January through March FLEW BY for us. As a startup charity, we are experiencing accelerated growth by the amount of interest and support we have received. We are eagerly networking and looking for new sponsors, ways to raise funds, and expand our reach.
January was balmy and we enjoyed sunny weather to have our first public fundraiser, with a Dine and Donate at Culver’s in North Charleston, SC. We were able to get our feet wet by networking and sharing about our charity to the customers who came in during the dinner hour. What was really awesome was to have our young children involved, eager to volunteer! They were happy to take orders to tables, clean up the dining room, wait on customers – it was not a job, but a game to them, and they had a great time!
January also kicked off the build of our platform. We have contracted with Complete Web of Charleston, and Jason Houston to build the database for Parents Partnership. Jason has been amazing to work with, with his technical ability and design expertise, we are building an amazing vehicle that will carry parents across the country into new partnerships that they currently aren’t able to make. Our exclusive network for parents will be one of a kind, simple and beautiful, easy to navigate, and free for parents everywhere. Jason and the development team are hard at work with the build, which will take a few months to complete. We cannot wait!
February came and went so fast! We started with a most amazing trip to New York City, where board members Alma, Megan, and Jenny attended the Fog Lift convention, which included a live showing of the documentary titled, “Reckoning with the Primal Wound”, by Rebecca Autumn Sansom; a play titled ”Un-M-Othered”, by Liz DeBetta, as well as a brunch, cocktail hour and meet and greet, collectively hosted by Adoptees Connect and Adoption: The Making of Me Podcast organizations. This was an amazing weekend featuring adult adoptees and first/birth parents who have been profoundly affected by adoption, and shared insights on what modern adoption is like from the perspectives of those who lost children and those who were adopted. It was such an impactful experience, as we work in the realm of family preservation. We help vulnerable parents who are facing crisis-based decisions, and those people go on to parent their children with the support they need to make it work.
We also held a sweet 50/50 Leap Year raffle! We raised cash for our platform and one of our supporters won half the pot. Generously she donated a portion back to us, and we are so grateful for her continued support! Hysterically, and showing my age, I held the raffle the old fashioned way, printing out the tickets and having my eight year old daughter help pull a name from the bowl.
March came in like a lion and went out like a… lion! Gearing up and planning has begun for a Cornhole Tournament in the fall to help continue raising money for our platform. We had a series of follow up meetings with our Development team who completed the wireframes and design templates, and wrapped up with the discovery phase of our project. Let me just say that the design templates are beautiful, dynamic yet simple, and will be intuitive to navigate. Because we all know how much extra time we have as parents to figure out how to use something new… none! Knowing how our website will layout and function is, personally, an amazing thing to see. This was all an idea in my head last year. Now, it’s coming to life with many people on board, working hard to make it all come together and happen!
And it is happening. Parents everywhere will soon have their own dedicated network to share support and get support with other parents who understand the struggle. Our platform, made for parents, by parents, is being brought to you by some amazing and generous people who truly care about families and YOUR children. We cannot thank them enough, and to show that, we work tirelessly to see this community built. Because we love you. And together, we thrive.
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