Be A Sponsor of Cheer this Holiday
Thanks to all of our fabulous donors who have supported our Adopt-A-Family Holiday Sponsorship Program for our families in The NEST (emergency shelter program) and Branching Out (aftercare program). You guys are rockstars!
With the Holidays just around the corner, we have several new families on the waiting list who will be moving into FMF's emergency shelter within the week. We could use some more folks to join our Adopt-A-Family Holiday Sponsorship Program to ensure that these new families are not left out this Holiday Season. Please contact Imani at imani@fmfnc.org for more information and to sign-up. Thank you!!
A Virtual Event to Remember
We had such a blast hosting our Virtual Chefs for Change Gala on November 13th. It was so special to gather with our wonderful community and celebrate resiliency and strength through a difficult year. We hope we provided some laughs and smiles along the way.
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event so memorable and fun. Whether you bought a ticket, donated to our auction, or helped deliver goodie bags - we could not have pulled this off without you. And to everyone who bid and won auction items or donated, thank you! You helped us raise over $20,000 - twice as much as last year!
If you weren't able to join us on the 13th, we still want to share the magic with you! Check out our 2020 Chefs for Change Virtual Gala video above. It's only 25 minutes.
If you want to skip straight to Sparkle's video by our amazing videography and storytelling friends at Open Eye Creative, go to 19:03. You won't be disappointed!
In Her Vision Eye Clinic
After months of planning, FMF formally started a new partnership with In Her Vision, a local organization that provides free comprehensive eye exams and glasses to women and children!
Dr. Besharat, the founder of In Her Vision, led an amazing team that completed 21 eye exams for FMF guests during thier first eye clinic in November. 19 individuals received new prescription glasses shortly after and loved showing us their new specs. Several families also discovered that their children are far-sighted, which has made their virtual learning even more difficult.
Thanks to the expertise and compassion of Dr. Besharat and her team, many families are now enjoying their glasses and sharper vision. We are looking forward to having In Her Vision back on site for another Eye Clinic in the coming months. If you'd like to support Dr. Besharat, go visit her at The Eye Center, Doctors of Optometry P.A (next door to Lenscrafters) or InHerVision.org.
Donate to FMF's First Houseware Share
We are planning our very first "Aftercare Houseware Share" for families who've recently moved to permanent housing to pick out gently used or new items to decorate and furnish their homes. We typically have very limited storage that doesn't allow us to accept many houseware donations but through the "Aftercare Houseware Share", we will have a volunteer team who are able to move and store items until the event in 2021.
We are hoping to receive wall art, rugs, lamps, clocks, throw pillows, blankets, and home decorations of varying styles to have for families to choose from. We request that the items being donated either be new or gently used and clean.
If you or someone you know is downsizing, redecorating, or reorganizing and would like to donate some of the items listed above, please mark your calendars for December 12th, January 23rd, and February 20th for our drop-off dates. Please contact Caylin at caylin@fmfnc.org with any questions. If you'd like to help us get the word out and share our flyer, click here. Gift Cards Requested It's that time of year! Every year, we're asked what we need around the Holidays and we're so happy to be able to share that all of our families are remembered this time of year.
What about the rest of the year? We pass on the in-kind donations of bedding, personal care items, cleaning supplies, etc. to families when they move in but often need to look to other resources for food, gas, work clothing, etc. Gift cards are tremendously effective for this reason, as some families will move into our emergency shelter without more than a few trash bags of clothes.
Gift cards to Walmart, Target, BP (for gas) and Food Lion (for groceries) help us be able to allow families to shop for their needs and bridge the gap before services like food stamps or new job-related income has started. If you'd like to drop off gift cards, please email Katy at katy@fmfnc.org to coordinate a time. Thank you!!!
The First "Goatsgiving"
FMF has many reasons to be grateful for its location: proximity to bus lines, Department of Social Services, public library, etc. One of the secret reasons we love our location is the neighborhood. In an era when many neighborhood listservs can harm community relationships, Cleveland-Holloway's listserv is full of offers of free things to share and invitations to give and receive care. Our neighbors are not only mindful of our presence, but supportive.
Right before Thanksgiving, a neighbor had hosted some goats on her property to eat wisteria. Knowing that neighborhood kids might enjoy petting goats at a social distance, she created a signup sheet to spread out visits. Here is the best picture from "Goatsgiving". Thanks for being such a great neighborhood, Cleveland-Holloway! We are thankful for you.
Final Stewards Challenge
We're a month into the last Stewards Fund Challenge. Our friends at the Stewards Fund have been incredibly generous over the years with annual match-challenges but this is the last year we are eligible for these funds, as the Fund is officially sunsetting!
Our 2020 Stewards Fund Challenge Goal is $42,602, which will run from 11/1/2020 through 1/31/21. If we are successful in reaching our goal, all eligible new, increased, or lapsed gifts will be matched dollar-for-dollar. If you have questions about your eligibility for the match, please contact Shana at shana@fmfnc.org.
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