Budgets Are Sexy

Hi guys :)  I’m not sure who’s still around from the beginning of our launch of Love Drop (our philanthropy project where we help one family a month through micro-giving, and then film the whole thing when we surprise them at their house), but after a ton of consideration we’ve decided to wrap it up at the end of December. At least the way we know it now…

It was one of the hardest things for us to do, but we were also more than encouraged with the results we were able to accomplish in these past 12 months together.  In less than a year our little peanut of an idea blossomed into a worldwide community of love and support, and over these handful of months we were able to give out everything from a car (remember the Ford Mustang?), to a $13,000 service dog for brothers with autism, a family vacation to Aruba for a 3-time cancer survivor, and overall over $82,000 worth of goods and services (and cash!) in total. All from you guys chipping in a few bucks here and there. Simply amazing.

With all projects though, there comes a time when you have to step back and determine how you want to shape its future – both personally and professionally. And for us, we realized that everything we set out to accomplish has pretty much come true, minus any grand sponsorship ideas or salary infusions so we can actually get paid to run it, haha… ;)  But the idea that people DO respond when you give them an easy way to participate and have FUN with it all, still holds true to this day – even in our crazy A.D.D. world we live in…  So when we asked ourselves “what’s next?” we were at a loss.  And I think that’s okay?

The thing I’ve learned the most out of this project is that every day brings a new set of both opportunities and hurdles. Some of the hurdles we can avoid, and others knock us down a bit only to help us come back stronger and thirstier for success directly after.  And right now our hurdle is simply time. We helped a looooot of people this year, and had a complete blast traveling the country doing it! (I think we hit 25 states?), but the truth of the matter is we no longer have the ability to invest the same 20-30 hours a week into it without affecting our day jobs anymore (another 40-60 hours/ week). Our bodies have been pleading for a much-deserved break, so come January we’ll finally be giving it to them.

But while we close out another chapter of our professional lives here with Love Drop, we open up another in 2012 with even more surprises and opportunities to thrive and give back.  And you better believe our wheels are already turning :) So stay tuned to see what else we’re cooking up for you next! We’ve learned a lot this year, and we’ll be continually building on it for years and years to come.

And now for my request.

If you can find it in your hearts and wallets to give a little extra this holiday season, I’d like to rally your support one last time for our very last Love Drop recipient: Diomi (mom) and Nalee (son).

A family who literally has nothing other than the roof over their heads and some miniscule amounts of food and articles of clothing they’ve been able to collect.  They have to wash their same clothes in the sink at the end of every week, and the only reason they continue to have electricity this harsh Wisconsin winter is because the state legally has to leave it on due to the serious nature of what would happen if they didn’t.

For them, simple things like deodorant and other personal items are a luxury. (Which is where we’re using the money collected for. To give them all of the things every person on this Earth should have.)

But please don’t consider this a call for pity. Diomi and her son are incredibly thankful for those things they DO have in their lives – specifically each other – and will continue to work themselves out of their current phase as quickly, and as passionately, as  possible.  What it boils down to is simply hitting a really rough patch right now, and us giving them the spark they need to lift their spirits back up and getting ’em right back on track again. It breaks my heart they’ll be alone this Christmas with hardly any food or friendships to comfort them!

If you’re in a position to give, please do so by visiting our site one last time and helping us give them the best Love Drop we’ve ever seen.  Right in time for the holidays :) You can learn even more about this family by watching our video about them right here:

For all of you who’ve participated and been members of our project from the beginning, THANK YOU.  We couldn’t have done it without you, and we’re blessed to be in the position to be able to do things like this because of all YOUR support and encouragement.  I can’t tell you how lucky I feel.

Thank you all so very very much, and we’ll be sharing our new ideas with you shortly.  Let’s end 2011 the way we started it… with love.

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PS: If you’ll be around the Milwaukee, WI area on Thursday, December 22nd, we’d love to have you participate in either the Drop itself, or the end-of-year get together afterward. Just shoot me an email.

PPS: Again, all money collected (minus operational expenses) are going directly to help Diomi and Nalee this December with food, clothing, a few gifts, and as many personal items as we can give them to make sure they’re in good standing for this up and coming winter. More info can be found here.

[UPDATE: It seems some asshole decided to be clever and hack our site when we need it the most. It is currently down, but we are working to get it back up – THIS FAMILY NEEDS OUR HELP! In the meantime, please reach out to me directly if you need anything, or want to offer assistance. Thank you so much. Good always wins.]

[UPDATE #2: Love Drop is back up again!]

Originally published at budgetsaresexy.com.