Where do I start? You guys were AMAZING the other month. Our very first Love Drop raised $480.66 over just ONE weekend!!!  That’s almost $500 that went directly (or almost directly – there were a few fees from PayPal) to Angie’s family to help them rebuild their house :) I’ve never experienced anything of mine burning up before, so I can’t even imagine the emotional stress losing your house would have on you.  She wanted all of you to know that she was extremely grateful for your help!  Here’s what she wrote:

“Thanks much for your generosity. The gift is extremely appreciated and knowing that it came from strangers is very uplifting. “Love Drop” is a perfect name. The impact of receiving this is hard to put into words. Thanks for your part in making my family’s difficult time a little easier!”

Our first shot a success!  All 50 of you should feel great that you improved the life of a human being with just a couple of dollars, YOU GUYS ROCK.

For everyone not familiar with Love Drop, it’s basically our own way to give back.  The idea is that if everyone donated just $1 or $2 to a “pot,” we could turn around and hand over that pot directly to someone we know who REALLY needs it. One person/family every month.  It’s not a replacement for volunteering or any other charitable things we’re doing in our lives, but more of an extra way to help someone out financially. Sometimes all people need is a few bucks to get their lives back on track!

So what’s next? Well, kind of a lot.  It seems there’s more to starting a 501(c)3 that meets the eye ;)  We wish we could continue doing these monthly before it’s all wrapped up, but we’ve been told it’s probably best to wait. That being said, Nate (from ItStartsWith.Us) and I have slowly begun the process in hopes we can make this a full-fledge charity soon! It’s not gonna happen tomorrow, or next week or next month for that matter, BUT it’s still on the docket and we have every intention to make this a national event. Can you imagine?  Directly affecting someone’s life EVERY MONTH? We really think we’re on to something big here and can’t wait to make it happen.  THANK YOU for all your support and advice so far, we’re changing the world, baby!

If you’d like to get specific updates on this, or to help with future “drops,” you can sign up to our email notifications below.  We’ve only sent 1-2 in the past 3 months so we promise not to blow it up ;)

That’s it for now friends, have a great weekend! And as always, feel free to email me any ideas or thoughts you may have on anything – esp if you’re a charity master ;)

——————————–
PS:  Here are some other quick updates I’ve been forgetting to write about lately – if I miss something just drop me a comment here and I’ll answer ’em!

1. Our neighbor’s house for sale – They got 1 offer @ $297k and then took it off the market.  Which, in the grand scheme of things, is great!  It means we now have a fair value on our house – and not too off the $300k number we had in mind.  This is prob. as accurate as we can get :)
2. Blogger Showdown Series – Y’all still like these?  I had to take a break cuz they took some time but thinkin’ of starting them back up again :)  We’ve got some new bloggers on the scene!
3. My job situation – A lot more stable than last month, but we just found out we’re taking 10% pay cuts. It might be made up with bonuses down the line but who knows… for now we push forward and I try to do two things at once:  My 9-5 and my blog business.  Who needs to sleep?
4. Operation “Spend My Gift Cards” – FAIL. Spent $13 out of the $250 last weekend.

UPDATE: LOVE DROP IS NOW LIVE!!! –> LoveDrop.us