not being poor or not needing help again. This is ridiculous to me, should we help only if they will be somehow pulled out of poverty? Of course not. We should help simply because they need help, period.
I also believe it is best to keep the name of the person who is helped a private matter, to maintain their dignity and privacy. Should the recipient want to publicly thank the helper then that is good but I want to leave this option up to the recipient. I also think it might work better if I can match the helper and recipient to their local areas. I realize this might not be possible all the time but if one RS member is helping another in the same area, this would cut down dramatically on shipping costs and enable the helper to do even more. It would also be so nice to meet those who are helping you to personally thank them and you might gain a good friend or two as well. :)
So those are my ideas and I want to start creating a database of those who need help and those who can offer help. It doesn't have to be very much at all, sometimes an envie of coupons will make a huge difference. For helpers, please sign up if you can help a tiny bit each month. For most, the end of the month is the worst time and they can use help the most then so please keep this in mind when you are considering helping. When you sign up to help, please know I am asking that each family be helped for the next year, I know that sounds like a lot but it honestly doesn't have to be very expensive at all. Even the smallest things can make a huge impact.
For those that need help, please email me privately and I will be taking the information to begin this in January. Please include information about your family as far as needs, ages and also a coupon wishlist. A list of local stores would be helpful too, in case the helper would like to buy a gift certificate.
I will also start auctions in January for members who need help on an as-needed basis. Please help with the auctions when you can.
I pray we can all work together to help all year round and am very excited about this opportunity to help our RS family. If you have any suggestions or questions, just email me.
:)
1|1|still need helpers, gearing up for Jan|cinda68|lacinda68@gmail.com|16:15:55|11/22/2011|
:) 2|1|Bravo! What a nice idea. I hope it works out the way you want it to.|missy|lovetotrade@hotmail.com|04:18:49|11/23/2011|
One of my grandchildren has MD (I can send photos), and my daughter's husband left! As a single parent, with an ex who is NOT paying child support (he quit his job and moved away), she can really use help of any kind. She does try to save on groceries by using coupons.
TIA
Kathryn 3|1|bumping up! :)|cinda68|lacinda68@gmail.com|05:36:03|11/24/2011|
ty! 4|1|bumping :)|cinda68|lacinda68@gmail.com|09:18:24|11/28/2011|
ty 5|1|bumping, can't wait til Jan!|cinda68|lacinda68@gmail.com|13:17:15|11/29/2011|
:) 6|1|We have a need ASAP|cinda68|lacinda68@gmail.com|14:16:27|12/02/2011|
This can't wait until January, family needs help now. Please email me for details if you can help, even a little would help a great deal.
Thank you! :)
7|2|bumping for urgent need|cinda68|lacinda68@gmail.com|01:48:40|12/03/2011|
Please contact me if you can help with a need for a family.
Still taking signups for January as well.