Monday July 12th 2010, 9:53 am
Filed under: Appeal, News, Awards
July 6, 2010
Dear Share The Care Supporters,
We’ve been told that a gentle reminder to support an organization that makes a profound difference in the lives of so many is totally acceptable and appreciated. So please, if you didn’t have a chance to focus on our first appeal, take a moment to read this through.
Right now, Share The Care™ is making a significant difference to the nearly 500 (and growing) registered groups. We are deeply gratified to hear that many of them, from Tennessee to Tasmania, from New York to Nova Scotia, and from Minnesota to Malaysia, are thriving.
Thousands of Share The Care group members are caring for family and friends coping with a vast range of difficult challenges including: Alzheimer’s, stroke, heart disease, cancer (breast, lung, brain, pancreatic, ovarian, prostate, colon, bone, and stomach), ALS, liver and heart transplant recipients, Autism, dementia, HIV and blind, coma, Quadriplegia, Lupus, diabetes, Huntington’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Muscular Dystrophy. As you know, we also supportthose facing circumstances like: broken back or hip, a recently widowed father with three small children, teens transitioning from foster care, frail elderly, double knee replacement surgery, and helping families who are bereaved.
As you can imagine, everyone at ShareTheCaregiving, Inc. feels an urgent need to spread our grassroots cost-effective, community-based caregiving program. Share The Care participants consistently describe it as a profound life-changing experience for everyone involved.
Just yesterday I spoke with someone who had recently learned of four separate friends who were dealing with sudden serious health issues. The need for finding solutions like Share The Care never stops.However, to expand our reach and let more people know about it, we need your support. If every caregiver will pledge a personally meaningful gift—or mobilize a significant team contribution of $500 or $1000 to ShareTheCaregiving now, we can continue to grow and make Share The Care a household name in our caregiving culture.
Your immediate show of support will enable us to attract foundation and corporate sponsors. If you or someone you know can help us find sponsors, please let us know.
GIFTS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.
We also invite you to donate in honor of a friend or loved one. You may donate online (www.sharethecare.org) or if you prefer by check. Please make checks payable to ShareTheCaregiving/NCCI, and send to:
ShareTheCaregiving, Inc.
C/o The National Center for Civic Innovation – 6th floor
121 Avenue of the America’s
New York, NY 10013-1590
Please include your name and address so we can acknowledge your gift. Also, let us know your Share The Care group’s name. And we always welcome your stories and group photos for our web site.
With deepest appreciation from our Board of Directors and staff.
Sheila Warnock, Founder & President
Share The Care Seven Highlights
June 2010
1) We recently received two wonderful recognitions from a best selling author!
• See “Gail Sheehy’s 6 Favorite Books,” in The Week, April 30, 2010:
• In Passages In Caregiving, her newest book, Sheehy recommends our book,
adding:“Share The Care Is morethan a book…it’sa philosophy…” (page 104).
2) ShareTheCaregiving President Sheila Warnock has been invited by the Healthcare Chaplaincy to serve on their Residence Advisory Committee for an innovative national demonstration project, a Palliative Care Campus in Lower Manhattan.
3) We are almost ready to “road test” SHARE THE CARE GROUP HUGS. This will be an online spacewhere groups can share their experiences, suggestions, resources andsolutions among those facing similar challenges. All registered Share The Care groups will receive an invitation to join when it is up and running.
4) We’re also nearing the completion of materials developed for Share The Care Stations. We will be testing in specific areas where we have done trainings. A Station is a place in a community where people can find information and support to organize a group. Information will be posted on the web site soon.
5) We have raised $30,000 towards the cost to start our Individual Group Sites Project. This will make it possible for Share The Care groups to operate online using our specific forms and systems. Please help us secure the last $16,000 to get started.
6) Behind the scenes, we’re actively working with SEED (www.SEEDImpact.org) on board development and growth strategies. Happily, a number of individuals are giving their time and expertise to expand our prospects in grant seeking, marketing, strategy development and finding new ways to generate income.
7) Last, but by no means least, do check out the link below to a wonderful story of how Share The Care blossomed in one community through the experiences and work of a ministry.
“In the old days, if a farmer couldn’t milk his cows, the neighbors pitched in and did it.
Share The Care is providing old-fashioned community care in the 21st century.”
Just in the last six months we know of more than 300 Share The Care groups that have been formed across the US, Canada as well as Iceland, Spain and Australia to care for people of all ages including children.
The care recipients of these Share The Care groups have a wide variety of very difficult illnesses and conditions: all types of cancer – breast, lung, melanoma, brain tumors, and even some with multiple cancers, ALS, dementia, stroke, Alzheimer’s, septic shock, Huntington’s Disease, heart attack, COPD, Multiple Sclerosis, Macular Degeneration, and Parkinson’s Disease. There are groups helping with other challenges like: a widower with 7 kids, a quadriplegic, someone with a broken back and limbs, the frail elderly, a mother with a new baby, and to help teens transition to foster care.
If you are one of these caregivers or someone about to embark on being part of a Share The Care group then you understand (or are beginning to catch a glimpse of) the profound difference it makes to your care recipient and their family to be surrounded by your love and support. We salute you and your amazing work and dedication.
So, you will understand, with the end of the 2009 in sight, our board and staff at ShareTheCaregiving feel an even more urgent need to spread our cost-effective, community-based caregiving program. As you know, SHARE THE CARE is much more than a just a book or model–it’s a life-changing experience for everyone involved.
Please help us by sending a tax-deductible donation of $100 or $200 to the ShareTheCaregiving Organization now. We may even want to rally your SHARE THE CARE group to mobilize a team contribution of $500 or more. It will help us with keeping the “lights on” in our office over the next year.
If every caregiver who has benefited from our grassroots program will pledge a personally meaningful financial contribution now, together we can continue to grow and make SHARE THE CARE a meaningful part of our caregiving culture.
Your immediate show of support will enable us to attract foundation and corporate sponsors.
Currently we’re seeking in matching funds needed to build our SHARE THE CAREIndividual Group Sites Project. We now only need $16,000 more to start building this important extension to the model. If you or someone you know can help us, please let us know.
ALL GIFTS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.
We also invite you to donate in honor of or in memory of a friend or loved one. You may donate online (www.sharethecare.org) or by check.
Make checks payable to ShareTheCaregiving/NCCI, and send to:
ShareTheCaregiving, Inc.
C/oThe National Center for Civic Innovation – 6th floor
121 Avenue of the America’s
New York, NY 10013-1590
We hope you will include your name and address so we can acknowledge your gift. Also, let us know your SHARE THE CARE group’s name. We welcome your stories and photos for our web site.
BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY HOLIDAY.
With deep appreciation and warmest regards from out board and staff.
¬ We only need $16,000 more in grants or donations to build our web-based Individual Group Sites Project. We recently received two matching grants ($10,000 each) from The Milbank Foundation for Rehabilitation and EmblemHealth toward this important extension to the model.
¬ The Share the Care program received the 2009 Respite Services Achievement Award, for Cross-generational Caregiving. The award is from the Statewide Caregiving & Respite Coalition of New York. We wish to congratulate our program funding partners with whom we share this meaningful recognition: The Balm Foundation, The Aetna Foundation, and HIP (now EmblemHealth.)
¬ We have also been awarded up to $10,000 in pro bono coaching and capacity-building services from SEED (Stretch, Enliven, Ennoble, Discover). Beginning in November 2009, our core staff will participate in the SEED Diagnostic (www.seedimpact.org) to assess impact and performance. Following a half-day “creative stretch” workshop to define strategic growth intentions, monthly coaching sessions will be customized to keep us aligned with our vision and track outcomes.
2. TRAINING AND KEYNOTES
This year we trained approximately 350 professionals and clergy in New York, Alaska and South West Ontario. We introduced Share The Care to approximately 937 professionals, clergy and caregivers in New York City and State, Oregon, and Winnipeg (Manitoba.)
3.INTERNAL GROWTH AND CAPACITY
New Office:Thanks to former Board Member, Fran Heller, we were able to reduce costs by moving our office to a new location in April. We are located within VENTURA, a Marketing and Sales Promotions Company on Sixth Avenue and 39th Street. Our mailing address is c/o the National Center for Civic Innovation (our fiscal sponsor).
New Administrator:In July, Phyllis Califano, a former co-worker of Sheila’s from her earliest advertising days at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach joined the ranks of ShareTheCaregiving as our Volunteer Administrator. She was just retiring from her job as an Account Management Supervisor at McCann Erickson, and was looking to “give back” as a volunteer somewhere. Luckily we were that “somewhere.”
Two New Volunteer Outreach Directors:
Hawaii: Kimi Chun joined the ranks of our Volunteer Outreach Directors this summer. She was the lead player in the well-known “Peg’s Legs” Share The Care group in Honolulu for nearly six years until Peggy passed away in late 2008. Kimi is featured on our web site under “SHARE YOUR ADVICE” in a Q & A about how she organized “Pegs Legs” to work in shifts and how she enlisted volunteers in each shift to become medically trained to care for the needs of an ALS patient. Kimi has already been instrumental in helping many new groups including one for an 8-year old girl and her family. In 2006, Sheila nominated Kimi as Caregiver of the Year, in an on-line competition – Kimi won!
4. SHARE THE CARE IN OTHER COUNTRIES
South West Ontario Share the Care Initiative: Sheila completed four trainings to help launch this new program. Share The Care Coordinator for the initiative, Eugene Dufour, encourages and manages the efforts of health professionals and clergy in the region, while also serving as our Volunteer Outreach Director for South West Ontario. Eugene is a clinically-trained marital and family therapist, specializing in bereavement, compassion fatigue, and critical incident debriefing. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from King’s University College at The University of Western Ontario and has been working in palliative care, mental health, and the HIV/AIDS movement for 25 years. In 2002, the Governor General of Canada presented Eugene with the Commemorative Medal for his work in hospice palliative care, at the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Expanding our Reach:In April, we began requesting basic demographic information as a part of online registrations to download our forms. Since then, we have learned of more than 300 newShare The Care groups and can now document them (present and past) in They include: the United States, Canada, Israel, Iceland, Australia, and Spain.
Wednesday March 18th 2009, 1:29 pm
Filed under: Appeal, News
Have you ever been in a SHARE THE CARE group?
If that’s a “YES” we need your help!
ShareTheCaregiving is like one big Share The Care™ group. And just like a friend or family in need our organization needs to raise at least $25,000 for operating support.
A $10 (or $25 or $50) donation from every person who has ever been in a Share The Care™ group could keep us going during this incredibly challenging year. (Or you can pool your funds and make a group donation.) There are thousands of you out there and yet we rarely receive your support.
So often, you’ve shared that our grassroots model saved your day. Now, save our day and keep us reaching and teaching first–time or struggling burned-out caregivers about the rewards (for everyone) of having friends and neighbors pool their time, skills and love to share the care.
Please make a check payable to ShareTheCaregiving, Inc./NCCI
And send your tax-deductible donation via mail:
ShareTheCaregiving, Inc.
c/o National Center for Civic Innovation
121 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Thursday December 04th 2008, 7:17 am
Filed under: Appeal
December 2008
Dear Supporter,
In tough times like these, ShareTheCaregiving’s mission is even more important, as we work to empower communities to share the burdens and joys of supporting one another. Every day we read a new caregiving story in the papers about people who are struggling in one way or another; the beauty of our program is that it enables each of us to participate in a positive, deeply meaningful and constructive way in another’s life.
So, we turn to our first line of defense: individuals and group caregivers like you who know what a Share The Care™ group is capable of doing, be it in times of difficulty or times of great joy (see below). Unfortunately, foundation support only pays a small fraction of our expenses to keep going.
We need your help - specifically to pay our rent, purchase books for distribution, print brochures, and hire needed staff. And we’re actively searching for funds to build an innovative web application to meet the specific needs of individual Share The Care™ groups.
A generous donation from you will make the difference that will allow us to continue our mission to educate the friends, neighbors and co-workers of people in need on how to Share The Care™.
Whether you send us an individual donation, or pool your funds with your fellow group members and friends - it will make a major difference. A donation can be made “in memory” or, “in honor” of someone special - just please include his or her name. And to personally acknowledge your tax-deductible gift, we’ll need your name & address.
As the holiday season approaches the Board of Directors and I want to wish you and your family much health, hope and joy during the holidays and throughout the New Year ahead.
Warmest regards,
Sheila Warnock
Founder & President
ShareTheCaregiving Inc.
551 Fifth Avenue, 28th Floor
New York, New York 10176
646-467-8097
A NEW KIND OF SHARE THE CARE ™ EXPERIENCE
“The Diaper Darlings have been going strong since September 16, 2007 caring for the Quads: Ben, Savannah, Drew and Ethan.
I was so blessed to have the knowledge the Share The Care book had given me so that I could help this family expecting four new babies all at one time. I knew I could do it - I knew it would work - it had for my family.
The Quads have about 50 adopted Mom’s, Grandma’s, Great Grandma’s and Grandpa’s who love them dearly. (Recruited from our Church).
So, the Share The Care™ program not only helps people who are ill, but can also provide support to families during times of great joy as well. I’m so blessed to be able to offer this assistance to so many families. It feels so good to be able to “give back” some of the gifts given to me, and my family, while caring for my daughter, Marcie.”
Tuesday November 06th 2007, 3:44 pm
Filed under: Appeal
No one understands better than you, the importance of our mission to stop “caregiver burnout” and help thousands of other individuals and families find the SHARE THE CARE model. SHARE THE CARE has been, and continues to be, a successful caregiving solution for a wide range of conditions and situations.
ShareTheCaregiving has reached a major turning point its development and if ever there was a time when our organization needed your help it is right now! Our goal is to raise $25,000 to cover some of our costs for the first half of 2008.
Since receiving our 501c3 in 2004, we’ve been working steadily to spread the word and educate individuals, health professionals and clergy about the model so they in turn can introduce it to families who need the help. We’re making tremendous headway yet our organization needs your support to pay for printing educational materials, purchasing books for distribution, and just paying the rent. We’re also in dire need of a new Mac laptop so work can continue while on the road. Ours is so old it can’t even be upgraded with current technology.
People often tell us “SHARE THE CARE is such important work.” So, we ask you to please keep it going by making a generous donation.
“I think the book was the best piece of information we received in all our searching. It is the greatest and I recommend it to everyone who asks about our situation. I wish all hospitals could hand it out when they give you a diagnosis (for ALS). I wish you could get a grant to have it placed in every hospital waiting room and doctor’s office. Everyone knows someone that could benefit from reading it.”
Kathryn Field
Whether you send us an individual donation, or pool your funds with your fellow group members–it will make a major difference. A donation can be made “in memory” or, “in honor” of someone special–just please include his or her name. And to personally acknowledge your tax-deductible gift, we’ll need your name & address.
For checks:
ShareTheCaregiving, Inc.
551 Fifth Avenue, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10176
Monday December 18th 2006, 7:06 pm
Filed under: Appeal
December 2006
Dear Share The Care group member,
As the holidays approach, I’d like to take a minute to acknowledge everyone who’s ever been a Share The Care group member. As a member you’ve done hundreds of jobs: errands, meals, driving and accompanying your friend to doctors appointments and treatments. You‘ve kept businesses going, build wheelchair ramps, held fundraisers and moved a family from one home to another. You were there through all the stages of their illness making many of their wishes
come true. You’ve made a REAL difference in someone’s life.
Now we have an urgent need to ask you to do one more thing: make a contribution to Share The Care and help make a difference in the lives of hundreds of other people!
While you were busy we’ve also been working hard establishing sharethecaregiving, Inc. (a 501c3 organization) Our mission is to bring Share The Care to an even wider audience and teach people how they, like you, can make a profound difference by turning offers of “What can I do to help” into action. And in the past 12 months we’ve made some remarkable progress:
In June, we opened our headquarters in New York City establishing a professional presence in the non-profit healthcare community. This was made possible by a grant from the Bodman Foundation as well as your individual donations.
Our Web site has been steadily growing. We’ve been averaging 80,000 page hits a month
(up from 65,000 in 2005) and surging as high as 175,600 page hits in January 2006.
We’ve conducted trainings, presentations and lectures for professionals in Wisconsin, Colorado,
California and New York and are scheduled for others in New Jersey and Illinois for ‘07.
We now have satellite healthcare professionals in four parts of the country to make Share
The Care more accessible. (West Coast, Rocky Mtn. Region, Mid West and the East Coast.)
We’ve partnered with Jakoter Health Organizers and created a ready-made Share The Care Health Organizer and tote for groups to use (see our web site under Medical File).
Sharethecaregiving is now part of a brand new local organization launching in November –
The New York City Family Caregiver Coalition.
THERE’S MORE WORK TO BE DONE.
Our goals for 2007 are ambitious – and depend on support from people like you.
Provide salaries for staff positions.
Continue to expand programs to reach out to individuals, communities and health organizations across the country.
Create a ready-made Share The Care web site for groups via our home web site.
Reach and train more volunteers to help start Share The Care groups.
Make the Share The Care model part of the curriculum for nursing, social work and theological students in universities.
Establish Share The Care Stations in different parts of the country.
People give to organizations that support a specific illness. We need you to help us by supporting our organization because it supports all kinds of illnesses and conditions including helping the elderly.
Please help us keep the mission and dream of Share The Care growing. Your tax-deductible donation will help support the operating costs and costs of educational materials of sharethecaregiving, Inc. You can do this in your friend’s name or memory. You can make donations on our web site (www.sharethecare.org) under the “Make a Donation” button or send a check to:
Sharethecaregiving, Inc.
551 Fifth Avenue – 28th floor
New York, NY 10176
Please be sure to include your name and address so we can acknowledge your gift.
HELP US TO CONTINUE TO TEACH OTHERS HOW TO
SHARE THE CARE.
Warmest Regards for a very Happy Holiday,
Sheila Warnock
(President & Founder) and
The Board of sharethecaregiving, Inc.
PS: We invite you to send us your inspiring group stories and pictures for the web site.
