The 2014 Thanksgiving Project: The Results

I have a confession to make, Scary Mommies: I doubted you.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been in a constant state of panic that we would not be able to raise all the money we needed to for this year’s Thanksgiving Project.

There are so many deserving causes these days, and times are tough for so many people.

Despite the constant stream of donations, the applications simply came in faster and we couldn’t keep up.

I started drafting apology e-mails and began to come to terms with the fact that everyone who applied for help simply could not receive it.

I just didn’t think we could do it…

But we did.

We were able to fulfill each and every application.

114,516 dollars raised in less than a month.

2,152 families who no longer have to worry about how to put Thanksgiving dinner on the table.

WE DID IT.

To every person who donated to the project or shared in any way, thank you.

Thank you for trusting the connections you’ve made on this website and believing that you can make a difference in the world. You did.

You should have received (or will shortly) an e-mail with “your” family. We’ve had some bounce backs and reports of e-mails ending up in spam, so if you haven’t received a letter by November 21 (for tax purposes, too!) please e-mail julie@scarymommynation.com and she’ll get you the info right away.

Thank you to InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions who made the gift card fulfillment a breeze. They were a joy to work with and we can’t sing their praises loudly enough. They’ve earned our business for life.

Thank you to Nehemiah Manufacturing Co (they represent Boogie Wipes, Kandoo, Dreft and Downy Wrinkle Releaser) for their incredible social media effort. They went amazingly above and beyond!

Thank you to WhatsUpMoms for putting together the most amazing book trailer ever (proceeds go the the Thanksgiving Project.)

Thank you to Glennon (Momastery) Melton’s non-profit, Together Rising for their wonderful support. If you missed the opportunity to help with the Thanksgiving Project, please check out their equally amazing Holiday Hands effort.

Finally, thank you to AUL Corporation and SH International for their generosity.

A few personal thank you’s:

Thank you to my Scary Mommy’s Guide to Surviving The Holidays co-authors, who not only donated all of their book profits to the Thanksgiving Project, but adopted the cause wholeheartedly as well. You all are incredible and I’m so grateful to have you be a part of this!

Thank you to Callie, Sharon, Kristin and Jessica who oversee my message boards and have, once again, rallied the community to give.

Thank you to Samantha who helps me run the site and allows me to focus on Scary Mommy Nation entirely during October and November, and thank you to Charisse and Cris who oversee the Confessional, which started this whole movement.

Thank you, Julie, for taking this project on and keeping me (somewhat) sane, and thank you to the Scary Mommy Nation board for your time and dedication.

Finally, thank you to Mikki and Love, who help me with Scary Mommy year round, but during this project focus entirely on making Thanksgiving special for families in need. I am constantly inspired by your dedication, passion and heart. I could never do this without you.

Again, thank you to each and everyone of you for giving, sharing, and believing in this project even when I didn’t. I should have known better.

Here’s to a happy Thanksgiving for all of us.