CAMPAIGN BLOG
21 Oct 2009"So she emptied the contents of her piggy bank, €6.41, into the envelope and sent it in to us and asked us to make sure it got to the children who need it."
Written by Ruth Guy, Barnardos Fundraising Director
Someone asked me yesterday if every small amount we receive really does make a difference and I told them, emphatically, it does. Yesterday we had a big post bag - largely in response to an appeal we had in the Irish Times on Saturday. It was great . There were people agreeing to sign ups to direct debits, there were cash donations ranging form a couple of euros up to a couple of hundred and even a few €1,000.
And in the middle of all that was a letter from a young girl (12 yrs old) - I am not going to say her name as we haven't asked her yet if we could - but in that letter was a note from her saying that she had seen our appeal and had decided that she was going to help children herself - so she emptied the contents of her piggy bank, €6.41, into the envelope and sent it in to us and asked us to make sure it got to the children who need it.
I promise you that that €6.41 is going to go directly to the children we work with and it will make a difference - as will all the other donations we received. Every single cent of it will mean that we can continue to work with the children and families who need it most.
90cent in every €1 we spend goes directly to the work we do with children and families. We are working through our budgets now and trying to make sure that we can get through next year. Everyone in Barnardos took a pay freeze and some took pay cuts this year. We met last week and all the staff have agreed to make further sacrifices next year to try to ensure that all services stay open. Their focus is on the children and families we work with despite whatever personal challenges they are facing.
The people I work with and the people who respond to our appeals amaze me - and I do mean that. Some days I am stunned and overwhelmed by the generosity and sheer goodness of people. And it's not just that they give money. For the people in Barnardos in the projects it's the work that happens on a day to day basis - the long, painstaking process of working with children and parents and seeing them achieve things that months earlier no-one least of all themselves would have dreamed possible. It's the 2 year old who comes into our project unable to walk because she has spent her life strapped in a buggy because they are living in temporary accommodation that simply isn't safe. (and believe me we see that a lot!) It's seeing her walking and talking and enjoying playing with her Mum.
As for our supporters - well, put it like this, it is rare to say that in a job that one of the best parts of it can be opening post - but for me it's one of the greatest thrills I get because in each note, letter, response you get to see the really good side of people and it's humbling. The letters, the notes, the €5 or the €500 - all mean the same to us.
We got a great response yesterday in the post - but we need more - much more - so please, please do what you can - like the €6.41 - every single cent will make a difference. It will change a child's life and guarantee them a better future.
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- "So she emptied the contents of her piggy bank, €6.41, into the envelope and sent it in to us and asked us to make sure it got to the children who need it."
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