A Family Promise Christmas

Theresa wanted to raise money to buy Christmas presents for the kids living in Family Promise, an Anoka County homeless group home.

First, Theresa needed to contact the case manager at the FP house to get permission for the project.

Having gotten permission, she then created a GoFundMe account to make it easier for people to donate money and to stay updated on what was going on with the project. On the GoFundMe page Theresa explained what she was raising money for, and why it was such a good cause. She also included an overall goal of raising $300 for Christmas presents.

Then it was time to take the project public. She posted about it on Facebook, explaining to family and friends what Family Promise was and what their money would be going to.  People started sharing the post immediately, and in the first day Theresa raised $50.

Wanting to get the message out to people who would be particularly interested in the project, Theresa helped her mother incorporate a section about the project into a speech she was giving at a fundraising event for Family Promise in November. After the speech, another $125 dollars were donated to the cause, bringing the total to about $195.

Beginning in November, Theresa started picking up a few extra hours per pay period at work so that she would be able to donate money herself. Out of every paycheck, she set aside $20-30 dollars to add on to the grand total at the end of the fundraiser.

On Cyber Monday, Theresa looked for good deals on presents for the Family Promise kids. She bought these items for Family Promise in general, not one specific child. The plan was to purchase individual gifts closer to Christmas, due to the fact that families are always entering and leaving the program, making it difficult to know which children will be at the Family Promise house on Christmas.

All in all, Theresa raised $400 to buy Christmas present for the children!

https://sites.google.com/site/afamilypromisechristmas/home