Donor Dossier Vol. 1 | Memory Lane's Forget-Me-Nots
Small Town, Big Heart
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From Left, Team Members Lexi Flick, Ashley Stewart, Captain Tina Flick, CFH Development Associate Brian Myers, and Themla Stewart.
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Sixty-five miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania lies the small town of Rimersburg. Settled in 1829 and incorporated in 1853, the town is home to just a little under 900 residents.
Small numbers haven’t prevented its population from making big,
charitable impacts. Clarion County, where Rimersburg is located, hosts an
annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s. This past year, the 20 teams and 147
participants managed to raise over $27,000 for their cause. Right at the top of
the list of donors was Memory Lane’s Forget-Me-Nots, who raised nearly $4,000
of the total. The team is made up of captain Tina Flick and seven other
members.
The biggest portion of that amazing total is raised in New
York City. Flick and her team have been making the journey here for the past two
years. This is a big feat in and of itself, as Rimersburg is over 330 miles
from the Big Apple. That’s right around 5 hours of driving and (for those
wondering) 37 hours of biking.
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| MLFMN raised nearly $4000 for their annual Walk to End Alzheimers |
While fundraising for their 2017 walk, Tina’s daughter had a
formative experience that would lay the ground work for their generous gift.
“Last year in New York, my daughter had an extra burger after lunch and gave it
to a homeless gentleman” Flick reminisced. “That experience is really what
inspired me to put the bags together. We had been seeing people in need all day
and knew there was something else we
could do.”
Flick continued, “At first, it started out as just 12 bags
to carry and distribute around the city the next time we came.” However, after
reaching out over Facebook and through their local church, more and more
Rimersburgians began to donate to the group. Even Lexi’s classmates at the
Casal Aveda Institute in Ohio pitched in.
In no time at all, they managed to collect enough supplies
to create an astounding 174 female hygiene kits and 150 blessings bags – containing
food items, soaps, hats, gloves, and more. A simple Google search quickly led
them to identify Care For the Homeless as a recipient and on December 8th,
2018, the team dropped off their incredible achievement, housed in twelve massive storage bins, at the CFH offices in
Manhattan.
Flick attributes her group’s success to the generosity of
her community and to how easy they made it for people to donate. “There are a
lot of people out there who are willing to give, but don’t want to oversee a
massive fundraiser. The best thing to do, is to put out a list of what small
items are needed. When you make it easy like that, people will give.”
The supplies donated by Memory Lane’s Forget-Me-Nots mean so much more than the comfort they’ll bring to their recipients. They send a message that those experiencing homelessness are heard, seen, and deserving of such generosity.
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| Memory Lane's Forget-Me-Nots donated 174 hygiene kits and 150 blessings bags Start your own fundraiser! Send your idea to: info@cfhnyc.org Share your donor experience! Contact Connor Moriarty: cmoriarty@cfhnyc.org
By Connor T. Moriarty
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