Charity Whore

Okay, I know this is supposed to be my "fun" blog. And I promise, the next post today will be a veritable chucklefest. But this morning, I have to be a whore and ask for you guys' help. I hate to do it, because things are shitty all over, but the situation is critical. I'm posting on THIS blog and not my SERIOUS blog because I know you guys, most of you anyway, and I know that YOU know you can trust that this is not a scam. It's even tax deductible - you'll get a receipt for your taxes.

You will notice a "donate" button on the right sidebar. This button links to the PayPal account for Zephyr for Kids, 93 Bellerose Ave., East Northport, NY 11731 (631) 651-8442 (toll free number pending). This organization, which is non-profit with the 501(c) pending, is designed to help homeless parents and children stay together, get back together out of The System, and maintain food and shelter and the basic necessities. I originally had the dream of getting the children of recovering addicts out of foster care and placing them in a residential setting with their moms (dads later, but I can only do one thing at a time) where the moms could be more focused on their recovery rather than worry about children in foster care, and both parents and children could learn about the family disease of addiction/alcoholism in a safe setting. Unfortunately, there is a major NIMBY attitude in every neighborhood we've looked at for our first house, the County is giving us a miserable time with permits, and we're running out of funds. 

In the past few weeks, many people have sent me literally boxes and boxes of supplies for the kids, mostly for school - notebooks, crayons, folders, pens, pencils, lunch boxes....the outpouring has been overwhelming. I shopped myself. Since we've been stymied with the sober housing, I've shifted the focus to the few family shelters in the County (sort of like little one room apartments for families with children, as opposed to the crack motels where they send most single homeless applicants) and have set up a delivery system with a few of them, as well as St. Anthony's church here in Northport, to delivery the goods. We're even getting clothes, both for the kids and the moms, and I've been scouring the Goodwill and Salvation Army for household stuff that is not supplied by the shelters, like pots and pans, sheets, towels, etc.

While everyone involved appreciates the donations of goods (and some locals have also donated time and gas to deliver), I have to ask for cash donations as well. As you're aware, there was a hurricane here a couple of weeks ago. Irene. She was a bitch. Most of Suffolk County lost power, and that meant that not only did the residential homes lose the food in their freezers, the shelter residents did as well. Social Services offered partial replacement food stamps (for those who have open cases) up until 9/6/11. Most people with open food stamp cases had just done their shopping when the storm hit. The most they're getting back is $200 per household. Sounds good, right? You try feeding 4 kids and an adult or two on $200. Can't be done. Food pantries lost their refrigerated and frozen foods, mostly meat, and are now running way low on even dry goods. Clothing, furniture....it wasn't Katrina, but Long Island is a flood zone and when an Island floods, believe me it floods. 

I hate asking my friends to donate money but this is near and dear to my heart. I imagine my children living in these shelters, even without this kind of loss, and it kills me. I can only imagine what the parents living there are going through, especially the ones whose food stamp cases weren't open yet and who, therefore, are not eligible for even the replacement funds. 

And that is why I am turning to you. All you need to do is click the button on the right to make a donation. If you don't have PayPal you can still use that button, and donate with Visa, MC, Discover, Amex or a debit card. You can even do a bank transfer.

I am not asking everyone to donate $100. While I was a little pissed off at the dude who went to the trouble of donating a penny, even a dollar is a help. I did not put a suggested donation because I KNOW everyone is tight right now. But as I said - it is totally tax deductible, you will get a receipt, and you will be helping children who are eating Rice Krispies 3 times a day right now.

Thank you so much. And again, sorry for the serious post this morning. I'll be funny this afternoon. I swear to ass. 

Gentle Breezes,
Mo