Wouldn't it be great to increase your money today?

GiveMN.org is making that possible with a giving stimulus plan called "Give to the Max Day," created to increase giving to non-profits across Minnesota. Donations made to the Twin Cities Salvation Army by giving online here will be elegible for a portion of $500,000 in matching funds for a 24 hour period, ending November 18th at 8 a.m.

What an incredible opportunity to increase the amount of support you can give to The Salvation Army, by taking part in this one-day plan.

Check out this press release for the details of how this has been made possible, and give to The Salvation Army during Give to the Max Day by making a credit card gift here.

Coats for Kids 2009: The delightful and the frustrating

On Thursday The Salvation Army held its annual Coats for Kids distribution at 10 locations across the Twin Cities, where more than 8,300 coats were distributed. I work at a Salvation Army office in Minneapolis, but on the distribution day I was assigned to a location in Wright County, where we gave 376 coats to 121 families.

Being in Wright County was a different experience for me. It is way out in the country. Many of the people at this coat distribution had come from quite a distance, whereas in the city, people don’t have to commute as far. All the families we served were very appreciative of the coats we gave them. The Buffalo Rotary Club was volunteering at our coat drive, and they donated 170 pairs of snow pants to our distribution site. Parents were super excited when they saw they could get snow pants. They were a very hot commodity at our distribution site – which makes sense. Who wants to play in the snow and get super cold? Not me!

One family I registered had 10 children. I cannot imagine trying to feed and clothe 10 children. It must cost a fortune. She was very happy that she was able to get coats, hats and mittens for all of her children. Another mom came in with her daughter to get a coat and told us a bit of her story. Her daughter had just received heart surgery, and the mom wasn’t working because she had stayed in the hospital with her daughter. Because of this, her budget was tight and she needed help from The Salvation Army. She cried when she was leaving because she was so relieved that she had a coat for her daughter.

Unfortunately, some metro area offices had to turn away families because of a shortage of donated coats. This year we had more usable coats donated than ever before, yet we have an opportunity to do even better. My hope for next year is that we have more donations of used coats so that this doesn’t happen again. Children should never go without the basic necessities of clothing, food and shelter.