As our third full year winds down, we wanted to take a few moments to talk about where we have been and where we want to go. As we have mentioned throughout the latter half of the year, we want to expand. Our primary goal has been to send a care package once a month. We have met that, except for January of 2023, as we did not have someone set up. It usually takes a few days to go over each questionnaire response and decide on what to include. It can sometimes take two weeks for items to arrive once ordered. If there is a delay we have usually went with an alternative item. With Wylie in post-treatment care, time has been limited while trying to return to somewhat of a normal life. With her scans becoming less frequent and her appointments becoming more “routine,” we have more time to include more packages.

We initially aimed to go to two a month, which would require bringing in additional funding. Our goal was to try for $12,000 over the course of this year. After calculating our final tallies for the year and discussing the time for each package, we ultimately decided to add six more for 2026, bringing the total to 18. We want to ensure that a package promised is a package received in the timeframe promised.

In our very first year, we received $ 7,419.84 after deducting any fees/expenses from receiving donations and sales. Last year, we increased to $9228.35. We were worried as AmazonSmile was ending. We had at least two corporate accounts bringing in about a quarter of our funding; however, we had a couple of businesses step in, replacing those lost funds and then some. We also made a decision to spend more on fundraising in terms of selling items. This helped some, but as with everything becoming more expensive, sales tapered off. For this year, getting our name out there was paramount. Even if we didn’t have large donors, we could hopefully make up for that with more small donors. Our estimated final tally is $10,398.62 for 2025.

We also wanted to be very transparent on where the money goes. Every non-profit has a few expenses that has to be paid every year. Ours are primarily in our website/shop, card processing, email services, and registration fees. We have kept that close to the same every year at $568 for 2023 and 2024 and $604 for 2025. Beyond the packages, we also ship out any purchases from the store and access clothes if we receive them early. Those costs were $348.25, $436, and $456.71. Switching to Pirate Ship has helped us keep these costs down, even with large postal/UPS increases. Our fundraising budget was lowered quite a bit as we were finding out we weren’t making enough back to justify doing some things. We went from $1379.60 in 2023 and $1553.78 in 2024 to $438.69 for 2025. Most of the 2025 amount went towards making our tree for the Christmas in Davidson event. Finally, the amount we have spent on packages has been $5229.14 for 2023, $4878.15 for 2024, and $5985.15 for 2025. The majority of those purchases has been for each personalized package, but we have on occasion purchased a few items in bulk to help save some costs. Since we have a specific dollar range for each package, that in turn allows us to include more items. Any remaining money left over goes directly into savings so we can keep our promise going. The one thing you may have noticed is that the money never goes to anyone involved on our end. Amanda and I have always wanted to do this to pay it forward for all of the help we received during Wylie’s care. Everyone who helps us does so voluntarily. Very few non-profits can say this, even the more popular ones.

Now to where we are going. Going into 2026, we already have six children awaiting a package. Since our new goal is 18 packages, we hope to get all of these out by the beginning of May. That leaves 12 slots available. Unfortunately, filling those is not an issue. We also have finally received a submission without reaching out directly or them knowing one of our previous families. The word is getting out. Our financial goal for 2026 is to finally hit $12,000. If all goes well with that and getting everything out on time, we will crank it up to 24 in 2027. We also have some more plans, but those will be discussed as we have commitments and confirmations.

We definitely could not do any of this without any of our donors. The smiles and joy these have brought have been priceless. Thank you to everyone!