It’s hard to believe that the nonprofit is already three months old. It seems like just yesterday, I was drafting the post which started this whole thing. (http://newagemrmom.blogspot.com/2013/01/10-people.html)
No matter what we get done, there is still a mountain of work to continue. My sister and I have been meeting on Sundays for two or three hours and mapping out the following week's to do list. Sure things get marked off but many more items get added on. I knew this would be a lot of work, but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.
So let’s start with the good news. In these three short months S4MS has raised over Thirteen Hundred Dollars!!! This is amazing to me. It humbles, intimidates, and motivates me.
We have also begun planning our first charity event. We will be hosting a poker tournament tentatively scheduled for Sunday May 26th, the day before Memorial Day. We already have some great prizes lined up including hotel nights, tickets, a Visa gift card, and plan on having many more. The goal is for no one to go home empty handed. More information will be coming on this in the next weeks, but needless to say I am very excited. Spots will fill up fast, so make sure you sign up in advance once the event is posted.
We have contracted a CPA, and he is continuing the process of notifying the IRS of our existence. I was struggling to find an accountant and happened upon him by chance. I was contacting MS support groups, so that I could go and speak. He runs a support group, and was giving me his email address. It was something, something, something @ I have MS and do nonprofit CPA work. Well not really but that is what I heard. We have had a lot of doors closed to us, in this process. It feels so good when you see a window open.
We have 61 ‘likes’ on Facebook. This is good, but I know that we can do better. (facebook.com/s4m3) Please share the page and let others know about our story. I think we can double this number by the next post.
So I do have some bad news, but everyone who has experience has told me not to be concerned. Our survey is used for two reasons. It helps add perspective to what living with MS is like. Since every case is different, so our comprehensive support plans will be as well. The survey is also used to identify individuals in the DFW area that we can assist. So far we have had 19 surveys completed. Queue the price is right, you just lost music.
As a result we have not yet identified the first families we will assist. I’m not going to sweat it. I have enough to do.
I know that the families who need assistance are out there. I continue to immerse myself in the MS community, and know that I will soon have more candidates than I can assist. This month I will be speaking at various support groups, begin to more aggressively expand our corporate relationships, and strengthen our relationship with the social workers at UT Southwestern. They are one of the top MS hospitals in the country. Dallas is very lucky to have them. Well, people with MS in Dallas are lucky to have them.
Thank you, everyone I have spoken to has been very supportive. From the complete strangers who have opened up about their struggles with MS, those of you who have donated or shared our information, and all the kind words of encouragement.
If anyone has specific comments or questions, you may email me directly at S4MSTexas@gmail.com
***You may have noticed this post is out a little late today. I mentioned in a post last week, that I had found someone who was willing to let me watch their children. So today, instead of enjoying my many cups of coffee, I wrestled with a 3 month old, a 2 year old, a 3 year old, a 4 year old, and a 5 year old. Much more on this later, but ya know...it wasn't so bad.
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