We started Totally Buffalo two years ago and what a ride it has been!
We started the site/blog to highlight the positive people, places and things in Buffalo and Western New York. We’ve published 1,254 stories over the past 24 months and we’ve loved every minute of it!
We feel so blessed to live in such an amazing community of people who truly care about others. Do we have problems? Of course we do. Do we have a lot of work to do? Oh yes we do. But, we are moving in the right direction and that is a start!
We’ve been happy to share stories that bring attention to folks and organizations who need help. We’ve been happy to be the middleman – bringing the generous Western New Yorkers a way to help. It’s been amazing!
But, we wanted to do more.
We receive many emails from people, families, charities that need help. We bring their need to our readers and it’s usually a perfect match that gets the job done.
But, we wanted to do more.
We knew we wanted to start a charity at some point – but my gosh, there are so many out there. We didn’t want to step on any toes. We have very close relationships with many local charities and help them whenever and however we can.
But, we wanted to do more.
My family – all of us – wanted to do something in memory of our dad – the most generous man I’ve ever known. So that is what we are doing.
One thing we’ve learned over time is how difficult the holidays can be for folks. Most of us enjoy the family time, the spirituality, the food, the drinks, the gifts – the love. But, for many – holidays can be the most difficult of times. Holidays can be lonely. Holidays can be scary and frustrating and sad. So, that is where our thinking went.
We decided to start a charity to help others around the holidays. All of the holidays.
We’re calling it Totally Buffalo’s Hope for the Holidays. We are in the process of forming a 501c3 – we hoped to be all set by now – but the Government shutdown stalled us a bit. We are almost there.
We are extremely excited about this project that will bring hope for the holidays to many!
Sure, the obvious ones are Thanksgiving and Christmas where we can help bring food to tables and gifts to homes. We can help those who are lonely by showing them we care. We have big plans. But, it’s more than that. We will help all year round! We’ll bring Valentine’s to sick children, Easter baskets to those who may not get them, we’ll help veterans and their families on Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the 4th of July. We’ll help get kids ready for back to school with supplies they need. We’ve got plans! We’ll also shower moms on Mother’s Day and dads on Father’s Day. We will deliver gifts to babies born at our local hospitals. We will help bring happiness and joy to sick children and the elderly on their birthdays. We’ll cover each and every holiday!
We have an amazing board in place to help find and fill the need in our community!
Obviously, we can’t do it alone! We need help from you. We need to know who needs our help. If you know of a person or family going through a tough time, please send us the information.
We also need to raise money! We will be announcing a few fundraisers very soon – some super fun, super cool ways to make a difference!!
You can also make a donation to our paypal account HERE.
We will have more ways to donate once our website is complete!!!
Also – follow us on Facebook and share our posts and our page! If you’d like to help with fundraisers, let us know! We want this to be a community effort and together, we will bring hope to many.
Totally Buffalo’s Hope for the Holidays. EIN #83-3144173
0 Comments