Boston Strong: One Fund Boston

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013.

Find out more here.

 

To send a check by mail:
One Fund Boston, Inc.
800 Boylston Street #990009
Boston, MA 02199

Send inquiries to:info@onefundboston.org

Spread a little Sunshine to Make Children's Dreams Come True

Sunshine Foundation's sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to financial strain that the child's illness may cause.

Sunshine Foundation includes the Dream Village, a 22 square acre property, 15 miles of the Orlando theme parks, where children and their families stay in one of 9 fairytale themed cottages and enjoy a handicapped accessible playground, a wheelchair accessible pool and a miniature golf course during their stay.     

As a way of extending the most popular dream of visiting the Florida attractions to children, whose conditions do not allow them to be away from home for longer than 24 hours, Bill and Sunshine began Dreamlifts.  Sunshine has answered over 5000 dreams in this unique program, which charters a plane and takes close to 100 children to an Orlando theme park for a one-day trip! After learning about the rare condition, Progeria, Bill and Sunshine developed the Progeria Reunions, which brings together children from all around the world with Progeria for a week.  

Sunshine Foundation has answered over 36,000 dreams and has been able to maintain that 82% of all donations go directly to childrens programs.

Sunshine Foundation has made over 36,000 dreams real for children in need thank to the generous support of our donors! Below are some way to help Sunshine Foundation answer dreams for the children on Sunshine Foundation's waiting list.

Donate Now
Make dreams come true by making a secure online donation! Don't forget to ask if your employer is a matching gift company.

Honorary and Memorial DonationsSunshine Foundation can help you honor a loved one with a special gift.
Pay tribute to someone special or honor the memory of a loved one.

Adopt A DreamWe currently have over 100 children located throughout the United States who are
waiting for a special dream come true.  By far, the most-requested dream is for a trip to the Orlando attractions.  Average cost of each dream for family is $5,000. Your group can hold a fundraiser to answer the dream of a child on our waiting list!
Become Corporate Sponsor

There are many corporate sponsorship opportunities from hosting/sponsoring an event to Dream Village workdays and volunteer opportunities! If your company is interesting in supporting Sunshine Foundation please email shannon@sunshinefoundation.org or call 215-396-4770!

Purchase A Dream Village Brick

The walkways leading to the nine whimsical cottages at the Dream Village are lined with  bricks engraved with the names of the many Sunshine supporters. our donation of a single brick combined with the mortar of caring and love will help Sunshine’s seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children receive their dream come true.

4x8 Brick - 3 lines per brick, 18 characters per line (including spaces) - $100.00

12x12 Brick - 10 lines per brick, 23 characters per line (including spaces) - $250.00

Send check to Sunshine Foundation, 1041 Mill Creek Dr., Feasterville, PA 19053

Please include the name of the person being honored or remembered and name and address of person's whome you wish to receive acknowledgement of your donation.

Gifts in Kind

Gifts in kind are a kind of charitable giving in which, instead of giving money to buy needed goods and services, the goods and services themselves are given.  Gifts in Kind help Sunshine defray operating costs, such as advertising and printing.  We also accept gifts such as laptop computers and airline miles. Gift in Kind donations to Sunshine Foundation are tax-deductible according to IRS regulations as we are registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charity. For information on how to make a Gift in Kind, please contact Sunshine at (215) 396-4770.

Planned Giving:

Wills & BequestsA bequest is a gift made through a will or living trust. Sunshine Foundation can be named beneficiary in your wills and living trusts. Bequests may be stated as a percentage of the estate, as the residual of the estate or as a specific dollar amount. Since a will can be changed, no income tax benefits are associated with a bequest. However, the donor's estate is reduced by the amount of the bequest for estate tax purposes. For more information about bequests, please contact Sunshine Foundation at (215) 396-4770.

Stock DonationsYour broker can assist you in making a gift of stock by a direct transfer to Sunshine Foundation. Gifts of stock and bonds can be one of the most advantageous ways of giving.  Your gift of a publicly traded stock that has appreciated in value and that you have owned for more than one year may provide you with a greater tax benefit than giving cash. Your charitable income tax deduction is equal to the fair market value of the stock and you also avoid paying the capital gains tax on any increase in the current value over the original cost of the stock. You will save even more by not incurring brokerage fees because you are transferring ownership rather than selling the stock. For more information call 215-396-4770. 

Donate Airline TicketsYou may be able to donate your UNUSED CREDIT from your CANCELLED airline ticket to Sunshine Foundation?  If you have a cancelled ticket(s) and would like to donate them, please consider Sunshine Foundation. Please check with your airline ticket provider to see if you can transfer the credit to help answer a child's dream come true!

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Charity Spot Light: Do Good Bus

The Do Good Bus

WHAT IS THE BUS? The Do Good Bus is an opportunity to get involved and help your community. Just get on the bus and we do the rest. Each trip is different and the locations are a secret. You never know where you’ll end up and what you might end up doing. You will be wined and dined while on the bus and learn about causes in your neighborhood. If you have always wanted to get involved, volunteer or help others but didn’t know how, hop on the Do Good Bus!

WHO DO WE HELP? We help local non-profits, indivduals and groups in our community. The best way to bring a community  together is to help your neighbors. Literally. While The Do Good Bus supports official 501c3 non-profits,  our mission is also to help individuals and families in need in our own neighborhoods.

Remembering Loved Ones During the Holiday Season

My thoughts have been with with the beautiful young children and teachers who have lost their lives in Newtown as well as their families, friends and community members.  

In response to the horrific acts of violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United Way of Western Connecticut, in partnership with Newtown Savings Bank, has established the Sandy Hook School Support Fund. Donations will be used to provide support services to the families and community affected by this tragedy.  Online donations can be processed at https://newtown.uwwesternct.org/.

There are other simple but meaningful ways that families can honor those who are no longer with us.  I learned about the Miss Foundation’s Kindness project  that has helped many people and families to heal after losing a loved one.

Their belief is that by performing a caring act of kindness in memory of someone who has died, the memory of that person is kept alive, as the life and the love of the person is share with others as part of this simple gesture of kindness.  They recommend a small card should be left behind so that the person benefiting from the act of kindness knows that the gesture was done in memory of someone who died. They offer a pre-printed Small Kindness Card that can be purchased to simplify the process.  

Here are some examples of Acts of Kindness from the MISS Foundation: 

• Buy or Donate shoes or clothes for a family in need.
• Help an elderly person with yard work or grocery shopping. They may have their own story of a child who had died.
• Visit a nursing home, sit and listen to some of the residents.
• Leave a bouquet of flowers at another child's grave in the cemetery. Leave a card to let the parents know about the Kindness Project.
• Pay someone's electrical bill. Check with your local utilities company to see if they have a program to help low-income customers. The elderly, disabled, sick, working poor and the unemployed can experience severe, uncontrollable or unplanned hardships and are unable to pay for their energy needs can benefit from your generosity.
• Volunteer time at a crisis nursery, animal or homeless shelter.
•  Leave a large tip for your food server.
• Knit or crochet a baby blanket for the hospital nursery. Premature babies can always use tiny booties and caps.
• Buy a balloon bouquet and ask the nurses the children's hospital to deliver them to a child.
• Pay someone's bridge toll or parking meter (especially if it is going to expire).

The MISS Foundation is a nonprofit international organization providing immediate crisis support and ongoing aid to grieving families after the death of a child from any cause. They also focus on reducing infant and toddler death through research and education.

** this is an update of a blog post originally written on 12/8/10 after the passing of Elizabeth Edwards.

Sandy Hook Support Fund

In response to the horrific acts of violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United Way of Western Connecticut, in partnership with Newtown Savings Bank, has established the Sandy Hook School Support Fund. Donations will be used to provide support services to the families and community affected by this tragedy.


Online donations can be processed at https://newtown.uwwesternct.org/.

We continue to keep the victims, their families and the entire Newtown community in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time and appreciate the support our United Way family has shown.

Rachel Sagan
Executive Director
Acton-Boxborough United Way
978-263-1777