There's an old saying that everything will come out in "the wash". So here's our wash for this last Mississippi trip. The numbers are almost final, so I feel very confident in saying WAY TO GO TEAM!!!!
We brought in a total of $18,648. If the receipts stay the way they are now we've spent $17,377. Do you see the difference? That's about $1200 that we brought in that we didn't spend...which means we can send it on to our friends in Pearlington who need the help. Woo-hoo!
I completely forgot, in the insanity that was the last day in Mississippi...our New Orleans day...to buy Ralphie/Jeffy his prize beignets for getting the most PayPal Donations. He came out ahead with 19 donations through PayPal, though Ellen got 6 and Debbie got a last minute two to add up to a whopping 4 online donations. Thanks to all who played!
And, I did a little math and figured out that about 130 households/people sponsored our team of 19 people. Thank you so much! We couldn't have made the trip without you.
The next post will be pictures from Ms. Donna's house, along with the letters she left for the team. Be prepared to get a little teary.
The story of one little church's efforts to bring hope and healing to a small town after Hurricane Katrina
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, December 7, 2009
A few statistics
The countdown is on! In 11 days Operation Christmas in Pearlington begins with the first wave of team members heading for Mississippi. 8 days after that the second wave of team members will join the fun. So exciting!
We still have a little ways to go where fundraising is concerned, though. The thermometer is heading up (it changed pictures, btw, because the other thermometer stopped working...geesh!) and we want it to explode! Here's how things break down:
For those going one week it's costs $900. For those going both weeks it's $1200.
6 people have their trip completely paid for.
4 people are within $200 of goal.
6 others have between $201-400 to go.
3 team members need over $400.
In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 15 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!
And our little house that has been collecting change has brought in about $100 for building supplies. That's pretty awesome!
If you are a friend of one of the team members, who hasn't yet donated, please consider doing so today. We appreciate all the prayers, financial support and encouragement from our friends and family as we serve as God is calling us to serve!
We still have a little ways to go where fundraising is concerned, though. The thermometer is heading up (it changed pictures, btw, because the other thermometer stopped working...geesh!) and we want it to explode! Here's how things break down:
For those going one week it's costs $900. For those going both weeks it's $1200.
6 people have their trip completely paid for.
4 people are within $200 of goal.
6 others have between $201-400 to go.
3 team members need over $400.
In our PayPal Challenge Ralphie/Jeffy is still in the lead with 15 donations...Ellen is in 2nd with 5, Debbie hangs in with 2 and the Waltons are at 1. There's still time to enter the race!
And our little house that has been collecting change has brought in about $100 for building supplies. That's pretty awesome!
If you are a friend of one of the team members, who hasn't yet donated, please consider doing so today. We appreciate all the prayers, financial support and encouragement from our friends and family as we serve as God is calling us to serve!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A little house
This sweet little house was made by one of our past team members, Norm. I may have talked about it here before, but the point behind the house was to make it look like something we would see in Mississippi and to have it be a place that people could put change and donations into for the teams going in the future. Today we tested it at Vacation Bible School. It works. The kids brought in $26.52. Awesome! That money is going to be converted into a gift card to one of the hardware stores in Mississippi so that we can buy supplies and things needed to rebuild the homes that we will be working on in December.
We got the green light today, so plans are full-steam ahead. The week is still to be determined but we're going! Look for a way to donate here on the blog and more information in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Gearing up for December
Our next trip to Pearlington will most likely be December 26-January 2. A common refrain has been the need for more fundraising activities, one I'm sure will be repeated over and over again this year. Our costs most likely will go up a little on this next trip, due to airfare, so here are some opportunities to get the fundraising going!
Put these dates on your calendar and let me know if you have questions!
- August 22nd we will host a Golf Tournament at Valley Gardens in SV. Cost is $55 per player and includes a BBQ afterwards. We need golfers and Tee sponsors so start recruiting people! Tee Sponsorship is $100 and each person or group will have a sign recognizing their contribution. We also will need help with the BBQ, so mark the date on your calendar.
- October 3rd we have been given the opportunity to help with an event at Dominican Hospital. Details aren't fully complete but we will need 6-8 people (we can rotate through) from 10am-4pm to help with cooking, serving, and more. Put the date on your calendar now!
- November 7th we're having a Jambalaya Fest at 6pm, complete with entertainment! More information will be coming in the next few months.
- An ongoing fundraiser will be selling decorative tiles. Each tile will have a poem, scripture or song decoupaged on them. Sandy T. is heading this up and is looking for help with the assembly of the tiles.
Put these dates on your calendar and let me know if you have questions!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The cost of recovery
Debbie is our people person. Every trip we can count on Debbie to talk with someone new, to find out new information and to make new friends. We can also count on Debbie to do the jobs that no one else really is excited about...like crawling in the attic to put in insulation but we've already talked about that.
Debbie spent time this last trip talking with Captain John about his house and volunteers. Captain John shared that in Bay St. Louis workers were trying to stop the volunteers from helping with rebuilding process to guarantee the workers jobs. As a result people aren't getting their homes rebuilt as quickly. Seeing both sides of the coin, so to speak, it's hard to condemn the workers for wanting work and earn wages to support themselves and their families but it is also so hard to watch homeowners continue to live in trailers or Katrina Kottages when they really want to be in a house but don't have the money to pay for people to do the work.
Debbie reported that the workers are earning as much as $40 an hour, which made my jaw drop and my mind start whirling. A few weeks ago I listed some numbers of what we had spent on 6 trips and how many hours we had worked (approximately). Adding in the hours from this trip we have put in 5194 hours into the recovery efforts in Pearlington. If we were paid $40 an hour for that work it would come out to $207,760, just for labor costs. Though I don't have the exact amount we spent on this trip I estimate we have spent under $100,000 total on the trips to Pearlington.
It's easy for us to complain about having to raise money for the trips but yet when I think that our raising money to get to Pearlington is saving people in Pearlington thousands of dollars, that they don't have, and helping to get them one step closer to being in a real house, it's all worth it. Yep, fundraising is a pain and the cost of the trips seems daunting but the reality of it all is that we are helping people who need help. The cost of recovery doesn't seem so high anymore.
Debbie spent time this last trip talking with Captain John about his house and volunteers. Captain John shared that in Bay St. Louis workers were trying to stop the volunteers from helping with rebuilding process to guarantee the workers jobs. As a result people aren't getting their homes rebuilt as quickly. Seeing both sides of the coin, so to speak, it's hard to condemn the workers for wanting work and earn wages to support themselves and their families but it is also so hard to watch homeowners continue to live in trailers or Katrina Kottages when they really want to be in a house but don't have the money to pay for people to do the work.
Debbie reported that the workers are earning as much as $40 an hour, which made my jaw drop and my mind start whirling. A few weeks ago I listed some numbers of what we had spent on 6 trips and how many hours we had worked (approximately). Adding in the hours from this trip we have put in 5194 hours into the recovery efforts in Pearlington. If we were paid $40 an hour for that work it would come out to $207,760, just for labor costs. Though I don't have the exact amount we spent on this trip I estimate we have spent under $100,000 total on the trips to Pearlington.
It's easy for us to complain about having to raise money for the trips but yet when I think that our raising money to get to Pearlington is saving people in Pearlington thousands of dollars, that they don't have, and helping to get them one step closer to being in a real house, it's all worth it. Yep, fundraising is a pain and the cost of the trips seems daunting but the reality of it all is that we are helping people who need help. The cost of recovery doesn't seem so high anymore.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wednesday Update
It's that time again...time to give a little update on our financial situation. Checks have been coming in all week, which is an exciting thing. I like getting the mail these days!
The numbers today:
Estimated amount needed: $16,000
Amount received to date: $6,595
Amount still needed: $9,555
The gap between those numbers is getting closer! Yea!
In other news, a few of us have been talking about setting up a Memorial Garden of sorts at Felton Pres. in memory of those whom we have known in Pearlington who have died. There are three homeowners who I have personally worked for that have passed away in the last two years, which is three too many. They remind me that the work we are doing is important, that Hurricane Katrina is still taking a toll on the people in the Gulf Coast and that I'm not stopping this until the work is done!
The numbers today:
Estimated amount needed: $16,000
Amount received to date: $6,595
Amount still needed: $9,555
The gap between those numbers is getting closer! Yea!
In other news, a few of us have been talking about setting up a Memorial Garden of sorts at Felton Pres. in memory of those whom we have known in Pearlington who have died. There are three homeowners who I have personally worked for that have passed away in the last two years, which is three too many. They remind me that the work we are doing is important, that Hurricane Katrina is still taking a toll on the people in the Gulf Coast and that I'm not stopping this until the work is done!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Help needed!
Yesterday in the mail there was a nice big check from a wonderful sponsor for one of the Mississippi Team members. This team member was at the church so I got to go and show him the check. He did a very nice happy dance and made this statement "I'm going to Mississippi!" with a very big grin on his face. You should have been there. It made my heart happy.
I then got to enter the check information onto my handy-dandy spreadsheet and see the amount of money needed to fund this trip take a little dive. It was quite awesome. But that's the only check that's come in this week. Yes, I know it's Wednesday and there are still many days left in the week, but that's the only check that has arrived.
I know that times are hard, money is being held onto a little tighter and yet there is this goal, this amount of money that we need to make the trip happen without seriously going into debt...and believe me my credit card can't handle anymore.
So, here's what I'm asking. If you are on the Mississippi Team, start praying about ways that we can earn the cash for the trip or send out those sponsor letters. If you aren't on the team and have suggestions for fundraisers that helps too! And if you feel that little tug on your heart to donate to the team we'll gladly accept your donation. It's tax-deductible too.
Every Wednesday I'm going to post the stats on where we are financially and ask that you pray that we meet and exceed our goal. God is calling us to Mississippi and I know that God will make it all happen, but a little intercessory prayer never hurts!
Total amount needed for Mississippi Trip: $16,800
Amount brought in to date: $2,560
Still need to raise: $14,240
I then got to enter the check information onto my handy-dandy spreadsheet and see the amount of money needed to fund this trip take a little dive. It was quite awesome. But that's the only check that's come in this week. Yes, I know it's Wednesday and there are still many days left in the week, but that's the only check that has arrived.
I know that times are hard, money is being held onto a little tighter and yet there is this goal, this amount of money that we need to make the trip happen without seriously going into debt...and believe me my credit card can't handle anymore.
So, here's what I'm asking. If you are on the Mississippi Team, start praying about ways that we can earn the cash for the trip or send out those sponsor letters. If you aren't on the team and have suggestions for fundraisers that helps too! And if you feel that little tug on your heart to donate to the team we'll gladly accept your donation. It's tax-deductible too.
Every Wednesday I'm going to post the stats on where we are financially and ask that you pray that we meet and exceed our goal. God is calling us to Mississippi and I know that God will make it all happen, but a little intercessory prayer never hurts!
Total amount needed for Mississippi Trip: $16,800
Amount brought in to date: $2,560
Still need to raise: $14,240
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