Getting Things Done
I know I still haven’t blogged about my wonderful weekend. I hope to do that before I forget all the stunningly good things that happened.
Tonight I went to the:
Extravablogiversapaloozathon
This
annual event hosted by BlogAsheville raised nearly $1,000 for A-HOPE.
I’m for it; I’ve said before EVERYBODY who is helping the homeless
needs money. Conversely, we raised $11.25 in donations at this event. I
had a good chat with Amy Sawyer at the event, and she encouraged me to
push fundraising by changing our flier. Here is what I would like to
replace the two columns (where we talk about what projects we MIGHT
do) in the flier with:
Why You Should Donate
To AHN
Over the past two years, AHN has received $17,000 in donations; with this money we have:
- held weekly meetings EVERY Thursday (when not a national holiday) – many thanks to Rosanne at Grove Corner
Market for lending us her space - given away hundreds of single-ride bus tickets, dozens of monthly bus passes, and 5 annual bus passes, totalling over $5,000.
- given away over 1,000 pairs of socks
- given away over 50 blankets
- created and given away over 150 knit caps
- paid housing or utility deposits for 8 individuals
- paid to repair 4 vehicles
- paid to get 3 vehicles out of city impound lots
- paid for gas for at least 10 individuals
- helped several individuals keep their phone service
- maintained our informational website
- printed and distributed hundreds of copies of our two brochures, which have been borrowed from by other organizations
- provided 8 individuals with working computers (and have 6 more which could be repaired)
- taught 3 individuals how to work on computers
- worked closely with the City’s Homeless Initiatiave
- attended regular meetings of the Asheville-Buncombe Coalition for the Homeless
AHN has NOT
- paid a single penny for office or building expenses
- paid a single penny in salaries
- treated homeless people with lack of respect
- forced a single person to jump through any hoops or asked them to do something they were not comfortable doing
What would other organizations accomplish with $17,000?
All AHN officers and
staff are homeless, technically homeless, or formerly homeless persons,
and have been for all of the 5+ years of our existence.
We don’t just help the homeless,
We ARE the homeless
We are doing this for each other out of the goodness of our hearts. We have no single religious calling, and we judge people for who they are, not what we expect them to be or become.
Please donate today;
every cent of your donation is tax-deductible and will provide more
direct help for a homeless person than any other use of your money
could. Donation information is found on the back of this brochure.
Let me know what you think. And if you would like to donate, you can do it through PayPal (ashevillehomeless@yahoo.com) or by mail (checks, money orders) to Asheville Homeless Network, PO Box 205, Asheville, NC 28802. Asheville Homeless Network has been from its inception and STILL IS the nation’s only Homeless Membership Organization.
In service,
Me