Phew! Is it already Sept. 23 again?! Year four of providing care to caregivers with The Right Relief Inc. is in the books and I'd like to share some highlights from the year.
I have to start with our goal completion in March: 5,475 belly hugs COMPLETED! WOOHOO! I certainly had fun with the cake-ganza baking and was so thankful for all of the kind words, social support and press surrounding this "event."
To have set such a meaningful goal just 4 short years ago and crush it so quickly is mind blowing! And proof that there are such kind and generous people in our world.
Going back to Sept 2022...Here are the other highlights of the year:
Basically...we cooked. A LOT. From Sept 2022 thru March 2023 we were pedal to the metal on reaching 5,475!!
I wrote this very lengthy blog with 35 things I've learned about running a nonprofit for my 35th birthday!
We were fortunate to be interviewed for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in February! I have always had a strong connection to newspapers as my Dad was in the profession.
I also had the privilege of attending a Fundraiser for Kathy's House in February and heard more about their mission which is so similar to ours. Thank you Carolyn Bellin for inviting me! She then nominated The Right Relief for the CBS58 Everyday Hero segment on our local news and we got to do an interview with Natalie Shepherd!
In March we hosted our annual Honoring Caregivers Fundraiser where we had our first guest speaker, Lori Williams who shared how The Right Relief helped her family during her son's illness. We also announced our next goal: 54,750 Doses of Relief!!
In the spring we were recipients of some very generous grants/donations from the Menomonee Falls Community League, a local Giving Circle and Mike and Ginny McBride who I had the pleasure of being introduced to through Kathy's House. Relief Squad member Sue & Bill Bailey and Kyle and I attended their annual gala in May as the McBride's guests!
We began giving out Doses of Relief in the spring as well! These included massage certificates, gas cards, movie theater gift cards, one time house cleaning and Brewers tickets and of course meals. Since March, we've provided 818 Doses!!!
We had a very successful Lasagna Day again in July and had regular Relief Squad drivers start delivering meals. Thank you Rory, Ken, Jen & Todd and Maali!
Also in July, in partnership with Kathy's House (a hospital guest house), we began providing out of town Caregivers with a gas card, Door Dash card water and snack as they checked out to head home. This provides a little breathing room as they get settled into their at-home Caregiving.
To wrap up, we celebrated 4 years with some Relief Squad members and pumpkin bars ;)
