Wednesday News

So what's new? Not a whole lot today. I did a follow-up donation to Newton Police today, it went well. The Lt. invited me to City Hall on Monday to do an official presentation of our donation immediately following the mayor's press conference. That will help with media exposure which is very important for our ability to get donations. It has been a while since I participated in a press conference, so I'm looking forward to it- I always get nervous before I speak, but I've heard that nerves are a good thing, it keeps you on your game.

I followed up with the sponsor and auction item money that is owed, it looks like those issues will be sorted out shortly. I spent well over an hour today sorting stuffed animals that had already been sorted by a volunteer. I hadn't intended to do any of that, but I had loaded my car for tomorrow's donation for the Goodwill childrens party and I opened a box to check the contents and they were filled with grubby stuffed animals that were completely unsuitable for donation. There were about a dozen boxes that needed to be resorted. It takes a lot longer to resort a box than to fill a brand new box- I can do that very quickly. It is very difficult to find volunteers who are actually good at sorting stuffed animals. I don't know why it is so hard- I think I explain things clearly and I give examples of what to look for- I don't know what else I can say. I don't want to appear ungrateful- I really appreciate every volunteer who comes to help, but it gets annoying when I have to spend extra time doing a job that should only have to be done once. It is a simple job, but it is a very important job because it is the basis of our entire program. I work hard to make sure that we only give out excellent quality items- usually half of what we get donated is thrown out because it doesn't meet our guidelines.

What else is new? I have to finish the foundation grant which is due on Friday. It is a fairly simple grant- we are basically seeking maintaining funding. I finished the cover letter, but still have to work on the grant- I'm working backwards for some reason. It's pretty funny how I'll finish a cover letter or grant and I'll sit with it for a while- making sure that everything is perfect. Sometimes it will be a couple of hours before I actually print it- I'll look at it, do some other things, then come back and check it again. Grants are particularly important and I get a little anxious making sure that I've done everything right.

There is also the big issue that needs some serious help- the over 700 calendars that need to be sold. I need to work harder on getting them sold- it is a major priority since I only have about 6 weeks to get it done. I had planned on making calendar related phone calls this afternoon, but got sidetracked with sorting stuffies. I wish I had more time- I know everyone says that, but there is so much that I need to get done. It's not that I'm a bad time manager- it's the problem that I keep talking about- it's more work than I can get done in a day- without exaggeration, it is two full time jobs (program director and fundraiser) that I've been doing for over 4 years and I can't get enough done. It is a problem that is easily solved (hire staff), but I'm not in a financial position to do that. I know I've talked about this many times and I'm sorry for the rerun, but it is something that is on my mind often- particularly at night when I slow down and think- think of how things are and how things could be. There is a line that I think of all the time and I find inspiring. I don't know where I heard it:

"Be better today than you were yesterday and be better tomorrow than you are today."

Well, that's it for tonight. I'm off to bed and write my list. I was going to go back and work on the grant, but it is 12:30 now and if I go back to work again, it will be around 2am when I go to bed and I'm trying to avoid that. Tomorrow, I'm doing our Goodwill donation, finishing the grant, contacting more departments and working on calendar sales. I started reorganizing my office tonight- sorting out some things and trying to make it more visually appealing and better functioning, so I want to work on that tomorrow night as well- in between the Jets game! I'm trying to suppress the urge to go and eat- I was snacking on pickles, cherry tomatoes and brie before I started blogging- so good! Until tomorrow friends..