Happy Grant News

Greetings friends! So what's new? Well, we received happy grant news in the form of a $5,000 grant from the TJX Foundation! The Foundation has been supporting us for the past few years and I am so happy to have their support of our work. We applied at the end of last year. I was wondering what the status was of our application and getting a little concerned because I hadn't heard anything yet. I was on their website a couple of days ago and saw that they were retooling their grant application system, so I wasn't sure what that meant for our grant. I went to pick up the mail yesterday and there was the envelope. I always get a burst of anxiety before I open the envelope. I always check to see if I can feel a check inside- indeed it was a little bulky, so that was a good sign, but then I thought, maybe it was just a notice to all the organizations that have received grants to let them know that there was a new system starting soon for applications. I hurried into the car and opened the envelope. I always let out a little cheer when I get news like that. The feeling never gets old. You work so hard for every grant, every dollar raised, so it's nothing short of a victory when you get the results you want.

I want to send a press release to our local newspaper about the grant. I emailed the Foundation today to thank them and asked for a quote that we could include. On a personal note- Marshall's, Home Goods and TJ Maxx are my favorite stores to shop at, so it makes me even happier to shop there knowing that they support Project Smile!

In other grant news, we also received a $500 grant from the Price Chopper Foundation in support of our local work. They have donated to us in the past. It's always great to have continued support like that. It's really the foundation for growing an organization.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm very happy to share our good news with you! Until next time friends...

Thursday Happenings

Greetings friends! So what's new? Besides, the suddenly very frigid temperatures? Well, things are chugging along. I had a meeting with Assembly Row on Tuesday to talk about our very exciting event that we are planning to do. We weren't able to finalize a date/time then. We have a phone call tomorrow to talk about it more, so hopefully, we will have a firm date and then we can get to work and I can share the news with everyone!

Last week, we made another donation to Somerville PD. We've been donating to Somerville for a number of years. The sergeant gave me a card for a nearby women and children homeless shelter, she suggested that I reach out to them, because they made need items. I didn't get to it yet, but it will be on my list for tomorrow. Here's a photo from that donation.

A middle school community service group reached out today- they had reached out a few weeks ago wanting to raise money to buy items for us. I had suggested that they donate the money directly to us, so that we could buy the items that we need ourselves. I hadn't heard back from them, so I wasn't sure what they were going to do. They emailed today and had collected $300 for us- so nice!

In other news, we raised $1,200 on Saturday at our silent auction during Boston Event Guide's winter wine/beer fest. I love those events, because we raise good money with limited amount of effort. If we could do more, that would be great. They just added this event, so that made it even better. It's always so hard to predict what items are going to do well. Some Bruins photos that always used to do well, didn't sell while another picture of the Patriots crossing the Charles River- an artist's interpretation- did amazing. One autographed Ortiz photo sold for over $500, but then one in the second session, didn't get any bids.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. Once again, I have a bunch of emails that I need to catch up on. I bought a new variety of oranges at Market Basket today- Cara Cara- which I am rather excited to try- probably more excited than I should be! Until next time friends...

Wednesday Wonders

Greetings friends! Well, there weren't exactly any wonders happening today, but I wanted a snappy title! So what's new? Things are chugging along. I was spending time today researching an exciting race type of event that we're planning to do this summer. It will be a new event for us, so there is a lot that I need to learn. I have a meeting next week with Assembly Row to talk more about the event. They are excited for it and I am really looking forward to working with them again. It is always good to add new events and it has been a while since we added a whole new event. I had already been researching websites that offer race registration and management tools. There are a lot of sites out there, but some are rather expensive. I think I've found a good one that is well priced and will give us what we need. It is so important when you are researching to keep an open mind and really look at everything that is out there and not just look for things that back up what you are already thinking.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Somerville PD to drop off  our next donation of stuffed animals, books and coloring books. The new contact person that I am working with is a female sergeant. She seems very enthusiastic about our program. I always like to meet women police officers- I don't meet that many of them and it is great to see women in that role.

Right after that, I'm heading down to Braintree to pick up silent auction items for the silent auction that we're doing at Boston Event Guide's winter wine/beer fest this Saturday. They are always really good to us and I'm happy for the opportunity that they give us. This winter event is a new one for them, so hopefully it will be a good attendance. I think the weather is going to be good, so that will be helpful. It's nice to have events this time of year because people are looking for things to do.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm off to eat some more clementines. I really wish I was eating cheese and crackers- ah, if only cheese was a health food... Until next time...

Latest and Greatest

Greetings friends! So what's the latest? Well, things are chugging along well over here. One of our supporters, Melanie Fleet, a Boston area realtor, organized a client appreciation event where she collected donations of new stuffed animals for us. We received over 100 beautiful stuffed animals. It is awesome to have support like that. Below is a photo with Melanie and a photo of some of the stuffed animals. Thank you Melanie and everyone who donated! We included them in our donation last week to Lowell Police.

A brother and sister duo, Piper and Parker, also helped recently. They were inspired to start their own charity to help children and collected hundreds of stuffed animals. Their dad reached out to me after the kids decided they wanted to donate to Project Smile. They dropped off 200 beautiful stuffed animals. We included them in our DCF donation last week and some of our other donations. Here is an adorable photo of the children with their collection. No- the massive dog was not donated to us! I don't think that would fit in a cruiser or ambulance!

We're always looking for more groups or individuals who would like to help out like this and collect new items for us. So, if you know anyone who might like to help, please spread the word.

We've been adding some new departments recently- Littleton Police, Bolton Police and Bolton Ambulance. I love it when we add new departments. One of the officers who reached out first heard about Project Smile when he was in the police academy and I had gone to his class to talk about our work and recruit participants for our annual Date Auction. It's hard to keep up with all the departments we work with, but it's great when new ones reach out and want to be involved. The Littleton Police sent a press release to their local newspaper and I received a note from a lady with a $30 check as a donation. She read about our efforts in the newspaper and wanted to support what we were doing. I wrote her a card thanking her for the donation.  I have a bunch of Boston area departments that I need to follow up with tomorrow. It has been a while since we donated to some of them, so their supplies must be running low.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm off to eat my grapefruit- hopefully, there is one left in the fridge. Until tomorrow friends...

Kicking Off 2016!

Greetings friends and happy new year! We're almost half way through January, so maybe I'm a little late on the new years greetings! Anyways, I am excited for the new year. We finished 2015 on a high note with some great donations. It was another good year for us and for that, I am very grateful. Thank you to everyone who supported us last year and through the many years. Every donation made a difference.

I am excited for everything that I want to do this year. One of my goals for Project Smile is to expand our event into other areas. I've started work on bringing Shoe Club events to Providence this spring and hopefully to launch a Project Smile event there. I also want to work on doing a second Date Auction in another area. I think that it is an event that could travel well. It's a matter of finding the right event partners. I reached out to Assembly Row about having our spring fashion show with them again this year. They are interested in working together again for another event. We're going to be speaking later this week. They were great to work with and I would love to have another fashion event with them. I also want to look for more speaking opportunities, whether it is Rotary Clubs or other groups- the more opportunities I have to speak in front of groups of people, the more I can get people involved to support our work. I also want to attend more networking events with different organizations.

We've been getting lots of lovely donations of stuffed animals lately. A woman from a social organization in Warwick stopped by today and dropped off 4 big bags of new teddy bears that they had received for a Christmas program they organized.  Right before Christmas, employees at Converse did a team building event where they stuffed teddy bears. They donated 200 lovely little bears to us. The bears all have hand written tags on them which are so cute. Here are photos from the Converse event

Well, that's all for tonight. I'm off to do some event research. Until next time friends....

Good News

Greetings friends! So what's new? Well, last week, we donated to our newest department- Brookline Fire. I'm always happy to add a new department. Another new department also reached out this week, we are planning a donation to them in early December.



In other good news, we received a $3,000 grant from the Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation. The Foundation has been supporting us for almost 10 years. I am a huge fan of local banks- they are some of the best community supporters and make a huge difference in supporting their towns. I feel like a lot of their work in the community goes unnoticed. We have our business banking account with Rockland Trust and I have my personal banking with Milford National Bank. I owe so much of our fundraising success to our local banks, particularly these two. They have been there since almost the beginning. Not only are they great supporters for local charities, but they also have good services and excellent customer service.

I'm starting work on 2016 plans and I would like to expand to do more for homeless children and families. I was reading an article today about a Thanksgiving dinner that was served this week for Boston area homeless families. The article was talking about how hard it is for homeless families who are living in hotels/motels. They only have a microwave in their room and aren't able to cook for their children. Homelessness gets more attention with  the holidays coming up, but these families are in need all year long. I would like to organize a dinner event next year, in the early summer for homeless families. I'm going to start reaching out to some connections and see if we could do it in Worcester. I have a host venue in mind that we could possibly use for the event. Obviously, it isn't a cure to the problem, but it would be nice to put together an event where homeless families can enjoy a nice dinner.

Well, that's the latest for tonight. I'm off to respond to emails. Until next time friends...

Event Success!

Greetings friends! Well, this blog post is late in coming. Our last big event- our Project Smile 12th Anniversary Celebration went great! We raised $8,000 for Project Smile and had a good attendance. Our guest speaker Lt. Governor Polito was excellent. She spoke so passionately about the importance of helping children and the opiate crisis. She also recognized some of our long time supporters by name which was perfect. Our supporters were touched that she singled them out to recognize them by name. Our jazz group, the Barry Levine trio, did a wonderful job performing. Our volunteers did an awesome job helping out with setting up and making sure the event ran smoothly. Dick Ferrucci, our event host, worked his usual magic in hosting the live auction. He is the best charity auctioneer you can imagine!

Here is a photo with Lt. Governor Polito and Miss Massachusetts, one of our special guests.  The next photo is with friends and long time supporters from the Women's Success Network.

Konditor Meister, the amazing bakery in Braintree donated this beautiful cake for the event. Their cakes are not only beautiful, but delicious too. Here we are- about to cut the cake!

I love this photo our our board member Michelle, with her family. Her daughter is our 2016 PS calendar cover baby. The photo below that is with Kelli, owner of Theracopia Wellness Center in Southboro. She is one of our board members and donated a beautiful basket for the live auction.

Here is a nice photo with the Worcester East Department of Children of Families area director and the Lt. Governor.

 The Lt. Governor was so nice and bought 2 handmade garden gnomes at the live auction that my friend Brian makes and donates for our event every year.

These photos are courtesy of Clark Linehan, who generously donated his services along with Walter Smith.
Thanks so much to everyone who sponsored, donated auction items, volunteered and attended. I really appreciate your support.
Until tomorrow friends...