Thank you! I simply can’t say that enough. Thank you. 

I think about all the meals you cooked, the boxes you assembled, the dollars you shared, the clothing you distributed… You made this a great year! As a community, we helped 9,122 people (including 2,600 migrants and refugees), provided 3,300 meals, and shared $111,000 worth of goods into the community. Wow.

I have more great news to share. A few members of our community have provided Goods for Good a $15,000 challenge grant. I hope you are able to join my family by giving towards this match with a generous end of year donation, sending us into the New Year strong and ready to serve.

With all the amazing achievements we accomplished together, it’s always the stories that keep me going. One of my favorites from this year was when a young girl, with big, bright eyes, maybe seven years old, came with her mom to drop off clothes she’d outgrown. The girl put her donation bag up on the table. Then, with a little trepidation, slowly handed over the pink unicorn ruffled skirt she had in her hand. It was her favorite. But she wanted to share it with some other child who would love it too.

The timing was perfect, because the following week, we got a request to help refugee families in desperate need of clothing, especially kids. We set up a neighborhood pop-up shop and our volunteers greeted families who recently arrived from Afghanistan, helping them find the clothes they needed.

One family had a four-year-old girl that was completely adorable. She shyly stood behind her mother who looked through stacks of clothes. But the minute the girl saw a glimmer of pink peeking from beneath a pile, she sprinted forward and yanked it out. It was that unicorn skirt. She pulled it on over her pants – way too big for her and too bright for the mother’s taste. Regardless, she was allowed to keep it. While Mom walked away with bags of clothes for her whole family, the girl walked away holding the skirt up on her waist, twirling, and with a huge grin. 

I love that story because we have all given to others. And we have all received. Each brings a special kind of joy. When you feel it, you want to make more of that feeling possible. Here’s how we can do just that.

Let me tell you how hard every dollar you give will work this year to bring about more of that joy. First, look for us to serve more than 3,000 migrants and refugees from around the globe through our clothing pantries and pop-up markets. Second, we’ll launch our Youth Engagement Program to mobilize teens from across the community into service. Last, we will complete 15 special project requests (including expanding our beloved Birthday-in-a-Box program) to serve our vulnerable neighbors. 

Your hard-working dollars will DOUBLE thanks to our match and will fuel our work, continuing to connect our community by folding the corners of DC together through simple acts of giving to meet critical needs. I’ll end as I began. Thank you for all that you do to ensure G4G thrives for those that need us most. 

Looking forward to seeing and/or speaking with you soon.