Winter Wishes 2019, Coming Soon! November 19, 2019 10:31 AM Subscribe
Hello and happy winter! I just received our packet of letters for the annual gift drive (the 11th!) and I will have the wish list posted sometime before the end of the day on Monday, the 25th. If you would like to receive an email right before I do that, you can sign up here.
A couple of bits of business:
1.
For the past few years, we've been giving gifts to kids/teens and to seniors via the Winter Wishes program and also collecting menstrual supplies and Amazon gift cards for a shelter for LGBTQ youth. This allows me to request slightly fewer letters to make certain we can fulfill all the gift requests (one year, it was really close) while allowing people to keep being generous if they're able.
However, this year, NY Cares is focusing only on children for the Winter Wishes drive. I would love some thoughts on where you'd like to direct donations above the kids' gift requests. Only to the LGBTQ youth program? To a program for seniors instead? To both?
2.
I feel a little bit weird showing up on MeFi only once a year for the gift drive! I love organizing it, but I am completely open to handing things over to someone who is more active here these days. I would not be at all offended if you'd like a closer community member to take over, so please do let me know your thoughts.
Merry, merry!
1.
For the past few years, we've been giving gifts to kids/teens and to seniors via the Winter Wishes program and also collecting menstrual supplies and Amazon gift cards for a shelter for LGBTQ youth. This allows me to request slightly fewer letters to make certain we can fulfill all the gift requests (one year, it was really close) while allowing people to keep being generous if they're able.
However, this year, NY Cares is focusing only on children for the Winter Wishes drive. I would love some thoughts on where you'd like to direct donations above the kids' gift requests. Only to the LGBTQ youth program? To a program for seniors instead? To both?
2.
I feel a little bit weird showing up on MeFi only once a year for the gift drive! I love organizing it, but I am completely open to handing things over to someone who is more active here these days. I would not be at all offended if you'd like a closer community member to take over, so please do let me know your thoughts.
Merry, merry!
Good grief, yes! I look forward to this each fall.
<attenborough>Here we see the elusive Danie, a creature that appears only in winter in the northern hemisphere. Watch how she settles into her nest of ribbons and wrapping paper and begins the arduous process of luring her donors. How splendid! </attenborough>
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:02 PM on November 19, 2019 [19 favorites]
<attenborough>Here we see the elusive Danie, a creature that appears only in winter in the northern hemisphere. Watch how she settles into her nest of ribbons and wrapping paper and begins the arduous process of luring her donors. How splendid! </attenborough>
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:02 PM on November 19, 2019 [19 favorites]
Very excitement. Now to stalk Metatalk in the hopes of getting something super cool.
posted by kjs4 at 4:41 AM on November 20, 2019
posted by kjs4 at 4:41 AM on November 20, 2019
2. Just chiming in to say if you love it, please keep doing it!
posted by cooker girl at 7:54 AM on November 20, 2019
posted by cooker girl at 7:54 AM on November 20, 2019
Speaking of gift lists...
If you're interested, the Bacon and Juice boxes Special Holiday Want list is up and active and looking for angels.
Last year they covered over a thousand wishes.
"What is Special Holiday Wants?
In 2016, Special Wants: A Bacon and Juice Boxes Project decided to launch a simple “holiday gift exchange” to help grant wishes for families who have a special need’s loved one (and their siblings!) We know that it can be expensive to pay for therapies and treatments and wanted to alleviate the financial burden around the holidays for these families. It was completed using a basic excel sheet where people requested wishes, and then other people granted those wishes. It was an amazing success! We granted over 500 wishes that first year!
In 2017, we knew we need a better way to manage the holiday gift exchange, and we implemented a new website and made it hopefully easier for people to sign up and even easier for “angels” as we like to refer to them, to grant wishes. And after another crazy successful year, we had granted 1,300 wishes. And after more website enhancements are more people learning about our mission, in 2018, we granted 1,800 wishes.
So in total, over 3 years, approximately 3,600 wishes were granted fulfilling 100% of the wishes requested.
For 2019, we are excited to run the holiday gift exchange this year as our first year as a 501c3 non-profit organization! We also have a new website domain, and added new features to the website to continue to grow and improve this initiative.
We have been blessed by so many angels within this special community! We hope you find this website easy to use, and encourage you to share the link with others who may want to consider being an “angel” and granting wishes this year!"
They are currently looking for 700 angels.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 7:55 AM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
If you're interested, the Bacon and Juice boxes Special Holiday Want list is up and active and looking for angels.
Last year they covered over a thousand wishes.
"What is Special Holiday Wants?
In 2016, Special Wants: A Bacon and Juice Boxes Project decided to launch a simple “holiday gift exchange” to help grant wishes for families who have a special need’s loved one (and their siblings!) We know that it can be expensive to pay for therapies and treatments and wanted to alleviate the financial burden around the holidays for these families. It was completed using a basic excel sheet where people requested wishes, and then other people granted those wishes. It was an amazing success! We granted over 500 wishes that first year!
In 2017, we knew we need a better way to manage the holiday gift exchange, and we implemented a new website and made it hopefully easier for people to sign up and even easier for “angels” as we like to refer to them, to grant wishes. And after another crazy successful year, we had granted 1,300 wishes. And after more website enhancements are more people learning about our mission, in 2018, we granted 1,800 wishes.
So in total, over 3 years, approximately 3,600 wishes were granted fulfilling 100% of the wishes requested.
For 2019, we are excited to run the holiday gift exchange this year as our first year as a 501c3 non-profit organization! We also have a new website domain, and added new features to the website to continue to grow and improve this initiative.
We have been blessed by so many angels within this special community! We hope you find this website easy to use, and encourage you to share the link with others who may want to consider being an “angel” and granting wishes this year!"
They are currently looking for 700 angels.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 7:55 AM on November 20, 2019 [2 favorites]
You can also donate money to the Bacon and Juice boxes Special Holiday Want List itself and they will purchase gifts for asks not claimed in time. And they have a link for tax forms to claim your donation on your returns.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 7:58 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 7:58 AM on November 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Danie, I'm so darn grateful to you for the incredible work you do with this gift drive each year, and I hope you continue to run it for either a long time, or at least as long as you enjoy it! Also, I like your excellent idea of including senior citizens this year.
posted by vers at 3:02 PM on November 20, 2019
posted by vers at 3:02 PM on November 20, 2019
Oh yeah here we go this post means the holidays are upon us.
posted by notyou at 10:23 PM on November 20, 2019
posted by notyou at 10:23 PM on November 20, 2019
Thank you, Danie!! My sibs and I look forward to this every year. We missed the registration deadline again but weren’t too concerned since we knew it would be on MeFi soon :) Thanks for setting up email notification this year too. Totally in support of the menstrual supplies again. New York Cares also has a coat drive if of interest — not specific to seniors but does include adults.
posted by eyeball at 5:07 PM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by eyeball at 5:07 PM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thank you all for the kind words! I am so happy to keep doing this for as long as this community wants to participate in it.
I need another day or two to get the list up. 1. My cat got sick. 2. NY Cares accidentally sent me two packages of letters and we only just ironed out which ones are really ours.
I will send an email to the mailing list before I post, though!
posted by houseofdanie at 1:14 PM on November 26, 2019
I need another day or two to get the list up. 1. My cat got sick. 2. NY Cares accidentally sent me two packages of letters and we only just ironed out which ones are really ours.
I will send an email to the mailing list before I post, though!
posted by houseofdanie at 1:14 PM on November 26, 2019
Ho ho ho!
I'll be making the post to MeTa later this evening! I sent a message out to the mailing list just now, and despite a few hiccups, I have high hopes for this year's drive.
posted by houseofdanie at 12:24 AM on December 4, 2019
I'll be making the post to MeTa later this evening! I sent a message out to the mailing list just now, and despite a few hiccups, I have high hopes for this year's drive.
posted by houseofdanie at 12:24 AM on December 4, 2019
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posted by cortex (staff) at 6:40 PM on November 19, 2019 [2 favorites]