“I want to say thank you for the gifts for my daughter. This year, I had gotten into a financial snag and wasn’t able to provide anything for her. With this program, I was able to give something to make her smile on her birthday, and that makes Mommy smile! I hope this program stays alive for more families. Everyone needs that little bit of help and I am very thankful.”
– mom whose child received presents through SNGA’s My Birthday Matters program.
NEXT DONATION DRIVE: SAT., APRIL 15, 10 A.M. TO 1 P.M.
We hope you’ll consider stopping by our Marietta warehouse on Sat., April 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to be a part of our monthly donation drive/volunteer day.
Your new or gently used donations can make a big difference. Our greatest needs right now are microwaves, pots and pans, trash cans, twin/full/queen/king blankets and comforters, toasters, air mattresses, computers (laptop or desktop), grocery plastic bags (to be made into sleeping mats for the homeless), vacuum cleaners, gaming systems, DVD players, and smaller kitchen essentials such as measuring cups and can openers.
For a full list of items that our clients need, please click here.
We also need gently used (no damage or stains) non-sleeper sofas, dressers, mattresses/box springs (especially four xl twin box springs to go with two king mattresses in our inventory), small desks, washers/dryers (no front loaders) and other furniture. Please send photos to Brenda@simpleneedsga.org if you have any of these items to donate; we will arrange for drop off or pick up.
OPEN HOUSE: Sat., April 29, 2017
We’re having our Open House on April 29 and would be thrilled if you could join us.
Drop by our Marietta warehouse that Saturday any time between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. We’ll be giving tours, while talking about our programs and what you can do to help our families. Some clients will be there to share their stories with you. And, of course, we will have some yummy snacks available.
If you have friends or colleagues who have expressed interest in our mission, it’s a great time to bring them by to learn more about how our work benefits people in need in our community.
SIMPLY AWESOME DONORS/VOLUNTEERS!
Amanda Braman (left) requested donations to SNGA in lieu of gifts for her 14th birthday! She requested items from our most needed wish list for our programs Comfort Kits, Shoe Them Love, Simple Household Needs and My Birthday Matters! Thanks so much to Amanda and her mom Therese!
We were also inspired by the generosity of the Taylor family (pictured above). Sarah Taylor contacted Brenda about needed items for SNGA’s My Birthday Matters program and expressed a desire to help throughout the year. One of her first acts was to get family, friends and even her sons’ teachers to provide some of the most needed items that children receive in their My Birthday Matters backpacks.
These items include markers, crayons, colored pencils, pens, erasers, glue sticks, and rulers. Each child also receives between four and five new books to read. Sarah’s brother donated the two complete sets of Harry Potter books that her sons are holding in the picture.
We also wanted to give heartfelt “shout outs” to a couple of the (many) groups and companies that have helped us lately:
Liberal Moms of Roswell and Cobb created an Amazon.com wish list for our clients based on the top needs we list on our site. “They donated so much, including sets of popular books that are in high demand among our birthday kids, and some great character toys,” Brenda said. “Thanks so much!”
Atlanta-based First Data Corp., a global payment solutions technology company, donated a large amount of cleaning supplies and assembled 25 cleaning kits (new laundry baskets filled with things like paper towels, glass cleaner, Spic & Span, laundry detergent and a lot more). What a huge help for our Simple Household Needs program! First Data employees volunteered on a Saturday afternoon. “They assembled the kits, among other activities. They were just an incredible group,” Brenda said. “We’ve distributed many of the kits since then; our clients love them!”
‘FILLING IN THE GAPS’—ONE CLIENT AT A TIME
As a smaller, community-based nonprofit, Simple Needs GA could never be a “one-stop shop” for all of its clients’ needs. And yet, when your friends and neighbors come together to serve a common goal, amazing things can happen.
Take the family of five that recently contacted us for help.
“We relocated to Cobb County after our family went through foreclosure,” the mom explained. “We lost everything we had in our storage unit after not being able to pay for it.”
Dad eventually found work, and the family was able to move into an apartment, but its large rooms were starkly empty. In late March, our tireless volunteers brought her a king-sized mattress and box springs, two full mattresses and box springs, and a table and chairs. The boys were so excited to have beds so they didn’t have to sleep on the floor any longer.
Brenda later met the mom at our space. “She picked out gifts for both boys’ birthdays which included some of the great books recently donated,” Brenda said. “She also received a cleaning kit, mop and broom—she was very excited about the broom because she just had a hand-held one that was nearly useless—and was able to find plenty of items the family needed from our household room. We gave them hygiene items, underwear and socks. On April 8, more furniture was delivered to them.”
Thanks to your amazing generosity, we are so proud to be able to “fill in the gaps” by offering programs that truly do uplift our clients and make their lives easier and more comfortable.
Thanks for all you do for Simple Needs GA!
Simple Needs GA 