Giving Care and Support in Novato

One More Sweet Family…very close to home… let’s make their Christmas special!

 

Hi Everyone,

Thank you ALL for your financial contributions and all the gifts you have donated to help us provide food, clothing and warmth for those who are struggling in Northern California. This year, every time we felt like we were done with a project, we heard of another family in need, another hungry child, another family about to be evicted. Thanks to everyone’s contributions, we were able to provide holiday relief for dozens of families this year. We will be sending pictures and telling stories soon!

BUT TODAY…we have one more family who are really having a hard time. We are asking if you could pitch in anything, even a very small amount or a gift for the family, it would make a huge difference.

 

Their names are Betty and Elder. They have 5 kids, ages 4, 10, 12, 14, and 16, all boys. They both worked full time before Covid-19 and have always been able to provide for the family, but now they have been let go from their primary jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. They have no money to pay the rent in January, worry about eviction and their future, and they have very little food left. They are cold at night. Their kids need shoes and a warm winter coat. They are scared.

 

These are our goals to help them get through January and maybe even February:

Buy a warm winter coat for each of their children and maybe the parents, too.

 

 2 adult Large, 

 1 adult small, 

 1 Youth XL, and a 

 1 child’s size 5.

 

Get each family member a new pair of shoes.

mom size 8, 

dad size 9, and the 

kids are size 

6, 7, 10 and 11, and 

4 year-old kid size 12

 

Give the family a Safeway Gift Card for buying much needed groceries.

 

Raise the money to pay some or all of their rent for January.

 

We also hope to bring them dinner on Christmas Eve.

 

And maybe some warm socks and pajamas, too!

 

Thank you all again! If you have anything left to give, we promise that every single cent we raise will go this family. You are making a difference and we appreciate all of you!

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 

May we all find peace and love in the chaos of 2020 and step into 2021 with hope for whatever awaits us there…

 

CLICK TO DONATE

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROVIDING HOLIDAY HOPE FOR CLEAR LAKE FAMILIES

For all of us, the holidays will be different this year.  Covid-19 is causing us to be missing family gatherings, parties and our “normal” holiday life.  However, for some, the Covid-19 difference is devastating.  Their “new normal” includes unemployment, hunger and for some… homelessness.  Thankfully, we are able to pitch in with food, clothing, warm jackets and children’s Christmas gifts.

And the really GREAT news for our Dream Team Supporters is that we have found the perfect partners and a great way to offer help and hope to these needy families.  This holiday season, Dream of a Better World will be sending carloads of help and hope to families living in Clear Lake, one of the areas that have been hit hardest economically by the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Even BEFORE Covid-19, Clear Lake was listed by USA Today as “the poorest town in California," with 36% of residents living below the poverty line.

Our friend, Pat Ench, lived in Clear Lake for many years and knows many of these families quite well. She has a giant heart and wishes she could help everyone! To start, we have a few families who she knows that we are helping directly during this challenging time. Additionally, we are partnering with the Mt. Konocti Women’s Service Center group in Clear Lake who will shop and provide food, blankets, and gifts for kids and their families living in this extremely hard-hit area.  

Please DONATE any amount you can! It will go a long way!  Remember that 100% of every dollar you donate will go directly to provide for a family who needs our support this year!

Thank you so much to all of our donors! We appreciate you so much and are so grateful for joining us over the years to make the world a little bit better!

 

 

Wishing you all love, peace and hope for this upcoming year,

All of us at Dream of a Better World

 

CLICK TO DONATE

 

HEALTHCARE WORKER HEROES

 

This week Dream of a Better World had the honor of helping the AMAZING healthcare facility, Cedar Creek,  in Santa Clara.

We asked their director how we could help.  Her instant response was: "Wow... how wonderful of you to ask!  We are on our feet ALL day and we can really use new work shoes!"  So this week, we delivered gift cards to 49 nurses, aids and staff so that each of them could buy a brand new pair of Skechers comfortable work shoes.  

Thank you Cedar Creek for ALL you do for your community, especially during these difficult times!

Thanksgiving Food for ALL!

Hi Everyone,

So MUCH is happening in the world around us these days!  Between COVID and politics and the upcoming holidays, it is SO easy to forget that we CAN make a huge difference for many, many people in our own communities!  So... THANK YOU EVERYONE who has reached out and supported our efforts this year! We have been able to feed many families and purchase diapers, toilet paper and other needs because of your generosity.

This THANKSGIVING we will be partnering again with California Homemakers Association (CHA). We know that they will be making a huge difference to people struggling through the pandemic in Northern California.  They are desperately trying to re-stock their food shelves for an expected increased demand during the holidays.  As a reminder, CHA is a grassroots, voluntary membership organization created to meet people’s basic needs including food, dental and medical, as well as legal expenses. 

We chose them because, like us, their donations go directly to feeding people who are not getting paid and are struggling to purchase food right now. One other cool thing is that they collect excess food from Whole Foods, Andy’s, Oliver’s and other local grocery stores, as well as the Goodwill, every single Friday! And they still cannot keep up with the demand. People are hungry. Families are hungry. Kids are hungry!

CHA provides support for our valuable and necessary, but “unrecognized” workers who include day laborers, temporary and seasonal workers, in-home health care providers, independent contractors, farmers, and domestic workers. They are working hard during these challenging times to help the community get its basic needs for food and safety met. They are currently delivering food to hundreds of people each week and the demand keeps growing every day!

 

Please help us re-stock their shelves so that the many families they serve will be able to really celebrate this Thanksgiving! 

 

Thank you ALL!  Dream of a Better World is grateful for each and every one of YOU!  And we hope you have an abundant and wonderful, healthy holiday season!

 

With Much Thanksgiving!

 

Carly, Jack and Hannah Button

And everyone at Dream of a Better World

 

CLICK TO DONATE HERE

Difficult Times – They Keep Coming!

Hi Friends and Family!

 

We hope that this message finds you all safe and well. We can hardly stop to catch our breath these days, with this year packing on one disaster after another. It lifts our hearts and spirits that you all continue to reach out to us! Thank you all for your continued support… our struggling towns and hurting, hungry people need it now more than ever! We are currently fundraising for a few families and for 3 groups of Dream of a Better World friends who are feeding people around the country.

In Hawaii, the Sunset Beach Mualoa Food Pantry buys food at cents on the dollar from distribution centers and helps feed the North Shore’s homeless and hungry; their need has been rising due to unemployment from Covid-19. A majority of Hawaii residents earn their living through the tourism industry, which is completely shut down.

 

In California, we are supporting California Homemaker’s Association, a small but mighty non-profit that provides food, clothing, medical and legal aid and more to people in Santa Rosa and the surrounding area. They are a membership group of volunteers working together to offer a variety of services to those in need. Their population is mostly hungry children and families and those who are undocumented, homeless, compromised, unemployed, and have no access to food and basic everyday needs. Now, many more are being impacted by the disastrous wildfires.

 

In Tennessee, our sweet friends William and Ebralie

Mzweira are making a difference in a big way. They personally fled the genocide in Rwanda, where William lost 76 family members in the 100-day massacre. You can read more about their story in our July blog below. William and Ebralie are people who “pay it forward” every single day. William supported the "Lost Boys" of Sudan when they arrived in Nashville from Africa, and now those same refugees are fundraising to feed other refugees from around the world.

 

In addition, we are supporting small community “closet” pantries that are popping up on street corners and being managed by local people in towns that have been hit hard by Covid-19. If you have a local community pantry that you want to tell us about, please let us know. 

 

And now, our friends in Oregon are losing homes and have evacuated. We will be reaching out to them today. 

 

From Covid-19, the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many more at the hands of police brutality, to the ravaging fires down the west coast, it seems like this year just won’t stop. It just feels relentless; we are collectively holding our breath, waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel to appear to tell us that everything will be okay and there is a chance we can go back to normal. We are angry, sad, and tired of it. Let’s all work together to help those that are struggling in this new reality. Lets be sure that people have enough to eat during these challenging times! 

 

If you can share a meal or two with these people across our land, please DONATE! Thank you so much!

 

We appreciate you!

 

Carly, Jack and Hannah Button

And everyone at Dream of a Better World

 

CLICK TO DONATE HERE

 

With Love...

We’ve been hearing so many stories of loss, grief, hopelessness, sickness and just an overall feeling of despair. We have grown to become such a close group of supporting, generous, loving people scattered all over the world, and this is the first time that it feels like every, single person we know and love is going through something at the same time. Just know that we love you, we are thinking about you, and we would love to hear from you! And if you know someone who is hungry, please let us know. We can include them in our fundraising efforts.

 

With love, hope and appreciation,

Carly, Jack and Hannah Button

 

The Story Behind Our Friends - Activists - Community Heroes!

Many years ago, these two amazing friends went into hiding with their five children, barely escaping a genocide where nearly 1,000,000 of their countrymen were murdered in 100 days.  Because both William and Ebralie were of mixed race (Hutu and Tutzi tribes), they experienced extreme discrimination, hatred and cruelty from people of both tribes.  All of William's relatives on his mother's side, 76 in total, were killed. His brother, sister-in-law and their two children, along with his sister and her four children, were all killed on the same day.  Their family went into hiding and eventually made it out of Rwanda.  

In 1999, after a long bureaucratic process, the Mwizerwa's were granted political asylum in the United States.  William is fluent in five languages, majored in Christian Communications, has a degree in Elementary Education and a degree in Conflict Resolution.  They have led numerous workshops on Peace Building and Reconciliation, even under the threat of personal injury and death threats.  Coming to the United States was an answer to prayer for the Mwizerwas, but leaving all their possessions behind, being unemployed, black immigrants with five young children did not make life easy for them.

We met William and Ebralie in 2003 and joined forces with them in a ministry that focused on helping other refugees.  At that time, we were helping William in his efforts to support and relocate the "Lost Boys" of Sudan in middle Tennessee.  Over the years, we have continued to follow them, and at times support their ongoing work with refugees in the United States.  Their organization is "Legacy Mission Villiage" (LMV), which is also a 501(c)3 non-profit.  Right now, their needs are even greater as a result of COVID-19.  They are asking for financial support for basic items such as food, clothing, diapers and everyday needs.

Please join us in this INCREDIBLE effort to support William and Ebralie's mission to help other refugees and some of the poorest of the poor in the United States.

As always, 100% of your donation received by Dream of a Better World will go directly to this project... and, in this case, LMV's mission in support of their COVID-19 response.

THANK YOU AGAIN!  Carly, Jack, Hannah and Everyone at Dream of a Better World!

CLICK TO DONATE HERE

Or, use the first DONATE BUTTON above that's labeled:

WILLIAM & LMV SUPPORT

COVID-19 Effort UPDATE

Ben & Erica - Amazing Volunteer Leaders at CHA

Here's a quick update for everyone supporting our COVID-19 food distribution efforts!  As most of you know, we ALWAYS use 100% of your donation to meet the needs of those we are tying to help!  We also search out local partners on the front lines who are doing the same.  In this case... meet Ben and Erica, volunteer leaders at California Homemakers Association (CHA).

Social Distance Meetings CHA & DBA

CHA is a 100% volunteer organization doing amazing things to help our communities in need.  Because of COVID-19, their emergency food deliveries have tripled!  Many of their members are now unable to pick up food, afford gas for their cars, are quarantined or suffering with COVID-19.  Our partnership with CHA is a direct way for Dream of a Better World to help provide food and get that food where it is needed most!

To date, we have raised $8,000 in cash and needed items!   We are SO PROUD of our donors and the on-going support they give to people in need.  We are also very, very thankful for Ben & Erica and ALL of the amazing volunteers at CHA!

Thank you all!

PLEASE keep donating when you can.   We promise your donation will make a BIG difference in the lives of the people we are helping!

We have also posted a thank you letter with photos from CHA of some of the great work they are doing to help people in our communities.  CLICK HERE for the FULL UPDATE.

(Please note that the photos below were taken recently, but prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and that EVERY precaution is now being taken to keep volunteers and program members safe!)

Organizing Food Distributions.

Volunteers Packing Food

Families Delivering Food

$5,000 MATCHING CAMPAIGN

$5,000.00 matching campaign! Let's provide food for people who need it the most!

Join us in meeting the needs of others during this challenging time. A very generous Dream of a Better World donor will match your GIFT up to a total of $5,000! 

Hi Everyone,

We are thinking of you all and hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. These are clearly new and different times, and all of us at Dream of a Better World are doing what we can to help others while following all of our current rules and restrictions.

Thank you everyone who has reached out and supported our efforts through this past month! We have been able to feed many families and purchase diapers, toilet paper and other needs because of your generosity.

This next month we will be partnering with a group that we know is making a huge difference to people struggling through this pandemic. It’s called California Homemakers Association and they are based out of Santa Rosa. They are a grassroots, voluntary membership organization created to meet people’s basic needs including food, dental and medical, as well as legal expenses. 

We chose them because, like us, their donations go directly to feeding people who are not getting paid and are struggling to purchase food right now. One other cool thing is that they collect excess food from Whole Foods, Andy’s, Oliver’s and other local grocery stores, as well as the Goodwill, every single Friday! And they still cannot keep up with the demand. People are hungry. Families are hungry. Kids are hungry!

CMA provides support for our valuable and necessary, but “unrecognized” workers who include day laborers, temporary and seasonal workers, in-home health care providers, independent contractors, farmers, and domestic workers. They are working hard during these challenging times to help the community get its basic needs for food and safety met. They are currently delivering food to hundreds of people each week and the demand keeps growing every day!

Every dollar you donate will be matched up to a total of $5,000.00. 

Thank you so much!

April Food Fund

Let’s make sure people have enough food to EAT!

It’s going to be a tough month ahead, that’s for sure. Let’s do our part to make sure that anyone affected by Covid-19 has food on their tables. We all need to remain calm  and healthy. We all need to have our basic needs met and we need hope.

Dream of a Better World will be providing assistance to individuals, families, and communities impacted by challenges associated with Covid-19.

If you can give, please give.

If you, or someone you know, needs food, please let us know.

We will provide support as long as we can.

We are all in this together.

                                                                          

We love you all! Stay safe!

Carly, Jack and Hannah Button

And all of us at Dream of a Better World

Evening Star Fundraiser - Helping People at End-of-Life

Dream of a Better World - a 501(c)3 Non-Profit!

Back in 2009, when we were 3 little kids who baked cookies and had lemonade stands, we never could have imagined that, years later, Dream of a Better World would have grown so much that we were able to help people on every continent and that we would still be fundraising for causes we believe in around the world!

We wanted to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who continues to support us every year as we reach out to serve and help others around the world. Specifically, thank you for showing up at our events, for sending in donations, for sharing our blog posts, for bringing us ideas and projects that we can support, and for all being a part of our dream to make the world a better place while we are here. Thank you all for sending in end-of-year donations to us even when we weren’t having a particular fundraiser because you “knew we would use it well.” And of course, we did.

But even more than all that, from a personal perspective, thank you ALL who continue to believe in us and encourage us to keep on going. We have been doing these projects since we were little kids, and it is now a giant part of who we are. We grew up looking for people to give back to after everyone took such good care of us when our mom had cancer. And it hasn’t ever stopped. Even though now we are all in college and our lives are busier, this work still means so much to us and, with your support, we hope to keep Dream of a Better World alive and constantly seeking to touch lives for years to come.

As a reminder, we still NEVER take a penny for any administration expenses. We have people who help us with our bookkeeping and office jobs, and we would like to shout out a special thank you to Friedlander, Cherwon & Capper, our CPA firm in San Rafael, who handle our non-profit accounting needs and do our taxes pro bono! We have the greatest friends, families, neighbors and supporters and we are so grateful for each of you!

Finally, you are all role models to us. You have impacted who we are and what we care about. You all have a willingness, passion, dedication, and commitment to improving the world we live in. You are amazing.

Carly, Jack and Hannah Button

Thank You All!

Happy New Year and thank you all so much for all of your support in 2019! We promise to continue to do great work in 2020 and beyond to make the world just a little bit healthier and happier!

We hope you all have a productive, joyful, restful, healthy and AMAZING decade ahead!

Happy New Year! 

Carly, Jack and Hannah Button

Just for fun…We received this sweet video from the girl’s school in Morocco and we wanted to share it with you!