We are FIRED UP!

And Ready to GO! The time is NOW to sign up for SecondWind’s Adopt-a-Family Program for 2011! Grab your co-workers, friends and/or family and join together to assist a local family this holiday season.

Every year we contact LOCAL elementary schools who provide information on families within their school that need assistance. The counselors and teachers within each school are well positioned to identify those MOST IN NEED and they send the families at the top of their needs list to us. The help you provide will push these families back from the edge and give them a Second Wind as they enter 2012. Next year, 95% of those same families WILL NOT BE anywhere near the top of the school’s list for support. Each year we are amazed by the generosity of every sponsor who participates in our program.

Our 2011 goal is to sponsor 200+ families in the Dallas, Plano, Richardson, Farmers Branch/Carrollton, Irving and Allen school districts. The sooner you sign up to Adopt a local family, the sooner we can let our schools know that one of their families will have support this year. To sign-up FILL OUT THE Adopt-a-Family form online today! Our website keeps count of the number of families sponsored, so you can watch as the countdown begins.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2011:
1. Second Wind Dallas is OFFICIALLY a 501c3 organization, retroactive to 2008. We could not be more excited about this and we would like to thank Alex and Greg at Fulbright & Jaworski for their invaluable assistance in getting us there!!

2. If you adopted a family last year and were shocked by how many things you were able to pull together for them, please consider doing less for more this year, by adopting two families instead of one.

3. LIKE US on Facebook! We are planning some fun giveaways and contests! We post family stories as we receive them there. Also, send us your group’s stories and pictures as you create memories for yourselves and for the families you support and we’ll share them with other sponsors!

4. Remember, as always, not all items have to be new. Used and donated Consignment Quality items can significantly reduce the cost of adopting a family.

Hello to 2011!

We wrapped up 2010 with 161 families supported! It was our best year, so far! Our sponsors supported families in Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Allen and Irving.

This year we already have requests from eager and generous sponsors, wanting to support a family (or two!) in their community and we are ready to kick off 2011! Unfortunately we are looking for volunteers or financial contributions to reach the same number of families we supported last year.

VOLUNTEERS! Last year our volunteers were spread a little thin and we struggled to meet the demand. This year 2 of our volunteers are about to have babies (yeah!) but that means they have their own needy family to care for and 1 volunteer moved away (boo!). In 2010, we were a small team of 8 volunteers, that really needed to be 12. This year we are starting off as a team of 5 and while we have operated Second Wind with only 5 before, at that time the number of families we supported was much lower.

So, this year, in order to do what we did last year and support 160+ local families, we are…

1. in search of volunteers! Each volunteer is assigned one school and the counselor at that school. The volunteer is responsible for calling the sponsors assigned to the families at their school (roughly 10-12) to ensure their questions have been answered and they know how/when to deliver the family’s items. That’s it! It can be done from home through email and over the phone, with the exception of one meeting. If a sponsor calls to ask a question about their family, you would just need to call the counselor for the answer and report back to the sponsor. We give you the information you need at the Volunteer Orientation meeting around Nov 16th and the sponsor delivers their items before Dec 16th, ending your responsibility. Please contact us if you are interested or have any questions!

2. We are also looking for financial donations. Every year we shop for families with the financial contributions we receive and we have it down to a fine art! The average family we support has 5-6 members in one household. Sometimes there are as few as 2, sometimes there are as many as 12. We can supply a full range of basics (socks, underwear, pajamas, pants (1-2), shirts (1-2), coat and toys (1-2) for the children, toiletries and food for the adults) for $100 per family member. That means a family of 5 will cost us about $500 to support. If you don’t have time to shop for a family this year, please consider a financial donation to support a family, family member or partial family member. Please contact us for more information!

To Wrap or Not to Wrap?

YOU CAN WRAP your family’s items, however, they DO NOT HAVE TO BE WRAPPED. Wrapping the items for the family creates a nice surprise for the parents, as well as the children. However, it can also be a HUGE task. If you are unable to wrap the items, we suggest including some wrapping paper and supplies, such as tape and bows, to ensure the family can wrap them. Whichever way you go, be sure to label who each gift is intended for within the family. 

The family receives their gifts in a variety of ways.  The counselors give each family the option of how they would like to pick up their donated items, and she may tell them at that time whether or not the gifts are already wrapped. Some family’s will pick up during the day while their children are in school and surprise them when they get home, some pick up after school with the children and just try to keep the items hidden. If there is a car issue, often the counselor will deliver to their home when it’s convenient.

All Families Accounted For

We sponsored a total of 161 families this year!! Yeah DFW!!!

Want to still help?! You can collect LAUNDRY BASKETS of FOOD and deliver them to the school. We’ll give you the name or names of families in a school near you, along with some information such as how many adults/children are in the family, if they have dietary restrictions, etc. You and your group can then collect non-perishable food items in a laundry basket or container for that family. Email us if you would like to participate in this way and let us know how many families you would like to support.

Family Form Status

We have been working all week to get the family forms sent out to each sponsor who is Adopting a family.  We know everyone is anxious to learn about their family and we are anxious for you to see them. So far we have sent out a little over half of the forms. If you have not received your family yet, please be patient with us, we are working hard to get the rest out before Friday.

We still have families not yet sponsored:
Dallas: 12
Irving: 4
Richardson: 6
Plano: 7
Allen: 5

The M Family

Jonathan is a 9 year old boy who likes pretty-typical 9 year old things. He is a sweet kid who tries to always follow the rules and who works hard in class. He has a younger brother who likes the same things he likes and who likes to copy everything he does. He also has a younger sister who likes Dora. Jonathan and his siblings live with their mother who is struggling to get in as many hours as possible in a minimum wage job. A little less than a year ago their father had a sudden stroke and passed away. Now Jonathan is technically the man of the house and he is trying his best to set a good example. Along with clothes and food, the children have each requested a toy and the mom says she would like some perfume.

Military Family

This is a family of 3. The Father in this family got out of active duty for the military in March of 2009. He tried and tried to find work where they were living but one year later, he was still unemployed. Finally, with what little money they had left, they made a decision to move to Texas in July. They had heard there were more job opportunities in the Dallas area and in September the Father began working. However, just as they began to get back on their feet their daughter was in a terrible accident that has required extensive dental work and surgery. It had to be all out of pocket because they did not have dental insurance. Along with clothing, the parents have requested an alarm clock and the daughter has requested a Taylor Swift doll or a rubik’s cube or playdough. Despite all their struggles over the last year and a half, they are thankful to be together and grateful for any help they receive this holiday to help them get back on their feet.

The L Family

Vicki is raising her 15 year old daughter as well as three grand daughters. Her oldest daughter struggles with drug issues and has been out of the picture entirely for three years. Two and a half years ago Vicki found out she had stage 4 Colon Cancer. This year a cat-scan showed the cancer is growing again and she has returned to Chemo. This is an all girl family requesting all girl things. Their ages are 15 to 7 years old. Along with standard clothing requests on their each of their needs list, they have listed items such as make-up, a purse, hair items, art stuff, lotion, perfume and toys as options on their wants lists. Contact us for more information!

The Holguin Family

This is a picture of the Holguin family. There are three children in this family and they lost their mother suddenly and unexpectedly one month ago. The father is raising the children with the help of his Mother-in-Law who has moved into the home. The oldest child is 8 and he drew this picture of himself, his father, his grandmother, his two sisters and his mother up in the sky. Each person in the picture is labeled and next to his mother he has written “mommy is an angel”. This family is struggling financially and emotionally to survive this horrible time in their lives. They are mostly requesting clothes and shoes and a gift card for groceries. The little boy would like a hand held game, but he would be happy with any toy he receives. The girls (6 and 4) have each requested a barbie doll. If you would be interested in sponsoring this family or one of our many other families this holiday season, please sign up through our website today.

Our Counselor Method

Second Wind Dallas does not select or participate in selecting the families we support each year.  Instead, we contact the counselor’s at our local elementary school’s and they identify which families need assistance. Each school counselor is in a perfect position to view, sometimes over a period of years and through several children, each family within their school. They know their unique situations and they also know which families are receiving additional assistance from other programs. The counselors work with their school administrators, community liaisons, office personnel and teachers within the school to select which families will be on our list.

We are proud of our method for choosing families every year and for the success that it has brought our program.  Other programs may conduct interviews or use an application process, but our system uses real people in real-time on an everyday basis. We feel that our trust in the local school system and their expertise in what they do is a more thorough and solid measure of which families are most in need within our community.