• 5ft – Live Tree Stands
• String Mini Lights
• 24ct Shatterproof Ornaments
• Adhesive Gift Tags
• Wrapping Paper
• Clear Tape
• Bibles

Then there are the behind the scenes items

• Red Plastic Tablecloths – Rectangle
• Blank Christmas Cards & Envelopes
• 3 ⅓in x 4in Shipping Labels
• Rubber Bands
• Large Sharpies
• Manila Envelopes

• Individually Wrapped Paper Towels
• Pack of 4: Toilet Paper
• Bar Soap
• Individual and Sets:
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Bodywash
• Toothbrushes- Adult & Child
• Toothpaste
• Dish Soap
• Laundry Soap
• Tissue Boxes
• Hand Soap
• Cleaning Supplies

However, some parents don’t need any of that to feel afraid. They know winter is coming and they do not have gear nor the funds to keep their children warm. Sometimes, their only alternative is to send them off in holey shoes that are too small and a hoodie while praying they don’t get sick. Christmas? Not even on the radar.

Most of your donations to Secret Families of Madison County are spent stocking closets to help them survive the Winter (brand new jackets, scarves, gloves, boots); as well as providing a complete Christmas.

Please join us in helping 100 families be prepared this winter and experience a warm Christmas. Donations of all sizes are welcome.

Here’s a story from Glenna Hilligoss, Assistant Administrator for At Home – Specialized Senior Care

Basically, everyone in the office has elected to participate in our payroll deduction funding of a family for Secret Families.  We took what it would take to fund a family and divided it between all of us.  We then divide each portion into how many pay periods we have.  We are also getting ready to roll out an “elective” payroll deduction for our staff for Secret Families and the Alzheimer’s Association.  Our accounting department then keeps track of totals given throughout the year and they will issue the check directly to Secret Families.  At Home Specialized Senior Care is proud to sponsor a family for this charity.  We hope to sponsor 2 complete families next year!!!

I have attached the form we use and forward to our accounting department as well as the flyer we will be rolling out in the very near future to other staff as well. This deduction also shows up on each employees pay stub under Secret Families to show the employee the amount they have had deducted year to date.

If you think your company would be interested in doing something similar, the forms that Glenna has used are available for download below.  Please talk to your Human Resources / Accounting department about starting up. Who knows? Perhaps, if you start now, your company can sponsor a family by this Christmas!

Sample Payroll Deduction Form

1 file(s) 41.53 KB

Download

Sample Letter to Employees

1 file(s) 481.52 KB

Download

You don’t have to be a company to make these strategic steps to plan on helping a family this year. We have five more months until Secret Families Saturday (12/2/2017).

$650 / 5 months = $130/month

If you are part of a small group – you can divide that amount between the number of people in your group and commit to putting that dollar amount away to sponsor a family.

So, why $550?

Let’s break it down:

• “gifts” (This item is in quotes because, in truth, much of what these families receive are necessities – which we’ll explore further in another post). We like to use $100 / per person as our benchmark. Since we shop at Meijer, management allows us to take advantage of their sales that day. Last year, most of our volunteers signed up for mPerks and clipped electronic coupons to decrease prices and increase the blessings for these families. **We use Meijer gift cards to pay for these items during our 1st Saturday of December event day. So, like the $50 cards, we can purchase these, on-line, before our event. If we have enough donations in our account, we can pay cash and get the full 4% discount ($18/family). If we don’t, we can use our VISA for a 3% discount ($13.50/family).
• a $100 Meijer gift card -$100 is $100, right? Not if you purchase these ahead of time, on-line, at a 4% discount. Cost: Roughly $94, there is a cost for shipping to our location.
• tree supplies: Only 60% of our families request trees, which are donated by Blue Grass Farms in Anderson. However, the price of the other items vary widely, depending on if they are donated, on sale, or full price. That’s why we love those after Christmas sales and encourage our supporters to snatch up those items and donate. Costs: $0-35
• a Bible: the price of which also varies depending upon receiving donations and the quality of the item given. Costs:  $0-10 (We are currently receiving wonderful, quality Bibles from Hope Church in Anderson as a gift to this ministry.)
• HOPE – priceless

In just a few days families will be gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving. Typically, during this time names are written on slips of paper, then placed into a receptacle which is then passed around to each person. The name they select is who they get to bless during the holidays – the Great Family Christmas Gift Exchange. Even businesses and groups of friends participate in this tradition to share the joy of the season and to express appreciation for one another.

But may I suggest another option?

Instead of buying another sweater, candle or snack for someone who really doesn’t need it, please consider using those funds to give hope to families in desperate need.

Talk to your family, friends and co-workers this year about donating to Secret Families of Madison County to assist the hurting in your community. During the interview process this year, we heard stories of single parent families who encountered the untimely death of a spouse; unpleasant divorces that left custodial parents with nothing; parents facing a cancer diagnosis and the mounting bills and exhaustion of treatment; and families taking in nephews, nieces and grandchildren because the parents are struggling with drug abuse. Read More

I love the Fall.  Memories of getting new clothes and shoes for school, new school supplies, new friends, new beginnings.

However, for many families in our community this is a time of added anxiety. Parents desire to provide the things their children need, but for these families there is no money for new shoes to fit growing feet, no money for new school uniforms, clothing or warm gear for the winter.

Secret Families of Madison County ends up filling in those gaps with the presents we provide to our families. Most of the gifts purchased are new shoes, jeans, winter jackets, underwear and socks. Those items can eat up our $100/person budget pretty quickly.

So, during this fall, can you be thinking of ways to help us help the struggling families in your community?  Please contact us to let us know how you plan to help. This will be a great encouragement to us.

Can you plan NOW to:

1. Put away some $ each week

   in preparation to sponsor a portion of a family ($100 per person, ½ a family of 5 – $325, an entire family of 5 – $650).

2. Involve your friends, family, co-workers, small group

   to join you in this effort to expand your reach if going it alone seems like too large a task.

3. Ask your extended family to put Christmas Gift $ for adults to SFMC instead.

   Then ask them to help on the first Saturday to shop, wrap and deliver. You may be shaking up the status quo, but it will be for a good reason.

4. Ask your employer if they can sponsor a family or two

   this year instead of having a Christmas party or providing employee gifts. Then plan to get a group together to shop, wrap or deliver gifts to have a team-building experience.

5. Ask your church if they can add Secret Families of Madison County to their Christmas outreach.

   There’s room for us and Operation Christmas Child (Shoebox) and Angel Tree. We would love to come and talk to your pastor or missions committee about how they can get involved.

6. Ask your civic or social clubs to sponsor a family.

   We love going out and speaking to groups about Secret Families.

7. Join our planning team

   to assist in fundraising in the Madison County area. Our team is so good that people think we have tons of people on our board, but we can count ourselves on one hand. We need your help.

We have so many terrific volunteers who sacrifice their time on the first Saturday of December to make a happy Christmas a reality for our families. But the sad truth is that without the fundraising, financial commitments and sacrifice of others to donate to Secret Families of Madison County, we will not have the money to purchase our gift cards to shop for these families.

Fall is also time of year when SFMC contacts the schools to let them know how many families we are committing to help this Christmas.

This is done every year without the funds to back up those numbers in our bank account. God is always faithful and has provided every year. Along with your prayers for our ministry we need to know that you are behind us financially this year, in whatever way you are able to assist.

Thank you!

We hope you are experiencing a warm and loving Christmas today. Please know that your support of Secret Families of Madison County, helped 70 families have a COMPLETE Christmas – a tree with decorations, gifts (necessities – like clothing, shoes, underwear and also toys and wants) to put under it for every member of the household, a gift card that enabled them to purchase Christmas dinner and a Bible to read about the One we celebrate this season.

Being a non-profit, it’s important for us to watch closely after our finances. In order to do what we do and help the most people we can, we have to take advantage of those after Christmas sales to stock up on supplies for the coming year.  We do not have the extra funds in our account to do this for ourselves.  We are asking all of those special folks who dare to go out on December 26th and thereafter, looking for deals, to look for deals for us too!

We are in need of the following items for 2015.

• boxes of Christmas Lights , multi-colored or white (Hobby Lobby usually has them for 70% off @ $1.66/box)
• plastic canisters of unbreakable ornaments 30 count (Rose’s, Ollie’s and Big Lots have great prices)
• tree stands for smaller LIVE 4-5′ trees
• Christmas wrapping paper (30″ rolls only, please – easier to store)
• Upright storage bins for 30″ rolls of wrapping paper
• Adhesive gift tags

Just contact us and we can arrange to collect your donated deals.

Thank you so much! Many blessings to you in the New Year!

These are some photos of the supplies that work best for us.

It’s hard to believe that in just 5 weeks, we’ll be shopping, wrapping and delivering gifts to these families..

Secret Families’ Saturday: 

That is the fun part of what we do.

Getting a glimpse into a family’s life. Needs conveyed over the phone and transferred to a shopping list.

It’s intimate.

Through shopping for and wrapping their gifts, you can see needs being fulfilled.

• like the family with no bedding,
• the single Dad who doesn’t have any towels,
• the Mom who asked for shampoo…

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Who wouldn’t feel amazing after assisting family after family? That’s what brings our volunteers back each year – giving to others in the name of Jesus and being a part of something beyond yourself.

Here’s where the leap of faith comes in…

Secret Families of Madison County commits to serving these families way before we have the financial  capability to do so; our goal is not even a remote possibility.

Every year.

But since 2010, God has been faithful to work on people’s hearts (individuals and companies alike) to give and help us reach or exceed the number of families we have committed to.

Every year.

This year, our 70 families equates to $38,500 that we need to raise. As of this writing, we are funded for almost 13 families (@ $7,100).

57 families unfunded.

We need YOU to help us bridge that gap.

We all love the energy and seeing the results of Secret Families’ Saturday. But we can’t get there without funding; without individuals deciding to donate to make this happen.

Help us get there.

•  Tell your adult friends and family to donate to Secret Families in your name instead of buying you a Christmas gift.
• Decide to give donations in your friends’ and families’ names (we have cards you can hand them as their gift)
  
• Get your friends, co-workers and club members to chip in to take care of a family. Ten people donating $50.
•  Put on a fundraiser for us (bake sale, BINGO, rummage, scrapbooking, concert, a dinner or a dance)
• Challenge another group or company to a fundraising race to see who can raise the most money.

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and desire to help us help others.

Together, we can put a lot of smiles on children’s faces this season.