When ‘Sharon’ came to Georgia to escape domestic violence, she and her 7-year-old daughter, who has autism, had only clothing to call their own; they had to leave everything else behind. Sharon called us on a Thursday—the day she moved into her apartment—to request beds, furniture and household items. Brenda asked our very dedicated volunteer Stacy if she could meet Sharon at our warehouse that day to get them air mattresses and small items. Sharon said she needed food as well so we referred her to MUST Ministries. She mentioned she would take the bus; Stacy generously offered to pick her up from MUST, take her to our space and then drive her home. Sharon was able to get dishes, pots and pans, towels, a microwave and much more. The following Saturday, our volunteers delivered beds and furniture.
Last month, we helped another client who had fled domestic violence in another state. This single mom has four children ranging in age from 3 to 9. As you can see in the photo, her car was full of small kitchen and bath items. A week later, we were able to give her bunk beds (with mattresses), an armchair, a sofa and loveseat, an end table, a TV stand, a queen box spring (she had some other items in storage)—even My Birthday Matters gifts for the kids. She later sent us a note: “Please accept my gratitude for all that you and your organization have done for me and my family!”
And please accept our gratitude for all of your support. You make our work possible!
UPCOMING DONATION DRIVES!
Our next monthly Donation Drive is Sat., Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at our Marietta warehouse. Of course, winter is on the way: If you can donate new or gently used sweaters, jackets, coats, mittens, gloves, hats, flannel shirts, blankets—anything that could help a person stay warm—please do bring those items if you can. We will share these with clients (adults and children), as well as social workers and other agencies who work with needy families. See below for some of the other needed items.
If you can’t make it on the 18th, don’t forget that we have added a Donation Drive (same time and location) on the first Saturday of every month as well. The December Donation Drive dates are Dec. 2 and Dec. 16. Mark your calendars!
Right now we’re very low on some much-needed items for our clients (gently used items, please; no stains or damage.). These include:
- twin/full/queen mattresses, box springs, beds/frames
- dining tables and chairs
- dressers and chests of drawers
- cable-ready TVs (not too heavy) as well as TV stands
- end tables/nightstands/coffee tables
- small household items such as towels, new pillows, microwaves, toaster ovens, toasters, crockpots, silverware, glass sets and dish sets
For a full list of items that our clients need, please click here. Specific needs for our My Birthday Matters program are posted on our SignUpGenius.
Email brenda@simpleneedsga.org if you have anything to donate at this time. For large furniture, please email photos; we will arrange for you to drop off or for us to pick up (Cobb County only).
Thank you for your support!
GAGIVES + GIVING TUESDAY ON NOV. 28!
Over the past few years, Simple Needs GA has participated in GAgives, an online fundraiser that has brought in more than $13.7 million for 2,700 nonprofits in Georgia since 2012. SNGA has also received donations as part of the global #GivingTuesday campaign. It is the third-biggest day of charitable giving in dollars raised, more than $180 million in 2016 alone.
This year, the two fast-growing events will both be held on the same day—Nov. 28.
We hope you’ll consider supporting Simple Needs GA during these events! Just click here to make a donation through the GAgives Day site.
While you can use this site now and throughout the year to donate to SNGA, if you donate on Nov. 28 that puts us in the running for one of the GAgives prize contests, which trigger additional funding for participating nonprofits.
RAMPING UP FOR THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.
Our Spirit of Christmas program seeks to “fill in the gaps” by helping families that were unable to register for other local programs such as the MUST Toy Shop, Cobb Christmas or Toys for Tots.
We can’t express how excited we have been to receive the outpouring of help from our donors and volunteers for this program. Last year, we ensured that about 150 kids from 60 families received gifts for Christmas! The parents also received a gift card.
It’s a big job that requires a lot of coordination. Each year, our goal is to do advance planning so that the program will run even more efficiently than the year before. We’re now gathering names of people who want to sponsor families and/or volunteer to coordinate, wrap, deliver and more.
If you’d like to join us and help plan for the holiday season, just email brenda@simpleneedsga.org.
SOME (INCOMPLETE) SHOUT OUTS!
As Simple Needs GA has grown, so, too, has one of our challenges—thanking all of the awesome donors and volunteers who are the heart of what we do.
Here’s an only partial list of recent helpers!
- A Sunday School class at the First United Methodist Church of Marietta came through for SNGA with a big donation drive and event focusing on items for those who live in the woods.
- Cribmaster, the Marietta-based inventory and asset-management solutions company, brought a large number of cleaning supplies for our Simple Household Needs program (photo is of Kelly from Cribmasters with some of these donations).
- Families from Little Helpers of Atlanta visited our warehouse and gave our clients a boost with new underwear, socks and other items. The Gwinnett Citizen even did a nice write-up about it.
- The UMW from Marietta’s St. Andrew United Methodist Church donated toys and other needed items from the Simple Needs GA SignUpGenius page, and employees from IBM, a company that has been one of our biggest supporters, pitched in at our warehouse on a couple of different Saturdays.
We could keep on writing about all of the great folks who helped us with Diaper Day, or the small, but important, acts of kindness by individual volunteers like Barb, who recently picked up water bottles for us so we wouldn’t have to pay shipping!
Thanks so much for all of your help!
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP SNGA
Donate online here. Donations can be sent to Simple Needs GA, Inc., P.O. Box 670265, Marietta, GA 30066.
To volunteer as an individual, company, church or other organization, contact us at brenda@simpleneedsga.org. Visit our volunteer page for more info.
smile.amazon.com is a great way to support SNGA. Just sign up for the program and choose Simple Needs GA from the list. After that, AmazonSmile will donate to SNGA each time you make a purchase! Just remember to go to the smile.amazon.com portal before you do your shopping!
Check out how you can support us in similar fashion by signing up for Kroger Community Rewards!
Simple Needs GA 