100 Good Women News & Updates

Our monthly focus for January is the Lawrence Humane Society.  They always need bedding - sheets, blankets, towels, etc. If you are stocking up on dry goods during the January white sales, consider donating your used items to them. Or maybe you're just cleaning out the linen closet - think about the Humane Society before you toss your old things out. 

They will NOT take clothing, pillows, foam, carpeting, or feather-filled items.

They also have a wish list page if you are interested in donating other items.

Thank you all!

Recently a friend asked me what a gas card is.  Not an unreasonable question, since it's something we often ask our members for.  Gas cards and grocery cards are essentially gift cards with a certain amount of money on them that can be used in various places.  

We generally provide cards in $25 increments when we respond to requests for gas/grocery help. (See how we decide.)

Dillons and Hy-Vee make them available online, at the customer service desk, and at the checkout counter.  

The ones you get at Dillons are also valid at:  KwikShop, Kroger, Food 4 Less, and a host of other stores in other states.  They state they cannot be used for lottery tickets or money orders and cannot be exchanged for cash, except where required by law.

Hy-Vee cards are valid at Hy-Vee stores and gas stations.

Target cards aren't good for gas, but can be used to buy anything in the Target store.  Ditto for Wal-mart.

Anybody know of others?

UPDATE:  It appears to me that you can buy Visa, MasterCard, and American Express cards at Target and Wal-mart (and maybe elsewhere) online or in the store.  The difference is that if you buy a $25 Wal-mart card usable at Wal-mart, it costs  you $25, and your recipient gets $25 in merchandise.  If you buy a Visa card at Wal-mart (for example), it costs you $27.88, and your recipient gets $25 in merchandise.

You know, we just refer to it as the book exchange, but it's so much more!  Social celebration, chocolate amazingness, diaper mountain!

Doug from the Ballard Center came at the end and picked up the diapers we'd received.  I believe he was knocked over by the response.

Wow, someone had the brains to bring a giant box of baby wipes!  Great idea!

We've been asked how the Board of Directors screens people requesting items - especially gas or grocery cards.

We try to find out as much information as we can.  Most of our requests have come from social workers or school counselors, or other trusted professional sources, etc.  However, more requests are now coming directly from the people in need.  This could be because "the word is out" about us or more likely, it's an indicator of our current economic situation.  In those cases – when they come directly from the people in need – we try to call them and talk to them a bit about their situation.  Often, we will suggest alternative sources instead of, or along with us.  We make it clear that we only offer help one time – it is not going to be an on-going request line.  Having said that, we do not have any uniform screening process in place.  We try to act quickly and as simply as possible.  Each request is sent to the entire board and they determine whether we should respond or not after careful consideration.

One Hundred Good Women made the decision long ago not to give money to anyone.  We had hoped that the Fairy Godmother Fund would provide financial assistance when necessary but unfortunately, they are often out of funds by the fall.  Various churches and social service organizations can often help with rent or utilities but they often run out of money by the end of the month.  We have found that gas and grocery cards can help offset some expenses so the people can pay those rents and/or utilities.  Instead of sending out a request to the membership each time we give people gas and grocery cards, it is easier to “stock pile” cards and give them out as the requests come in.  Just this week we have given cards to 5 families, averaging about $30-$80 each family......not much for food and/or gas these days. Fortunately, we were recently gifted several hundred dollars and we opted to buy gift cards with that money so we weren't constantly asking the membership for them.

I remember taking groceries to a family’s house and when we entered, the kids were playing video games.  One of the people with me was appalled that we just took a couple of hundred dollars of food to them and “they could afford a video player and games”.  The fact was, once upon a time they weren’t out of work or on disability or had medical issues that put them into poverty.  We all need a hand up at some time and the circumstances are usually relative in comparison. We can’t always know the whole story, but we try and then trust the process.

I hope that clarifies the process somewhat.  Obviously, you should only contribute if you feel comfortable.  If you ever have a question about a request, please feel free to let us know.