I wanted to provide another update and a final call for help for families that originally entered the Making Holiday Wishes Come True contest, sponsored by Fred Meyer.
For those just joining me, I ran a contest last month and asked “if you could use a $250 gift card from Fred Meyer, please write to me!” Many people wrote, and two winners were selected to each win a $250 gift card, three others won $50 gift cards, and then Fred Meyer generously came back to sponsor 10 more families with $25 gift cards, bringing their total donation to $900!
Inspired by Fred Meyer’s generosity and the families’ stories, some of you began asking how you could help some of the other families that had initially reached out to me. So I have been working behind the scenes on maintaining a list, and matching families needing help with readers who can help them.
As of this post, a total of 32 Coupon Project families have received some sort of help, including 15 of these from Fred Meyer! I want to personally thank everyone who has taken the time to give! It’s been such a blessing to receive emails like these in my inbox:
I got the card today! ONce again, thank YOU so much and THANKS to the family that was willing to help! You don’t know how much this helps out with our Christmas! 
And…
You have no idea how much we appreciate this!
And…
I really can not say thank you enough. I will pay-it-forward throughout the holiday season as much as I can.
It’s not too late to help
I am beginning to realize that it’s likely I won’t be able to help each of the 32 families I have left on my list, but I would like to help as many as possible. I have gotten a few heartbreaking emails lately from some of the families that have originally emailed me, and from a few others that have trickled in.
Given how close we are to Christmas at this point, I think it’s best that I work to match those that want to help directly with a family in need (vs. having you send me the money/gift cards and have me re-route it). If you are interested in helping make a fellow Coupon Project reader’s holiday season a bit brighter, please email me at angela @ thecouponproject dot com. My request is that there be a donation of at least $25 per family – I do like the idea of keeping to Fred Meyer gift cards, since that how the contest was originally structured, but if you have something else in mind, just email me. A couple readers have given in other ways that have been tremendously helpful, too!
If you’d like to give in another way – or if you’re in need of help yourself, I’d like to remind you of the post I recently put together called Get a Hand, Give a Hand. There are some resources as well as volunteer opportunities you might be interested to learn about!
Thanks again for considering how you can make a difference this holiday season!
