Dear Santa,
I know you are extremely busy. I mean, you are technically a non-profit, and December is coming. My colleague is all wrapped up supporting Bigs matches and wait list children with virtual programming. She is organizing Christmas families, the Angel & Wish Tree of Stars, and Covid Christmas To Go. She also has her hand in filling fundraising orders of Coop Cards, Panago coupons and Bear Tracks Ice Melt. Since she is occupied with year-end tasks, I have created our 2020 wish list.
Santa, this has been a challenging year for everyone and many of us are not exactly looking forward to next year as we are very concerned if the finances will exist to support our work. All of us are rolling up sleeves and continuing our Covid-19 journey to fulfill our mission: To enable life changing mentoring relationships to ignite the power and potential of young people. It will not be easy though and that is why we need you as you believe and make things possible. You can help us out by granting some of these wishes below:
- Funders: Increase funding opportunities in a world where we have less funders and more in need. Covid funding flexibility is required to keep day-to-day bills paid. At the same time if grant processes and forms could be simplified it would be most helpful. Multi-year general operating funds would prevent us wasting hundreds of millions of hours in data collection and completion. We promise we will use those hours to better deliver services.
- Resources: Sponsors for those non-budgeted items such as rebranding and an update of our technology system.
- Volunteers who support our mission: We have some awesome mentors and board members but there is always need.
- A society that is willing to have honest and difficult conversations: It’s been a difficult year, Santa, revealing some awful things about our fellow human beings. Can you please make everyone more willing to listen and to consider differing viewpoints?
- World peace and an end to poverty and hatred: OK, this is kind of a big request, but, like, can you just make all wars go away, along with the poverty, and other forms of injustice? Can you convince our government to take care of its people, and our neighbors to take care of one another? We would love a world that does not need us.
- Money! Unlimited, unrestricted money! All right, Santa, let’s get serious. We are never not going to have injustice. We non-profits will always be needed. So forget everything I said above and just give us cold, hard cash! How are you going to do that? We will leave that in your hands.
Listen, Claus, let’s just skip the niceties. We do a lot of your work year-round, but you get all the credit. You give some toys away once a year and everyone is like “Oooh, Santa! You’re so magic!” You know what’s magic! Bringing joy? That’s us! Helping families? That’s us! Think about it. Gosh, it would be such a Christmas miracle if we suddenly got an influx of checks in the mail this Christmas Season. It would make us all so happy. You want us to be happy, Santa.
Sincerely,
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lloydminster
PS: Won’t you join us in helping kids today with a donation, we will give you a tax receipt!
Merry Christmas.
