Couple Money » Giving Back

Love Drop Diomi and Nallee (Our Last Drop!)

Elle — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:07:03 +0000

Help give a Love Dropthis season!

This month the team’s coming together for Diomi and her son Nallee, who are going into the cold Milwaukee winter with very little food, clothes, and other necessities. Diomi has been through so much, including the loss of her father, the loss of her job, and clinical depression. But even through the pain you can see all the love she has for Nallee, who has one of the most beautiful personalities you’ll find.

We want to make this month special for them! We’re working with their pastor to help get things they really need, including school uniforms for Nallee, interview clothes for Diomi as she looks for a job, and food to help them through the winter months.

If you can find it in your hearts to give one extra gift this year, whether it be money or a helpful item they can use, please send it in – our goal is to reach $3,000 worth of necessities.

Help Diomi & Nallee!

Want to join us in helping Diomi and Nallee? Here are 3 ways:

Give $1.00 – This money will be put towards basic necessities and care. Maybe even a Christmas present or two (They’re currently spending it alone, w/out anything at all).
Give a gift card – Gift cards are extremely helpful, especially to places that are national.
Donate personal products - These two need anything you can thing of in the personal product department: bathroom/kitchen/bedroom stuff, etc.

Thanks guys! You can reach the Love Drop team anytime over at: team (at) love drop (dot) us, or by checking them out at LoveDrop.us. Thanks everyone! We’ll let you know how it goes!

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Love Drop October 2011 – The Triplets

Elle — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 22:00:57 +0000

This month the Love Drop is helping a family make the transition from 6 members to 9 members. Please help and/or share their story with others.

Hey guys! The Love Drop team is at it again! They just came back from the Boston area where they dropped $5,000 worth of appliances and gifts to a woman who recently got hit by a car and is recovering in a wheelchair, and THIS month they’re trying to round up the love for precious newborn triplets!

We want to help Jeff and Becca (the parents) prepare to bring them home from the hospital, as all three were born very underweight and are currently in the Neonatal ICU (they’re doing great though! And will be coming home soon). With four children already, adding a surprise batch of triplets is going to put considerable financial strain on the family, and that’s where we come in!

Let’s help give them everything they need to welcome the triplets home, including diapers, food, furniture, gift cards – any cool baby stuff you can think of. We’re shooting for at least $3,000 in cash, plus gifts.

Want to help? Here are three ways you can participate:

Give $1.00 -This money will help go to their family, and every dollar counts!
Give a gift card – Gift cards are extremely helpful. Places like Target, Wal-mart, restaurants, etc would be incredible. out.
Donate baby stuff! – Specifically diapers, formula and clothes. Gift cards here are awesome too. (Or maybe you have contacts in the baby world?)

You can reach the Love Drop team here anytime with questions: team (at) love drop (dot) us., or by checking them out at LoveDrop.us. Thanks everyone! We’ll let you know how it goes!

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Love Drop in July: Felicity

Elle — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:00:09 +0000

Every month, I receive information from the Love Drop Network about a family in need of some support. They’re deserving families who could use a break. Here’s the Love Drop family for July:

This month we’re coming together to help out the Withrow family – Jon and Amanda and their two children. Their four-year-old daughter Felicity was diagnosed with brain cancer just a few months ago.

Felicity had immediate surgery and is currently undergoing aggressive radiation treatments for the remaining portion of the tumor, which has left the family with a huge amount of medical bills. Let’s raise at least $5,000 to help them with the cost of radiation therapy, especially with upcoming expenses from a new baby on the way!

Where Your Money Goes

For the entire month of July, we’ll be giving money, gifts and services to the Withrow family to help in three main areas: (1) medical expenses for Felicity’s treatment, (2) clothes and supplies for the new baby, and (3) prayers for the other kids at the hospital. Along the way we hope that people will also help out by coming up with cool things to give that will help them spend time and have fun as a family, as we’ve done for our other families. And by the way, if anyone could swing it (or part of it), their *dream* gift would be a new bedroom suite with a king-size bed. Just throwing it out there . . . you never know what you’re gonna get.

Why We’re Helping This Family

In just the past few months, the Withrow family has gone from perfectly “normal” to experiencing the unthinkable – first when Felicity was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and then shortly after, when her 24-year-old uncle Chad, the life and spirit of her family, passed away from heatstroke while working outside. In addition, Amanda is pregnant with their third child, which is due sometime during Felicity’s treatments.

The emotional weight of these three situations is incredible, and the financial stresses are huge, but through it all the Withrow’s continue to care for others. In fact, when Amanda gets back from the hospital each day, she tells others about all the kids they met there, and asks for prayers and love for them as well. If you’ve ever had a child in the hospital, you know how valuable a loving community can be. This month, let’s become that community for them.

How You Can Get Involved

If you want to get involved and help the Withrow family and others, please sign up for membership to donate $1,$5, or even $20/month. When your donation is combined with other contributions, some wonderful results happen. You can also make a one time contribution.

Love Drop is a great project and I can’t wait to see what the team is up to next!

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Today We’re Donating Our Junk/Stuff

Elle — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:47:14 +0000

Today is definitely a Starbucks morning. Last night I finished packing away some of our stuff from the house to for either donation, trashing, or mailing out. We’re making room for the baby and that means we have to completely rearrange our bedrooms to accommodate the big change.

The baby’s room is kind of the guest room/storage room for our things and if we plan on painting soon (which we do), that means we have to clear the space this week.

Donating, Not Selling

The biggest reasons we’re not having a yard sale are time and space. We don’t really have a yard to sell our stuff and quite frankly we just don’t have time to get everything ready. Donating them will hopefully be beneficial for many people. It feels good to try and keep gently used items in circulation instead of just junking them.

Besides giving them to national organizations like Goodwill, there are also local shelters that would be happy to accept your donation.

Our Donations

Here’s the current inventory of our stuff we’re donating:

Used Clothing
Kitchen Equipment
Books
Household Items

Used Clothing

While getting clothes ready for warmer weather (whenever that arrives) I decided to sort my clothes and see if I could donate some. I noticed that I didn’t wear some of items at all this year. My husband as well has a ton of shirts and pants that he doesn’t wear for one reason or another. I went ahead and put them away in a donation box.

Kitchen Stuff and Household Items

We got sets of glasswares, kitchen equipment, and cook books that we just haven’t used much or at all. since we’ve been married over 4 years, I think it’s safe to say that we probably won’t notice not having these items around.

We also have decorative pieces and knick knacks that just don’t fit us anymore. Maybe someone else can use them in their homes and get a great deal at the thrift store.

Books

We love to read and managed to collect quite a bit of books. While there are definitely some books that we treasure and keep, there are plenty that we don’t read or we’re not really interested in anymore.

What We’re Throwing Away

Here’s what we’re removing because they’re in bad condition:

Small Bureau
Skinny Bureau
Student Desk
Glass Table
Lamps

Many of these items we had while we were in college, before we got married. They have served us well, but it’s time to let them go. As we moved, they haven’t survived that well. We already lost a desk when we moved to North Carolina and now the student desk is too weak and flimsy to keep in the house. We replaced it with a hand me down desk from friends who owned a solid one.

Cleaning Clutter from Your House

Did you have to prepare your house for the baby by cleaning out your junk? Is clutter a problem for you too? How often do you clean out your place? I’d love to hear your tips on organizing everything too.

Photo Credit: eyeliam

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Couple Money is in the Elite 8!

Elle — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:01:14 +0000

I need your support and vote if you have a minute! My post in Free Money Finance’s March Madness is up today in the Elite 8 competition.

Couple Money’s Entry

My post is for Charity: Water and I’d love to have a donation sent to this great cause. If I win for in this round, Charity: Water gets at least $100. Just vote ‘Guide’ in the comments to help me win. Here’s my entry today:

Debt Reduction Strategies – I decided to share how we were able to eliminate my credit card debt and pay off our car loan early. I also rallied other personal finance bloggers to share their secrets to success. It’s a practical guide for everyone motivated to meet their goals.

Why do I support this charity? It’s because of my genuine belief and desire to have safe, clean drinking water available all around the world. A donation of $20 can make a big difference in someone’s life.

If you vote, then a $100 donation can provide people with clean water for years. It makes a huge difference and I hope you can spare a vote.

About March Madness on Free Money Finance

For those not familiar with it, the March Madness contest is a wonderful way to promote awareness on some wonderful blogs AND raise money for fantastic charities.

Charities Win – Reason for the Competition

FMF is kind enough to make contributions to the charities of the top four winners’ choices as follows:

First Place donation — $500
Second Place donation — $300
Third Place donation — $100
Fourth Place donation — $100

Something that you may not know about Free Money Finance is the extraordinary commitment the site has for charities. All proceeds of the site goes to charities! It managed to give almost $300k to various charities over the years and this contest is a reflection of that giving spirit.

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