Who, Why and How?

Well the term "better late then never" really applies here with me taking advantage of using this blog. I started it in 2009 but didn't use it much. Then last night when thinking over some things, I realized I had a great opportunity here to share things with others that we weren't taking advantage of. So yep, better late then never but now I plan to start sharing things every week on here.

Some posts may be on upcoming events, others may be on the numerous miracles we have witnessed since our start in 2008, or I may share some of the wonderful stories of local people Paying It Forward. Whatever it is that I feel led to write about that week, it hope it encourages you and helps you to learn more about what we do here at Santas Pantry.

So to start this off I'll start with explaining/answering a couple of questions that we hear often..... "Who do you help?" "Why do you help them?" "How do you help them?"

We do not help individuals. We help local 501C organizations and public schools. We have an application process where 501 organizations apply for "Consideration" at the first of each year. After careful review and additional research, our Board of Directors then select organizatons from those applications. We focus on helping direct service organizations whose programs focus on Education, Hunger/Poverty and Youth/Family Development. Although not mandatory, we prefer to select organizations that hold 2-3 fundraisers each year to help support themselves. Another considering factor when selecting the organizations is the salary percentage of the organizations overall operational budget.

We hold events all during the year to help these organizations because oftentimes, these organizations are busy with daily operations such as serving meals to the homeless, working a clothing pantry, helping those needing medical assistance, teaching children etc and they do not have the time that they would like to hold larger events to supplement their income for their mission. So we "Pay It Forward" to them by helping.

Although we have made over 30 monetary donations, we often help with such things as food, clothing, personal care items, books, school supplies etc. On many occasions we have been told that the commodities we have donated has made the difference between an organization being able to open that day and serve the community or not.

During all of our events we share the Pay It Forward concept. We teach community members how easy it is to make a difference with an act of kindness. Cleaning out your closets and giving to others may not seem like a big deal to you, but trust me, I've seen the faces of those that have received donations. Often it has a much larger impact then you'll ever know. Alot of times just knowing that someone cared enough about them to try to help makes more of an impact then donating large amounts of money.

So that's a little about us. Keep checking back each week to lean more. And as always, we always welcome volunteers to join us in the Pay It Forward Movement.

Debbie Micola
www.santaspantry.org