When a deadly tornado hit Joplin, Missouri in May 2011, killing 161 people and destroying much of the town, Family-to-Family reached out to help.
Using our 1-to-1 model, we matched 55 families that lost homes and belongings in the tornado with sponsors from around the country. Each sponsor first sent a duffel bag for their Joplin family…providing a place to put recovered possessions. Included with the duffle was a questionnaire that asked what items were needed most. After getting the answers back, sponsors sent packages filled with those most needed items — (e.g. blankets, sheets, & clothing) and/or gift cards…and wrote to “their” families as well. And when the internet company Groupon featured Family-to-Family’s Joplin effort on its website in June 2011, we raised enough money to help an additional 11 Joplin families – bringing the total helped to 66 families.
With our “Pennies, Nickels, Dimes and Quarters from Heaven!” effort, Family-to-Family encouraged school children around the country to fill 1-gallon milk containers with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters brought in from home. Collected funds were sent from the schools to Partners in Health, Doctors Without Borders and UNICEF to aid in the relief effort.
“It’s in the Bag/The Home Essentials Project” – After Hurricane Katrina, F-to-F connected over 1,000 displaced Katrina families with an equal number of sponsoring families who helped supply them with basic essentials (e.g., toasters, pots, blankets, towels, flatware, clothing) once they landed in some form of housing. Sponsoring families emailed Family-to-Family and were matched with Katrina families referred to F-to-F by The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the United Way and the Houston Housing Authority.
