Focus America: Charity at Work

Spring will be here before you know it......

2010-01-20T19:04:00.002-05:00

Manna from Heaven will be giving out vegetable seeds/baby chicks again this year. Because of the layoff's at the mines and other local closings their numbers have risen. They expect to hand at seeds to over 2000 families.

Please send vegetable seeds to:

Manna From Heaven
7269 Highway 610 West
Myra, Kentucky 41549
Attn: Lois Tackett

606-639-0651 for futher information.

Please help these families help themselves.

URGENT APPEAL

2009-05-14T10:08:00.002-05:00

Because of recent flooding in Eastern Kentucky - Manna from Heaven needs your assitance. Floods have left hundreds homeless. Some schools are closed for the year. This puts kids at risk because they received breakfast and lunch at the school. Manna from Heaven's building was flooded, and they lost a lot of clothes for the Spring Fling.
Many gardens that were planted simply washed away. The Poultry program needs to start from scratch.
Lois had a truck come Monday from Mission of Hope with mattress's and furniture. It was gome in a few hours. Lois and Ralph bought a truckload of food. That was gone as soon as the truck pulled up. They need your help......
Urgent Needs:
Vegetable Seeds to replant gardens for food later on.
Baby chicks/Turkeys to raise for eggs and meat.
Cleaning supplies and paper towels
Hygiene supplies
Clothes
FOOD

A truckload of food cost around 600.00 dollars (truck rental, gas and driver.)
A truckload of clothes costs 500.00 dollars (truck rental, gas and driver.)

All donations are tax deductable.

Manna From Heaven
7269 Highway 610 West
Myra, Kentucky 41549
Attn: Lois Tackett
606-639-0651

PLEASE HELP THEM
They do not have the resources that other areas have because of the remote locations.

NEED UPDATES for Kentucky

2009-04-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Despite that great success that the 2009 Community Day had, there was major shortages of seeds. Also ran out of seeds so a few hundred families was unable to get seeds of choice. Manna from Heaven is collecting seeds all thru the year for 2010 Community Day. They will accept any seeds, but they had a shortage of CORN, BEANS, TOMATO, CARROTS, LETTUCE and CUCUMBERS. So please help the community feed themselves.

They are still in need of turkeys and chickens. Turkeys will be used to build up a flock so that families will be given a male and female of a breed to raise for meat and eggs. They are looking for heritage type turkeys that breed naturally. They are also looking for brown egg layers type chicks.

Lois is still collecting for the next Back to School Rally in August. Paper is needed.

They are also putting back non-perishable Thanksgiving supplies. Turkey gravy mix, stove top stuffing, cans of beans, corn or peas, cranberry sauce, instant mashed potatoes, mac and cheese boxes and biscuit or muffin mixes. It would be a help to send gravy, mashed potato, stuffing, mac and cheese boxes, and biscuit and muffin mixes. They would be the cheapest to buy and ship. Please help because Manna from Heaven will have over 1500 families to assist this Thanksgiving.

The Mines have laid off over 500 workers. They also plan to close a mine next month. Manna from Heavens numbers are increasing at a alarming rate, (as the rest of the country.) Unfortunately, the whole area was depressed before the economic mess. Donations have dried up completely.

Mailing Address:

Manna from Heaven
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549
PHONE; 606-639-0651

God Bless all of you for reading this and any assistance you can give.

Email from Manna from Heaven regarding Community Day 2009

2009-04-09T13:45:00.002-05:00

Received an email from Manna from Heaven:

Manna from Heaven had their Community Day last Saturday. It was a very big sucess. We served over a 1000 families a lunch of chili, hotdogs, chips and drinks. Volunters made cupcakes and cookies. 1000 families received seeds, gardening gloves, t-shirts, sunblock, gardening plants posts/labels.

We want to personally thank everyone that helped us. Over a thousand families will help themselves by growing fresh fruits and vegetables to eat!!

Our sponsors:

Heifer International gave over 100 pounds of seeds.

Action Ministries donated gardening gloves 2000 pairs.. 1000 Hotdogs, 5 cases of t-shits, sunblock, paper towels and napkins.

Mission of Hope - supplied all the drinks, chips and food (for the pantry - a wonderful surprise!) They sent us Pallets of drinks and chips!!

St Luke's - .hamburger meat, chili fixings, buns, and some drinks. (They also paid for a rental truck to pick up food for the food pantry.)

Friends (from Louisville, Ky) - Fresh fruit and vegetables and meats for the pantry.

Focus America (New Jersey) thru their volunteers provided 8000 seed packets (flower and vegetable) and seed potato's.. One of their volunteers sent us a new Hotdog steamer to help cook the hotdogs. Flower/vegetable stakes. The original idea for Community Day came from the Focus America, founder Shelly Zimmerman, as well as the Poultry program. Thank you Shelley - it is because of you that we have so many families helping themselves by raising chicks and growing their own food.

Claudia - sent us vegetable seeds as well as 50 pounds of seed potato's.

Thank you and God Bless,

Lois and Ralph Tackett
Manna from Heaven

Turkey Program/Vegetable seeds

2009-04-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

Manna from Heaven is starting a Turkey program. The goal is to have families have turkey to raise, breed and eat. We are asking for donations of turkeys to help get us started.

We are also asking that people remember us when they are at the stores by picking up vegetable seed and sending them to us.

Please help.

Times are tough all over.....

2009-03-27T12:37:00.002-05:00

The economy is hurting families all over the country. Food Pantry's are bare and no end is in sight. This is how the people of Myra have been living for years. Currently the mines have been laying off employees, so add 500 families to Manna's roster.
Because of the economy - very few donations have come in to Manna for the Seed Project. The event is a week away and they will not have enough for the 1500 families that will be seeking seeds. Lois will do what she can to stretch the seeds. The Community Garden will be stretch to help the community this year. Please send seeds. This will help a child have food on the table.

The Society of St Andrew donated 100 bags of 50 lb seed potato's. This was a last minute donation and cost Lois 150.00 to pick up. For a nominal charge (to recoup the money it cost to pick up the potato's) many families will have potato's to last them thru the winter.

We are also starting a Turkey program. Lois will be accepting gifts of turkeys to breed and be able to give families a pair to raise turkeys on their own. Heritage Turkeys breed naturally and this will enable families to raise food for their Holiday dinners. Many hatcheries sell turkeys - McMurray, Meyer, Cackle. A gift of a Black Spanish, Royal Palm, Blue slate, Bourbon Red turkeys will help this community many times over.

PLEASE send seeds to:
Focus America Seed Project
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Help keep Focus America's programs going.

Thank you.

Community Day 2009

2009-02-28T12:40:00.002-05:00

Community Day 2009 is a month away! Manna from Heaven Outreach patron's have increase three fold. School Resource Teachers are contacting Lois because they have students with no food.
The Focus America Seed Project is so important because it gives this community a chance to grow food for themselves. A simple gift of a vegetable seed packet will enable a family to grow food for their family. A gift of a freezer bag will give the family food in the winter months. A gift of a canning jar will give food for the winter months. PLEASE HELP over 1500 families that need vegetable seeds to feed their families.
Suggestions where to obtain seeds: EBAY - search Vegetable seed packets
http://www.sanzospecialties.com/index.cfm?action=cat.prodInfo&productID=768&categoryID=105 This company sells seeds for about 30 cents a pack. They have carrots, tomato, radish, carrots and lettuce. Perfect for a salad!

Please help.

Seed seeds to:
Focus America Seed Prohect
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

ABC's Diane Sawyer reports on Appalachian poverty

2009-02-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_en_tv/tv_sawyer_poverty;_ylt=AhFwSBL5KAYf.qqc3HKV9dJxFb8C

"A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains." It airs Friday at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

Exciting programs coming up in Kentucky:

2009-01-17T13:06:00.002-05:00

Exciting programs coming up in Kentucky:

Community Day: First week of April. They will hand out vegetable/fruit/herb seeds to well over 1200 + families to grow food for themselves to eat. We have already received over 11 thousand vegetable/fruit/herb seeds. 10 pounds of half-runner bean seeds for the Community Garden. We have also received 2 cases of garden gloves from Covington, KY. A donor sent 5000 plants markers, and over a 100 mini gift planters to the first 100 families to pick up their seeds. (Seeds are needed still. Ebay is a great source. Just search for vegetable seed lot. Other needs are paper plates, napkins, cups, country time lemonade mix, kool-aid, mustard, ketchup, relish etc for the refreshment stand. Gift certificates to Walmart for Hotdogs and rolls will be greatly appreciated.)

Make Myra Beautiful Day: This will be held in the middle of May. Manna has received a few thousand flower seeds. These will be given out to families who want to make their home/gardens nice and have cut flowers inside the home. (Need for Flower seed packs. Again Ebay is a great source. Just search Flower seed lot.)

Spring Fling: To be held after Easter. Spring/Summer clothes will be handed out to all the children.

Back to School Rally: Late July/August. School Supplies will be given out to almost 1500 children. (Need school supplies of all types.)

Watermelon Feast/Luau: August. A fun day for the community. (Need Lei's, plates and napkins.)

Holiday Party: Late December. Christmas for Children and Seniors. Will serve over 7000. (Need Toys, Holiday themed coloring books, crayons.)

Donations for all above programs are needed and appreciated. Because of the economy donations have stalled to almost nothing.

Please send to:

Focus America Project
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Manna from Heaven could also use a little help with funds for gas. They can pick up food in Covington, KY monthly. It cost them close to 200 dollars to pay for the gas and drives. Any assistance there would help feed them. One load keeps the food pantry solvent for a month.

Donations are tax-deductable. Give Lois your name and address for a tax deductable receipt.

Manna From Heaven serves over 7000 for Christmas!

2008-12-29T13:12:00.002-05:00

Christmas was quite festive last week in Myra, KY. After all was said and done. Manna from Heaven provided Christmas for more than 7000 people that included children and elderly. (This included the local nursing homes.) This almost doubled last years total.

Because of the economic times, they are NOT receiving the donations that they have in the past. Lois has paid out more than 2500.00 in truck rentals and gas for food and this years Christmas bounty. The truck that was given to Manna needs some repairs before it can go on the road. Once the truck is in service, it will only cost Lois the gas to drive to Covington, KY to pick up food. This is approximately 150.00

Next big program is Community Day in April. Needed items are: SEEDS -vegetable and flower. PLANT MARKERS. GARDEN GLOVES. Ebay is great for these items. Baby Chicks would be appreciated. The incubators can only go so far.

These items can be mailed to:

Focus America Seed Project
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Christmas Update!

2008-12-19T16:32:00.002-05:00

Feed the Children, Mission of Hope (Tenn) and King's Benevolence (VA) have sent toys for over 2000 thousand children!! Another truck is due tomorrow and Manna from Heaven feels that they will be able to meet the needs of all the children this Christmas. She feels that God has "answered their prayers."

The next big project is the Community Day, set for April. As stated in my last blog, they will need seeds for close to 1500 families. Average 10 packs per family and that equals 15 thousand seed packs. A donor has matched Heifer International donation and they are now 2/3 of their goal. A donor has also pledged 200 baby chicks to be given away.

Seeds needed: corn, bean, tomato, strawberry, pea, cucumber, watermelon, cantelopes, pepper. lettuce and onion bulbs. Any and all flower seeds.

Please send to:
Focus America Seed Project
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Thank you for reading this blog and for all the support you have given now and in the future.

Have a safe and Happy Holiday Season!

2008-12-12T17:30:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to write and update the readers of the Focus America Blog on Myra. Everyone is hurt in this country with the poor economic picture. Even communities like Manna from Heaven are being hurt. Yes - that area survives on foodstamps, welfare, WIC Social Security and disability. BUT - they also survive on the generosity and donations of strangers. That has been cut dramatically. The food Pantry is almost bare and has been like that for several months. Manna from Heaven has been accepted by Feed the Children, but they have no food to give them. Lois rents a truck for close to 400.00 monthly and they are able to obtain noodles, sauce to feed 300 for a month. Christmas will be very lean this year. Today Lois has enough toys for maybe 400 children. She usually services 3000. She is praying for a shipment next week from Mission of Hope for more toys.

That is why the Seed and Poultry Project is so important. This food, with a bit of work, will feed so mmany families. Fresh vegetables can be frozen or canned to feed so many people. Chickens can be raised for eggs and meat. I ask anyone that anyone who read's this blog to please give a bit to Manna from Heaven. Seeds give the gift of life to these people. There is a great need for tomato, corn, bean and STRAWBERRY seeds. The nice thing about strawberries is that they come back each year and some gardens will see them double in size. Seeds are being sold at great low prices at www.ebay.com. Just search for vegetable seed lot. Manna has over 5 thousand packets of seeds. We had estimated a need for 10 to 12 thousand seed packets. The number of registered families is growing each week. It would be safe to say we need closer to 15 thousand seed packets so that everyone will have the tools to grow their own food.

Lois also has close to 200 families that would like baby chickens next spring. Even with incubating - she needs aproximately 3000 chickens to give away at community day. Each family would get 15 chicks. 5 for setting and 10 for meat. This year we are concentrating on brown eggs layers, because they are great setters and can make more chicks. We estimate that the incubators can do approximately 200 chickens a month. We need help to really get the community started.

Seed's, chickens and other donations can be sent to:

Focus America Project
c/o Manna from Heaven
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Heifer International Generous Donation for Manna from Heaven

2008-11-14T18:53:00.003-05:00

Heifer International has sent Manna from Heaven a huge donation of seeds for the 2009 Community Day. Over 5000 packets of seeds were received this date. These seeds will help go a long way towards the goal of 10,000 packets. 10,000 packets will give a thousand families enough fruits and vegetables to last through late Summer, fall and winter. We are halfway towards our goal!!!

The seeds are being sorted - so we will know in the next few months what seeds may be needed. There was NO corn, strawberry,or Blueberry seeds in the lot.

Manna from Heaven is also handing out flower seeds this year. All those seeds will help beautify the area. Flower seeds would be greatly appreciated.

Community Day is planned for late April.

Shelley started this program a few years ago and it has really grown.

On another note: Manna from Heaven has received a donation of a 16 foot box truck. It needs new brakes. This donation will help them pick up the food that they desperately need. It will save them approximately 500.00 per truck rental. They will only need the funds for gas. Once the brakes are done - it will be put into service picking up load in Covington and Louisville.

Jennie also sent another box of goodies to Manna for Christmas. Remember Christmas is coming up and toys, books, and canned food is needed.

Update's from Myra

2008-11-05T17:09:00.002-05:00

Manna from Heaven received 8 new additions in September! Momma Pig had eight little piglets - all boys - and they all were healthy and now are living with their new families. Last week-end, Manna was Blessed with 6 more and another Pig should deliver in the next two weeks.

Lois received the generous donation of school supplies and some toys from Jenny. It is so great that Manna has a new volunteer to help!

Lois received a shipment from Feed the Children. NO FOOD, but 10 thousand red purses and over 4000 pairs of jeans as well as a few thousand shirts. They were sized 18 m to size 6. Needless to say - these clothes were much appreciated and all the schools, day cares, Social Services and churches picked them up and passed them out. The Nursing Homes picked them up and will fill the Red Purses with shampoos and other needed items and will pass out to the women residents at Christmas.

Lois had such an abundance that she sent 12 boxes to the Navajo Child Drive.
http://www.navajochild.org. They were excited to receive the jeans, purses and shirts. I think that it is awesome that these two community organizations can help each other. Shipping was paid through a donation from another organization.

Lois still needs help with truck rentals and gas to pick up much needed food for the Pantry. Any idea's on fundraising is still being sought.

Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner and any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

10/02/08: Project Pencils in NJ

2008-10-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

Special thank you to Daiichi Sankyo Inc. of Parsippany, NJ for collecting and distributing school supplies in early September to children in need from Edison, NJ. This is their fourth year contributing to Project Pencils!

The effort was coordinated by Joanne Bock whose email follows:

Shelly we collected 46 backpacks filled with school supplies and an extra two cartons of school supplies. The materials were delivered to Elva Hinestroza of Coordinated Family Care in Edison. They were very grateful for our donation.

09/16/08: School Supplies

2008-09-16T12:15:00.003-05:00

Several boys on my son's Little League team collected backpacks and supplies that we are sending out this week for the Manna from Heaven children. A little later than I wanted but better late than never. Also, a new volunteer, Jenny, is sending school supplies out from her home town (which I think is out west but I'm not 100% certain).

We could also use winter coats, boots, mitten, hats, and scarves for the kids. That will be our next NJ collection...

Special thanks to Panurgy for shipping our boxes out. Shipping is expenses and I'm glad that we have a local company that is willing to help out from time to time.

Myra goes Back to School!!

2008-08-07T10:13:00.002-05:00

School started this week in the Myra area. Last Friday was the 'Back to School Rally'. They had close to 800 families attending and gave away close to 1500 backpacks filled with school supplies. Unfortunately - close to 200 children were unable to get a bag. That was a big disappointment to some children. The 'Rally' was fun with games, hotdogs, drinks, popcorn, cotton candy, prize Bingo and a raffle for over a 100 food bags. It was a grand time for all the participants.

The Gardens are doing great and everyone has fresh veggies and some fruit to eat. Many are canning and freezing their crops for use later on. Since this year went so well, we are planning the "Community Day 2009" for the last week of April. Our goal is to give 1200 families at least 10 packets of seeds - up from 1000 families this year. We also will give out Strawberry Plants again this year. It is our hope that the families will be able to grow enough food to last them at least 6 months of the year. The Poultry Program is doing very well. We have over 100 families on the waiting list for baby chicks. Next "Community Day" we plan on giving out at least 10 baby chicks to each family on the list. We are concentrating on setting chickens- that will brood their eggs and make more chicks. Lois has over a 100 white Leghorns that she will incubate the eggs in the spring to give out. The leghorns will also provide fresh eggs for the Food pantry on Fridays.

The Food Pantry is bare, but with school back in session, the kids will be served breakfast and lunch. Manna from Heaven has been accepted at some Food Banks - but she must pick up the Food and gas for the trips is close to 200.00. Her sister went and picked up a load which kept the Food Bank solvent for a month. And ideas or help there would be appreciated.

This is sale time for seeds. Please send seeds to:
Focus America Seed Project
C/O Manna from Heaven
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549
10 packets of seeds will give a family food for the late summer, fall and winter months. Needed seeds: tomato, corn, beans, peppers, watermelon, pumpkin, strawberry.

Thanks so much for all that you do to keep Focus America's programs working. It is very appreciated.

Focus America: Charity at Work - it's working!!

2008-07-19T14:05:00.005-05:00

It is amazing what ONE packet of vegetable seeds can do. It provides a family with healthy food for their dinner table. This year I am so delighted that 1000 families are growing their own food to eat. Focus America - Shelly, is directly responsible for the whole program at Manna from Heaven in Kentucky. The other great thing is that they are bringing food back to Manna from Heaven so that Lois can give it out to the elderly and the sick. The Community Garden is also helping the ones that cannot grow their own gardens. Focus America has done a wonderful job in helping these people.

Lois has been busy incubating chickens and with donations of chicks she has given away over 800 chicks this year. The Poultry programs goals are: 1.) Raise chicks to have eggs to hand out on Food Pantry Day. 2.) Incubate eggs to hand out to the people to raise their own chicks for eggs and meat. Currently Lois has 100 families that are requesting baby chickens. It is our hope that next year we will be able to provide all the families on the waiting lists the baby chicks that they need. If anyone would like to donate chicks for this year. Here is a great deal: http://www.mthealthy.com/product/bargain2 The chicks are 18 cents each and they can be raised for food for this winter. The address is:
Manna From Heaven
7269 Highway 610 West
Myra, Kentucky 41549
Attn: Lois Tackett
606-639-0651
Just let Lois know that they are coming.

Also they are still collecting seed packets for next year. The goal is to give out seeds to 1200 families. That would be about 12 thousand seed packets - 10 to each family. Needed seeds: corn, bean, pea's, tomato, watermelon, cucumber, carrot, cantelope, lettuce, and pepper packets. This is the time of year when sale's are going on and a dollar will go a long way! Let's help keep this program going for years to come.

School starts soon in Kentucky. The Back to School Rally is less than two weeks away and supplies continue to be needed. Helping one child will ultimately help them to succeed during the school year.

Focus America continues to be a driving force to help these families learn to feed themselves. Giving them the proper tools to do this is Charity at it's best. Proper school supplies help's them to suceed now and in the future.

The slogan: Focus America: Charity at Work Because of all the generosity - IT IS WORKING!

Food Pantries are bare including Manna from Heaven

2008-06-25T17:24:00.005-05:00

School is out for summer in the Virgie/Myra area of Kentucky which Manna from Heaven Services, and for kids there is little food. For us, it means finding summer camps for our kids, getting the kids to do their summer reading and vacations for most of us. For the 1300 plus families that the Manna from Heaven service, it means that the kids will go hungry. The children receive breakfast and lunch at school and in the summer they go without. Manna from Heaven's food pantry is empty. It is like that at Food Pantry's across the nation.

Recently Manna from Heaven was chosen by Feed the Children to receive food when they have it. Unfortunately, you have to have a refrigerated truck and the gas to go in it to go to Nashville, TN to pick it up. Manna doesn't have a truck and does not have the means to even pay for the gas.

The garden's may be flourishing, but the pantry is bare. Help is desperately needed.
Basic needs are rice, flour, sugar, corn meal, beans for soup, wheat/oat flakes for cereal.
http://www.frontiersurvival.net/ is a great source and sells in 50 lb bags for one low shipping price. 50 lb bags can assist 50 families.

Any assistance will help them. The economy and the gas prices has greatly hurt them also as well as the donations have dried up.

Have a safe summer.

Myra's Vegetable Gardens are Flourishing!

2008-06-18T18:16:00.005-05:00

The Community Garden at Manna from Heaven is doing great. The other 1000 gardens are also doing well. The rain has helped as well as the extremely warm weather and all is doing well. A donor is sending 300 chickens to Manna from Heaven the week of 6/29 to be handed out to over 50 people on the waiting list for chickens.

Sales have been plenty for Vegetable seeds in this area and I have been able to pick up 4000 seed packets for a very reasonable price. Seeds do well if stored correctly and Lois has an area to store them at Manna. Manna from Heaven goals is to give out enough seeds to 1200 families next year. So any help in that area would be great. Unsure if Heifer International will be assisting this year with seeds. Will post when I get that information.

I had planned to go visit Manna from Heaven and Myra last week-end. I found that it was cheaper to send all that I had via DHL to the Manna From Heaven 7269 Highway 610 West Myra, Kentucky 41549 address, then to go by car. I will plan it for another time.

Manna has a new email address: MannafromHeaven_08@yahoo.com

School supplies are needed for their back to school rally 8/1 - a Friday, from 9 - 3. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks and have a good summer.

Community Day - a big success!

2008-05-09T17:02:00.004-05:00

Manna from Heaven's Community Day was a big success! All the Strawberry plants, gardening sets, gloves and most of the Vegetable Seeds were passed out to almost 1000 families. The garden was planted at the Manna from Heaven building - so Lois will have fresh fruits and vegetables to hand out late summer. Lois handed out baby chicks and feed to almost 40 families.
The families enjoyed a day of food, games as well as raffles and door prizes. It was a fun day held by all. It's amazing to see that Project Seeds has really grown and how many families are growing gardens this year.

They are planning a Back to School celebration the first week-end in August. All school supplies will be handed out. Shelly's idea of the gently used school supplies will go a long way to helping these kids get back to school with the right tools.

Lois will be holding classes to teach the community how to blanch food for freezing. This will go a LONG way to preseving the food so that it will extend into fall/winter. There is a BIG NEED for pint and quart size freezer bags. I am asking that if anyone see these and picks up a few boxes, it will go far in helping these people eat.

It is exciting to see how this community is learning to feed themselves with food that they have grown on their own.

Thank you to all that read these blogs and all the help that you have done to help this community to learn how to feed themselves. I am excited about Shelly's programs and her upcoming trip to Myra.

Have a safe spring,
Ellen Murphy

05/09/08: Returning to Appalachia

2008-05-09T12:37:00.002-05:00

I have been inspired to return to Appalachia this year. Despite my sister's near-death experience, she is also considering returning. In fact, she is the one who called me after reading Ellen's postings on this blog and said, "When are we going back?" I think I'll take my oldest son with me, too. It will be a humbling experience for him and open his eyes to the needs of the world.

I'm planning to coincide this trip with the Myra children's return to school in early August. So, I will head out in either late June or early July. It's going to be tough and expensive with gasoline so high but, I have to do this to help Lois and the community.

05/01/08: NJ and Myra, KY

2008-05-01T17:38:00.003-05:00

The kids are at it again, collecting vegetable seeds to send to Myra, KY. Both kids asked for seeds for their birthdays. In addition, we are starting a gently-used school supply drive for end-of-year school supplied from the local schools. Several kids are jumping on board for this effort and will collected the remnants that would otherwise be tossed out but are still in good shape!

I am very impressed with all that Ellen is doing with the Myra community! Bravo and kudos!!!! I have tears in my eyes reading all of these notes that have been posted to the blog. I have been so involved in my own geographic area that I haven't been monitoring the happenings from Maryland. Wow, Ellen. YOU ARE AMAZING AND TRULY BLESSED!!!!!

Big news coming up for next year. It appears that my college will be creating a Sociology course to have the students learn about Myra, KY. It's a course called "Living on the Edge". We will be teaching the students all about Appalachia and explore the long economic disaster known as American poverty. The plan is to actually take the students out to Myra, KY in 2009. I know it's a long way away but...I'd rather get back out there in 2009 than 2010. :)

On a more fun note, my daughter's Daisy Troop learned about Myra, KY where I showed them my photo book and talked about the community (with special commentary on Destiny and Kirsten). The 5 and 6 years old really loved it...but the parents really jumped on board.

After reading about all that Ellen has achieved with Heifer, my box of seeds seems small in comparison. I'm motivated to continue my work. Thank you, Ellen and all of the Focus America volunteers throughout the nation!

Shelly Zimmerman, Founder

Thank you to all who helped make this Community Day possible!

2008-04-23T11:15:00.002-05:00

The Community Day is a little more than a week away and it looks like it will be a complete success. Shelley's program really will give the people of Myra nutritious feed to eat late summer and fall. With the HUGE donation of 5000 seed packets from Heifer International and another 1500 packets from donors like you all - quite a few gardens are going to be planted. A donor donated 1200 strawberry plants, 800 tomato seed packets, 800 pairs of garden gloves, rakes for the community garden, 110 garden 3 piece sets, 40 pounds of beans, 5 pounds of corn, 10 pounds of seed potato's and all the napkins, tablecloths, plates, bowls, plastic ware, cups, lemonade, cookie mixes, coffee and condiments for the big day.

Mission of Faith will be on hand to assist with the cooking, children's games and assisting with the day. St Luke's Church generously donated the hamburger and hot dogs as well as new tillers to till gardens. Lois and Ralph had a pig just for the occasion.

Lois will be handing out 200 baby chickens that day to all who had signed up for the Poultry program.

A complete canning kit will be given out as a door prize.

Thanks to all of you who sent in seeds and really made this possible for families to grow their own food.

Heifer International continues to help Myra.

2008-03-14T14:42:00.002-05:00

Heifer International sent Manna from Heaven 5000 seed packets for their Community Day late last year. Now they have committed to 25 pounds of Bean seeds and 25 pounds of Corn seed. This will go far with the Community raising healthy food to eat.

Community Day plans are progressing well. They expect more than a thousand families to attend. They have enough tomato, corn and Bean seed now. They still need Pepper and Watermelon Seeds. Any help there will greatly assist the Mission Community.

Five baby Turkey's were hatched this week. The incubators are working great and as spring approaches they will be used more and more.

Hope everyone is enjoying themselves and God bless all of you.

Sad News from Myra

2008-02-29T13:15:00.002-05:00

Lois, the program administrator at Manna, brother died yesterday in a house fire. Lois is understandably distressed at this sudden death. Please keep her and the family in your prayers.

Manna from Heaven had 9 baby pigs born this month. The mom accidently killed all nine babies. It was quite a blow to the Mission.

A very generous donor donated 300 baby "Easter Egg" chicks to be handed out to the families. Unfortunately, only 51 lived. The Hatchery will be replacing all the chicks at the end of March.
Another donor also had 25 chicks delivered this month and they are doing fine. That donor has arranged for another 110 plus White Leghorns to be delivered over a 3 month period starting at the end of March. Apparently these chicks are great egg layers and Lois will keep the incubators busy starting late summer. This donor also arranged for 7 dozen fertile eggs to be delivered in March so that Lois can incubate and hand out at Community day. The donor also arranged for 15 White Turkeys to be delivered in May and 24 Turkey eggs for the incubators in April.
Currently Lois has 2 incubators going. One for 16 Turkey eggs and another for Phoenix Chicken eggs. This will be a good start for the program getting underway.

UPDATE ON COMMUNITY DAY:
Lois has received another 1500 seed packets, eight hundred were tomato seeds from a very generous donor. More than a thousand families will take part in the community day. Corn, Beans, Watermelon, Pepper and Strawberry seeds are needed. As it stands now each family will receive 6 packets of seed, so many more are needed. 30 Senior families have signed up to have their gardens tilled and planted. St Lukes Church will bring volunteers to till and plant these gardens.

Another donor has donated 600 strawberry plants at the community day. The first 300 families will receive 2 plants. 100 plants were also donated to the Manna Community Garden. It is hoped that these plants will flourish and eventually all families will have access to seedlings next year. These are great to can or to make preserves or Jelly.

Please take the time to send a seed packet. It will really help a family to grow food and feed their families.

Manna from Heaven
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Thank you.

Exciting News from Myra, KY- Manna from Heaven

2008-02-08T13:04:00.001-05:00

I want to share some exciting news from Manna from Heaven! They have 9 baby piglets! They were born earlier this week and all are healthy. They also have a new baby turkey. I had arranged for 3 Turkey eggs to be delivered and one of the eggs produced a little Royal Palm Turkey. The woman that I had bought the Turkey eggs from is sending 12 more to be delivered this weekend and is replacing the two that did not deliver. The incubators are being tested and so far so good!!!

Plans are underway for the Community Day on May 3rd. So far, 1000 families are expected to pick up seed packets. They have received donations of approximately another 1100 seed packets. They still need additional packets to distribute. Tomato, Beans, Peppers, Corn and Watermelon seeds are still being asked for. Any help would be very appreciated.

St Luke's Church has become involved with the Community Day. They will be holding a Cook-out/barbecue. They will be roasting a 300 lb pig and hamburger and hotdog's for 2000 people. The ladies of the Mission are making big pots of Chili, lemonade and Oatmeal cookies. This is a first for Manna and for the Community. Everyone is quite excited about it. I hear that their will be a clown and other entertainment!!! The ladies from the Sewing Group will have a table set up with all their wares.

Burpee has a sale going on and if you order online use code BA 53 and get 5.00/off!!

Please take a moment and remember to please send a few seed packets in:

Focus America Seed Project
C/O Manna from Heaven
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

Lois will be using the incubators and is hoping to have 100 plus baby chicks to hand out.

Thanks to all.

2008-01-02T18:02:00.000-05:00

I received a note from Manna from Heaven with a phone number on it. I was able to talk with Lois and got an updates on the happenings there. Manna now serves over 1300 families! Lois felt that Manna was very blessed this year and Focus America was a big part of it. She states that her sewing group is doing very well and they have been busy making quilts, aprons, place mats and napkins and are working on clothes. They have been asked by a local unwed mothers home to make Layette sets so the ladies are learning to knit and crochet. A local nursing home has requested lap blankets for their residents. So the need in the community is great.

Lois had exciting news. When Shelly was in Kentucky in May she met the representative from Heifer International. Heifer International was so impressed with Shelly's program - Focus America Seed Project - that they sent 5000 packets of seeds to Manna. The only seeds that they did not receive is Beans, Tomato's, Watermelon, Peppers, and Corn. They have planned a Community Day in May to plant the community garden. They will serve refreshments, hand out seed packets, gloves and gardening tools. They will also be building chicken nesting boxes and baby chicks that Lois is incubating with the incubators that Focus America sent to them. If anyone can send seeds - the community will appreciate them. Again they need: Bean, watermelon, tomato, corn and pepper seeds. THEY ARE ALSO GOING TO TRY TO GROW RASPBERRY, BLUEBERRY AND STRAWBERIES. These seeds wold also be appreciated.

Address:
Focus America Seed Project
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

They expect 900 families to receive seed packets.

Christmas was hectic and Manna served over 5100 children. They also receive 5 pallets of soup. 1300 families were able to take home 7 types of frozen soup in 5 pound bags.

Lois will be concentrating on incubating her chicks starting in February and will continue until October. Her goal is to supply all the families with chickens for eggs and for meat. Her hopes is that they will be able to raise their own and Manna will start working on Turkey for next year. Between the Seed project and the incubators Focus America has been very instrumental in helping the community learn how to feed themselves.

Happy New Year to all!!!

2007-12-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

I was heartened to read that Shelly received the wonderful gift from Manna from Heaven. I was talking to some friends and maybe Manna would take some orders for next Christmas. This would be a great way for the Mission to earn some money! I sent 490 yards of material, 25 yards of backing and 55 yards of batting to help with their sewing program. 55 yards of the material is Holiday themed.

I think that it is great that Focus America will assist more in their general community. It will be easier for Shelly to keep a handle on things and supervise.

I will continue to assist with the Manna from Heaven Seed Project. Shelly set up an excellent program and I will continue to support it.

Shelly sending the breadmakers to Myra is a brilliant idea and I have sent 10 bags of organic flour as well as some breadmakers mixes and 10 bags of sugar.

Hope all have a wonderful and safe Holiday!!

11/26/07: Myra Pulls Through!

2007-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited and will update the blog with a photo later but, the day before Thanksgiving, I went to the post office box and there was a package for me. Inside the small box was a gift from Manna from Heaven...a festive table runner, four placemats, and four napkins. They had MADE these items. I'm so thrilled and so thankful.

It just goes to show that we often lose faith right before the very moment we were anticipating.

Just shipped out some more breadmachines and have some boxes of clothing to go out. Our funding for shipping is dwindling...

11/2/07: No news from Myra

2007-11-02T18:45:00.001-05:00

I had a talk with Ellen about Myra. We have been sending so much stuff out there and we have been getting little feedback in return. Ellen did receive a hand-written note from Ralph but I, on the other hand, have received nothing. I called twice and asked for photos of the garden that my sister and I planted. I called and asked for Manna from Heaven to get an email address and let me know what it was (they have Internet access and I did send them an entire computer set-up which I saw working in action...with their lazy son listening to iTunes). I asked for 20 handmade birdhouse (which I was willing to pay for!) but, as in all the rest, nothing.

It is very upsetting because we spent a ton of time and money helping them but I'm afraid that we cannot teach them to fish because they are only looking for the final product.

I don't know where to go from here with Manna from Heaven. I'm leaning toward focusing on more local projects, projects that I can help oversee. But I'm waiting to hear what Ellen concludes with her Maryland support system.

So Happy to be part of Focus America!

2007-10-02T14:47:00.000-05:00

I am so excited that Shelly has asked me to post at her blog. Focus America has been and will continue to be a Godsend to the people in the Appalachia and especially to the Manna from Heaven Mission. Shelly has wonderful programs set up and I love the Project Seeds mission. This community can learn to help themselves by growing their own vegetables and canning them. Shelly also expanded the program by adding livestock....chickens and pigs. The members in the community can raise their own chickens for eggs and for meat. Shelly recently purchased a incubator that will aid them in increasing their "chick" population. I wanted to add that my children generously gave me the funds to purchase an additional incubator - a R Com 20 that Lois should have received. I was assured by the manufactirer that Lois can start in February with hatching her 'chicks' and handling them out to the people of Myra.

I spoke to Shelly about adding Turkey's to their livestock population and I am investigating the most economical way of doing this. More will follow.

Halloween is just around the corner. I have sent close to 900 Halloween coloring books. 200 regular coloring books, 300 Holiday coloring books and 1500 boxes of crayons. I continue to search for more Holiday coloring books.

I also sent them 17 boxes of toiletry items that include manicure/pedicure sets, nail polish, bath soaps, bath pillows, hair towels and 3 boxes of gift bags, wrap and tissue paper. Parents can make up "beauty bags" for the upcoming Holidays for their girls. As Shelly mentioned. shipping is a problem and she is looking for donations to off set the shipping costs of all the items that she has sent and for all future items.

I think for now, I will continue to focus on Project Seeds. I was able to purchase a few hundred pairs of gardening gloves that I will be sending them. I will continue to search for gardening tools and hoses etc. These items will give them the tools that they need to succeed in their efforts to better themselves.

Thank you so much Shelly for allowing me to be a part of your dream. I applaud you for starting Focus America.

09/28/07: Update

2007-09-28T15:23:00.000-05:00

I haven't written for a while but we have been doing things quietly in the background.

Ellen M. from the MD area is going to take on the role of "Focus America, MD" as she has been actively collecting items for our Myra, KY folks including shipping 500+ Halloween coloring books and crayons to the children and doing some fund raising so that we could buy an egg incubator...allowing the Manna from Heaven folks to hatch their own flocks of chickens. They should be able to incubate at least 520 chickens (or more) each year. That means we don't have to send livestock anymore. I will be registering in MD so that fundraising is approved by the state.

My great-uncle John B. from Salunga, PA has been scouting around garage sales and the thrift shops for backpacks and breadmachines. We have shipped one machine out with four more sitting in my garage...waiting for a shipping donor. The cost of shipping goods is high and FedEx denied our request for donated shipping. No reason given...just denied. :( I'm going to reach out to corporations to help with shipping. I have depleted quite a bit of funds with shipping school supplies, gardening tools, clothing, coats, etc. I simply cannot do it anymore.

That's all for now. I'm hoping that Ellen will be able to post some additional items to the blog to keep everyone interested and up-to-date as to what we are doing.

Hugs.

Shelly

08/22/07: Shipment...

2007-08-23T18:44:00.000-05:00

Shipped out seven boxes of school supplies donated by the Market Street Mission in Morristown as well as one breadmaker and some clothing. I have two more breadmakers to mail out. Want to see what they do with those before I investigate locating more. My great-uncle picked up two at garage sales in Lancaster, PA and my husband picked up one in Chester, NJ.

07/18/07: Boys at Seaton Hackney

2007-07-19T17:28:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited. We have arranged for two boys from disadvantaged families to participate in the Seaton Hackney Stables summer camp! Just another way that Focus America is helping children (and adults). These two boys will have memories to last a lifetime after spending a week riding horses, learning new skills, and meeting new friends. I'm thrilled about this and I am looking forward to more programs like this to help our local children...in addition to helping the people in Kentucky.

06/28/07: It's Official...

2007-06-28T20:06:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Ellen who alerted me that my advance ruling for the 501(c)3 was expired, we are officially a permanent 501(c)3. I might have my verbiage wrong but the idea is right. After five years of doing our thing, the IRS has agreed that we are, indeed, a charitable organization. We have their stamp.

It was in a holding pattern but can now get back in the swing of things. I couldn't request any help from FedEx or send for grants with the expired 501(c)3 but...that has all changed. I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things.

Now, if I only had time! With the summer here, the kids are off school and must have made a pact to torture me for 10 weeks. Besides juggling my job-job which pays the bills with raising kids, doing endless laundry, and keeping the house, I'm trying to maintain my summer sanity. It's hard but...once September is here, we're back in business.

:)

06/21/07: Pembroke, IL Returns...

2007-06-21T19:00:00.001-05:00

Interesting turn in events. I've had numerous calls from a church in St. Anne/Pembroke, IL. Apparently, someone took out a paid advertisement in a paper out in Chicago and printed a copy of a posting I had on the website about why we don't help Pembroke anymore. Whoever paid for the advertisement literally used a photocopy of our website! It must have made for interesting conversation because my phone started ringing, emails began flying, letters arrived begging for us to reconsider.

Even more importantly, I received a phone call from Rev. Dyson, the very man who was in charge of helping Pembroke, IL when I founded Focus America. I was quick to point out to him that it took five years for me to get a return phone call (sarcasm).

He was going to look into what happened and why we never received any acknowlegements of our donations. I haven't heard back yet (hopefully it won't take another five years!). It does appear that the advertisement created a firestorm of controversy in the area. If it helps the people, that's wonderful. However, my attention remains on Appalachia for now.

06/16/07: The Colorado Crew

2007-06-16T16:04:00.000-05:00

I've had several comments and requests from people about the Colorado crew who met us in Kentucky. I was trying to surprise them but, apprarently, I had accidentally emailed the teacher so she knew that we were racing the clock to meet them there.

They arrived and had a tour of the facility. My first reaction was that they all looked like deer caught in the headlights. During the tour, I gave them a "pep" speech, telling them all that Stacey and I had seen and heard. Then, even though they had just driven in from Tennessee, we set them to work.

They were helpful in finishing the garden and even the chicken coop, which was a big relief to Stacey and me as we were done, at this point. I will admit, though, that I felt as though a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders when those two vans of 12 high school seniors and their two teachers pulled in. It was almost cleansing to have companionship and help. While I never mind rolling up my sleeves to dive into the projects, it was nice to have new energy, especially after the emotional roller coaster we had been on in the preceeding days.

Besides cleaning up the inside and outside of the mission, they cleared out a backroom that had so much stuff in it, you couldn't see the floor or walls. When it was finally cleaned out, they washed the floor FIVE times to get it clean. I give them a lot of credit for that task...I'm not certain I could have done it...at least not without complaining a bit.

The teacher, Anne Marie B., was truly wonderful with the kids. I'm sure that it wasn't easy to bring them to such a remote and disadvantaged community. But the kids were great sports, hard workers, and definitely "got it" when it came to why they were there helping these people. I was proud of them and only wished that I could have spent more time with them.

06/11/07: Fleecing of Myra

2007-06-12T13:12:00.000-05:00

I noticed that, on 6/4, Charles Wright posted a comment about someone being "fleeced" because he's lived 1/2 a mile from Myra, KY all of his life. Mr. Wright is not the only person that I have encountered who claims that to be the case. However, perhaps since he has lived there all of his life, he hasn't experienced how the rest of the civilized world lives.

I teach sociology courses in higher education and this attitude is predictable. Those who live near it are the first to deny it. Isn't it horrible that the help received by Manna from Heaven comes from Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey while the very people in their backyards turn their heads and deny that the problem exists?

I'm offended by Mr. Wright's comments but I will not delete them. I want those comments to be there so that everyone can see what Manna from Heaven is fighting. I can attest that there is despicable poverty in Myra, KY. To deny that poverty exists in Myra, KY is to deny that every city has pockets of poverty. The difference, Mr. Wright, is that this community does not have the resources that is afforded to residence of New York City, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles or even Newark, NJ.

People can say they are lazy or don't want to work. But, truthfully, what is the incentive if you are making minimum wage for part-time work (because companies don't want to hire them full-time and be forced to pay benefits!) and need to drive 40 minutes to Pikeville, KY? You can earn the same amount through food stamps and Medicaid. Is that lazy or simply logical? Figure the math out: $28 in earning-$20 in gas=$8 a day...why bother?

Furthermore, who is willing to hire these folks? Many of the adults can't read and use poor grammar. A high percentage have dental problems, limited medical care, and are obese. They are the unskilled labor force, the invisible and uneducated poor. Who can show them how to improve their lifestyle? Who can help them rise above generational poverty?

But, of course, if Mr. Wright admitted the truth, wouldn't he (and the hundreds others like him) be forced to do something about it? Instead, they turn their backs and deny its existance. Interesting...

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. The Mr. Wrights' of the world will continue to deny it and think the worst of people who are in need. I can't change his opinion nor will I deny that there are some "fleecers" out there. But to think that Manna from Heaven staged this whole thing to "fleece" us? Give me a break. A simply drive into one of the hollows speaks louder than anything I can write on this blog.

05/21/07: Appalachia Part III

2007-05-21T19:22:00.000-05:00

The day after we arrived, we began tilling the garden, building the coop, and acclimating ourselves to Appalachia. We were disappointed that the mountain folk did not come down to meet us but we were assured that they were "shy." Regardless, the chicks arrived and we continued building the coop out of boards and "things" that we found laying around the mission. Lois and Ralph both turned out to be amazing people and Stacey and I fell in love with their two granddaughter, Destiny and Kirsten, who were their permenant wards.
Kirsten is four and, at 32 months, came into the custody of the grandmother due to "circumstances" that are beyond our control and, for which, I refuse to discuss here but...use your imagination...or nightmare scope. Regardless, both girls are doing well and, while Kirsten was talking at the level of a 9 month old when she was almost 3 years old, she is so well adjusted that you'd never know the truth. In fact, she reminded me of my own daughter and, had Lois said, "Take this child and give her a good life...", that baby would be sitting beside me as I write.

Destiny was also a darling and I love this picture of her. She was posing for the camera because we were planting corn and beans. The beans are from the Bednarski's (friends) who gave them to Catherine for her birthday. It was really cool to see the actual beans from the party being planted in the ground.

I already mentioned that Stacey was an amazing sport. Here she is building a chicken coop with Ralph, the pastor guy. She never complained, even when the 50+ chicks arrived and were jumping around and she had to keep scooping them up and trying to contain them...which was hilarious. Like a comedy routine. Of course, there was also the moment when I found the 4-5 foot black snake hangin' in the mission, eyeballing our lunch...resulting in my screaming my butt off and running out of the building like a little girl who had seen a spider on my tuffet. Short story: snake is currently in 5-6 pieces and Stacey was trapped in the chicken coop, holding four chicks, yelling "Hey, if there's a creepy crawlie thing out there, can you please let me out of here????"

05/20/07: The Mission

2007-05-20T18:55:00.000-05:00

The drive was very dangerous, with single lane roads and steep mountains. But it was really pretty. From a community of hills and trees, we truly enjoyed the mountains and even called home to Kevin L. to ask if he knew the difference between a mountain and a hill. We finally settled on 1000 ft. makes a mountain, less than that makes a hill. Of course, we don't know for certain so feel free to advise otherwise.
And so we arrived at the mission. I must admit that, at first, I was most apprehensive and, frankly, disappointed when we arrived. The mission wasn't what I imagined...the building wasn't a clean, Florence Nightingale type building but a rectangular building built of cinderblock and full of so much crap that two dumpsters couldn't salvage it.

My sister kept a stiff upper lip and we dove right into the work. But we both thought that the pastor and his wife would be like "us"...well-to-do folks who cared about the poor...not actual members of the actual society in which we wanted to help! I have to confess that my sister was the most amazing travel companion. If we had thought that Leanne would give us the chuckles along the way, I tell you that Stacey kept me in stitches the entire journey, even during the darkest moments.

The journey itself was most interesting and beautiful. The hills are, indeed, beautiful as the man in the Shocky's Gas Station told us ("Dem mountains are be-u-t-ful but I prefer the beeches in Miami"). Of course, I asked Stacey for clarification: Did he say beaches or bi...es?". We weren't sure but carried on our mission.

Once we arrived at the mission, we assessed their needs and began by buying supplies to build a garden (posts, wire, tools, irrigation hoses, seeds, and plants) as well as the chicken coop (wire, nails, hammers, boards, etc.). Within hours, I was tilling the garden soil and Stacey was building the chicken coop. It was truly amazing to dive right in and have these people that I have dealt with for over two years become more than friends...they became family.

In addition, I have to spend one moment to thank my Morris County friends who provided the funding for this excursion. I cannot thank Rosemary, Denise, and Brian enough for their donations were used 100% for these projects. My father and brother-in-law's company, Panurgy, paid for the gasoline, and my dear friend Ellen Murphy supplied twelve or so cases of gardening tools. There are many others to thank but I must thank these folks in particular (and my dear Leanne and Anne Marie for their behind-the-scenes support via parties or church associations!).

Regardless of the rest of the story, Stacey and I left Appalachia with a HUGE garden and very large chicken coop that was funded by these three Morristown residents. And we met the recipients of the goods who thanked us profusely for the donations. An entire community said GOD BLESS YOU.

05/19/07: Appalacian 2007 Part II

2007-05-19T18:31:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this entry after the fact so I'll be brief as I know that those supporters who are aware of what happened are simply anxious to get to the end of the story.

Stacey and I made it to Kentucky after a very, very long drive. The saving grace on the trip was her humor and Lisa Y.'s games that she sent along. Cow Poker was a big hit with 1 point per cow, 50 points for chimney's unattached to houses (i.e. the house burnt down), 500 points for peg-legged men, etc. If you saw a cemetary, your points were wiped out.

During the eighth hour of travel (as dilerium set in), we began to make up our own points...she who held a dirty child first won X points, she who contracted lice won Y points, she who was hit on first got Z points. Etc.

Needless to say, my sister won the pegged leg man contest (although the man was on MY side of the car so we have to ask Lisa Y. for a verdict). Yes, she was giggling in the car (after I was filling up gas and singing a not-so-good rendition of Johnny Cash's Burn of Fire) and made me shut the windows as she pointed out the pegged-leg guy, sitting in a van, wiggling his stump as he gave his prosthetic a breather. Of course, this was after we were scammed out of $5 from the massively obese woman in a car who saw our "Myra or Bust" on the car windows and asked us for money to help with her gas because she was empty and had to get to XYZ in Pennsylvania. Stacey talked me out of giving her ten but OK'd the $5 with the idea that, how can we be on a charity mission and deny this chick money for gas. Immediately after handing over the do-ray-me, the woman peeled out (so much for no gas) and headed for the Burger King next door!

But I digress...

We arrived in KY and, much to our chagrine, our hotel room was really "icky". We had also stopped at a police station to assess our safety status. The police man was quite kind in saying, "Everyone is poor in Pike County. Just stay out of dem hollows and you'll be OK. Once you go into those hollows, dat's when dem problems seem to arise." Stacey can do an aces impersonation of this guy. Hilarious.

Needless to say, my first comment was, "Whooo hoo, we are heading to dem dare hills!" which Stacey IXNAYED (but I won).

Up to this point, we had not been taken by the poverty and were actually asking, "Where's the poor folk?" as though looking for Amish in Lancaster. But we found them and boy-oh-boy, we should all hang our heads in shame that we live in this magnificient country and have so many people living beneath the poverty level.

05/18/07: The Road Trip (Part I)

2007-05-18T20:43:00.001-05:00

Well, we are officially underway. Leanne hosted a kick-off gathering for collecting goods, packing the car, and sharing our story. So many friends have contributed to this mission. If I wasn't so tired, I'd write some more. But, I'm exhausted and we're pulling out at 5am so, the stories will have to wait.

I love this picture of the men trying to pack the car. :)

A special thanks to all who have given us support for this trip.

05/17: Thelma and Louise

2007-05-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

I noticed my sister's comment to the Road Trip posting. I deserve the noodle lashing for having forgotten to post that, indeed, I am not traveling alone. After I posted that message on 5/10, my sister agreed to go. For a while, we thought my friend Leanne would accompany us but she is going to be our home base support team(i.e. keep the kids and men in line) while we trek out to Myra, KY.

It's interesting to, once again, see who rises to the occasion of supporting our goodwill mission. Stacey's neighbors and friends from Assumption School have been fantastic. Anne Marie has been wonderful, arranging an announcement via email to her friend and through Assumption Church (once again, thanks to Fr. Martin!) for food donations so that we do not arrive empty-handed. Leanne has been the final piece of the triangle of strength, emailing her list of buddies and arranging to be the Friday evening drop-off point (complete with refreshments!).

I've also been very surprised the monetary donations which are greatly appreciated. Several folks from the kids' schools, a friend from Springbrook, my aunt in Florida, and my father's company, Panurgy, contributed toward gas money and expenses.

It's exciting to begin this adventure and to have the support and encouragement of my sister. So, in 36 hours begins a different type of Thelma and Louise style...only this one will be Stacey and Shelly style.

05/09/07: Road Trip

2007-05-09T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. After speaking with Lois today and hearing how she is such a nervous wreck about the upcoming trip from the Colorado team, I knew the time had truly come:

...Road Trip.

The husband agreed I can go and, as I already posted, work gave me leave. Now, I have no choice but to pack up the truck and head out to KY. I hate leaving the kids for that long and I dread the thought of 10+ hours in a car each way but...Lois needs me and those Colorado kids are traveling to Myra to build chicken coops, create gardens, and repair houses because of my vision. If they believe in me, I can sacrifice five days without my babies and 20 hours in the car to be there for them. And for Lois...

Kentucky, here I come!

05/09/07: Boxes and Call

2007-05-09T12:39:00.000-05:00

Received a call from Lois in KY that she received the computer and it is working. They should have Internet by the end of today. She was also a little jumpy, nervous about the upcoming visit from the Colorado team. I think she may have been crying. Anyway, I am biting the bullet and driving out there to help her through the visit. My dean gave me a leave from a conference and from work. Now, if only my husband will not get upset...

Six boxes of clothing, school supplies, and seeds mailed today. Ordered gardening tools, too.

04/30/07: Birthday Seeds

2007-04-30T13:03:00.000-05:00

Catherine celebrated her birthday at the Stables with a pony party. Instead of gifts, she asked for vegetable seeds to send to KY.

An interesting response from the parents (including my own) who felt "sorry" for Catherine for not getting gifts. The bigger picture is that she gets a gift that you cannot see or touch or unwrap but it's a better gift: the gift of caring for humantity.

The following weekend, she attended another birthday and several moms asked if Catherine noticed that this child received so many gifts while Catherine only received a basketload of seeds (although a few people did bring her a wrapped My Lil Pony or figurine so she wasn't completely "giftless").

It's so interesting to see the perpetuation of focus on monetary gains while the more important gains...caring for each other...are ignored. No, Catherine didn't notice the difference and, if she had, I would have told her the truth. The gifts that Catherine received will help an entire town eat for a winter! How can you not think that is the most wonderful gift of all?

04/23/07: CollegeDonation

2007-04-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

A great day for Focus America as I returned to the very place and to the very people for whom I founded the charity. Yes, I was invited back to the College of St. E's where the students presented Focus America with a donation. We are going to use this donation to help with the summer chicks that we are sending out. A donor in Maryland presented us with a donation, too, so now we can order 250 chicks (with shots) and good chick feed to get the peeps started.

It was interesting to return to St. E's. When I used to teach there, I loved those students so much and really wanted to help them change their lives by impacting others around them. Many of those students are first generation Americans and, even more so, the first females' in their family to go to college. Some of them come from similar backgrounds as the people we help. So, to have these students work so hard to help us is a blessing...under the guidance of their enthusiastic professor, Anne Marie Jarka.

It really gets me excited again about all of this work when I see the glow in students' eyes. I wish that I could still work with some of these college students the college administration wasn't as supportive of my efforts as I would have liked. I suppose they couldn't believe that someone would truly do this for the solitary selfish reason of simply helping others. Or perhaps their own community service director was upset because we offered the students a chance to really do something tangible and important that was all their own vs. simply volunteering to file papers or answer phones at some non-profit.

I suppose that sounds bitter. It is. I made a difference in those students' lives that resulted in great change for people in need. The ironic thing is that we have come full circle and returned there by invitation and, once again, impacted these students who now know that they can do anything that they put their minds to and make a difference in this world. The butterfly effect in action...

04/15/07: Computer!

2007-04-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

An almost-brand new computer was donated to us by a local family. It had all the current software, printer, and even a scanner. Panurgy, a local technology company, was kind enough to donate the packaging and shipping of the items to Myra, KY! It's a wonderful feeling when the pieces of the puzzle fit together!

12/18/06: Mailings and Reality

2006-12-18T13:03:00.000-05:00

Just a quick posting that we have mailed almost 1000 lbs. of clothing, coats, and toys to Kentucky and South Dakota. We had wonderful donations from the Morris School District as well as a church in Flanders who donated over 150 coats in exceptional shape! Normally we receive dirty, torn, or worn items that have to be filtered out from the good quality. This church really did a fantastic job of collecting and sorting items.

A sad commentary that I was hit with reality again when a person close to me called me on the phone and was reading an email from a "friend" about a poor family who attended a church service. At the end of the phone conversation, this person was crying about this poor family and what could we do to help them?

At first, I was really angry because these types of families are who we deal with on a daily basis and the very reason why I created Focus America. Then, I felt sorry for the person who called me because this individual doesn't "get" what I do or why I do it. At no time during this holiday season did this person...or any of my other close friends/family (save two special people)...offer to donate, collect, or even assist in the efforts. All of my help came from strangers and children. Isn't that a sad reality?

A long time ago, the founder of Christmas is for Children, a life-long friend, gave me wonderful advice. She told me that not everyone would buy into my desire to help the poor. It's a behind the scenes charity, not one that makes Oprah or the front-page of the New York Times. We roll up our sleeves and do the hard work with little to no glory. No one says to me, "What a great job you do, Shelly!" or sends me thank you notes, for the most part. But I still continue to spend my weekends boxing up 200+ coats, weighing them, labeling them, paying for shipping. No, I don't walk up to the Father at the front of the church in front of the congregation with my shoebox of goodies for the Angel Tree receipient for all of the congregation to comment on what a good Catholic (or Christian) I am. There is no public honor for what we do...except for the knowledge that we are not holiday Christians. We carry forth the good-will and do-good attitude all year long and truly make a difference in people's lives for the right reasons.

A sad ranting but one that is needed from time-to-time...

12/05/06: Manna from Heaven Shipment

2006-12-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Almost 250 lbs. of clothing, hats/gloves, toys, books, sweaters, and other gifts for the holidays are shipping out tomorrow. Wonderful gifts from Woodland and Thomas Jefferson School in Morristown as well as continued support from friends, family, and corporations such as Sankyo Pharma and BASF. A church in Flanders is dropping off 150 coats on Saturday and more items are still coming in from various individuals.

Big problem now: With 25 boxes shipping today and another 25 or more pending, the cost of shipping these items is going to hurt us financially. Some donors are coming to the rescue but we are depleting our budget for shipping for 2007 so...we may have to reach out for more fund raising options...

11/26/06: Manna from Heaven Shipment

2006-11-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

97.5 lbs. of clothing, food, and toys...preparing for Christmas. Gifts starting to come in from all over the place.

10/04/06: 130 lbs. of Clothing and Supplies

2006-10-04T15:15:00.000-05:00

Seven boxes containing over 130 lbs. of clothing, shoes, school supplies, and candy for Halloween were shipped to Virgie, KY today. Thank you to the Riley family for providing clothing for the two young girls that were recently relocated from their family to live with their grandparents. The girls arrived with the clothing on their backs...literally, that was it. The family thanks you for your kindness.

09/13: More Chicks for KY

2006-09-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Madison Baptist Church for providing us the funds for purchasing another 250 chicks to send to Virgie, KY. The pastor's wife told me that the first batch started laying their "witch eggs" which are the first eggs and tend to be small. That means that this chickens are now feeding the community. :)

09/07/06: School Supplies for the Needy

2006-09-07T18:43:00.000-05:00

Project Pencils 2006 is still in progress. One of our corporate sponsor who has asked to remain anonymous dropped of supplies for Coordinated Family Care in NJ. Assumption Church is in the midst of their donation drive for the children involved with the Department of Youth and Family Services of Northern NJ who still needs 60 backpacks filled with supplies. Dollar Dave's store in Boonton, NJ, offered to donate backpacks and supplies, too, which will complete the DYFS order and help with our KY children who needs everything from pens, pencils, notebooks, and backpacks.

Yes, it was a little more scaled down than last year but, for each child that we have (and continue to) help, it is just as important! Thank you to all of our donors.

08/15/06: Chickens for KY

2006-08-15T18:38:00.000-05:00

The children of the Madison Baptist Church have raised enough money through their Vacation Bible School so that we could order another 200+ chicks to be shipped to Virgie, KY. Focus America is matching this order with another 200+ chicks but they will not be shipped until next spring when the weather is warmer and they have a better chance of survival.

Pastor Ralph's wife, Lois, told me that they had the arrival of the first egg from their first batch of chicks! That's right, the March baby chicks are now laying eggs!

Thank you to the Madison Baptist Church and the children who made this possible.

03/31/06: Give a Fish vs. Teach to Fish

2006-03-31T12:55:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful phone conversation with Manna from Heaven today. It was a true epiphany. I was checking in regarding the Girl Scout Gold Award Doll Project from Hannah in CT. During the conversation, Lois from Manna from Heaven mentioned the Heifer Project. They want to receive livestock to raise their own food since it's so hard to buy. Over the holidays, we had some amazingly generous donors. I had mentioned to my husband that a $250 donation from one of our friends would feed a family for a year and he scoffed at me. "How is that possible?!" I was figuring that the donation would cover shipping for donated food for the entire year. Well, today I purchased over 200 chickens that are being delivered to Myra, KY next week. The families will raise half for food and half for eggs.

In addition, we are going to do a Seed Campaign in the hopes that people will ship out vegetable seeds to Manna from Heaven so that people can grow and can their own food. Lois was thrilled with this idea and we are going to start this new campaign immediately.

Anyone who wants to help should send any type of vegetable seeds to:

Focus America Project
c/o Manna from Heaven
PO Box 43
Myra, KY 41549

I love exciting days and, today, we truly fed a village! Or at least took the first steps to providing them the tools to feed themselves.

P.S. If you want to donate more chickens, please email me at szimmerman@focusamerica.org. $50 buys 100 fryer chickens and $150 sends 100 egg layers (plus shipping and vaccination which Focus America will cover).

03/27/06: Letter from Girl Scout Donor

2006-03-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

Hi,

My name is Hannah and I am earning my Girl Scout Gold Award. The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts. I made 115 dolls for my gold award project. These dolls are named D.O.L.L. ( Design of Love and Laugther). They are child safe stuffed dolls made to make a child happier. These dolls are for a child who just lost there home or other disaster. I have donated these dolls to four organizations including Focus America.

My Gold Award committee suggested Focus America. I checked out the web site and instantly decided that this was a perfect organization to donated too. The other organizations I donated to are; The Salvation Army, Maines Children's Home for Little Wanderers, and the Red Cross.

Thank you for posting this on your web site. I have also attached some pictures. One of me on the phone with you and the other with the dolls I sent you.

Thank you,

Hannah G.

03/11/06: Kentucky Shipment

2006-03-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

I'm getting ready to ship out 50 lbs. of clothing and food to the family I adopted in KY. I have received some nice letters from the mother who is 23 with two children. Her husband is older and disabled. It's a great feeling to help the family by providing these little items. I wish I could do more and I really wish I had more help. As it stands right now, we've had wonderful help from people over the holidays. BASF was fantastic and donated a lot of gifts and some financial assistance for shippping. That is always greatly appreciated. Now that the holidays are a distant memory, I have have 10 families, only three of which have been adopted. I adopted one and the children from Assumption Catholic school picked up two others. I'm meeting with a church group tomorrow to talk to them. Perhaps they will pick up another family.

It's always interesting to me how so many people make promised to help but their own situations seem to get in the way of following through. I suppose it's so surreal to us to think of families in our country who cannot find work and cannot put food on the table. So, when we are faced with huge holiday bills or bills for vacations, we forget about the Americans who struggle with the things we take for granted...such as daily survival.

01/02/06: Facing 2006...

2006-01-02T17:15:00.000-05:00

The holidays are past and we look forward to the upcoming New Year. We really achieved quite a lot over the past few weeks, even though we scaled back. If only I had more time to devote to working this cause on a more regular basis. It is a wish that I think about quite often. However, I know that our limited effort helped hundreds of people this holiday season:

One Cub Scout troop shipped over 100 pairs of mittens and hats to our Appalachian community
A school in Mountain Lakes for physically disabled children collected and shipped over 100 pairs of mittens/gloves and hat to the children in our adopted Appalachian community
Premier Medical Center in Morristown collected dozens of gifts for the children
Sankyo Pharma collected dozens of gifts for the children
BASF NTT Division collected hundreds of gifts, almost 50 winter coats, and provided funding for shipping items to the communities we support
Cafe Beethoven in Chatham helped collect hats/gloves for the children we support
One individual in Rockaway organized a collection of holiday gifts for the FACT NJ children
Several individuals sponsored families in NJ and NY once again for the holidays

We have also started working with individuals and schools to sponsor families in our Appalachian community. One woman has been mailing care packages to "her family" on a regular basis. The 5th Grade class at Assumption is adopting two additional families. we have at least 10 more families that need sponsors so, perhaps for the upcoming year, we will be able to achieve that modest goal. If only we could help more families...but that would take time and money which we do not currently have. But we are helping these families and our efforts are making a huge difference. Children will be warm this winter, families will be fed, and hope restored to a very oppressed region of our country...one that has been oppressed for generations, not due to recent natural disasters. While the eyes of America are turned to the Gulf Region, we have to remember that these other communities need our support in order to survive, too.

Here's to 2006 and all that it brings.

10/17/05: Project Holiday Cheer 2005

2005-11-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Donor fatigue. Yesterday, I read an article in the newspaper about the local food pantry and the lack of donations due to donor fatigue. I can understand their plight. Not only do we have donor fatigue, we have volunteer fatigue.

In the past, we have pushed ourselves so hard and tried to help so many people that we are cutting back this year. Donations are down and our energy needs revitalization. It hurts to have to turn away people who need help. I've been sending people to churches since we are focusing on a smaller group for the holidays. I hope those churches can help them.

This year, we are helping several of NJ social service agencies to help the foster kids again. One donor just contacted me with an overwhelming offer to spend $500 on gifts for children. What an amazing relief it is to have FACT NJ's children taken care of! In addition, BASF is doing a donation drive and invited us to speak at a luncheon in December where we will speak about the communities and people that we help. Finally, Cafe Beethoven in Chatham will be doing a donation drive, too.

Of course, we are working closely with our Virgie, KY community and, in the spring, I will be taking a road trip out to meet with the community and experience first-hand the conditions in which they live. Unlike Pembroke and their community advocates, the Virgie people have responded to my requests for information, photos, and videos. They are so much more receptive to and appreciative of the help given to the people. After the miserable experience dealing with that slick Pembroke pastor, it's refreshing to be supporting a community that actually thanks us!

I cannot thank these individuals and corporations enough for offering to help out. So, even though we have scaled back, we will be able to help the people we've committed to without the stress of past years.

Happy Holidays to all!

10/13/2005: Oprah and Pembroke

2005-10-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

I have heard from many people regarding Pembroke regarding Oprah's show that aired yesterday and highlighted Pembroke, IL. While I did not watch this segment on Oprah yesterday, I must speak to what was certainly aired.

Pembroke has become the poster child for poor communities in the past four years. I can assure everyone that this community has plenty of help, regardless of the ridiculous comment that one caller shared with me that, since Pembroke does not have a zip code, they cannot get government assistance. My hometown does not have a zip code and we still receive plenty of government assistance as needed.

In fact, Focus America no longer supports Pembroke simply because so many people are helping them. Frankly, and only based upon my personal opinion, I'm not a big fan of Rev. Dyson. This happened after my volunteers sent school uniforms, food, and hundreds of Christmas gifts for the children and, according to what I was told, Dyson distributed the items under the auspice of "Look what I collected for you." Granted, this came to me second-hand so I cannot guarantee the accuracy of that statement but the very fact that this MIGHT have occurred did not make my volunteers feel good about the hours spent collecting gifts and money spent in shipping the items to Pembroke, IL.

About 12-18 months ago, someone who told me that they were from the Governor's office contacted me and discussed how the Governor's office was putting together a task force to focus on developing Pembroke: pave the roads, install water, etc.

So, anyone who wants to help a poor community, I encourage you to consider another community that does not have a PR machine with a questionable agenda. We have communities that live in conditions just as bad as Pembroke was...possibly worse.

Unlike the children from Pembroke who, when asked what they needed/wanted for Christmas, said GameCubes, Nintendo, and CD Walkmans, the children from our Virgie community ask for food and coats while their parents ask for jobs to earn money to support their families. This one community wants work. I find that most admirable. We are arranging a program to provide mail order commerce to help these people earn money. We are trying to organize a Christmas drive as well as collecting gently used coats for Thanksgiving.

I could use a great deal of help or arrange for you to adopt one of these families. In my opinion, they could use it much more than the people of Pembroke...

09/22/2005: Hurricane Katrina: Part II

2005-09-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the little things mean the most simply because those little things are the most that the people can give. I just reeived a phone call from the parent in charge of a gynmastic association. They collected almost $500 in donation toward Hurricane Katrina and decided to donate it to Focus America for our cause. This is such wonderful news. We have already donated several hundred dollars to the Hurricane Katrina cause and now, 100% of that new donation will go toward the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.

As always, I remind people to monitor where they donate money.

We are 100% volunteer and, thanks to our big Santa Claus anonymous donor, we don't have to worry about our day-to-day operations for the next few years. That means that all donations are sent 100% to the cause it was intended. HOW MANY CHARITIES CAN SAY AND PROVE THAT??? I personally work to fund our efforts and our anonymous donor helped cement our future outside of my personal funding.

So thank you Rettigs Gym and thank you parents. You have donated money to truly and really help the rebuilding of Lousiana and Mississippi. Not only will we help rebuild it but we will help provide WORK for these people to make a new life. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

09/01/2005: Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-01T06:46:00.000-05:00

I have received several calls about what, if anything, Focus America is doing for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. After much thought, the decision has been made to research the best reflief effort agency and donate money to them in order to give them the financial resources to assist the people in need. We will find the relief agency who guarantees that 100% of the money donated will be used to help the victims (and not pay overhead).

Anyone who wishes to donate money may send it to Victims of Hurricane Katrica c/o Focus America (PO Box 267 Convent Station, NJ 07961). All money will be forwarded to the relief agency with a modest matching dollar amount from Focus America on your behalf. While we do not have the financial resources to match 100% of the money donated, we will do our best to insure that every donation has some additional contribution.

08/31/2005: Project Pencils III

2005-08-31T06:41:00.000-05:00

We did it. Once more, we managed to help several hundred children return to school with brand new school supplies. With the help of several churches and local corporations (as well as individual donors), we donated over 250 backpacks with additional boxes of supplies to children working with social services agencies in northern New Jersey as well as shipped numerous boxes to Virgie, Kentucky (along with toys, clothing, and household goods). It's always rewarding when these collections are over. The relief on the faces of the social services workers as well as the children who receive the goods is worth the time and energy collecting the items.

Of course, I always reflect back on the project when it is completed and wish we could have helped more people and more agencies. But I'm very grateful for the children we did managed to help.

As always, a special thank you to Assumption Church for their continued dedication and support.

August 2005: Donors Keep Coming...

2005-08-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

Just when I think I am down and out, donors surprise the life out of me. One donor contacted me and she personally collect over 100 notebooks, dozens of pens, crayons, etc. Assumption Church is collecting goods again as in Sankyo Pharma. It's a good feeling to know that so many people out there care. It's refreshing to know that my efforts have the support of people in the community.

This year was hard because I scaled back, partially due to a lack of volunteers to help me manage, partially due to my burnout from overextending myself during the past holiday season, and partially due to extensive construction at our house which severely decreased any sort of storage space. But the donors are coming through with notebooks and backpacks for these children. Thank you, thank you. The children will be so happy...

July 2005: Kentucky Passed the Test

2005-07-15T20:44:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note…I received a thank you call from the Pastor in Kentucky. He just passed my test. I had shipped out a few boxes of goods…nothing major. The fact that he called to thank me just elevated him and his community in my book. I had that gut instinct about him. Now I feel much more comfortable in spending the hard earned money that my donors have entrusted to my organization in order to ship goods out to those children living in the coal mining region of Virgie, Kentucky.

July 2005: First School Supply Collections!

2005-07-09T20:32:00.000-05:00

It always amazes me how people find us. The Essex Baptist Church in Livingston reached out to us. They had several large boxes of backpacks for us. I am very grateful for their donation since this kicked off our first official donation for Project Pencils 2005.

I have to admit that I’m disappointed in having to scale back our donations but, I faced the fact that I am a one-woman show at this point. Since I am no longer with the College of St. Elizabeth, my pool of eager college students to run the projects are gone. So much for service learning…Oh well.

The good news is that the programs are still running and helping hundreds of children. I find it amazing how much one person can do. If only we had an army of people helping us. If each person could do what I am doing, no child would return to school without notebooks and pens/pencils…the basic tools to succeed. But at least my wonderful donors are helping those children that I can reach. Yes, it isn’t 1300 children but the 250-300 children we can help will be grateful.

I also have to admit that I made a decision not to assist the day laborer community this year. I know that many of these people need a helping hand. However, I also have to admit that I saw a lot of greed and uncharitable behavior from this particular group. Men sent children into our donation centers for multiple items so that they could sell the items to their friends or send back to their home countries. People lied about how many children they had during our holiday giveaways. When Anne Marie ran her garage sale to raise money, the day laborer women paid her with crisp 100 dollar bills. It made me think that, in scaling back, I need to help the people who do not have money or resources…the children directly.
This required a lot of soul searching on my part. At one point in time, my ancestors were immigrants and struggled in this country. Perhaps that is what more people need…a bit of a struggle to realize that life is not a hand-out. Frankly, a bit of gratitude goes a long way in motivating me to help people so when I don’t get the gratitude or don’t recognize the look of appreciation, my own motivation decreases. I’ve been burned throughout the years and it has been a learning experience. From helping young women try to develop business acumen who later turned on me to recipients of goods who never say Thank You. It’s a tough pill to swallow.

This has truly been the year of assessing where I want to be and where I want to take Focus America.

June 2005: Project Pencils 2005

2005-05-25T10:23:00.001-05:00

It's time to start collecting school supplies for the children who live in foster care or poverty-stricken communities. We were fortunate to receive an extremely generous donation from an anonymous donor which will allow us to expand our reach in soliciting donations from local corporations and churches in our collection effort. It appears that Assumption Church in Morristown is going to help us again. Also, we may have recruited the Methodist Church to assist in our efforts. Several corporations agreed to do small drives and the Market Street Mission is helping us one more time for our local people in need.

I must admit that I'm still exhausted. The last holiday season really burned me out. I am slowly getting remotivated now that I've received letters and photos from the new KY community. It's hard to give, give, give and receive no appreciation. The anonymous donor also helped re-motivate me. Their letter was so kind in acknowledging the good that we/I do. A little appreciation really goes a long way. Otherwise, you begin to feel taken advantage of...such as last year at our Project Pencil giveaway when one man sent children in from the street to collect dozens of backpacks so that he could sell them in his local community! We now have worked out methods to avoid similar situations but, that type of action really hurts my enthusiasm to help.

Anne Marie, one of my friends, ran a huge garage sale with items from her days as Miss Delaware and a contestant in the Miss America pagent. The idea was to raise money for Focus America. She wound up selling most of her goods at ridiculously low prices to women from the very communities that Focus America helps! She noted that the women paid for most of their goods with crisp 100 dollar bills! Ironic, isn't it?

I'll get it back. The coal-mining community is in such need that I know they will not take advantage of goods that are shipped out to them. And I know that the children need the school supplies. The money saved by the parents who really need the supplies can buy food or clothing for the children. We are just going to downscale our collections a bit in order to focus on providing the children who really need the goods, vs. a massive giveaway.

May 2005: New Community to Adopt

2005-05-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

A new community has contacted me. This community is located in the coal mining region of Kentucky. The organization that is acting as the liaison is Manna from Heaven. I asked them to send photos and they did. Ironically, for well over three years, I've been asking Pembroke to send photos and have received nothing. Well, the KY community is in bad shape. People live in houses that are literally falling down around them. Cinder blocks are the front steps, doors are barely on hinges, roofs are rusted or full of holes, walls are rotted, you name it.

In one house, there are two adults and four children living in a two bedroom shack. Since this is the coal mining region, there are really no jobs for people. Simply coal mining and that's it. I looked up the community on a satellite website and it is so remote...on top of a ridge with one road leading up to it. Very isolated and, unlike Pembroke, completely neglected and unknown to the general public.

I did send one box of clothing out to them so far. I want to encourage as many people as possible to package up clothing and mail it to this organization. But, if they do, they should label the box with the contents (i.e. clothing for a 3 year old girl, coats for children, etc.). I'll make certain to add them to our school supply and holiday drives. They really need it. These children have nowhere to go and no way to escape. There are always pockets of poverty in every community but this community simply IS poverty. So, we will continue helping out our local families but I'm adding this little community into our circle. I cannot help them all but...even a little bit goes a long way.

March 2005: Low-Income Child Care

2005-03-23T13:12:00.000-05:00

Last week, I distributed the snack food that my loyal volunteer, Tiffany R, collected to several low-income daycares in Morristown, NJ. It was an unusually bittersweet experience, having just shut down the childcare center in December that we had started to raise money for expanding our programs.

Well, recently I've been a bit down about Focus America. Financial donations are hard to get from people. In many ways, charities are expected to do so many good-will activities but no one wants to pay for them. We run this charity, Focus America, as a volunteer-group, and, since our inception, I have encountered debt upon debt because I believe in this cause. I'm tired of receiving bills that cannot be paid and tired of listening to my husband complain about how I'm trying to save the world. Christmas 2004 burned me out with lots of work and stress, not to mention the overwhelming disappointment from a volunteer from the Illinois area who collected over $800 to purchase beds for a poor family in Michigan...beds that never arrived and the money is MIA although I suspect I know who's pocket it went to. I had disappointments in some people I had considered friends, too...friends who begrudgingly offered to help families but only after they complained that "these people should be given birth control and not hand outs."

There are some dear friends and family who are close to me encourage me the best way that they can. My greatest champion, my mother, always reminds me to focus on the lives that I have touched and not the negative experiences I have encountered. I try but, there are days that it is hard. This is a line of (volunteer) work that doesn't come with a lot of accolades or appreciation.

However, on the day that I delivered the snack foods, something happened that was so wonderful...it turned me back on track.

The director from the one center, Children on the Green, welcomed me with a big smile and praise for all that we do. Then she said, "Come, see Austin! See how big our little boy has gotten." It took me a minute to truly understand what she was saying.

I looked around the childcare center, searching the faces of the children. Who was Austin and why, on this miserable, raining day, did I care? But then I saw him and I remembered. There stood little Austin, his big blue eyes sparkling and his blond hair in gentle waves around his ears. Oh yes, I remembered. I remembered everything that I had blocked out from the horrible experience of running that childcare center...the stress, the tears, the debt, the disappointments. But then I remembered that in blocking out the bad, I had blocked out the good. I had blocked out Austin.

Dear little Austin was born with a terrible physical handicap (and the name of it escapes me right now). He was small at birth and didn't grow properly. He had to have a feeding tube inserted into his belly and he carried a backpack at all times so that he was basically getting 24x7 nutrition this tube. At the time we met Austin, no other child care center would take him. We took him. Or, rather, I took him. My staff didn't want to really have him in their group...understandably so because we were starting out and his "illness" was scary. What if the tube popped out? What if another child pulled the tube out? What if we were sued? But, we did take him because he was a little boy that needed to have friends and socialization.

He was a darling boy and I fell in love with him immediately. But, his time with us was short. His condition was taxing on my staff and, after his tube DID fall out and we rushed him to the hospital, I was even a bundle of nerves. But we worked with his mother, a courageous and lovely young woman, and I pulled a few chits to help expedite his inclusion with a larger daycare that could help him and his mother in more ways than we could...especially since we were so small and new.

Yes, I had blocked out darling Austin. But it came flooding back. And wouldn't you know it? That child remembered me! His face lit up and he danced up and down, clapping his hands. I rushed over to his side and talked to him, my eyes searching his. He wasn't wearing his backpack anymore (although he does still need it). And he was beautiful...a regular little guy with friends at this new center.

Yes, after 7 months, this child remembered me. And surely I remembered him. He was the good...the one true thing that happened with that experience that, as my mother would say, proves that we can make a difference in someone's life. In front of me was the little, living proof.

Oh yes, I remembed Austin and I couldn't talk anymore. The tears came and I rushed out of the center, so choked up that I could not say goodbye to the director. I was crying for so many things...the things that were, the things that should have been, and the things that I truly want so much for the future. Bittersweet thoughts and tears for certain.

Snack Collections for Low Income Children

2005-03-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

Well, my dear volunteer, Tiffany, did it again! For the third year in a row, she has spear-headed a volunteer drive at her organization, Pru, for the February snack drive and collected tons of snack food to be distributed to low-income child care centers in the area. In the past, we have distributed these foods to Children on the Green to help defray the expense of purchasing snack food for their children, some of whom are from the homeless and battered woman's shelter. This year, we are going to invite Collinsville Child Care Center to receive some goods, too. I've heard quite a bit about this new center and how they have been struggling a bit but doing a wonderful job.

It's amazing to me that this is the THIRD year we have been helping these centers. Sometimes I forget about these wonderful things that we do and the impact they have on our community. It really realigns my own expectations. Perhaps we'll never be a Habitat for Humanity but we are helping people...one day at a time.

Thanks, Tiffany, for another wonderfully successful drive.

Answering to donors

2005-03-03T15:43:00.000-05:00

I was very excited yesterday when I visited our PO box and found the very first gift card for a shopping center. We just started this program and, like all things charity, they are slow to take off but, as the momentum builds, this program will be as successful as our other ones. Now, our dear client in Ohio who is terribly ill can receive her fresh fruits that she needs but, since she is ill, cannot afford to buy.

The joy of this single gift helps when I have to answer to people who question our existance, afraid to send a gift card b/c we sound "shady". It breaks my heart that so many people must have been hurt or burned in the past by unscrupulous people.

We try so hard to reach out and touch people, to organize this charity to help eliminate any suspicions. We are volunteer-run...no one gets a salary. We have been recognized by the White House...isn't that a good endorsement? We have helped over 3000 children at Christmas in the past three years and over 2000 children during back to school. Plus, we've distributed hundreds of coats to the poor during winter, collected and distributed snack food to low-income child care centers, collected cells phones for domestic violence victims, and so many other wonderful programs.

I just don't know what else we can do to convince people that our grassroots effort is a worthy investment. Well, actually...that's not true. I do know what we can do--marketing. But that costs money...money that I cannot personally afford to spend anymore and, frankly, we shouldn't have to spend as it takes away from the very programs and people we want to help. Every dime spent on marketing is taking food away from the children we are helping.

Do we need financial donations? Absolutely. However, I would prefer more gift cards to be sent out to these needy families and communities. Gift cards take up less storage space which, right now, is our two car garage that we haven't been able to park in for over two years. They also only cost 37 cents to mail...vs. $50 for a large box of canned goods.

To the Katie McGraw's of the world, thank you. You have made a difference in someone's life...and not just our clients...mine.

The Ring of High Hopes

2005-02-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's always exciting when someone calls, inquiring about how they can help or offering assistance with raising funds or goods. The people who contact us are usually full of heart and spirit. One woman in Florida has been especially supportive, emailing words of encouragement, offering support, and helping out some of our families in need. Today in Walmart, I ran in to a neighbor who had purchased a gift certificate at Cascata Spa in Morristown to help raise money for Focus America. The other day, I received a phone call from someone in Wisconsin (at least, I think that's what he said...my two children were racing around, screaming and playing...he called during the evening "witching" hour). This gentleman wanted to verify we were still operational and to learn more about what we are doing. He followed up with a nice email and a referral to another organization that sounds like a charity we could team up with!

Occasionally we get phone calls from people who offer services or hopes of great things to come but...nothing materializes. I hold my breath, hoping that something might happen when these promises are made. However, over the past two+ years, I have learned that hope can lead to disappointment. Not everyone believes in the cause...not everyone wants to help. Complete strangers have provided more support to this cause than most of my own friends and family.

But there is a positive note behind the hurt of disappointment. Out of the ashes rises a phoenix that is much stronger...the determination to succeed on one's own without hand outs, without assistance, without begging for family and friends to help out. And when the recognition is given...it is much sweeter to know that, indeed, the acknowledgement of a job well done is true and honest. By helping the children and by supporting the people, we have impacted someone's life. If friends and family do not care to share that glory for whatever reason, there are many strangers who become friends and family who cheer and cry with job alongside me. We cannot make people believe in our cause. We can only make them believe in the results. That's enough for me...

Starving Families in Need

2005-02-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

When I receive the emails and phone calls from social service agencies, requesting assistance for a family that is struggling to make ends meet, my heart breaks. Right now, we have about 20 families on our list and we are barely able to supply these people with food on a semi-regular basis. Without funding and without a dedicated force of volunteers, it's so hard to motivate those volunteers who do contact us.

If I could help them all, I would. The woman who was living in a motel room, paid for by her social service agency, with three small children. The man who is working for minimum wage but can hardly put food on the table for his four children and wife. The woman with stage four cancer who can barely afford medical treatment, nevermind food for her two children. Their stories break my heart over and over again. Each time a volunteer contacts me, my hopes swell, hoping so much that this time, they will help just one of these families. Some do, like the woman from California who mailed two huge boxes of food to a family in Michigan. Others don't and, while I understand that there are reasons why, it doesn't make it any easier to know that we cannot help every family that is on our wait list.

Of course, with the help of local organizations and churches (like Assumption Church who has consistently support our efforts!), we can make a difference...even if it is only one family at a time.

Welcome to the Blog

2005-02-10T19:07:00.000-05:00

Over two years ago, I founded Focus America after reading an article in the New York Times about a poor community in Pembroke, Illnois. I suppose what bothered me the most about the article was the timing. Our nation had just observed the first anniversary of 9/11, a defining moment for all of those who watched the horror of the Twin Towers collapse, the burning of the Pentagon, and the smoldering wreckage of Flight 93 in Pennsylvanian. Our nation was entrenched in the war against terror. While we were liberating Afghanistan, the country watching the Middle East, I realized that the distraction of current events was creating a negative butterfly effect: forgotten were the children in this country starving to death, forced to become adults before they have tasted the joy of childhood.

Starting a 501(c)(3) non-profit (and volunteer run) charity was not easy. I fell into it by accident and, strictly by stubborness, I saw it through. As a professional adjunct professor at several colleges near my hometown of Morristown, NJ, I knew this could be a wonderful way to provide my students with an amazing, hand-on and real world experience. My circle of "favorite" students quickly agreed and the then-chair of the Business Department gave me the thumbs up to incorporate service learning into my marketing and management classes.

As I continue my blog, I will share some of the experiences I have encountered with creating, organizing, implementing, running and funding a volunteer-run charity. There have been high-points such as the days when volunteers distributed 600 coats to the needy at the St. John's Soup Kitchen in Newark, NJ or when we distributed thousands of gifts to the new generation Americans at the Market Street Mission during the past holiday season. I hold dear the moment when a larger and older woman, a bit sweaty from trying to weed through tables and tables of gifts and new clothing to find the perfect gifts for her four children, came up to me. She grabbed me by both shoulders and gave me a kiss on both cheeks then clutched me to her chest. In broken English, she said "Thank you, thank you. God bless you." Nor will I forget the moment when I stopped my white mini-van on the streets of town in front of the day laborers. I pulled over and they stared at me, wondering why the young white woman was getting out of her van and flipping open her trunk. My son leaned over the back of the seat and helped hand me grocery bags filled with food as I shouted, "Comida! Libre comida para tu!" in my broken Spanish. The men converged on me, grabbing at the bags, laughing at their good luck of finally being in the right place at the right time. As I drove away, one of the men shouted out, "You are an angel! God bless you!"

These are the moments I hold dear. These are the moments I remember when times are tough, when volunteers let me down, when those people closest to me disappoint me, and when opportunities slam the door shut in my face. By sharing these moments and these stories, I believe the world can understand the motivation behind true charity...the type of charity that, indeed, can move mountains, even when obstacles seem to block the path to success.

Enjoy.