Unexpected Generosity

Our dedicated little group meets twice monthly (the second and fourth Thursday) at a little country church, for sewing, crocheting, knitting, etc.  That church has been so kind to let us leave our things there and not have to cart them around.  And like most of us who have sewing rooms, the supplies seem to be like that movie "Gremlins"!  I really think they multiply during the night.

So our "stuff" (I mean, very important supplies) has started to grow and GROW, until now a couple of people have started to comment.  I thought we might have to pare it all down to a manageable level, maybe have each board member take some of it home to store, and bring back each time we meet. 

But NO!  I couldn't believe it when I was told that the church really likes hosting our group so they decided...  get ready... drum roll...

They decided to pay a carpenter $1,500 to build "built-ins" into their fellowship hall to store all our bins of fabric, trimmings, sewing machines, etc!  Can you believe it?  We are so grateful for the ongoing surprises God has had in store for our little group.  One lady contributed a few dollars and said she wished she had more money to donate.  Another group had some canning jars to sell, and then gave us that money.  People are incredible. 

And our Heavenly Father just watches over us and arranges things every time we meet.  Our fellowship times and mutual counsel has been priceless for all who join in.  Thank you Lord, for these friends, for these projects, and for the way you always provide just what we need - just when we need it!  Amen!

Tax Time - Generous Children

What a relief!  I was really stressing over the responsibility of doing a tax return for our little 501(c)(3).  We only have about $200 in the bank, but still...  Tax time is always stressful for me and I didn't want to make a mistake on this very important task.

Well as it turned out, since we are so teensy I was able to do it online and eFile the little return they call a "postcard" - hooray!  They just want to know that we are still around, that our information hasn't changed and that we have less than $50,000.  Make that waaaaaayyyyy less than $50K - LOL.

But actually soon we will have some more money in the bank.  Sweet Nicholas' younger siblings, twins David and Andrea, just turned 6 years old.  Their mom and dad are training them about budgeting, so they had a family talk about the birthday money they received.  They will give some of it to their church, put some in the bank, have a little fun spending money, and the rest gets donated to a charity.

 They discussed several options and decided they wanted to fly to Japan and help all those people devastated by the earthquakes and sunamis.  What generous children!  The problem is that they didn't get enough money to fly to Japan and go help them.  So they discussed other options.  In the end, David and Andrea decided to send their birthday money to help the Nicholas Project!

 I have connections to missionaries in Japan, so on David and Andrea's behalf we will get information on how we can best and most effectively help.  Shipping costs are exhorbitant so we'll most likely send some money.  But if we find a way to partner with someone else, we may be able to make some things for them.  We have received a free pattern for little stuffed bears that might be good for the children to cuddle.

Thank you so much you two - you're the best!

Clothing Giveaway

The church where we have our semi-monthly workshops is having a huge clothing giveaway, so that means the room we use for sewing is full of clothes!  It's for a very excellent cause, and we hope to have lots of people come by and "shop" this weekend.

In the meantime, this week's workshop will be canceled because the room looks like a very interesting thrift store.  There's some seriously good stuff in there, so come on and see what you might like!

Grace and peace,
Donna

Constructive Suggestion

One of my very wonderful sisters phoned recently and was asking about what kinds of things she (and others long distance) could make and send to us.  I started to describe some of our simple projects and how easy they are to sew, knit or crochet.  She stopped me and said, "Hey, why don't you add those kinds of instructions to your website / blog, so others can participate!"

Hmmm, I think she's right.  In fact, I don't know why I didn't do something like this much sooner.  Thanks Patti!

While I'm at it, I will try to get better at doing regular posts.  After all, if I can do it on Facebook I can surely do it here, right?  Maybe it will help if I add this blog to my home pages.  That way I will see it each time I open my internet browser. 

Shalom y'all!

Cleburne County Fair

Someone asked me if the Nicholas Project has a website, and it reminded me that I have not taken good care of this blog!  So here I am after a long absence, with an update.

Our little group has been busy little worker-bees.  Last Christmas we were excited to present 107 lap quilts to residents at Southridge Nursing and Rehab center in Heber Springs, Arkansas.  Then with the New Year (can you believe it's 2010?) we started making things for small children, to be donated to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates.)  We are also making hot-weather clothing to go to a mission in Africa.

Now the organizers of the Cleburne County fair phoned to ask us if we'd set up a table promoting the Nicholas Project.  The Fair will run from September 7th through 11th -- come visit us!  We will have brochures, as well as samples of our work.  I better get busy and make a tiny burial ensemble to show people how important it is to recognize that a teensy stillborn baby is a beloved child -- not just a "fetus."

Shalon y'all!  Chaplain Donna

New Year Project for C.A.S.A.!

Saturday morning we had our official Nicholas Project board meeting (required by law). We decided that for the next several months, at least through June but probably longer, we will adopt the C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocates) organization. We'll make tote bags (maybe duffle bags) for the children (of all ages) who are taken into the system. The bags will be stuffed with socks, underwear, hygiene supplies, maybe coloring books, crayons, cards, whatever we can come up with. One woman said her church might be able to buy the things to put in the bags (at least some of it). The Nicholas Project will make the bags, putting outside pockets on them, maybe inside ones too, we'll see.

After the board meeting, we wrapped all those nursing home quilts in Christmas paper -- so fun!! We'll go to their Christmas party on the 22nd and hand out the packages, and sing and play with them!

We're dark for December but will start up again in January with our regular schedule. We meet twice a month, on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays for all-day sewing/knitting/crocheting workshops ("play dates" really). We always take a lunch break and walk across the street for southern BBQ -- yum! We started out with the purpose of making preemie and stillborn items, and still do those things at our first monthly workshop. Then the second monthly one is when we do other special projects.

So I will put my name on the stashbuster group's PIGS (projects in grocery sacks, or kits) list as a recipient. The Nicholas Project would be happy to take in PIGS, complete them and find worthy homes for the finished projects. If you have any cotton fabrics (cut or uncut) or useable remnants we'd take them too! We could also use donations of zippers, cording for drawstrings, velcro, batting, money, etc. Also items to put into the bags: socks, underwear, hygiene items, small activity things (maybe pencils, pens, crayons, coloring books, small stuffed animals, etc.)

If you send something, please include a little note with the value so I can send you a tax-deductible receipt.  (It looks like Jess and Samantha are having a dance party in the sewing studio!)

NonProfit Status

We have been blessed by people desiring to help defray the costs of materials for the things we make.  Consequently, we completed the Arkansas State filing process and are now approved and incorporated as a Religious Charitable Organization, effective October 13, 2008.

Additionally, we have sent in the IRS form 1023 -- which is an application to become recognized as exempt under section 501(c)3 of their tax codes.  The application fee was a shocking (to us) $300!  So now we wait for a decision on that request.  We feel hopeful and prayerfully confident that our application will be approved, and will enable those who have donated money or items to us to include those donations when calculating their annual tax returns.

I will post updates to that process here, as they develop. I was able to speak by phone with a very helpful IRS employee and he assured me that regardless of when our application is processed, it will be retroactive to the date of our incorporation -- nice work IRS!  Thank you.

About Us

A few years ago, sweet Nicholas was stillborn -- straight into the arms of Jesus, when my son and his wife were in Italy. As grandparents, we never got to be involved in the pregnancy or meet little Nicholas, until his very sad funeral back home in California.

Our whole family was devastated by this long-awaited child's passing. I started the Nicholas Project as a way of keeping his memory alive, while also finding ways to help others. Our efforts have grown and now we sew, knit, crochet items for multiple charitable causes.

We hold workshops twice a month: once to make items for preemies and stillborn babies, and the other time to make items for other special causes. Right now we're finishing up a huge undertaking -- making 125 (it was 150 until we got a better count) lap quilts for the local nursing home/rehab center. Several of our online Martha Pullen friends have sent some quilts, quilt tops, squares, fabric and even money to help purchase supplies.

Thank you all for prayer support and practical contributions!