Logistical Nightmare

I never really knew what "logistical nightmare" meant until now. My gosh who would have ever thought this would be so difficult? What began with "I am willing to rent the largest truck I can find if you are willing to help me fill it" has turned into expedited 501(c)(3) status; Articles of Organization; tax forms; narrative descriptions; checking accounts; discrimination statements and anything else you can imagine taking the fun out of this! I realize that all of this work now is going to be instrumental in broadening our reach later, but part of me really wants to just load up my Explorer and go. Would that not be so much simpler?

I will admit that although I did not set out to, I am learning a lot about building an organization from the ground up. Becoming a 501(c)(3) Charitable organization is not as "simple" as filling out the twelve page tax form. Telling the IRS "I have a really big heart, very willing helpers and a great idea" does not legitimize this effort. Trust me, I tried it on the phone the other day. They want explanations of everything. They want dates, titles, signatures, organizing documents, narratives of fundraising activities, budgets and foreseeable expenses. Imagine that you decide to quit your job and pursue other work and you are asked to fill out your tax forms for NEXT year right now. Pretty hard to predict what you will be doing or how much you will make or spend when you do not yet know where life will take you. I'm just having to make all of this up and it is not a comfortable feeling to just make up numbers for a form going to the IRS.

Okay, enough about the weights bringing my mood down...let's talk about good things!

The Caravan Committee board members met last Sunday. I cannot tell you what an amazing group of women have come together to make this effort a reality. I knew I had great friends, but am honestly surprised at the commitment and enthusiasm in this group. We are going to make this amazing! I do want to note that there are a lot of amazing people working behind the scenes right now (who may or may not want to be mentioned on here.) We have people working on logos & other graphics, websites, events and more. I cannot wait to be able to "unveil" these things to you. You are going to be amazed at the talent of some of these volunteers.

We have also gotten verbal support and commitments from numerous other organizations who want to host toy drives or sponsor events. It's really amazing how many people are willing to step up and support you even before you have your tax ID number and your website. I guess when you have such an important cause, people are willing to help regardless. Not to mention, an alumni group watching an LSU football game is a great place to find support;-)

As expected, we have also met a few pockets of resistance here and there. We handled (and will continue to handle) these things with grace. This means, yelling and whining to my roommate, sending out an attitude-filled email to my board members, deciding to stand behind each other to support the mission, then putting on a happy face to respond in a tactful manner. We know what we are doing and why we are doing it. This will not change and we would much rather spend the next three months spreading joy then defending our position or fighting with those who don't agree with it. Done.

I feel the "business" side of this should be wrapped up pretty soon and my enthusiasm for the real cause behind all of this will return. I miss thinking about the children and how happy they will be and how many hugs we will get to give out. I miss thinking of how many mothers and fathers will feel a restored sense of faith in the American people when we help them bring Christmas to their children. I miss thinking of the hope and happiness this will bring to a saddened group of people. I hope to be able to focus on that again soon.

Thanks to all for your on-going support!