Holiday Gifts

So I have been asked to share some information with my contacts here. Only thing is I don't really know too many people in DC so I am reaching out to all of you. I think that my supervisor worded it well so I have simply copied the e-mail from him below. I know that many of you already have organizations you donate to regularly but perhaps you could share this at your places of work or cash in some of those coins floating around in your couch and sponsor one kid. Anything helps!

Hello friends, I hope this email finds you getting your weekend off to a great start!

I'm reaching out to connect two groups of people that really matter to me: my friends (and their networks!) and family, and the youth of our programs in Washington, DC.  This is a long email, but please give it a full read when you can. It's all very pertinent and important information!

Our organization, Kid Power, works with kids in under-served areas of the District, providing them a variety of opportunities in an afterschool (and summer) setting. Our students have built and maintain award winning gardens, raised hundreds of dollars for victims of Hurricane Sandy, improve their academics through tutoring, and explore their passions - from yoga to handball to poetry to zumba! Simply put, they are amazing.

Unfortunately, the holidays can be a rough time for many of our kids. That's why each year we work hard to organize a gift drive which provides our youth with an opportunity to have a happy holiday. We're pushing through our list and getting a lot of incredibly thoughtful donations. But there are still a lot of middle school students' wishes that need to be filled!

Here's where you wonderful people can factor in.

If you would like to buy a gift for one of our students, or spread the word in your office, both the students and I would be eternally grateful. Each kid has put together a wish list, with items maxing out at $25. We've compiled these into Amazon wish lists by school site. If interested, please read below.  For the office folk if you wouldn't mind passing along these directions, that would be great!

Directions for buying off the Kid Power "Wishlist"Phew, you've made it this far. You're doing great so far.
1) Put on your Santa hat, and visit www.amazon.com
2) On the right hand side of the site, you'll see a tab that says "Wish List." Scroll over it, and when the dropdown menu appears, click "Find a Wishlist or Registry"
3) On the right hand search field, type in "Kid Power"
4) We should be the first one on the list. You'll see our "Kid Power, Inc" logo in purple type, and three Public Lists: Cesar Chavez Prep, Prospect, Fort Davis Rec Center
5) Either click "Kid Power" or one of the schools.
6) Scroll away, enjoy some of the quirky things our kids have requested, and select whichever item you'd like to buy by clicking "add to cart."

From here, most people should be able to figure it out, but since my parents are on this list.....7) When you add it to your cart, it will show a quantity of "one" for the item. It works like a wedding registry, so if you buy a gift that multiple kids have requested, it will just knock down the total. Feel free, of course, to buy more if you're in the spirit.
8) When checking out, which you do in your cart, it should allow you to select Kid Power's address. If not, for some reason, here is our shipping address (we get the presents, wrap them and then deliver to site the next week):
Kid Power, Inc.         
755 8th St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
And our phone # is 202-383-4543
Please order gifts by 11/30 so we can get them to our kids on time!

9) Lastly, if you could email me to let me know whether or not you're interested, it would really help in figuring out how many more people I should contact to try and finish the list. Also, if you'd like an donation form for tax reasons, let me know.
10) Pat yourself on the back, that was quite a long set of directions. Wait for your Thank You card and stories of joy that I'll share with you!

Thank you so SO much for your time reading this ridiculously long email. I hope that you can help out our youth this holiday season. And if not, no worries, maybe you can convince someone else to! I am extremely grateful for your thoughtfulness!

Best,
Patrick