Total Love Dropped So Far…

We thought it would be cool to list the grand total of everything our community has given so far :) Some of these months go by so fast that we aren’t able to sit down and “take it all in.” That’s what this page is for. A reminder of all the hard work and love you guys have been sharing since Day 1 of our launch. This is for you. Way to give back! (If you’re not yet a member, it’s easy to join.)

Grand Total: $90,232.06 (est.)

Love Drop #12: Diomi & Nalee

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

What a way to end the year! Hands down one of the best Drops we pulled off – GOOD JOB friends! As you can see from that picture up there, Diomi and family was overjoyed with your kindness, and everyone’s love shined through. I think we had our biggest turnout of people come to participate too – a hearty 25 or so? One of the best Christmas celebrations ever – THANK YOU!

Here are a handful of the things Team Love Drop surprised Diomi and Nalee with this December:

• $1,400+ worth of food and groceries :) – Between gift cards and fundraisers put on to raise more money this month (Thanks so much Direct Supply and Robin!), we were able to bring them BAGS and BAGS full of much needed groceries and canned goods to last them a good while. To be able to supply them with such a basic necessity like that was incredibly fulfilling and *exactly* what we envisioned doing this month. They shouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time! (And we gave them a few extra gift cards to their local grocery store just in case ;) As well as some cards to Chili’s – thanks Sarah!)
• $1,000+ worth of brand new clothes! Another thing we really wanted to do for Diomi’s family this month, was to supply them with the other basic necessity of clothing. And when word got out to Kohl’s department store (which just so happens to be headquartered in Milwaukee), the E-Commerce Direct Ship Team there stepped up and personally went shopping with their own money to get them plenty of outfits to bring in the new year. Including school uniforms for Nalee (which he loved!), and appropriate attire for Diomi when it comes time to start interviewing for jobs again. Something we found out was very important to her. So on top of the clothes we physically brought them, we also took it a step further and made sure they had some extra store credit to go back and pick up some more clothes for the future.
• $500+ worth of personal affects – A third thing we really wanted to do this holiday season – as boring as it sounds (haha…) – was to make sure they had enough toiletries and personal affects too. And to our delight, a few Love Drop members specifically stepped up to make sure this happened, and filled boxes and boxes right up to the brim so that everyone could remain fresh this harsh winter season :) So BIG shout out to all the members who got this done! (Specifically Bergie and friends!)
• A new (to them) washer and dryer! This was a huge surprise to all of us, as it came last minute from a friend (Thanks Jill!) who had just replaced her perfectly working old set with a brand new one that weekend. When she found out we were coming together for Diomi this Christmas, who has to wash all her and Nalee’s clothes by hand (!!!) she was more than delighted to donate them over :) And BOY was she excited!! It was a big highlight of the Drop.
• TWO brand new bed sets! Complete with boxsprings, mattresses, and even sheets & comforters! Another byproduct of the bake sale fundraiser Direct Supply did to raise some money and bring them joy this holiday season. Both of their beds were falling apart and we found a great deal to pull this off right in the nick of time :) Well done, Robin!
• $500 worth of Target goodies – The majority of the gifts this Drop centered around the basic necessities of life, as you can tell, so we thought it would be good to sprinkle in a little fun along the way too ;) Specifically for Nalee so he’d get some games and toys that he otherwise wouldn’t have due to their current financial situation.
• Boxes and bags of other goodies – There was WAY too much to keep track of ourselves, but we’d be remiss to exclude all the other stuff people mailed in or brought themselves to the Drop. Everything from Mary Kay products, to bus tickets, to pre-paid phones and a variety of other wonderfully thoughtful gifts. Well done Shannyn, Miss Lissy, Tracy, Emmy, and everyone else who got so creative with this!
• Front row Milwaukee Bucks basketball tickets! Pretty much Nalee’s favorite gift of all :) Nice work, David!
• Box tickets (and food/drinks) to an Admirals hockey game! So awesome Sarah, thanks!
• Help with resume writing – Actually given out by a handful of awesome people this Drop. Our friend Jessica from Faith Permeating Life, as well as the “copy” team over at Direct Supply – thanks guys! This will be PERFECT for Diomi when she gets back into the thick of things :)
• Personal counseling help – By fellow Drop member Denise who’s starting her own organization really soon (Thanks!)
• 6 months worth of coaching services through Hope Couching – Donated by the lovely Ronae who’s been our counseling gifter throughout the year! :)
• 6 months of meal plans from MealPlanRescue.com – To help both Diomi and Nalee get in the habit of regular meal planning. Now that they have plenty of food to square them away for a bit :)

And lastly, to wrap it all, we donated over $500 to Lighthouse Youth Center on behalf of Diomi and Nalee, in special thanks for providing SO MUCH to not only Nalee himself (he goes there every day after school to learn and hang out), but to everyone else in the community needing hope as well. This is a wonderful organization headed up by the good Pastor Winkel, who also helped us organize this entire Drop along with our buddy Tom (Thanks guys!), and we were extremely happy to be able to help Diomi and Nalee give back in this way that we knew was important to them. We wish the church and youth center nothing but continued success, and we’re thankful they’ve been able to provide for Diomi and Nalee throughout this entire hardship.

We also want to give special thanks to Cory Albrectson Photography and Dan St. Pierre for capturing this day’s events, as well as everyone else that came out to make this Drop special for all of us. You are truly wonderful human beings, and we cannot thank you enough for your support and generosity.

Have a very merry 2012 everyone, and God bless all y’all :)

Love Drop #11: Marci

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• We sent Marci and her entire family to ARUBA!!! – You guys did it! Our mission was to get them to spend more quality time together, and WOW did y’all come up with some whoppers :) The first being an ALL-INCLUSIVE family of 5 trip to Aruba including all airfare (thanks Joni & Wally!), lodging (a house 1 mile from the beach – thanks Kim!), $500 worth food!, and a $1,000 shopping spree – perfect for any scuba diving or other family activities they may wanna do together while there. A one-week vacation of bliss. Doesn’t get more relaxing than that!
• We then gave them a romantic weekend for TWO to New York city! Because we all know parents need a break from there loving kids too :) So with help from some *awesome* people out there, we were able to send Marci and Dave on a round-trip getaway to NYC to not only spend some quality time together as a couple, but to also check out some night life (Thx Goldstar!) and a fancy pants dinner with each other too. And did we mention they’ll be staying at the downtown Times Square Marriott? Woohoo!
• Also hooked them up with a family getaway to Estes Park – a local attraction filled with family friendly activities and quaint lodging. Perfect for a little relaxing and unwinding time close by whenever they need it :)
• Got them a brand new Canon camera & lens too!! So they can take alllllll the photos they want, on alllll the adventures they’ll soon be going on. Best Buy hooked them up with a nice bag and other goodies like filters and a memory stick too – nothing but the best for our Love Drop recipients! :)
• Filled a suitcase full of fun items and packages — Esp. for their trip to Aruba like bright t-shirts (that spell out A-R-U-B-A, haha… good idea Melissa!), maps and travel books, stuffed animals, and the one thing we always forget when we go away — toiletries! Fellow Love Drop member Edward was thoughtful enough to fill up 5 little bags full of goodies for them so they’ll always be prepared ;) Good one, Ed!
• Gave them a $250 Gift card to Macaroni Grill — Compliments of the team over there! To help with food during all the times their family needs a break from cooking :)
• A $100 Visa card – From dear friend and Love Drop member, ColoradoMom! (Which was certainly fitting considering we were in Colorado this month! Hehe :))
• A $25 Target gift card – From another awesome person!
• 6 months of meal plans from MealPlanRescue.com – our yearly partner!
• And 6 months worth of coaching services through Hope Couching – for anytime Marci, or any of her family members, just need some private time to talk and get some refreshing advice. We love you for always offering this up, Ronae!

Another incredible success, team! Y’all just keep bringing the love and making these Drops amazing month in and month out. Give yourselves a hearty pat on the back – way to spread the positivity :)

Special thanks goes out to both Emily and Melissa too for not only helping to organize a lot of this month’s festivities, but also for stepping in and helping with the photography and capturing all of the great moments we shared together. Thank you so very much for helping us to pull it off!

Love Drop #10: The Triplets

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• We dropped off over $2,500 worth of baby stuff! – Do you know how many carts that fills up?? Haha… (4). Our good friends over at Babies “R” Us hooked us up with some discounts, and we went all out shopping for a solid 4 hours making sure we got those babies as many of the essentials as we could (not to mention an additional Costco run for some of the bigger bulk items!). And we give mad thanks to Heather, our nominator this month, for helping us along in the process too – we would have been lost without her! :)

So GREAT JOB with all the money this month, everyone — You REALLY made a difference in these triplets’ lives! Check out all the stuff we gave them:

• 2,304 Diapers (Over 10 huge boxes worth!)
• 2,700 Wipes (those babies can be messy! :))
• 748 Loads worth of detergent (again, they’re messy!)
• 480 Servings of baby formula (which is not cheap, wow)
• 3 High chairs (each with cool-looking monkeys on them ;))
  
• 3 Swings (one of which we had never seen before? Kinda cool the new stuff out there)
  
• 1 Large play pen (which looked like it could convert to bunk beds for the babies! Haha… it had all sorts of different levels and toys built in :))
  
• 1 Nice stroller (they already had one which fit two, so now the set’s complete! Thanks Shannon!)
• 3 CUTE snowsuits! Two blues and one pink ;)
• $500 worth of toys and other baby items (wayyyyy too many to mention, but let’s just say it filled an entire shopping cart and a half! Blankets, games, squishy things, you name it. If it was baby-related, we probably picked up 3 of them ;))
• A gift bag from the Indianapolis Colts! Stuffed w/ awesomely branded animals and well wishes (Thanks Colts! And Jessica for sharing the triplets’ story with them :))
• TWO complete Date nights! Which consists of two fancy dinners, followed by tickets to the movies and FREE baby sitting by a close friend of theirs. Gotta make sure the parents have breaks!
• A $150 gas card to help get them there and back, as well as for other daily trips that are always needed :)
• $75 worth of Babies “R” Us gift cards: Thanks again Trinnie and Jessica!
• 4 Tickets to the Children’s Museum‘s Haunted House! (Thanks Heather and Children’s Museum!)
• A Nintendo Wii :) For the whole family to play and spend some fun times together.
• A gift bag of beauty goodness from Sarah – Thanks so much for driving all the way over to celebrate with everyone!
• 6 months of meal plans courtesy of MealPlanRescue.com (Thanks for always participating!)
• 6 months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• And a photo book from GroupStory to capture the entire Drop’s celebrations.

WAY TO GO guys!! These babies are gonna be sooooooo taken care of for quite a while – give your selves some pats on the back :) So amazing how everyone’s efforts combined can create such a larger impact in such a small amount of time we have every month. Keep up the great work!!

*Special thanks to Casey Mullins for her awesome Photography skills!

Love Drop #9: Melanie

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• An $1,800 Washer & Dryer set!! – We did it guys! We raised over $3,000 to make this Drop special for Melanie and family! And part of that went to picking up this “sexy” (as Melanie called them) front-loading washer and dryer set so she can super easily do laundry again. We even got to shout “Move That Truck!” when we were presenting them to her, haha… it was brilliant. HUGE shout out to Lowes for hooking us up with a *crazy* discount too. They made it their mission to help us after hearing Melanie’s story, and really went above and beyond for us. Also props to Anthony for INSTALLING these after the Drop was over! We got a killer community my friends, way to go :)
• A $1300 Slide-in Electric Stove! – With front-facing nobs so Melanie can now COOK again!! Something she is incredibly passionate about, and something she couldn’t do for the past 2-3 months because of her wheelchair. We hope you’re making great use of it, Melanie!! And way to go again, team, for pulling off that $3k goal of ours — that helped facilitate this purchase too.
• $300 Grocery Store Credit – Since Lowes gave us such a discount w/ all the appliances, we had a few hundred dollars left over which we wanted to spoil Melanie with once her stove was installed all the way. So we got her $300 worth of credit at her local store so she can stock her fridge full of ANY food she wants! Kid-friendly, or not ;)
• $200 MORE dollars at her grocery store! – The ladies of Galtime also had the great idea of stocking her fridge, and donated $200 more to her food passion :) Thanks Galtime! It was awesome seeing you at the Drop too – meant alot.
• A brand new iRobot Roomba! – The folks over at iRobot were also moved by Melanie’s story and wanted to help out as well! So they donated a VERY cool top of the line Roomba to help out with vacuuming her house. Automatically too! Very cool idea – thanks iRobot!
• A TON of wheelchair-friendly gifts – A few of our Love Drop members are in wheelchairs themselves (and also just love shopping for cool stuff!) and were kind enough to mail over some fabulous accessories for Melanie :) Including a cup holder (awesome!), lap-desk, saddle bag, and more. And when the Drop was all over, Melanie told us she will be donating ALL of her wheelchair stuff – including the chair itself and her entire electric system for her stairs – to another person who can use it once she’s out. She’s calling it her own “Mini-Drop,” Yay!!!
• Bags full of Boston Redsox items ;) For all of her kids. Hats, jerzies, you name it. It’s a good thing they’re huge fans or that could have been troublesome! Haha… Thanks for doing this Jessica!
• A ton of other gift bags. — Everyone who attended the Drop brought some goodies of their own to present – including snacks, gifts, and a whole bunch of other great stuff. Thanks so much everyone! And for being their in person too – that was incredible :)
• 6 Tickets to the New England Aquarium — Thanks so much Aquarium!
• 6 Tickets to their IMAX Theater– Also courtesy of the New England Aquarium :)
• $75 Gift card to Lowes – Awesome! Great job, guys!
• $15 Gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond – Always a great choice ;)
• A Coach Bag!! – Sent in from our good friend, and Love Drop member, Trinnie Doo (Thanks!)
• Family tickets to an outing of their choice! $100 worth – Courtesy of Goldstar.com (thx guys!)
• 6 months of meal plans courtesy of MealPlanRescue.com (Thanks for always participating!)
• 6 months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• A photo book from GroupStory to capture the entire Drop’s celebrations.

We also live-streamed the whole event! Out totally awesome friend, and sponsor of Melanie’s Drop, Kim from Mommycosm hooked us up w/ the technology to steam the whole 1 and 1/2 hour event to those online who wanted to participate but couldn’t be there in person. It was fun! Thanks so much Kim! (And if anyone ever needs help/advice with that stuff, make sure to give her a shout.)

Kim put together a VERY touching movie compilation too. Which we all sat around to and watched on TV as a handful of Melanie’s close friends wished her the very best in recovery. It was beautiful :) And at the end Kim’s daughter sang an *amazing* rendition of Lean On Me for Melanie too – an absolute highlight of the day’s celebration.

Great job everyone! We pulled through yet again, and really surprised Melanie and family with some incredible stuff. You all are getting good at this ;) See you next month! (Special thanks also to our two awesome photographers who came out and gave their time (and skills) for the event: Sage Brousseau and Isabel Furie. Y’all were great!)

Love Drop #8: Lucy

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• A check for $3,736.96! – All from our amazing Love Drop team – well done guys! You crushed our goal of $3,000 to make an even BIGGER impact in Lucy’s health insurance payments – give yourselves a pat on the back! :)
• A $1,000 check from Trinnie & Herbie’s Hotrod Ho-Down!– Not only did our team come up with the $3,700 for Lucy, but two of our members even threw a Ho-down in Love Drop’s honor! Complete with music and a car show and everything. Every year their Hotrod Ho-Down benefits an organization they care deeply about, and this time around Love Drop was chosen :) We couldn’t have felt more honored, and we were so glad it could add to Lucy’s money! Thanks SO MUCH Trinnie and Herbie!! This was an incredible surprise at the end!
• A new laptop :) A little birdy told us she could really use a new computer during her 2-3 month hospital stay (sad!), so ofcourse we had to go out and get one for her. We can’t even imagine what it would be like so far away from friends and family during these times, so we hope this helps her keep in touch with everybody! And big thanks again to Trinnie & Herbie as they also partnered up with us to provide this as well.
• 70+ Letters of love and encouragement! If there’s one thing we’ve heard really touches our Drop families over the months, it’s the care and support of other people around the world that they may, or may not, even know. So earlier on in the month we reached out to try and get 50 letters or notes/drawings/etc of love and encouragement, and when all was said and done we actually had over 70 mailed in! Our hope is that Tracy & Lucy can read them together over the next few months in the hospital together, and that it helps ease the burden of the hardships they’ll soon be facing. If it’s any indication of the few we read at the Drop last month, there will be plenty of tears and laughter to be shared. Which is exactly what we want for them :) If you sent in a letter, or email, yourself – THANK YOU! This really really meant a lot.
• Bowling shoes!! This was one of the most interesting, and fun, gifts we found for Lucy ;) If you recall the 3rd video we did with her, she mentions that out of alllll the things in the world she wants right now, it’s bowling shoes! haha… So, Nate and I (J$) set out to go find her some, and that we did! It turned out the local bowling alley in Wichita happened to have their shore store CLOSED when we got there 2 hours before the big Drop, BUT they graciously opened it up for us, and helped us find the perfect pair for her. Thanks for helping out our friend, Thunderbird Bowl!!
• Bags and bags full of toys & gifts for Lucy — Dozens of stickers, candy, GIANT Gummy Bears! (haha…), games, stuffed monkey animals, and much much more. We’re hoping this helps keep her and her family entertained over the next few months in the hospital! :)
• A $250 Amex card (and a bunch of trinkets) — Courtesy of Craig and his wife over at Mr. Rebates – THANK YOU both so much!! This greatly helps them!
• A $50 Barnes & Noble card from Jennifer Chadd, one of Lucy’s closest friends :) (For Nook ebooks)
• Pair of tickets to Wichita’s local zoo — Sedgwick County Zoo (woo!)
• 6 months of meal plans courtesy of MealPlanRescue.com (Thanks for always participating!)
• 6 months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• Hand-picked toys from Cute-Stuffs.com
• Computer lessons from Brandon (thx man!)
• 1 hour of computer help from Patrick of ComputerHelpers4Good (Thx!)
• A photo book from GroupStory to capture the entire Drop’s celebrations. You guys are always awesome for that – thank you so much! :)

And lastly, special one-on-one training for Tracy and Lucy on how to continue fundraising online through the wonderful folks at Give Forward – an organization that empowers friends and family to send love and financial support to patients as they navigate through a medical crisis. Tracy and the Lucy Team have done an excellent job of raising funds and awareness on the GROUND, but this will help them continue doing so online, and in a much more streamlined fashion. They will be paired up with a trained specialist at Give Forward, and will hopefully bring in even MORE money to help them through this financially burdening time. We are very excited about this new partnership of ours!

Great job guys :) You really outdid yourselves this month. Special shout out goes to Jennifer White Portraits too for hooking us up with the photography this month! Check out all the pictures she captured from the event – they’re awesome!

Love Drop #7: Felicity & Family

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• A check for $5,287.26! – You guys REALLY outdid yourself this month! And a perfect family to come together for too, as the Withrows can really use this support right now:) There are a ton of medical bills that come out of cancer treatments as you can imagine, and with a new baby on its way, they were incredibly thankful to hear the news. A special thank you goes out to Cinnabon and its president, Kat Cole, a long-standing member of Love Drop, for pushing us over our $5,000 goal this month, and then taking it a step further and actually SHOWING UP to celebrate with us! It was an incredible treat (bah-dum-ching)!
• A customized Cinnabon Party! – Not only did Cinnabon show up to BE a part of our Drop, but they also surprised the Withrows with a fully-catered “make your own Cinnabons” party the next time they need one for any event :) They’re opening their company doors to them, and will soon be having fun baking them right there in their R&D offices (or wherever the Withrows choose). Pretty unique gift!
• $750 worth of custom organization!! An incredible gift by The Stow Company, and its local affiliate SpaceMakers. They’ll be building out some killer shelves/organizational areas for one of their closets/pantries, or whatever they really need help with. Thanks so much, guys! Great surprise.
• Dozens, and dozens of hand-made cards full of love and support – Made by the wonderful kids at St. Andrew Lutheran Church Youth! And headed up by our very own Love Drop member, Emmy. Not only were these made to cheer up, and support, the Withrows, but also to be delivered to the other kids at the hospital where little Felicity currently gets treatment every day. Really really cool idea, and always meaningful coming from little kids just like her :)
• A hand-made “Love Drop” blanket for Felicity – Designed, and created, by Jacqueline Mukweto Designs :) This was absolutely incredible.
• A FULL DAY’s worth of house cleaning! – Courtesy of Rosie & husband from Rosie’s Cleaning Service :) That was so gracious of you two.
• A *large* gift card from special guest Anissa Meyhew of AimingLow.com – who not only gave such a generous gift, but ALSO provided an enormous amount of emotional support for Amanda and family. One of us overheard that it was actually the highlight of the event for Amanda :) So thankful you could be a part of it, Anissa!
• A Kindle, and Kindle cover! – From long-time member Diane Mettam – mom of Joy Stalnaker!:)
• Also a whole bunch of yarn, and a pattern book – From Diane
• Family tickets to The World of Coke!! – Another *awesome* gift by Coca-Cola (along with their partner Cinnabon).
• Family tickets to Cirque du Soleil – Courtesy of Goldstar.com (thx, as always!)
• A handful of $25 gift certificates – from a whole bunch of people including Robin Greene and Jacqueline Mukweto (thx guys!)
• $50 gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse — Which we celebrated at the next night, and we thoroughly enjoyed :) (with our own money, haha, not *their* gift card!) Thanks Roadhouse!
• $35 gift certificate to Jump in The City – Woohoo!
• Passes & tokens to Chuck E. Cheese’s – Double woohoo!
• A beautiful stuffed horse for Felicity – lovingly given by Elizabeth Daniel :)
• Fully catered munchables by Chick Fil A – Huge thanks Shannon!)
• A couple of kiddie bags, full of books and toys to keep Felicity and Brennan occupied during their hospital visits :) (Good idea Sarah!)
• Two beautifully designed custom hand prints – crafted by Nicole Gray from Piggies and Paws!
• 6 months of meal plans courtesy of MealPlanRescue.com (Thanks for always participating!)
• 6 months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• Hand-picked toys for each child from Cute-Stuffs.com
• Computer lessons from Brandon (thx man!)
• And a photo book to capture the entire Drop’s celebrations. You rock GroupStory.

We then surprised Amanda with a fun baby shower! (With over $1,000 worth of stuff. And by “we,” I mean our AWESOME Love Drop members – Desiree Miller & Shannon Henrici :))

• Fully catered snacks by our Cinnabon friends! (We called them “bons in the oven,” haha…) As well as a beautifully packaged gift basket.
• $300 Pampers gift card – Along with a ton of free baby wipe certificates (Thx Jolly mom & Pampers!)
• A diaper cake & a whole bunch of hats – So cool :) Huge thanks to Little Boo Creations
• A GREAT mommaRoo baby swing! – Thanks so much 4Moms!
• A K’tan Baby Carrier! – Thanks Michal :)
• A slew of hand-made baby bibs, blanket, booties – Lovingly sewn by Jacqueline Mukweto yet again!
• A huge gift bag full of cool baby stuff – Courtesy of Cool Mom Picks
• Another basket of goodies – Including a $50 salon gift certificate (Thx again Desiree!!)
• And ANOTHER gift basket :) – This one including a bunch of Episencial all natural skincare lotions

You guys killed it again! Our 2nd biggest $ amount raised yet – thanks to everyone who participated and made this Drop happen :) Especially Cinnabon, Shannon, Desiree, Stow, and both of our lovely photographers for the event: Brandy Knight and Joy Knight Photography (no relation, haha…). Love ya!

Love Drop #6: The Aubins

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• Three months rent! ($3,300) – Our goal was to help pay as much rent as we could for them, and as always our team pulled through! We raised close to three months worth of rent, on top of a whole BUNCH of other gifts we’re about to list off ;) Good work guys!!
• A bench in honor of their dad, Keith Aubin We wanted to celebrate Keith’s life in a way that was both respectful and long-lasting, and one of our team members came up the idea of dedicating a bench in his honor to be placed in a local park. We ran with it, and the Aubins absolutely LOVED it :)
• A Detroit Red Wings Package! – The Detroit Red Wings generously donated 4 tickets to an upcoming pre-season game, as well as some stickers and towels from the team. Awesome!!
• Family tickets to watch a baseball game – From our long standing partner, Goldstar.com, who is all about getting families outside and enjoying quality time together.
• Tickets to the Henry Ford Museum Thanks Henry Ford!
• Pair of lift tickets – To enjoy Mt. Brighton Ski Resort! Thanks!
• A bowling party – Courtesy of a local area bowling alley – Pinz! (Games, food, and sodas!)
• Two bags of Mary Kay – To help pamper the ladies of the family ;) (Thanks Shannon)
• $100 Visa gift card – To help Sheila get some new clothes or supplies for her new job she got two weeks ago! Woohoo! Congrats Sheila!
• $50 Amazon card – For the family to share (thx Emmy!)
• $50 eBay card For the family to get something fun (thx again, Emmy :))
• $20 gift card – To enjoy some food at Buddy’s Restaurant Pizzeria (Thx guys!)
• Some art supplies – For Danielle, as we heard she likes to draw (Thanks Diane)
• 6 months of meal plans courtesy of MealPlanRescue.com (Thanks for always participating!)
• 6 months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• Computer lessons from Brandon (thx man!)
• And a photo book to capture the entire Drop’s celebrations. You rock GroupStory

We did it again guys! Way to go :) Special thanks to team members Sarah Baldry and Mike St. Pierre for all their help in making this Drop successful, and to Jami Carlson Photography for capturing the day’s events – the pictures are brilliant :)

Love Drop #5: The Stalnakers

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[To check out the pictures, click here.]

• Ford Mustang Convertible! WE DID IT GUYS!!! We got Joy a new car! Huge enormous thanks goes out to Britt and family for making this happen and completely putting their hearts behind it. The power of this community is absolutely incredible, and we wish them nothing but luck on their RV trip around the country. Thank you THANK YOU thank you! (And to Church Point United Methodist too)
• $1,200 Check from the Love Drop team. Icing on the cake!
• $450 from Kart Ranch – a family owned and operated family entertainment center. They sent over $200 worth of gift cards, on top for a check for $250! You guys rock.
• PlayStation 3 as our team’s “special gift” this month :)
• $50 Gas card from Pointe DE L’Eglise Texaco (thx guys!)
• $50 Amazon gift card for Kindle books (thx Trinnie!)
• $25 Food card to (and from) Parrot’s Pointe
• $25 Coffee card to (and from) Community Coffee
• Cinema Package! Courtesy of Crowley Cinema. Not only did they give the Stalnaker’s free tickets and food and special posters for the kids, but they delivered it all IN PERSON! It made such a difference that Joy even started crying. Seth and the Crowley crew didn’t know it, but they hadn’t been out to the movies together in over a year. It was awesome to have them celebrate with us.
• Children’s Museum of Acadiana Package! Physically brought, and shared, by the lovely ladies of the Museum too! Adding even more joy to the entire presentation :) They brought an artistic basket full of crafts and membership passes for the entire family – which just so happens to be little Bradley’s favorite! You all rocked it out. (The next time anyone’s in the Lafayette area, I highly encourage you to check it out – it’s awesome!)
• Lafayette Travel Package! Full of gifts and toys and a whole bunch of VIP tickets to local attractions. Thanks so much Lafayette Travel!
• 1 year family membership to the Zoo of Acadiana! (Great idea, Carey!)
• Framed newspaper of Super Bowl champs, The Saints Given by Joy’s mom, and original Love Drop team member, Diane! It was wonderful meeting you guys in person!! Thank you for being a part of such a special day :)
• Bags full of toys for Bradley & David – Packed with bubbles, chalk, battle axe (haha…) coloring stuff, water toys, and a whole mess of other fun kid stuff… big thanks to Sarah, Em and the gang for putting all this together :)
• 6 months of meal plans courtesy of MealPlanRescue.com (Thanks for always participating!)
• 6 months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• Star Wars DVD set sent over by Love Drop member Aldo
• Nice journal from Love Drop member Sarah :))
• Computer lessons from Brandon (thx man!)
• Hand-picked toys for each child from Cute-Stuffs.com
• And a photo book to capture the entire day’s fun by GroupStory – mad love as always.

Thank you so much to everyone who made this day special for the Stalnakers! All our Love Drop members, our Forum members, Church Point High School, all the kids who participated throughout the month, Aldo & Josh for our free stays, and a special thanks to Catherine Guidry Photography for capturing the day’s events for us.

Love Drop #4: The Kahlens

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[For pictures of the Drop, click here.]

• $2,000 Check from the Love Drop team (!!!). Including $405 from our Art Shop. (Great job guys!)
• $500 from Adaptu.com – A new, free online financial life planning and management service. Members of Adaptu can create a personalized view of their financial life and engage with a community to help take a more active role in the financial decisions that will affect their lives. (thx guys!)
• $500 from Adam & Courtney Baker (Man Vs Debt – woo!)
• $200 Gas card
• $100 Target gift card (Thx Wendy!)
• $100 Disneyland gift card! (Thx Carey)
• $50 Regal Cinemas gift card
• $45 Claim Jumper gift card

LOADS of tickets for their family to enjoy!

• 5 Tickets to an L.A. Dodgers baseball game (Thx Aldo!!)
• 5 Tickets to DISNEYLAND!!  V.I.P. treatment, photos, “surprises,” and a personal tour all courtesy of It’s All About Tours, and The Apples — WOW.
• 5 Tickets to Knott’s Berry Farm! (Way to go, Sarah!)
• 5 Tickets to go whale watching! (Rock on Goldstar.com)
• 10 Tickets to the Aquarium of The Pacific!
• 5 Tickets to Bowers Museum
• 5 Tickets to Santa Ana Zoo
• 4 Free rides each at the OC Fair :)

Gift baskets FULL of goodies from Carey, Emily, Sarah, Leigh and crew:

• Brenna’s basket: Justin Bieber silly bands, Justin Bieber action figure, Justin Bieber custom-made hoodie! Haha… and more cool trinkets. Well done guys, by far her fave part of the Drop :)
• Kelsey’s basket: American girl dolls, American doll book, bubbles, hair bands, lip gloss and more.
• Nathan’s basket: Necklace, an iPod shuffle from USAA (we later found out he had been DYING for one! Was a perfect gift), angels baseball, micro-kite, silly putty and more.
• Yvonne’s basket: Candles, tea, body wash and lotions…
• Kent’s basket: Specialty oils, sauces, spices…

Other great gifts & services:

• Fruit bouquet by Edible Arrangements :)
• Printed photo book covering the day’s Drop by GroupStory
• Six months of weekly seasonal meal plans from MealPlanRescue.com
• Six months of coaching services from JRRSEHopeCoaching.com – Solutions for midlife parents, troubled teens, single moms & career challenges.
• Money makeover with Clarky Davis, The Debt Diva – courtesy of the providers of CareOne Debt Relief Services
• Computer lessons from Brandon
• Hand-picked toys for each child from Cute-Stuffs.com
• Writing job offer for Yvonne! (Thx Shannon!)
• Exposure & advertising for Yvonne’s future published book. (Thx Shannon)
• Writing gig for Kent for a crafts site. (Thx Shannon)
• Gallery intros for Kent who are interested in possibly showcasing his work. (Thx RJ)

Big thanks goes out to Danny St. Pierre and Sarah Corrice for shooting and filming too. WAY TO GO TEAM LOVE DROP!!! Y’all killed it this month :)

Love Drop #3: Katie Howard

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[For pictures of the Drop, click here.]

• $2,919.21 Check! More than the $2800 we actually presented too – Way to go team!
• $600 worth of maid service – Thank you so much Buckets & Bows!
• An Amazon Kindle – Our special gift to Katie, since she LOVES to read :)
• $110 worth of Amazon gift cards – So she can get started!
• A surprise “friends” party! A dozen or so of close friends drove in (or flew!!) to make Katie’s Drop special. It was awesome :) And she didn’t even see it coming!
• A special video, from those who couldn’t make it (Thanks DanielleTV!!)
• A cooler full of pre-made food. The night before the Drop, a bunch of us cooked her some meals to freeze and use whenever she needs a break (well, mostly chef Mary Anne! The rest of us taste-tested ;)) But Sarah did make her famous chocolate chip cookies!
• 3 Tickets to watch Tornados Hockey! Katie had never seen a hockey game in-person yet, so we sent her to her first one this month! Big thanks to Matt for making this happen – Check out their pics from the event!
• 4 Tickets to Disney on Ice, compliments of Goldstar.com)
• A fancy ($170) hand bag! From Maile of Epiphanie Bags! WOW.
• Containers & containers of beads! Like, hundreds of dollars worth!! Haha… as well as a bunch of Blissdom swag. Way to do it big, Alli Worthington!
• Box of scrapbooking supplies – Sent in from Diane, a Creative Memories consultant (Yay!)
• A professional photo session! From Mia Coelho of Compassion Photography :)
• 1 year of weekly seasonal meal plans from MealPlanRescue.com (Awesome!!!)
• 1-2 hours interior decorating consulting – From Laura, a Wade College design student.
• 2 cool watches for the kids :) (Thanks Shannon & Our Mommyhood!)
• $75 Toys R Us gift card — From Shannon of MilkandCuddles.com.
• $25 Chile’s gift card
• $20 Target gift card
• $15 Stone Cold Creamery gift card ;)

And a BUUUUUUNCH of other great gifts:

• Baskets full of fun stuff for Katie – Including “Dessert” bubble gum that tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream, haha… plus a TON of other goodies to make her feel happy.
• Basket full of fun stuff for Claire – Lots of girly toys and trinkets for her to enjoy.
• Basket full of fun stuff for Jamie – Lots of boyish toys and trinkets for him to play with.
• More bags of great stuff for the family, courtesy of Texas Holly.
• A bunch of books, like the Go-Giver (Thx Mary Anne!)
• Mixed CDS with great music.
• Printed photo book covering the day’s Drop by GroupStory
• Fruit bouquet by Edible Arrangements :)
• Hand-picked toys for each child from Cute-Stuffs.com
• Computer lessons from Brandon
• And a bunch of other stuff people brought but didn’t tell us :)

Special thanks to Arden Prucha for all the great pictures of the event, Mary Anne & John for housing us and throwing the after party, and the entire Blissdom Conference community. Well done everyone, I think we surprised her! :)

Love Drop #2: Ethan & Alex Rewolinski

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[For pictures of the Drop, click here.]

• WE GOT THE DOG!!! The Rewolinskis needed to raise $13,000 to help cover the costs of placing and training a highly skilled service dog with them (their two sons, Ethan & Alex, have severe autism), and Love Drop pulled it off!!! We can’t thank all of you enough for REALLY stepping up and making this happen for them. Only our 2nd month “live” and you guys raised $13,000!! Incredible. Big shout out also goes to 4 Paws for Ability for working with us this month, as well as the handful of other great companies who really helped us pull this off. Well done everyone!
• And THREE iPads! Within 4 days of putting this on the site, the crew over at Johnson Creek hit us up and offered to give all three kids desperately needed iPads. We were overjoyed to say the least. Ethan and Alex have an incredibly hard time speaking (Alex in particular – he *can’t* speak) and these gifts go far and beyond when it comes to aiding in communication and development. And to help their sister, Megan, relate and be involved as well, we thought it would be best she learned to communicate through an iPad too. And our wish came true! (They even had their names engraved on them – how sweet!)
• A giant bear! Just because ;)
• Tickets to a Bucks game courtesy of Goldstar.com.
• $50 Towards babysitting services! (Thx D!)
• Fruit bouquet by Edible Arrangements :)
• Free 6-month membership to Fit2B Studio‘s online workout portal.
• Hand-picked toys for each child from Cute-Stuffs.com
• Computer lessons from Brandon

Some other cool events that helped make this happen:

• An entire school rallies for the Rewolinskis! The kids over at St. Robert Elementary School rallied together to do something special for the Rewolinskis :) When they caught wind of what we were doing, each class decided to make dozens and dozens of heart-shaped boxes full of drawings and notes of encouragement! They followed the story week by week, and everyone was so excited to help “change the world” one person at a time. Angie said that was enough to make the Drop worth it – and we happen to agree :) And not only did they create those awesome little hearts, but together they also raised close to $1,000 to bring us closer to our goal! Absolutely wonderful.
• A company hosts a bake sale & silent auction. Nate’s old employer, Direct Supply, stepped up and hosted a bake sale and silent auction. They worked hard for 4+ hours, and at the end came away with close to $1,800 and a lot of happy customers :) Big thanks to all the companies and people involved for donating both their time, and their items to auction off. It was a creative way to help!
• A group of angels gives us a HUMONGOUS gift at the last minute! In the last week before the big Drop, two families who put the icing on the cake when they decided to generously give us a check for $5,000. We were blown away! Their single act of kindness has literally changed the way the Rewolinskis will live for years and years to come.

A special thanks to Andrea Friar for capturing this month’s drop in photography too. Thank you, thank you, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!

Love Drop #1: Jill Markussen

[To watch their entire story, click here.]
[For pictures of the Drop, click here.]

• $2,244.78 Check! Love Drop’s very first one!!! (The number’s a bit off from the check you see above due to bad guestimation on our behalf. We did our first Drop a week before the month ended, and were a bit new at how it all would work ;) We came close though!)
• $100 worth of restaurant gift cards!
• $50 gift card to Bath and Body Works (Thx Sara!)
• Target gift card
• Amex gift card
• Family 4-pack of tickets to watch the Bulls! Really really good seats too ;) Courtesy of our friends at Goldstar.com who wants everyone to “get out more.” (Indeed!)
• Two Bears jerseys for the boys – Which was timely because the HUGE Bears vs. Packers NFC Championship game was literally the next day :)
• iPod Shuffle – Courtesy of USAA (Thx guys!)
• Box of scrapbooking supplies – Sent in from Love Drop member, Diane, who is a Creative Memories consultant who sells scrapbooking supplies. She mailed a box full of everything Jasmine needed to get started – albums, pages, adhesives, papers, pens, stickers, trimmers, etc. Amazing!! (And heavy!)
• Box full of girl stuff for Jasmine – Full of all kinds of makeup, perfume, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Mailed by our good friend Bria! You rock, girl.
• Hand-made earrings and pendants! – From designer, Christine, who also sent along a signed copy of her book, “Making Mixed Media Art Charms & Jewelry” – Thx Christine!
• Hand-made scarves AND a backpack! – Scarves for Jill and the two boys, and the backpack for Jasmin :) Crafted by Ducky Bumpkins of Happy Knits.
• Jewelry box & earrings – More gifts for Jasmine
• Hand-made Hat & scarf (red) – Thanks Karen & Jeannine!
• More hand-made wintery stuff – Thanks Jacqueline
• Hand-picked toys for each child from Cute-Stuffs.com

Even AFTER the Drop, people STILL continued (and continue!) to send gifts over to the family! Check out their most recent stuff:

• U-Haul full of stuff!! – Charity and her family DROVE down a U-Haul full of stuff for the Markussens which included bikes, kitchenware, and even a TV I think? How wonderful is that? All the way down from Grand Rapids, Michigan. WOW.
• A box of stuff from Hawaii! – A few bake ware dishes, , blender, slow cooker, and a handful of other things from a faraway Kara! That is awesome.
• A DVD player — Courtesy of Aldo who joined Love Drop a month or two after the Drop :)
• And another box of scrapbooking supplies! Thanks to long-time member Jacque.

Big thanks also goes out to Kona Grill for believing in us, and providing the after-party location. Truly amazing the amount of support and community this team brought for Jill & her family. Just incredible. THANK YOU to all who participated!