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California, Here We Come! | 2008-10-01 13:30
Good day, everyone!
If you've been a part of Modest Needs for any length of time, then you already know that when we go for a month or more without any news, it's because we're about to make a really big announcement. And after a month of radio silence, I'm back with you today to announce a genuine Modest Needs milestone:
It is with great pleasure that I announce to the Modest Needs community that this morning, at 9:00am Pacific Time, Modest Needs opened its first physical expansion ever - a new office located in San Francisco, CA, and dedicated to the service of donors and applicants living in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.
Why did we decide to venture beyond New York City to open a second Modest Needs office - an office on the West Coast nonetheless? First and foremost, particularly since Modest Needs was featured in Forbes and other similar publications, the demand for Modest Needs' services on the part of both donors and applicants simply caused us, very quickly, to outgrow the small office from which we always have operated in New York City. We just didn't have the space to accommodate the additional staff necessary to continue to provide the superior client and donor service that have always been the foundation of our work at Modest Needs.
This left us with two options: get a larger office in New York City, at a significant increase in cost, but with no benefit to the persons we serve other than 'more space' for us, or open a 'satellite' office - at significantly lower cost - that would allow us finally to serve persons living in the Mountain and Pacific time zones during what are 'normal' business hours to them.
After careful consideration, we decided that if we could open an office for less than it would cost to expand our current office and simultaneously provide better service to more than half of the country than we've ever been able to offer before - well, that's not exactly a difficult decision. And best of all, because they too believe in the importance of this work, our friends at the Herb Alpert Foundation have fully funded the set-up and operation of our West Coast satellite office, not just for a week, or for a month, but for the entire first year of its operation.
That's right. Thanks to the generosity of some folks who really believe in the work that we're doing together, our donors have borne absolutely none of the cost of this genuine Modest Needs milestone.
More than this, in honor of this milestone and the good work we've done together this year, the Herb Alpert Foundation has upped their 2008 matching grant by an ADDITIONAL $300,000.00, from half a million dollars to $800,000.00 this year. That too, I think, is cause for genuine celebration celebration amongst the members of the Modest Needs community.
Going forward, low-income families in Mountain and Pacific time zones will benefit from a full staff of one-on-one Client Advocacy Specialists available during business hours that are convenient to them. Funded applicants based in the West will receive their checks in an even timelier manner than in the past -- ideally within one day rather than five. But most importantly, I expect the San Francisco office to draw new applicants and donors from a crucial part of the country. And we all know that reaching more people in need means helping more people in need, and that's what Modest Needs is all about.
Finally, to celebrate this milestone in Modest Needs' history, I've just published a brand-new 'Profile in Courageous Generosity.' This one - which I've called 'the Future of Philanthropy' - is not your usual PCG, but I promise you, you'll come away from this piece with a new appreciation for the far-reaching effects of the personal kindness that so many of you demonstrate at Modest Needs every day.
This new 'Profile in Courageous Generosity' is available for you now, and you can read it simply by following this link. I hope you'll take a few minutes out of your day to ready this truly inspirational piece (and who couldn't use a little inspiration right now?), and perhaps even to share this piece with your friends and family.
Of course, if you have comments about this newsletter or latest Profile in Courageous Generosity that you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you. You can write to me directly at the address listed on our Contact Information Page. You'll find the contact information for our new West Coast office on that page as well.
Thank you so much for taking a few minutes to read what I hope you agree was an update that was well worth the wait. I'll be back in touch soon with more big news and another Profile in Courageous Generosity, but until then, here's wishing each of you more health and happiness than your lives can possibly contain.
Take care, and be well!
