As we head into November with temperatures dropping and carols being played sooner than some of us may like, it is important to remember that there are many around us that may not experience the same amount of cheer that we are used to. One of our goals as the Women's Club of Broadmoor is to give back to the community around us. We are so lucky to have our wonderful neighborhood, neighbors that have turned into family, and an overall great support system just a yard's walk away; we don't know about you, but thinking about these things certainly makes us want to go out and give back when the opportunity presents itself!
We are pleased to announce that along with having a fantastic day for our Halloween parade and enjoying each other's company while admiring the kids in their costumes, we also raised $3101 with our Cookies for Kid's Cancer bake sale, our best year yet! This organization creates grants to help fund the early stages of pediatric oncology research. Overall they have raised $17+ million in funds for childhood cancer research, and have funded 100+ research grants. Wow!
Tomorrow night we are hosting our annual BroadsGiving event. While this is yet another evening for us to get together with our wonderful neighborhood as a whole, we are also asking for donations to go towards Center for Family Services. While we usually just do a canned food drive for BroadsGiving, this year we asked if there were any items in particular that were needed. While non-perishables are always in need, we were asked to provide "fun" items for teens as well. If you are unfamiliar with CFFS, our contact Stacey provided us with the following statement:
We are pleased to announce that along with having a fantastic day for our Halloween parade and enjoying each other's company while admiring the kids in their costumes, we also raised $3101 with our Cookies for Kid's Cancer bake sale, our best year yet! This organization creates grants to help fund the early stages of pediatric oncology research. Overall they have raised $17+ million in funds for childhood cancer research, and have funded 100+ research grants. Wow!
Tomorrow night we are hosting our annual BroadsGiving event. While this is yet another evening for us to get together with our wonderful neighborhood as a whole, we are also asking for donations to go towards Center for Family Services. While we usually just do a canned food drive for BroadsGiving, this year we asked if there were any items in particular that were needed. While non-perishables are always in need, we were asked to provide "fun" items for teens as well. If you are unfamiliar with CFFS, our contact Stacey provided us with the following statement:
"Center for Family Services is a private non-profit that has been in operation since 1920. We service individuals of all ages and strive to give vision, hope, and strength to those in need. Our agency has grown quite large throughout the years and services infants to seniors. I oversee our teen homeless shelters, group homes, supervised teen living homes, and a permanent supportive apartment structure for young adults aging out of foster care.
We operate on a variety of contracts and grants along with the support of community donations. The funding we receive covers the basic needs to run the programs, staffing costs, utilities, basic needs, etc. We use the assistance of the community to provide support directly to our teens and young adults living in our programs. The gift cards, journals, games, etc. really help us to have items that allow them to feel at home. Typically the budgets don't incorporate these items.
Our most important job is to give the kids the most normal experience we can while they live with us. They are coming from chaotic, traumatic, and/or tragic situations most of the time. Having a clean set of pajamas, or socks that no one else has used is critical to giving them comfort. Any items donated go to helping us and the staff make the first connections to their stay with us a good one adn it often opens them up to trust us a little so we can work together and get them stable."
What a fantastic organization for us to donate to as a community! We are so incredibly lucky for all that we have, and especially during the holiday season it is so important to help support these services around us. The holiday season is only just kicking off, and we will be doing an event in December as well, so please check back here and on our Facebook for more information.