Single Mom, Special-Needs Children
We were able to help a single mother of three children, and Domestic Violence Survivor, who was having “a heck of a time making ends meet”. With a long history of violence in her life, starting with her childhood and continuing through young adulthood and into marriage, this woman was able to break free from the cycle of abuse and is now going to a local junior college. God bless her that she was finally able to break free. Needing shoes and clothes for her children, as well as nutritious food for two of her special-needs children, we were able to help her with gift cards from Safeway, which are good for purchases of both food and gasoline. Although she volunteered to help our organization, which many of our clients do, we felt that she has enough on her hands at this time. Another local organization was able to take care of her clothing needs. Thanks again everyone who has helped Care 4 My Lambs. We can’t do this type of work without you. - Charlie
Northrop Grumman Grant
I want to thank Northrop Grumman once again, for providing us with a small grant for educational support. This grant is particularly gratifying because funds are relatively tight this year. This particular grant is from the Sacramento - San Jose operating units, as part of their ongoing employee charity organization (ECHO) giving program, which allows employees to donate through payroll deductions. Thanks again Northrop Grumman. - Charlie
Seeking Grants…
Wow, I can’t believe I almost missed posting in May. Well, this has been a busy month with my day job. (For those of you who don’t know, I have a full time day job in addition to running this non-profit organization). However, I have completed two grant applications. The first was with Northrop Grumman Corporation, a long-time supporter of my charitable activities. The other grant applications was with Safeway Foundation, which is headquartered here in Pleasanton, CA. I really appreciate that local corporations try to “give back” to their local communities. Non-profit organizations are definitely having a more difficult time during this recession, but that’s precisely when our clients need us most. The good news is that there are still a lot of charitable people and organizations out there. As always, I pray that God will provide for us, so that we can provide for others. - Charlie
Thanks NG ECHO and LLNL HOME Programs
We received sufficient funds this past month to extend our grant program “Grants for Graduates of Domestic Violence Shelters” to another homeless and domestic violence shelter in our local area - Tri Valley Haven Homeless and Domestic Violence Shelter. I’ll contact them today or tomorrow to see how we can work together on this. I like working directly with the shelter staff, because they are in the best position to determine who, of the women nearing “graduation” from their programs, is the most in need of additional resources. Thanks again Northrop Grumman Employee Charity Organization (ECHO) and Lawrence Livermore National Lab HOME programs. - Charlie
Domestic Violence Shelter Grant
We made our first grant in our “Grants for Graduates of Domestic Violence Shelters” program. We are working through Shepherd’s Gate on this effort. They selected a woman who has about 2 months left in their program. The woman is working, budgeting and saving, and needed some additional funds in order to acquire a car. We were able to provide a $250 grant toward her effort to get a car. I would love to share more details about her story, but I am not able to for confidentiality reasons. I can say that God has blessed her and has blessed us as well by providing us with the opportunity to help her. I also thank our many sponsors for providing us with the resources to do so. - Charlie
Thanks Google
We finally got our Google AdWords grant on-line. Thanks a million Google! It was a little harder this time around than the last time I started an AdWords campaign. However, the difficulty was only because Google requires that your adds confirm to their guidelines better. From what I can tell, this greatly improves the odds of your adds being displayed for relevant searches. The key here is relevant. I think Google has done a great job describing how to put a campaign together. If you subscribe to Google AdWords, it’s worth your time to read the instructions. Thanks again Google!!!! - Charlie
Grants for Graduates of Domestic Violence Centers
Thanks to a few wonderful donors, we were able to allocate funding to our program “Grants for Graduates of Domestic Violence Centers”. These grants targeted at “graduates” of domestic violence shelters in the Tri-Valley Area of Livermore, California. We’re working closely with Shepherd’s Gate (www.shepherdsgate.org) to identify women either currently “graduating” or who are ”recent graduates” from their domestic violence program. Victims of domestic violence have always been dear to my heart, so we set up this program to help them start their new lives as they go out into the world again. Thank God that there are programs like Shepherd’s Gate and Tri-Valley Haven for Women. At the moment, we’re only working with Shepherd’s Gate, but as we get additional funding we’ll be expanding our program. You can help by sending donations, even $10, $25, or $50 can make a difference.
Client Support
I’ve been traveling a lot this month for my regular day job, but we have received a few calls from clients. Earlier this month were able to put together a couple of bags of groceries for one client and give a couple of $25 Safeway gift cards to another client. Just this morning we gave two $25 Safeway gift cards to yet another client - one I knew from BasicNecessities.org. Sometimes I wonder how people continue to get by, given their situations and the difficulty of improving those situations. We’re also starting to get calls from potential donors wanting to give us furniture, however we just don’t have the space for large furniture items. Maybe someday we’ll have a warehouse.
Client News
I received a call from one of our clients today. She is doing well, and told me that she had contacted one of our dentists who do volunteer work for us. She said that she really needed the dental work, and that they did a good job. It’s nice to get this kind of feedback, to know that the system is working and that our clients are being helped by volunteers supporting our organization. She also told me about a friend of hers who needed help, a disabled woman who was barely getting by and didn’t have any food in her refrigerator. She said that she was taking her some dinner tonight. I am amazed at how the needy can find the resources to help someone else in need. I talked with her friend tonight and it sounds like she really needs help, but is reluctant to ask for it (as most people are). Tomorrow we’ll see what we can do for her.
Thank You Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
I want to thank the individuals in the 2009 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employee fundraising campaign, Helping Others More Effectively (HOME) who have chosen to support us this year. Through this program, employees of LLNL can select various charities to receive the benefit of their donations made through payroll withdrawals. These employee donations are then matched approximately 49 cents per dollar by Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS). We graciously wish to thank all of you who have donated to our organization, and note that our clients will be receiving 100% of your donated dollars. Although I’ve mentioned it before, the Directors of this Care 4 My Lambs covers all infrastructure costs so that 100% of donor funds go directly to our clients. Thanks again LLNL HOME and LLNS for supporting us. - Charlie
