While we did not raise enough money to purchase a new laptop as well, the Ronald McDonald House is very thankful for those who helped raise the money for this purchase.

Thank you once again for all your help!

These two items have been on the RMHC’s “needs” list for a while, but have not been purchased due to the lack of funds. The Ronald McDonald House of Columbia has been operating at full capacity for the past two years and during this time, any extra funds they received went towards purchasing food as well as maintaining the upkeep of the house.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Columbia supports two programs: Ronald McDonald House and the Ronald McDonald Family Room. Both of these programs are centered around providing the highest quality of care and comfort for the families of children currently facing cancer, critical illnesses, birth defects and serious injuries.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Columbia serves over 350 families a year and has helped roughly 80,000 mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, brothers, and other family members since it opened in 1983. The RMHC helps provide a safe and sheltered environment that these families can call their “home away from home” during this stressful time in their lives when a child is sick.

To help the Ronald McDonald House raise these funds, please click the PayPal button below or on the sidebar. Need by Need, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization so all donations are tax deductible. Be sure to keep your PayPal receipt for your tax records.

UPDATE (6/10/10): This need has been fulfilled!

To contact the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Columbia, you can call them at 803.254.3181 or email them at info@rmhcofcolumbia.org.

Dear Friends of Loaves and Fishes,

For the last several years, the women and children who call our shelter home have had to live with very old and stained carpet that honestly was not as sanitary as it really needed to be. We have had to make some tough decisions on how to spend our funds and as a result, carpet and tile replacement has always gotten bumped for more pressing needs like food and clothing and keeping the lights on. In providing the much-needed funds to replace our carpet and tile you have done a great service to not only our staff and volunteers but for the children who crawl and play on our floors and for their mothers who call our shelter home. We cannot thank you enough for your generosity and faithfulness in giving to meet this great need and look forward to partnering with you in the future to meet the needs of the less fortunate we seek to serve each day as we serve Christ.

Sincerely,

Debbie Push
Executive Director
Loaves and Fishes for St. Louis, INC.

If you would like to continue to support Loaves & Fishes, you can reach Ms. Push through her email addresses of Debbie AT loavesandfishes-stl.org or visit their contact page here.

Through your donations, Loaves & Fishes was able to replace the carpet as well as install tile in a new children’s area they had just built.

In case you forgot what the old carpet looked like, here is a picture:

Thanks again for all your help and check back soon for more updates.

To view our financial report, please click the link below:

2009 Year End Financial Report (PDF)

If you have any questions, or are having trouble viewing the report, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

Thanks again for all your help in fulfilling this need. To find more information about Loaves and Fishes, please click here.

Here is a thank you from Loaves and Fishes to all those volunteers who helped make it happen:

To the Student Ministries of Grace Church,

On behalf of Loaves and Fishes, the poor and the homeless we serve I would like to personally thank all of you for spending your day here at the shelter in volunteer service. You did a wonderful job in spreading of the mulch, in the general clean up of our children’s shelter playground and in the stocking of our food pantry items. We were very excited to see so many students participate in this day of service! You as volunteers are a very important part of the foundation of our ministry….each worker enables us to continue to reach out to those less fortunate on a daily basis. Finally, and with our sincere thanks, we pray that God richly blesses you all.

Deborah Push, Executive Director
Loaves and Fishes Charity

We are still raising money to help Loaves & Fishes replace the carpet in one of their dormitory areas. To learn more about this need, click here or make a donation by clicking on the “Donate Now” button above.

However, we feel that we should continue to raise additional funds to help Loaves & Fishes with another need. In addition to the stove repairs and mulch, one of their dormitories is in desperate need of new carpet. The current carpet has been there for eight years and is worn out and heavily stained. At this point, replacement is the only viable option.

Replacing the carpet would benefit the women and children who call the dormitory “home” each night.

An estimated cost of buying and installing new carpet in this dormitory area is also $1,000.

If you would like to help purchase new carpet to make the living conditions at Loaves & Fishes more enjoyable for the women and children that this organization serves, please click on one of the donation buttons located above or below to help fulfill this need.

[UPDATE: Need Fulfilled as of 12/15/09. Be sure to check out the "Blog" for more information.]

We would like to thank everyone who has already given money towards repairing Loaves & Fishes’ stove or towards purchasing mulch for their playground. If any money remains after the repairs and mulch have been paid for, the remainder will go towards paying for the purchase and installation of the carpet. Thanks again and please feel free to contact us with any questions.

If you would like to donate towards fulfilling Loaves & Fishes needs, click on the PayPal donation button below or on the donate button above. To learn more about this need, click here.

[UPDATE: As of 8/29/09 this need has been fulfilled! Click here for pictures of the repaired stove.]