This portion of the website was designed as a blog to keep the site active, alive and fresh. And, so, I will use this opportunity quarterly to bring you up to date on our activity.
Although incorporated last November, we really gained our steam in the 1st Quarter of 2014. We also learned about how difficult and time consuming it is to form a 501(c)(3) but with the help of our attorney, Lauren Loyd with Nixon Peabody LLP, we were incorporated in Delaware with offices in Washington. Lauren took good care in all of our Federal, State and City filings. Mother’s generous grant paid for all of the startup costs of legal, fees, filings and web design. Speaking of web design, Rick Wharton of WhartonWeb in Delray Beach, Florida did a wonderful job designing our site, didn’t he? Our Board Secretary, John Feller, does a great job managing our social media –Facebook and Twitter.
Our goal is to collect food and in the first quarter, more than 7,500 cans were collected and delivered to Holy Name and Assumption pantries in Washington. Our Lenten High School campaign was a great success with St. Vincent Pallotti and Elizabeth Seton high schools taking top honors. Through a generous grant from my parish, the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, we have begun purchase and delivery of perishable items, starting with milk and eggs and moving on to produce. These gifts were greeted with cheers at the pantries! We have become good customers at Giant Food on Alabama Avenue SE and on H Street NE and thank Giant for their graciousness. With continued generous donations, they will see us often. Since our Foundation has no paid staff and very minimal expenses, the lion’s share of donations goes directly to the purchase of groceries.
Speaking of donations, the PayPal™ account is up and running on the website and donors may now contribute through a secure credit card transaction. You may now also register and purchase tickets for the Gala on our site through the secured EventBrite™.
The Gala Dinner and Auction has been scheduled for Friday, November 21, 2014 at the Capital Hilton and we thank Hilton Hotels Corporation for their generous partnership. Renowned event planner Aimee Dominick is chairing the event, along with her staff from A. Dominick Events and award winning anchor reporter from ABC7/WJLA-TV, Greta Kreuz, will Emcee the evening. Our friends have already contributed some fabulous prizes to the Auction, including a Hawaiian vacation at Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria™ Resort, a California vacation at the Hilton Torrey Pines and Hilton San Diego Bayfront, a Jamaican vacation at Round Hill Hotel and Villas, trips to Boston at the Colonnade and Ritz Carlton hotels, jewelry, spa and salon certificates, restaurants, sporting events and much more! You will not want to miss this event!
We have assembled – and are continuing to assemble – a great Board of Directors who donate their time and talent to our cause, and we thank all of our volunteers.
At the end of the day, however, it is all about them – the hungry poor of our beloved Washington, DC. It is about easing the burdens they face in everyday life with something as simple and necessary as their daily food. Proverbs 22:9 tells us “The generous man is blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.”
May you be blessed for your generous support of the Foundation.
Brian Mulholland