How BNP Realtors Helped 70 Flooded Whatcom County Households
From $5 to $2500... beginning 3 hours and 4 minutes after my last newsletter hit your inboxes, the Flood Help Fund donations poured forth.
By the following Monday, November 29th, we had thousands of dollars ready to distribute.
It was time to take applications for Round 2.That morning I made two pages on our website:
1 to donate.
1 to apply for a $250 grant.
Then I posted on Facebook and asked for it to be shared widely.
The post was simple:
Round 2 of the Flood Help Grant was open, but funds were limited and they would go fast.
I gave the links, and Grace stood ready to start processing and issuing payments.
Flood Help Grant
Again, the applications hit our inbox, and what we saw was as sobering as an ice bath.
One by one, we read the stories and contemplated the reality conveyed by the photos:
When we made the post and opened the applications, we had enough money to give 34 grants.
I had pre-made a webpage that read, "I'm sorry, but the fund is out of money."
We carefully tracked the number of applications, ready to hit "publish" on the out-of-money page, which would replace the application.
28... 29... almost there, as the 8 o'clock hour neared.
Then, BAM! 32... 36... 40 applications before I could even get logged in to change the pages.
I called Grace.
"CHANGE THE PAGES! WE'RE GETTING SLAMMED!"
Grace got it changed out, and we looked at the final count: 44 applications.
As of that night, we were over-budget by $2500.But then, over the next 48 hours, we kept receiving donations -- enough to cover every single qualified applicant.
(We got several repeat applications, to which we emailed that only one grant per household could be awarded. We got no pushback.)
Then, as Grace issued the payments, the Thank You emails and direct messages flowed forth.
Over $17,500 in grants, Rounds 1 and 2, distributed to 70 recipients.
Rounds 1 and 2: Mission accomplished.
Then we got a phone call
Alana Mey, whom you can read a Q&A with later in the next blog post, got a call from one of her contacts
It was a woman who works with a painting contractor that Alana often refers to her clients.
The woman shared that she was well aware of the Flood Help Fund, and knew many of the recipients of the $250 grants.
She shared how grateful those people were, that it was more meaningful and more deeply appreciated than we could possibly know.
But she wanted to make us aware of another level of need altogether.
She said that, of course, it made perfect sense for us to post on Facebook about the fund... and to take applications through email.
But, she said, there are many people whose homes flooded who don't have smartphones or computers.
They don't have social media accounts or email accounts, much less Venmo or PayPal.
And then she said...
"These people have no choice or other options than to continue trying to live in their flooded-out shelters, shacks, trailers... their only homes."
She said there were no friends of families offering temporary shelter. There was no money for a hotel room.
Imagine this, below, not as "formerly a home, now waiting on insurance"...
... but as your ONLY option for a shelter against the colder and colder weather, despite its condition -- and completely uninsured:
On that call with Alana, the caller explained that she is connected to those people.
She said, if we were to raise any more funds, she pleaded for the opportunity to help connect us, and to distribute some of the grants directly to the people living there, in person.
When Alana told me about this call, and this plea, my stomach knotted.
I felt regret for not thinking about that scenario before. It made so much sense.
I took for granted that not everyone is carrying an iPhone or "logging on" to see our posts.
But with the regret, I also felt motivated. We CAN help these folks, at least some of them.
We have already bonded together and, where nothing existed before, we helped 70 households.
Hear me out.
My plea to you is this:
Let's do a 3rd and final round, as we head towards the holidays.
Flood Help Fund, Round 3 of 3.
Here's my commitment: BNP will match the first $2500 in donations, so we are guaranteed, with your help, to hit $5000 on this round.
If you can give $125, I'll match it and we'll have a full grant.
If you can only give $5... I will match it.
If you can give $1000... I will match it.
Stop and imagine helping a flooded family have something of a Christmas, even if it's a couple of nights in a hotel and a trip to Fred Meyer for a hot deli dinner and a couple of presents for the kids.
I will meet you halfway. Let's do this, a final time for our flooded neighbors.
ANY donations are deeply appreciated. They ALL count!
