“My mom said that there are many things that we could not get, but that God is good all the time. Thanks to Simple Needs GA we can have a few of these things. Thank you for my birthday gifts and the box springs and mattress! I slept good last night! My mom and me are really grateful that you helped us. We love you, Ms. Brenda!”
–text from an 11-year-old boy whose family recently received help from Simple Needs GA.
“The mother of six was grateful for the dresser. The young mom was very appreciative of the full box spring, and the 12-year-old boy cried when we carried in the twin bed with drawers and matching nightstand (the frame he had was in pieces).”
–Tracy, volunteer for our Simple Household Needs program
UPCOMING DONATION DRIVE!
The recent Arctic Freeze was a nippy reminder that having the right winter wear makes all the difference when the mercury plunges. Our clients still need winter items. Our next monthly Donation Drive is Sat., Jan. 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at our Marietta warehouse. If you can bring new or gently used sweaters, jackets, coats, mittens, gloves, hats, flannel shirts, blankets and the like, our clients would be most grateful to have them!
If you can’t make it on Jan. 20th, don’t forget that we have added a Donation Drive (same time and location) on the first Saturday of every month as well. Next month that first-Saturday drive will be on Feb. 3, followed by the regular third-Saturday drive on Feb. 17. 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:
- laptop computers for students
- drinking glasses and dish sets
- 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
- nightstands/coffee tables
- small household items
- baby items such as pack and plays, strollers, high chairs and more
For a full list of needed items, 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 (in Cobb County). Thank you for your support!
GETTING RESULTS—THANKS TO OUR DONORS AND VOLUNTEERS!
This past year, Simple Needs GA’s My Birthday Matters program helped 213 children, increasing from 139 in 2016. Our Simple Household Needs program brought furniture and household items to 110 families (up from 66 in 2016).
Meanwhile, as part of our 2017 Spirit of Christmas program, volunteers and donors came together to give $100 in requested gifts to 158 children in 59 families, all of whom also received extras like puzzles, board games and hats, gloves and scarves. Parent(s) also received at least one $25 Walmart card.
The hard work of our donors, volunteers and corporate partners is what makes this happen. Here are some shout outs to just a few of those who have supported Simple Needs GA of late:
Two Men & A Truck continues to give back to its community in a big way. Over the past few months, the company has been extremely generous to Simple Needs GA, on several occasions sending its trucks and delivery pros to pickup furniture and household items from our donors and then bringing those items to our clients. It’s great to have a company on our team that cares so much about the community. To understand the effort and time this involves, just think about what it takes to help a friend move—getting the truck, sitting in traffic, loading and unloading furniture. Not easy! We are deeply grateful to Two Men & A Truck!
John Silvey, managing partner of two Zaxby’s franchises in Marietta, located at 2080 Lower Roswell Road and 591 S. Marietta Pkwy, provided lunch, gratis, for our Christmas volunteers. Yeah, John! You’re awesome!
Holly Walther & Team with Success Mortgage Partners sponsored 20 children for Christmas! They also bought them extra items such as hats, gloves, scarves and games, and gift cards for the parents. And did we mention that Holly also brought four pies to us one Saturday for the volunteers?! Holly and her company (4343 Shallowford Rd. in Marietta) plan to continue to help us throughout the year. We’re so thankful. BTW, Ginny Braswell, who is part of Holly’s team, and her husband sponsored two additional children on top of all the work they did for the aforementioned 20. Ginny is a dedicated volunteer with Kiwanis and SNGA and recently donated furniture to SNGA to boot!
Johnny at Security Lock and Safe has helped Simple Needs GA several times at no charge. Located at 705 Roswell Street NE, not far from our furniture storage, this company recently came to our warehouse and fixed our lock after it froze in the cold and got stuck. A few months ago, Security Lock and Safe also swapped out the lock box at our storage space and charged us just for the new lock box, not the labor. Two years ago, they came over to our warehouse, pulled apart the lock box and took several trips back and forth to find parts so we wouldn’t have to pay for anything…all for free, no charge for labor!
Lori Hollaran’s 13-year-old daughter Addy had a “toy drop” party along with 17 of her friends (photo). The group, which included Addy’s 15-year-old sister Rya, also made financial donations toward the purchase of toys for our clients.
In all, the party brought in about 50 toys! The children who made the donations were super-excited to visit our warehouse and deliver these items. “So glad we could be a part of this gift-giving season,” Lori said.
The Marietta law firm of O’Dell and O’Neal Attorneys generously donated a large amount of gift cards, gloves and games. We accepted them with no objections! 😀
Allison K. Giddens and the Kennesaw-based Dave Krache Foundation, which helps local kids play in community league sports even when they lack money for the usual fees, donated basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, and a travel soccer goal for our clients. Score!
Emmy and her team at WellStarIT collaborated to donate a plethora of games and winter hats (photo) for our clients.
Dedicated volunteer Chandra Burns and her husband Paul sponsored two kids at Christmas–and Paul’s coworkers from his company Conduent sponsored seven children!
Linda Bonstein and the rest of the YMCA’s Togetherhood community engagement committee made Angel “ornaments” and attached them to trees at the McCleskey and Northeast YMCAs. Y members chose one or more ornaments from the tree, bought the items those ornaments represented and then brought the gifts to the Y for delivery to SNGA. “I was so happy with our members’ response!” Linda said. These awesome gifts made our clients happy, too!
Tarver Lowe and his son, James, worked with James’s baseball team (Kennesaw Generals 9U) to sponsor families financially as part of our Spirit of Christmas program. “We chose Simple Needs GA because we wanted to instill in our kids the importance of giving back locally to their community,” Tarver said. “Our kids bonded together and are better as a team because of that. We were very proud of each one of them and the work they put in to help make a difference.”
So were we! Thanks so much for your support!
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 