Giving Tuesday 2020: The Launch Of Something Great
It was an early morning in July. Neil woke up, one eye after the other, just like he always had.
Only something was different about today…today was the start of something great.
It was the first day on the road to something amazing. And four days later, the history of the world was written.
On the morning of July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong boarded Apollo 11 and launched the first manned spaceflight to land on the moon.
For great things to happen, there needs to be a launch.
This Giving Tuesday, Fleece & Thank You is launching our Year End Annual Appeal.
We make plans in life, and like many of us have learned this year, plans can change.
In response to this year’s current environment, we made an instant addition to improve our services for kids in the hospital: an industrial grade washer and dryer. This would allow us to guarantee germ free blankets to our kiddos.
Unfortunately, we discovered recently that the pipe we need to hook up the drain to is in the ground underneath cement and not in the wall as expected. This means an unforeseen expense of $4,850 to properly dig it out and connect it to the drain on the washer.
This week leading up to Giving Tuesday on Dec. 1, we will be sharing three stories of people that will be directly and positively impacted by this washing machine being operational, and we hope that sharing these stories will compel you to be part of achieving our Giving Tuesday fundraising goal.
Our first story this week was from one of our community partners that serves adults with disabilities. These amazing individuals will be the ones operating our washing machine and dryer.
Our second story is about the importance of this washer and dryer to the hospital.
Tamika Andersen is an Infection Prevention Specialist and Fleece & Thank You Board Member brought in to provide critical oversight to F&TY’s sanitation process. With Tamika’s help, we are improving our service of fleece blankets to the highest standard possible.
Hear what the installation of this washer and dryer means in Tamika’s words.
>After hearing from our community partners who serve adults with disabilities as well as an infection prevention specialist from the hospital, our third and final story comes from a teen patient who battled brain cancer.
Hannah Thomas is a brain cancer survivor and Fleece & Thank You blanket recipient. She has been a relentless ambassador for the F&TY mission since receiving a blanket going through her own cancer treatment journey.
Listen to what 100% germ free blankets means to patients like Hannah.
>Our annual appeal will be a testament to the amazing work we have done this year- growing in revenue again despite the pandemic, reaching more kids, and engaging supporters in new ways- and it will also be a launching pad for the year to come.
In this next year, we will see continued curveballs on our journey to comfort kids. Like encountering the pipe in the ground, we will find a way to dig, find a way to connect, and find a way to keep our service thriving so kids in the hospital can be comforted.
We hope you are able to join us this Giving Tuesday as we take the first step in launching our annual appeal- funding the unforeseen expense of the drain pipe being connected by the plumber.
For great things to happen, there needs to be a launch, and we are thankful for you being here for this one- the start of another historic year of comforting kids in the hospital with a higher quality of service than ever before.
Click here to support our Giving Tuesday Campaign and help us with our unforeseen washing machine expense.
With gratitude,
Nicholas Kristock
Executive Director