Right before leaving for LA, we were made aware of a family who needed coats.  Ron came home with a list of coat sizes for a Mom and her four children.  When I left for LA last Monday, I left the paper sitting on our kitchen counter and wasn’t sure when we’d be back or if we’d be able to help this family.  Armed with coupons from JC Penney and Old Navy, I set out this morning to hit the stores and see what I could find.  Everything I found was on sale.  Using a $10 coupon (that is one $10 donation!) at JCPenney I bought a new coat for $5.36!  Equally lucky at Old Navy, I used another $10 coupon (one more $10 donation!), and bought four new coats for $87.61.  Your contributions bought an entire family of five brand new coats for $92.97.  The whole trip took me about 20 minutes at each store and a handful of $10 donations.

Today we also received a couple of unexpected surprises.  We had some friends call and say that they “had a couple of coats” for us.  When Ron went to meet them, they handed him two brand NEW coats-one for a boy and one for a girl.  Although he usually keeps mens coats in his car, the couple of times he has had a woman’s coat or coats for children, he always seems to come across just the people who need them.   We’ll keep you posted and let you know who receives these special coats.

Shortly after that call, we received an email from my sister Susan, who was spending her time playing around with our $10/20 logo.  After a quick phone call and some additional tweaking on her part, she produced our new logo.  It fits perfectly into the allotted space for facebook and twitter and will also allow us to have some simple cards printed.  Every time I see it, I will be reminded of how she volunteered her time and design talent in support of our $10/20  project.  This will also be important as we move forward with incorporating $10/20 into a non-profit status.  Thank you Sue, we love the logo and we hope you all like it too!

As Ron and I spend more time with this project, we are continually aware of the enormous power of thinking on a smaller scale.  Over and over we discuss how some aspect of this project honestly took about 20-30 minutes.  Or how shopping smarter, we can fill an immediate need for anywhere from $5 – $20.   We received an email and a contribution from a wonderful woman a couple of weeks ago and her words have stayed with me.  She beautifully stated, “It is exciting to see how a small donation can make a big difference.”  Donating $10 or 20 minutes won’t change the world, but it can have a positive impact on an individual.  Today, because of your contributions, five people will be warmer this winter, and a Mom will not have to worry about sending her children, or herself,  into the cold weather.  And, we think that is pretty powerful.