• 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

Our mission is to bring joy and hope to our community through random acts of kindness!

We believe in showing the love of Christ through simple yet impactful gestures, like:

• Gas Station Blessings:

We give $20 worth of gas along with a heartfelt prayer.

• Grocery Line Surprises:

We cover $20 of groceries for families, paired with uplifting prayers.

• Essential Supplies Support:

We assist local families by providing toiletries and hygiene supplies to help them thrive.

• Organize Community Clean-Ups

Gather neighbors to clean up parks, streets, or public spaces, enhancing the community’s appearance

• Create Care Packages:

Assemble and distribute care packages for those facing hardships, such as snacks and meals.

We invite you to join us in making a difference! Whether you’d like to volunteer your time, contribute supplies, or donate funds, every little bit helps us spread kindness and love.

Contact Us for more information or to get involved.

Together, let’s make our community a better place!

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.

Well, we aren’t called Secret Families of Madison County for nothing, ya’know!

But I can tell you the general make up of our families.

• All are referred to us from their child’s school
• All are on reduced or free lunch programs at their schools
• Many are from single parent homes – last year, many of these were headed by the father
• Many are grandparents raising their grandchildren
• Some are having difficulties finding employment or had gotten a salary cut
• Some are caring for elderly grandparents or children with disabilities
• A few of our families were homeless
• A few had extensive medical expenses
• A few had no transportation or no means of communication (no cell phone, imagine it – or no money to purchase minutes)
• Some parents could not work due to childcare issues or being on disability
• Some had nowhere to turn due to strained family relations
• One had just returned from prison and was trying to make a fresh start
• A few lost everything due to
  • mold in their homes
  • bed bugs not taken care of by their landlord
  • a house fire
  • nasty divorces

Can you see your way to helping us give these families hope during Christmas?

Please consider donating to bless 100 families this year.

• $10 can provide a family Bible
• $25 can provide a tree stand, ornaments and bulbs for their Blue Grass Farms Tree
• $100 can provide a gift card for Christmas dinner
• $100 can provide one family member with gifts (mostly clothing, shoes and winter gear)
• $325 can sponsor half a family (average family of 5)
• $650 can sponsor an entire family (average family of 5)

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

Nicole Rosemond has been an integral part of Secret Families of Madison County (SFMC) for such a long time. In our 100 Acre Wood, she was our Tigger…bringing positivity, encouragement and joy into the mix. As part of our board and the Wrapping Station Coordinator, she helped us streamline our process and spread the word about the charity.

She worked hard to get areas of the ministry working like a well oiled machine by:

• devising our green/red signs for the wrapping tables to indicate when tables were ready for another set of gifts to wrap or if they completed a set,
• creating our envelope system (along with prior board member, Rhonda Ghottschammer) that tracked where a families’ gifts were during the day,
• bringing music to the wrapping station by inviting her friend to DJ for us,
• involving her friends, family and her church, New Covenant Ministry Center, in our ministry,
• being at most all of our fundraising events and talking up Secret Families to anyone who would listen,
• donating not only her time, but her talent and income (purchasing scads of wrapping paper, supplies and even sponsoring families),
• wanting to help families even more, Nicole trained to be a life coach and offered her services to our sponsored families,
• and working on the logistics area of SFMC by getting Community Hospital of Anderson’s vans to be used as gift delivery vehicles.

This year Nicole, finding the love of her life, got married and moved South. Her departure was bittersweet. Although were and are so happy for her, it also felt like we were losing one of our appendages. But Nicole (pictured below in yellow) had been working with some great folks over the years who know how to continue on her good efforts. Anne Grubb (pictured in plaid on the left below), Nicole’s cousin, is now heading up this area for us – along with her many minions. Anne has  been a great asset, taking on Cookies and Canvas fundraisers for us last year, and we’re sure she’ll blaze her own trail as the Wrapping Station Leader!

So thank you, Nicole, for all of your hard work and love for your Savior and the people He calls you to serve. We appreciate your time with us. Many blessings to you and your new life! Thanks for being our Tigger!

Secret Families of Madison County Board

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!