familieswithoutfathers.org Blog

Gone for too long

2008-06-11T15:18:04Z

Glad to back blogging again for Families Without Fathers. It’s been far too long without having any posts! So, to keep you all abreast of items… over the past few months, we’ve been working on our expansion plans (both in terms of services and those who we help). More to come on that, very soon. But for now, this is to let you know that we’re moving along and growing bit by bit. So, stay tuned… there is a lot of exciting activity coming around the corner! In the interim, if you ever have any questions about the organization, our services or anything else, please feel free to reachout to me – Chris(at)FamiliesWithoutFathers.org

Our Aplogies… The Spam is NOT from us

2007-12-18T17:56:15Z

Hello to all… First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere apologies for any spam that you may have received from ‘anyname’@FamiliesWithoutFathers.org. On December 17, someone hacked into our Yahoo! mail server and has been using our domain as a spam-botnet. We are working with Yahoo! to fix this security breach, and there is a good possibility that we may have to shut our e-mail down completely until we get this resolved. (if need be, we’ll switch our entire hosting account, as I am very disappointed in that Yahoo, a major web host provider could be so easily hacked).

So, again my apologies. I know how frustrating spam messages can be.

Sincerely, Chris McKie

Executive Director of Families Without Fathers.

September – Life Insurance Awareness Month

2007-09-27T18:53:23Z

In case you didn’t know, September is “Life Insurance Awareness Month.” Without question, having life insurance can make a substantial difference in helping families who have lost their fathers. There are multiple life insurance solutions out there, and we invite you to take some time out to do some research on the topic. Hopefully, you will find these links helpful in finding out how to better protect your loved ones.

Governance Update: 501(c)3

2007-09-12T20:09:17Z

I’m pleased, no… thrilled to be stating that Families Without Fathers has finally (nearly 10 months in the making) received the much coveted IRS 501(c)3 approval. This now means that Families Without Fathers is elligible to apply for Federal grants, foundation funds, corporate philanthropy programs, etc. Most importantly, this means that YOUR individual contributions to Families Without Fathers are tax deductible (within the guidelines and rules that apply for federally recognized, 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.)

Our Effective Date of Exemption is: February 3, 2005. Thanks to all who have contributed to our organization while we waited for our exemption. The exemption IS retroactive to this date!

Here’s our letter (both in a Word doc. and image file)

Six Most Deadly Jobs

2007-09-07T16:19:27Z

Recently, we received a request from a mother in need whose husband died at work in a construction accident. This illustrates the fact that substantial risks are inherent in many common work/job environments that we simply don’t think about while we sit in the safety of our cubicles in our air conditioned offices.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, the following are the most deadly civil jobs:

Fisherman
Loggers
Pilots & Flight Engineers
Structural Iron and Metal Workers
Trash Collectors
Farm Workers

So, while we often think of a family crisis happening because of a father’s health issue or unexpected “freak” accident, we must consider that many fathers daily put their lives on the line so that they can provide for their family and their communities. Let us not forget the unsung heroes in these six dangerous industries who risk their lives to help make this country more productive.

Car Donations – The Easy Way

2007-06-25T22:07:20Z

In the non-profit community, there are many options for those who wish to donate used vehicles to benefit their favorite charity. After careful consideration, Families Without Fathers is pleased to announce that it is teaming with the Center for Car Donations as it’s exclusive industry provider for this service. Unlike other car donation services, the Center for Car Donations is hassle-free, easy to use, and most importantly, provides excellent service to those who wish to help a non-profit by donating their vehicle.

As a non-profit, Families Without Fathers needs your support. By donating your vehicle to our cause, your old clunker becomes a resource to help families that need our services. For more information on donating your used vehicle, call toll-free at 1-877-411-3662, or check them out at: www.CenterForCarDonations.com .

Invite for Good

2007-05-18T03:53:43Z

More good news here… We have teamed up with Invite for Good, http://www.inviteforgood.com/hm.jhtml, which is a FREE online invitation tool for events and parties, with option of adding Charitable Gift Registry to the invitation.

So now when you’re planning a get together, party or other social event where you’d like to make it a little more special, Invite for Good allows you to let others help non-profits like Families Without Fathers. Check it out at: http://www.inviteforgood.com.

SearchGive – Searching that Benefits Us All

2007-05-16T13:46:06Z

News for today… we’ve teamed up with an exciting search engine, SearchGive.com, that helps non-profits. Every time you conduct a search through their site (under Families Without Fathers), our organization benefits. So, please add this to your “bookmarks” and use it for all your searches… http://www.searchgive.com/charity/Families_Without_Fathers

I spoke with one of the founders of SearchGive, and believe they are on the right path in forging the types of social Web 2.0 services that benefits everyone. Here’s what they had to say… http://searchgive.com/blog/?p=16

What about the others?

2007-05-16T13:35:23Z

In Yahoo! news today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070303/ap_on_re_us/families_of_the_fallen an article talks about how the “Military faces growing ranks of bereaved.” One chilling statistic: Of the 3,350 Americans who died in Iraq and Afghanistan through early January, 1,586 of them — 47.3 percent — were married. Those fallen warriors left behind 1,954 children, according to the Pentagon’s Manpower Data Center. More recent deaths have pushed that figure past 2,000.

At Fort Hood, they have a support group, Fort Hood support center: http://www.goldstarfamilysupport.org/ to help these military families. However, the need far extends beyond those military families affected by a father’s death.

And, that is the point of this posting… What about the hundreds of non-military families that lose a father each year? These are combat-related deaths, but deaths that don’t make the 5:00 p.m. news. Car accidents, heart attacks, disease – these are the silent killers that don’t make the headlines, but have just as a dramatic and devastating impact as losing a father due to war.

Which is why Families Without Fathers needs your support. For, our mission is to help ALL the families, not just military, who have lost a father — for what ever reason.

Squidoo and Web 2.0

2007-03-04T00:18:33Z

Well, it’s inevitable that for non-profit organizations to succeed in their missions, they will have to embrace Web 2.0 as a platform for reaching the next-generation of 18-34 year olds. Given that, one of our goals this year is to increase our exposure and reach into Web 2.0 vehicles, such as Squidoo.

In case you haven’t been to Squidoo, check it out. There’s a great deal of interesting stuff there, including a whole area dedicated to non-profits.

As well, check out our Squidoo developments… http://www.squidoo.com/jdrf/FamiliesWithoutFathers

We’ll be doing more in the Web 2.0 space as more resources become available. But, for now, we’re off to a great start thanks to your support!