The Official Modest Needs Blog

A Layoff Survivor's How-To

What can you do when a friend or family member comes home with a pink slip?

Plenty.

This past weekend The New York Times ran a wonderful piece chock-full of advice on how those of us with jobs can offer support and job-search assistance to our peers without. Networking, playdates, and even dinner-party menus are all on the list.

Of course I'd also point out that Modest Needs still offers support to the newly unemployed via our Bridge grants. If you know someone struggling to make ends meet while they're out pounding the pavement for a new job, I hope you'll encourage that person to learn more.

When We Say "Hardworking," We Mean It

I invite you to take a moment to compare your daily schedule to this gentleman's -- one of our recently funded applicants. This guy makes some of our "busy" lives look like beach-bumming. And despite what must be super-human effort on his part, sometimes he fell just a few bucks short of making ends meet.

That's where Modest Needs came in. And with a couple hundred dollars, look what an impression our donors made!

"Words cannot express how grateful I am to all Modest Needs' donors for assisting me during a difficult month. I had surgery and needed to take some time off from work, and I was not paid for 1 week while on temporary disability. As you can imagine, this lost income made it extremely difficult on my family. I have a 5-year-old son, work fulltime, attend graduate school at DePaul University, and perform monthly duties as a Specialist in the Army National Guard. The impact that Modest Needs had on my ability to sustain my daily responsibilities is beyond what words can describe. I am extremely grateful to everyone who donated support on my behalf, thank you for your kindness."

It's World Water Day!

We don't like to think that people in our own country lack access to clean water. But it's not beyond the realm of possibility.

In celebration of World Water Day, I'd like to point you toward two applicants who are in danger of losing their water due to a financial emergency. If you'd like to make sure that doesn't happen, we accept (and cherish!) donations as little as $2 on modestneeds.org.

Help Keep My Water On
Water Bill

Redefining the Fabled Pot of Gold

You can’t do what we do here at Modest Needs, listening to people talk (and sob and shout) about the catalysts of their financial misfortune -– illness, unemployment, disability, deaths in the family, etc. –- without wondering about the ways of lady luck.  Why does bad luck plague some people and not others? For the most part, I have to say that Modest Needs applicants are a genuinely good-hearted bunch. They're hardworking. They loathe having to ask for help. And they’re not thinking about luck; they’re not thinking about anything beyond how to put food on the table. The universe, in the meantime, just won’t give them a break.

So in case you'd like to be someone's good-luck charm for this St. Patrick's Day, I think I have one particular gentleman who could really use your help. In August, he got laid off from his job. Weeks afterward, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Then, all of a sudden, his car broke down. He describes his life now as “going back and forth to hospitals and doctors, trying to save my life while at the same time trying to not go completely under financially while I am unemployed.”

Talk about bad luck.

But the good news? For $930, we can pay this man's rent today. And in his eyes, that's a full-fledged, gleaming pot of gold.

Thank You, Philadelphia!

It's a happy Friday in the Modest Needs office; we've got another wonderful media story to share!

Check out the most recent piece profiling Modest Needs from Action News 6 in Philadelphia, which interviewed a few funded applicants and highlighted our recent Bridge Grant to support the newly unemployed.

Please feel free to pass this link onto others! It's the best thing you can do to help us spread the word to families in desperate need of our assistance.

Bad Times Inspire Good Deeds

One look at the enormous number of Modest Needs applications coming in these days, and it's hard to refute the idea that low-income families in this country are under siege. But they're not alone. It seems that the more our neighbors are hurting, the more other people are deciding to step up to the plate.

Take one particular Modest Needs donor, for example, who has contacted us on almost a weekly basis for the past month, every time to INCREASE his pledge by $5 or $10 dollars. His response to the doom and gloom surrounding our economic crisis? Action. Positive, generous, glorious action.

This USA Today article chronicles a few other individuals doing wonderful things not in spite of -- but BECAUSE of -- these treacherous economic conditions. My favorite is Bob McIntire, owner of McIntire's Florist in Fulton, MO. He surprises one, two, or three people a week with free bouquets. His bottom line is surely feeling the impact of the economic downturn, but he doesn't use that as a reason to cut back. Rather the opposite. And I applaud him for it. 

Free Resume Printing at Fedex Kinko's

Job-seekers, listen up!

In an inspiring act of generosity, Fedex Kinko's is offering unemployed folks 25 FREE resume prints this coming Tuesday, March 10th, during regular business hours at stores nationwide.

Not only is it refreshing to see a corporate behemoth provide such a practical service for those suffering in this economy -- it's beautifully similar to what we do here at Modest Needs. After all, Fedex is ponying up maybe $2.50 per job-seeker for those 25 copies. And yet that $2.50 has the power to encapsulate a lifetime of hard work. It has the power to take that experience and get it in front of the right person.

It has the power to transform a person's entire financial future. For $2.50.

(Does Modest Needs' motto sound familiar? Small Change. A World of Difference.)

You can find all the details on the FedEx press release. And please remember that you can also help a newly unemployed person stay afloat via a Modest Needs "Bridge Grant" (or apply for assistance yourself). Visit our website to learn more.

Fox News NY Interviews Modest Needs' Donors

Why do donors choose Modest Needs?

Every person's reason is different. But if you're curious about the topic, I invite you to watch this recent TV news feature by Fox News New York. They posed that very question to two of our donors. And as part of the story they also interviewed a very special applicant from New Jersey named Marion, a widowed mother of four who received your assistance a few months ago with a car repair.

It's a lovely story -- and one that beautifully demonstrates how one person really CAN make a difference. Since its airing less than 24 hours ago, we've received a whopping 300+ New York-area applications. I encourage all of you to have a look!