2023 Year End Report

What a year 41 Days has had! It was a year full of change, excitement, and helping in ways we could have never imagined. Our biggest accomplishment for this year was our one day conference called “Tears to Triumph: A Conference of Hope.” Held at Berean Bible Church, we were pleased to offer lead speaker Kris Hendricks for 2 main sessions, as well as 16 breakout sessions featuring 11 additional expert speakers. We had approximately 55 registrants and another 20-25 volunteers (who also attended the workshops), meaning that we had close to 100 people enjoy our offerings throughout the day. The feedback from the conference was fantastic, with many asking when our next one will be held.

While we would love to plan this event on an annual basis, due to the amount of work and cost involved, it is expected to be held every other year for the foreseeable future. We are, however, considering holding several  workshops/seminars throughout the coming months.  

In May, we also held a smaller Financial Seminar event geared toward the widowed community. It was held at Sanatoga Ridge Community and offered three separate workshops to eight attendees. 

In addition to these two main events, 41 Days also attended the Boyertown Street Fair, Pottstown Pet Fair and the Hope Community Church Christmas Bazaar.  Several other events were planned but unfortunately cancelled due to a lack of volunteers.  One good thing that came out of the Street Fair was a connection made with the Pottstown YWCA. We are now collaborating with them on several projects and have reached out for help on several occasions for additional services for our clients.

Another connection made this year was with the Matthew 25 group in Pottstown, held at Pottstown Bible Church and including members from organizations throughout the region who work tirelessly within the homeless community. This has been a wonderful resource for 41 Days, helping us connect with other local organizations as well as learning more about the needs of our area.

Year 2 has brought a lot of changes to our organization. As we have grown, we have been forced to take a closer look at who we want to be as an organization; who we want to serve; and how we are going to accomplish these goals, both in regard to community awareness and financial support.

As our exposure within the community grows, so did the requests for help. This has made us realize the importance of taking a harder look at our intended demographic.  We have concluded that our main focus must be on the working poor of our area. This means concentrating our efforts on those with low paying jobs, leaving them vulnerable to any emergency situation. Moving forward we are going to prioritize applicants with jobs (even part time jobs). While we realize that many of the hurt in our community are unemployed, we also understand that there are additional support services available to this demographic. Since we are unable to help everyone, we have decided to make our main priority those who are underemployed and facing unforeseen expenses. This will enable us to better serve our mission of “filling in the cracks.”

Applications grew in 2023, which allowed us to help 19 families in need. This totaled $16,329.00 in physical funds disbursed. This is in addition to countless volunteer man hours, support services and other supplies donated by our core network of volunteers.

Among these families we were able to assist in the following ways:

• Hearing aides purchased - $ 2,400.00

• Electrical Services following a house fire - $ 2,022.00

• Housing for a young family for 1 week in a  hotel while awaiting a new apartment - $500

• A car for a previously homeless individual to get back and forth to work - $2,000.00

• A parking pass for Children’s Hospital for a family with a sick child - $50

• Utility Assistance  (2 families helped) - $1,300.00

• Rental Assistance  (4 families helped) - $4,525.00

• Walk In Shower Materials - $1.025.00 (labor donated)

• New Mattress for a 9 year-old - $222.29

• Christmas Gifts for  4 children of a cancer patient - $400.00

• Christmas Cheer for a widower with a small child  (in conjunction with KOP Rotary Club) - $600.00

• Family Counseling Services - $1,769.00

• Transportation for several cancer patients to and from procedures (volunteers used)

Sadly, we were forced to turn away 11 applicants. Several were denied help simply because they did not meet our criteria, but 80% were turned away due to a lack of funding.

Funding (donations) remains a major concern for 41 Days and its survival.  Unable to hold a major fundraiser this year, we relied solely on private donations equally $24,633.28. This included a matching grant offered at the end of the year. 

While we did contact about 80 churches in our area throughout the year asking to speak with their congregations, only one allowed us to come speak with their mission’s team (in addition to Hope Community Church). This resulted in a $500 donation and a connection with a local KARMA group which later made its own donation and has pledged to help with future needs.

Hope Community Church made two donations ($500 and $250) in 2023 with a commitment for a $600 donation in 2024.

Seeing the lack of financial support within the church community due to their own ministry commitments  (this year’s combined total equaled $1,250.00), we have decided to move our efforts toward private and corporate donors in 2024.

This year our corporate cash donations more than doubled our church donations, equaling $2,550.00 in cash, plus in-kind donations with a value of up to $15,000. Here is a breakdown of those donations:

• EigenX - $1,000.00

• Orion Communities - $500.00

• KARMA Guild - $250.00

• WAWA Foundation  - $750.00

• Costco (gift card) - $25.00

• Reading Phillies - free tickets

• Philadelphia Flyers -  free signed puck

• Carpenter Construction (labor costs equaling between $10,000-$15,000)
   

As of December 31, we raised a total of $24,633.28 in cash donations.

Our total expenses for the year were $20,208.00 which included the following:

• Client Services (directly to clients) - $16,329.00

• Conference Costs - $2,300.00

• Events - $456.00

• Marketing - $722.00

• Transportation Costs - $123.00

• Office Supplies - $84.00

• Misc. - $180.00
   

OUR 2023 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

So, what else did we accomplish in 2023? We are excited to announce that we met many of our goals for the year including: 

• Distributed 100% of the $15,000 slated for client help.

• Bringing on several new volunteers to aid in our 2024 fundraising campaigns.

• Bringing on Gina Same as our volunteer social media coordinator. As of December, she
  has started a twice monthly blog; enhanced our social media presence; updated our
  website and has plans for more in the coming year.

• We raised $24,633.28 of our $30,000 goal.

• Had a successful 41 days of prayer from February 13 to March 26. 

• Spoke at one church and made good contacts there.

• Made contacts at Berean Bible Church (who donated their building for our conference)

• Attended three community events.

While we did not reach all of our goals, we acknowledge that we are a new organization with few volunteers and feel like we made substantial progress in reaching our overall mission this year.

PLANS FOR 2024

Our main focus for 2024 is in three major areas:

• Fundraising

• Continued Community Exposure

• Continued Client Support

These goals will be accomplished in the following ways:

• Establishing a fundraising committee to research possible fundraisers.

• Researching and applying for corporate and foundation grants.

• Attending 6 community events.

• Holding 2-3 smaller seminars/workshops throughout the year.

• Continuing to grow our social media base.

• Continuing to grow our private donor base.

• Growing our corporate donor base (this may include corporate match programs.)

FINANCIAL GOALS FOR 2024

Goal for 2024 (donations and fundraising):$30,000.  We plan to raise these funds with:

• Repeat Donors - $5,000.00

• New Donors - $5,000.00

• Fundraiser Profits - $10,000.00

• Grants - $5,000.00

• Corporate Sponsorships - $5,000.00

2024 PROJECTED BUDGET

• Client Services -  $23,000.00

• Marketing Costs /Fundraising - $2,000.00

• Membership, etc (website, etc) - $500.00

• Office Supplies - $500.00

• Office Management (gas, stamps, etc.) - $500.00

• Emergency - $1,000.00

• Carryover to 2025 -  $2,500.00                                                                      

Please Note: All utilities, office space and administrative costs are currently being donated.

WHAT DID 41 DAYS ACCOMPLISH IN 2023?

You may be asking yourself what 41 Days accomplished in 2023? Here is a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to this year:

• Helped 19 families for a total of $16,329.00 in funds disbursed.

• Held Tears to Triumph: a free all-day conference for the community.

• Held a free 3 workshop Financial Seminar for the widowed community.

• Generated corporate support from The WAWA Foundation; Costco; Philadelphia Flyers; Reading Phillies; EigenX; and Carpenter Construction.

• Attended several community events.

• Joined Matthew 25 group which concentrates on helping the Pottstown Homeless Community.

• Joined forced with Pottstown YWCA to help more clients.

• Collaborated with King of Prussia Rotary Club to assist a widowed father and his daughter.

• Worked with local KARMA group to help one client.

• Obtained support from Hope Community Church, Pottstown Bible Church, Berean Bible Church and New Hanover Lutheran Church.

• Attended several meetings of Boyertown Homeless Task Force and Pottstown Ministerium to gain support and make connections with area leaders.

• Expanded our social media presence.

• Started a twice monthly blog.