Give to the Max Day success!https://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gtmd_thanks.png600600Maren NelsonMaren Nelsonhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1946f97a3dbf0bf6337d9a9209ee8dd6?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Thank you for your contributions to Way to Grow to our Give to the Max Campaign. With your help, we raised over $7,300—with $5,000 of your gifts matched by one of our generous sponsors!
Many families are facing difficult times this year, and our Family Educators are going above and beyond to keep connecting with the families as children are learning from home. Your generosity on Give to the Max Day supported our efforts to ensure that children within the most isolated families are born healthy, stay healthy and are prepared for school. We couldn’t do it without you!
Living Generously: Counting our blessingshttps://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/greg-shield-kAc0En1s1h8-unsplash-scaled.jpg25601707Kim BowmanKim Bowmanhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f75e4cb03cffdae3e026d4156b52052?s=96&d=blank&r=g
As we approach Thanksgiving, please know that Way to Grow is counting its blessings and is extremely thankful for the great support we have received this year. Despite the challenges that 2020 has presented to all of us, Way to Grow continues to serve children and families because we have the support of individuals, foundations, and companies. Thank you!
We hope you’ll consider a year-end gift to Way to Grow! A gift of appreciated shares of stock that you have held for one year or longer can provide you with several tax benefits while supporting our vital mission.
First, by donating shares directly to Way to Grow, you avoid paying capital gains taxes on any growth in the shares. Plus, Way to Grow receives the full value of the stock tax free, so you effectively increase your gift by up to 20% (max capital gains rate). Secondly, you may deduct the full fair market value of the shares as valued on the date of the gift, reducing your tax burden for 2020. Third, if a particular stock has risen sharply in value, donating shares to Way to Grow helps re-balance your holdings.
Most importantly, your gift will help ensure that children are born healthy, stay healthy, and are prepared for school.
For all of these reasons, we hope you’ll join others in discovering the power of donating stock to Way to Grow. To put your gift in motion, simply contact Kim Bowman for assistance at (612) 767-0425. We are here to help!
Make your Target run count…again!https://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TargetCircle_Nonprofit_FB_Launch.png1200630Melissa MeyerMelissa Meyerhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/18ca60258fafad3ea7017dd03fa3f0e8?s=96&d=blank&r=g
We are honored and excited to announce that we have been chosen to participate in a special charitable giving campaign, sponsored and funded by Target. And you have the chance to help direct a portion of Target’s donation to us!
Now through December 31, vote for us through the Target Circle program to help determine how Target’s donation will be divvied up. Find out more about Target Circle here: www.target.com/circle.
We’re asking our supporters to help us make the most of this incredible opportunity. Every vote counts to help us receive a portion of the available Target funds as we continue our mission to ensure every child has an equal opportunity to succeed in school and life.
Don’t forget, as you earn more votes, you can keep voting multiple times during the campaign! Thank you for your support, and we encourage you to share your support for us (and your thanks to Target) on social media throughout the duration of the voting!
What a difference a toy makes.https://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Manhattan-Toy-Donation.png33341459Kim BowmanKim Bowmanhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f75e4cb03cffdae3e026d4156b52052?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Way to Grow has been beyond blessed by the gracious giving of our friends at the Manhattan Toy Company in Minneapolis. Box after box of dolls, rattles, plushies, books, and blocks arrived in our offices. We could not be more grateful and our staff and their families could not have been more thrilled! To have a special doll to hug, when there is so much change all around us brings hope. The children were so excited to receive these wonderful gifts of kindness! Thank you again to our great friends at Manhattan Toy Company!
In 2019, Way to Grow moved into new offices better designed to meet its staffing needs, in the Harrison Neighborhood situated between Bryn Mawr and downtown Minneapolis. Staff soon discovered the Bryn Mawr Market, a family owned and run grocery store that is open 365 days a year.
“During a visit to Bryn Mawr Market,” says Kim Bowman on the Way to Grow development team, “the owner asked me who I was, because they know everyone who shops there.” She told him that Way to Grow had moved in down the street and shared their mission to ensure children in the most isolated households are born healthy, stay healthy, and are ready for school.
Doug Anderson, the co-owner and clerk, pointed to a large donation jar on the checkout counter. He said, “We are about to take up a new collection of donations from our customers for a neighborhood cause. The last one was for a neighbor’s medical bills. This time it will be for Way to Grow.”
Over the years, the Bryn Mawr Market has helped fund neighbors in need over a dozen times, simply by taking up a collection of change from its patrons. When you visit the market, you can see images of previous charitable checks hanging quietly on the wall behind the checkout counter.
Fast forward to August 2020, when Doug Anderson presented Way to Grow with a generous check for $1,142.27. “This is from our customers. I am so proud of our community and so happy to be here,” said Doug. “And we believe in what Way to Grow is doing.”
Way to Grow is incredibly thankful for this beautiful expression of neighborhood support from co-owners Doug Anderson, Paul Anderson, and the Bryn Mawr Market and its customers. Thank you, neighbors!
Two of Way to Grow’s supporters, friends Deb and Mary,asked us what our families needed most. When we responded with educational games, books, children’s socks and underwear, and summer clothing, they truly stepped up. Thank you Deb and Mary for your generosity and for helping to ensure families can learn and grow together this summer.
Showing up for community: Thank You, Slalom!https://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/IMG_1064.jpg640480Maren NelsonMaren Nelsonhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1946f97a3dbf0bf6337d9a9209ee8dd6?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Way to Grow was pleasantly surprised when Lauren and her team from Slalom reached out to offer feminine products for our families. “We were seeking additional ways to help the Minneapolis/St. Paul area during this time of need, and a fellow female co-worker and myself wanted to organize donations for feminine hygiene products. We know that things like tampons and pads are crucially necessary, but aren’t always top of mind for donations of food and personal items,” explained Lauren.
Thank you to Lauren and everyone at Slalom who put time, energy, and resources into helping our families this summer! We’re so lucky to have an amazing community surrounding us during this turbulent time.
When the pandemic arose, Headwaters Relief Organization went to work creating a science-informed coloring book to help parents explain to their children what the coronavirus is and why families were quarantining at home together, instead of going to work and school. Their intention was to distribute the coloring books to local charities to increase understanding of the pandemic in the community. Way to Grow is very fortunate and thankful to have received over 600 copies of When We All Stayed Home: A Coloring Book about the Coronavirus donated by Headwaters Relief Organization. And the giving hasn’t stopped there!
Living Generously: CARES Acthttps://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/families.png1562561Kim BowmanKim Bowmanhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6f75e4cb03cffdae3e026d4156b52052?s=96&d=blank&r=g
If you are feeling the call to help others during challenging times, you are not alone. In times of need, Minnesotans step up!
Fortunately, Congress is also encouraging our better angels. For 2020, Congress has enacted the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act) to help reduce the financial impact of the pandemic.
Included is a brand new “universal deduction” that allows taxpayers who don’t itemize to deduct up to $300 this year for charitable gifts to charities like Way to Grow. This makes giving even more appealing in 2020 and Way to Grow is thankful to receive donations of all sizes.
For those considering larger gifts, the CARES Act also allows taxpayers who do itemize to deduct their charitable gifts up to 100% of their adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2020 only, reducing and eliminating their tax burden through charitable giving. In a year when charities are working harder than ever to support those in need, a significant gift to Way to Grow is a powerful investment in children and families at a time when they need our support most. Your gift will go to work immediately to ensure that parents are equipped to teach their children, children are prepared for school, and that every child has an opportunity to succeed in school and life.
For more details, please call us at (612) 767-0425 for assistance with your gift.
Your Community Needs Youhttps://waytogrow.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID_newsletter_ask-01-e1619201868869.png1000584Melissa MeyerMelissa Meyerhttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/18ca60258fafad3ea7017dd03fa3f0e8?s=96&d=blank&r=g
Our Way to Grow program is needed now more than ever. Schools are closed and parents are educating at home. Families are experiencing sudden unemployment and resource shortages. Accessing timely and necessary information in their home language is a challenge. The stress of this pandemic is adding more weight to the shoulders of families already isolated and trying to stay afloat.
Our work hasn’t stopped. Right now, “virtual home visits” are happening all over the Twin Cities. Our staff is:
Working with families language to language, culture to culture
Equipping parents to be their child’s foremost educator
Helping parents navigate basic needs resources like food, employment, and healthcare
Helping families keep their daily routines through these uncertain times
In the words of Lauren, a Way to Grow parent, “Miss Patricia [Family Educator] is my backup, my resource. I know I can count on her.”
Can we count on you?
Your community and your neighbors need you now. Here’s how you can help:
Financial donations are needed. Please consider a gift today to continue our virtual home visits and support check-ins with some of the most vulnerable families and children in our cities.
We have an immediate need for the following supplies to be sent directly to Way to Grow at 201 Irving Ave. N, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55405:
Diapers, baby wipes, and formula
Cub gift cards
Target gift cards for food and household supplies
Books, games, and learning materials
Thank you for your continued support—what we are doing together now, truly matters for so many.
