When I started the Frontline Families Fundraiser, I had the goal of sending $3000 to the Frontline Families Fund - an amount which, at the time, felt like an ambitious but achievable goal. I sent out an email to my mailing list, posted it on Instagram and Facebook, and started getting some orders for my Mended Heart Pendant. But at the start of the project, I also emailed Dr. Michael Osterholm - director of CIDRAP (the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota) and founder of the Frontline Families Fund - to let him and the CIDRAP team know about the fundraiser. Dr. Osterholm then decided to highlight the project as his weekly "Act of Kindness" on his podcast, the Osterholm Update, and the orders began to flood in! (He even named that episode "A Mended Heart"!)
There were so many orders it was hard to keep up, but with a lot help from my husband Adam (who worked weekends packing all of those orders!), we managed to send them out without too much delay. Orders are still coming in, but (and I have to admit, I'm a little relieved) they've slowed to a pace that's a little easier for me to manage without my helpful husband. And during this whole project, I've received so many heartfelt notes and phone calls from frontline medical workers, their families, and people who have lost loved ones to Covid - their stories have brought me both smiles and tears, but most of all, have made me SO grateful that I've been able to do this project. (Pendants are still available, if you've been wanting one but haven't yet ordered.)
Amazingly, as of today the project has raised $19,000! And for that, I want to thank all of you who participated in the fundraiser and purchased a pendant! My goal is to reach $21,000 in donations for 2021, but the Frontline Families Fund is closing for donations in October - so if you still want to purchase a pendant - do so now, before they're gone!
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The Mended Heart Pendant, shown here on a 16" long sterling silver cable chain. |