New Project

We went to Columbia last Wednesday to meet our third family and to deliver more cards. The exciting thing? Sarah Hill from KOMU was there to interview our sponsored family and Jamie and me. I have pictures but have not downloaded them. Our story will most likely air in May. I will post more information when I have it! I am so excited to see how it turns out. I cried during the interview and I was super nervous. But I hope that it will inspire others to help these families - whether it is through Hold My Heart or on their own initiative.

Another exciting part of this trip was that my dad was able to go. He wasn't able to come out to see Alyssa when we were in the NICU. It was really nice to see everyone. My dad was able to see Alyssa's room and meet some of the doctors and nurses that took care of her. We took Addy and she was also able to meet them. So it was a very special day in a lot of ways.

As for the new project...Dasi (the social worker) was talking about some of the new improvements coming to the NICU waiting room. I asked how the foundation can help and she suggested making care bags. So now my mission is to ask hotels in the area to donate personal care items. I will put these in a nice gift bag with our information. Dasi will hand them out to families that need it. I am super excited about this. Why didn't I think of this before? Our trip wasn't planned and we were not prepared. In fact, I think when Jamie packed (in a hurry) he didn't include personal care items. So we were in the same boat a lot of the families end up in. Another project that I would like to do eventually is to also provide disposable cameras that Dasi can hand out. Luckily Jamie had his phone or we would not have had those first precious pictures of Alyssa when she was born. But baby steps first. Maybe we can get a really great response from hotels in the area and maybe they will include cameras as well!

I will post pictures and information about our third family this week. Things have slowed down foundation wise for me but with a newborn I guess that is to be expected! Please continue to pray for the families and for our foundation to grow and touch as many families as we can.

Slowing Down

I am trying not to slow down but I am. I'm hoping that I can get more done when I am on maternity leave. The exciting thing is that people are ordering T-Shirts and Hoodies! Every time I see someone wearing one I get super excited! It's kind of surreal too.

Please pass on the word - if you have a picture of you in a Hold My Heart shirt email to us and we will put it on the website! Email any picture to holdmyheartfoundation@yahoo.com.

Upcoming events will be the annual walk in October. We'd like to do more before then and we have options. It is just a matter of deciding where to put our focus and what to do. I am wanting to do more in Columbia. After all, we support the NICU there.

I haven't been able to head up there to sponsor a family for this quarter. But I am hoping to do so in late April with our daughter! I am going to get a little onesie made with the logo on it. I'm looking forward to having a family outing to the NICU where her older sister was born.

Until then...I will take it easy. I am trying to figure out how to run everything and be a new mommy. Hopefully it won't take long!

Poker Run

Has anyone been using Good Search? Yes!! We have made over $1 with people searching the internet using Good Search. So that means that people have been using it! How awesome is that? If you haven't been please do so. Whenever you search the internet use Good Search and it will give the foundation a penny. In fact, if 100 people do 2 searches a day for a year, it can raise $730. If you download their toolbar then it will also let you know what stores participate with Good Shop. I shopped at Target the other day and earned $2 for the foundation. Super easy!

The Columbia walk will be moved to next year. There is so much going on and with all the snow and inclement weather I have not been able to contact people in Columbia to get the ball rolling. The alternative? A poker run! I am super excited because it seems like not only a great way to raise awareness and raise funds for Hold My Heart but it will also be a great way to witness.

I will post more as I get more details together. Right now it is in the very beginning stages and we are trying to get sponsors for the event. It should be relatively low cost which is great but we do need prizes. Providing lunch or some snacks would also be awesome. If you have any ideas or would like to help please email me at holdmyheartfoundation@yahoo.com. We would appreciate any help!

An Easy Way to Raise Money

Our foundation relies on donations to help our families. However, donations have slowed down for us. While we have plans in the future to help raise awareness and funds, here is a super easy way to raise money for our foundation. All you have to do is go to www.goodsearch.com and search for Hold My Heart Foundation on the home page. Anytime you search the internet please use Good Search. Every search (with some restrictions) earns us money. How awesome and easy is that? It is powered by Yahoo, so it won't compromise your search results. And if you like to shop, Good Shop gives us a portion of whatever you shop for online.

Please support us by using Good Search. The more money we raise the more families we can help!

Tax Letters and TShirts

Hello everyone!
We are working on getting tax letters sent out. Snow days and printer problems are causing a delay. But we will get them out this week - I have a plan! :)

Coming up this month also we will take orders for tshirts and Hoodies. Pictures will be up soon. Also this month we will take our third round of gift cards and sponsor our third family! I am super excited!!

More information to follow!

Big Things

Happy New Year! 2010 was a great year for us. God blessed us with opportunities and people who supported us to help families in Missouri. We pray that this foundation continues to be able to help others not only this year but for many!

I have a lot to do! Coming up pretty soon we will post information about a super easy way to raise funds for the foundation. We need your help! My deadline for this is in a week so please check back!

Also coming soon we will be taking orders for t-shirts and hoodies. We will post pictures of them on the website as well as here with information as to how to order these.

And to add to everything, I am going to start looking into doing a walk in Columbia in April or May! Am I crazy? Maybe. But I know that God is running this operation and I follow what He wants! Even though things are going to change in March. For those of you who do not know, I am pregnant and due in March. So we will see how everything goes trying to juggle everything!

Check back for more information! God bless and Happy New Year!

Books for Babies

Our goal for December is to provide a book for every family in the NICU. I can honestly say (based on our experience) that reading to Alyssa is one of our favorite memories. We thought it was so nice to receive a new book with her footprints in it. It gave us something to say. As odd as it may sound, sometimes we just didn't know what to say to her. Reading gave us a chance for her to hear her voice and to take our minds off of finding something to say. I found that if I tried just talking to her, it usually ended up in me crying.

We are trying to get books delivered to the NICU sometime next week or the week of Christmas. We would love to provide each family a book. We are trying to get a $5 donation, which will help provide 1 book to a family. If we are make more, we would love to provide books not only to the University of Women and Children's Hospital but to the NICU in Springfield as well! If you would like to help, please visit our website. Click here to donate!