What's Happening in March!

We have some exciting BigHouse events happening in March. Here's a quick update of what is to come this month-

March 6th- We are excited to have a group from My Jerusalem and the OHS Key Club coming to work at BigHouse! We will be doing yard work and organizing donations for the clothes closet!

March 8th- We have our 3rd Leadership Meeting... Anyone can come and join our leadership team! We will be working on details for the swimsuit drive and other spring events!

March 13th- Cornerstone Methodist Church workday. They are building out shelving and hanging units for our clothes closet!

March 22nd- Leadership meeting!

March 28th- Kick-off for our Swimsuit and Towel Drive!!!

March 29th- Chick-fil-a Spirit night! Come join us for dinner and donate your receipt. 20% of the receipt totals comes straight to us!!

Throughout the month of March we will be working on ways to get people geared up to vote for BigHouse during the month of April for a $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Everything grant! Check out our submission video, and begin spreading the word! We will continue to remind people to vote every day April 1st-30th!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_kvLQI0W0

Oh and March is also a big month for Blake and I personally... We are expecting our first baby March 20th! Please keep us and BigHouse in your prayers this spring!!!

HO,HO,HO... We had a very Merry Christmas!

This year, BigHouse had the privilege of hosting the Christmas party for all the foster families in Lee County. We decided to host a Breakfast with Santa! It was a huge success and a really fun time for everyone. Our breakfast was in downtown Opelika at the Train Depot, a fun setting for our event! We were fortunate enough to have Huddle House of Opelika come and make waffles for the families.

Santa himself also made an appearance, much to the delight of the kids! We also gave out presents to each child who came, as well as goodie bags, hats, scarves, gloves, and books from the Auburn Literacy Council! We had door prizes for kids and adults, and OLD NAVY made it possible for each set of foster parents to get a gift card for dinner at Outback. It really was a great time for the families and would not have been possible without the help of the following businesses, groups, and individuals:

Old Navy

Huddle House

Chick-Fil-A

First United Methodist Church, Opelika

Union Grove Baptist Church, Opelika

First Baptist Church, Canton, Ga

Auburn Literacy Council

Opelika Arts Association

OMS Student Council

Outback Steakhouse

Logan's Roadhouse

Lee County Schools

The Blossom Shop

Dennis Stiff, Alfa Agent

Susannah Jones

Who doesn't like Chick Fil A??

I know I love Chick Fil A! And for more reasons than the yummy food (I am now hungry just thinking about it)... Chick Fil A is an incredible corporation whose founder Truitt Cathy is truly an inspiration! He has created multiple programs to help and heal the child, family, and marriage. But more than that, he has instilled in his corporation the sense of giving back to their communities.

We have been fortunate enough to have 2 Chick Fil A Spirit nights so far, with one more on the calendar for March 29th! At the BigHouse Spirit nights, we encourage people to donate their receipt from their order at Chick Fil A that evening, and then Chick Fil A gives us 20% of the total donated receipts! Pretty sweet deal for us! We just try to convince all our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and complete strangers to support BigHouse that night by eating Chick Fil A! We had a great night in August, and an even better one in February! Here are some pics from our spirit nights!

Loaves and Fishes...

Our Clothes closet is like the story in the Bible about the loaves and fishes... It seems like it never runs out of what we need. Now occasionally, we will have a size or two that get low- especially in little boy sizes, but we can almost always provide something for the child!

An example of this is our Back to School Clothing Blitz in August. We were able to help over 50 children get ready to go back to school by providing much needed clothing! The kids came and looked through the racks, finding clothes they liked and would be proud to wear to school. The amazing part was that we seemed to have just enough for each child in each size to provide what they needed! We tried to get around 5 completely outfits for each child, not including shoes, pajamas, or accessories like belts, purses, and jewelry. The BEST part was seeing the excitement on the kids faces when they tried on an outfit that looked great and that they were proud to wear! Our clothes closet has been a great resource for the foster families, and we continue to receive quality donations everyday! Please think of us when you clean out your children's closet. We accept all sizes of children's clothing in good condition!

We had a Pool Party... 9 months ago!

First let me start this blog entry with a HUGE apology. I may get an award for being the worst "blog-updater" ever! I have completely neglected the BigHouse blog, but hopefully not anymore. I can't promise I'll be updating everyday, but I am going to strive for at least once a week! I think I can handle that!

My first update of the past 9 months or so is about our pool party we had way back in June! After ending our Swimsuit and Towel Drive (which was a great success, we collected over 65 suits and towels!) we had a pool party to kick off the summer! The kids enjoyed cupcakes, diving boards and just swimming and playing together! The parents enjoyed a night of adult conversation with others who truly "get" what they are going through every day!

We are now about to kick off our 2nd annual swimsuit drive, which will run March 28th- May 1st 2010! We accept new swimsuits and new towels so spread the word and check out the cute suits next time you are shopping!!!

Alabama Birthday Wish

This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend a birthday party in Montgomery celebrating Alabama's foster children's birthdays. Three children were invited to attend from each county, and my little sisters were representing Lee County. The event was orchestrated  by a new group called Alabama Birthday Wish and their goal was to raise money to give each child in foster care $25.00 for their birthday. 

They had cake, ice cream, inflatable slides, arts and crafts, face painting, a puppet show and a one act play performed by Birmingham's children's theater.  It was fun, but it was REALLY hot.

To start the party, Alabama's first lady Patsy Riley said a few words about how important it is to take care of our foster children. She even teared up while speaking. Then Governor Riley spoke a small bit, and the party began. We were able to meet the governor and take a picture with him, and later I had the opportunity to tell him about BigHouse. He was really supportive and encouraging. To read my mom's account of the afternoon, click here.

We are finally TAX EXEMPT!!

We found out today that the IRS has reviewed our application to become a legal tax exempt non profit. They approved us!!! We were so excited to get the news from our accountant. The truly amazing part is that we were told it could take months, and we got ours back in less than 5 weeks!!! What a God thing. This is just another example of His hand in all of this... nothing man could control- only GOD!

What does having our 501c3 tax exempt status mean? It means we can now accept monetary donations that can be written off on your taxes. This is such a blessing for BigHouse. This status also qualifies us to receive government grant money, corporate donations, and other exciting opportunities. Please prayerfully consider whether you could support BigHouse financially at this time.

We are also starting our awareness campaign this summer, in which we will visit different churches to share what BigHouse is about and ask for their support- financially and spiritually.

If your church is interested in learning more about BigHouse, email us at info@ourbighouse.org.