2025 Fund It Forward This Fall
There are 2,081 children in foster care in our service area alone. Two thousand eighty one! Your donation will directly support foster youth and families in Iowa and Nebraska and MAKE IT POSSIBLE for Share My Smile to reach and serve more children!
We've all heard the phrase "pay it forward" which is to do something good for someone, and that person will do something good for someone else, and THAT person will do something good for someone else, and so on. It creates a chain of love that continues down the line. It has the power to positively affect the lives of local foster and adopted children going through unimaginable circumstances.
"Fund it forward" is the same concept but applies to the nonprofits you support.
"Funding it forward" is so important for the health and success of a nonprofit, and particularly for small, local ones such as Share My Smile. Nonprofits are exactly what they say they are, they are "not for profit". They don't receive money for selling their "products and services". Many do not receive government funding. Smaller nonprofits do not have the reach or ability to advertise like the large nonprofits. So funding it forward this Fall allows us to prepare for next year. To ensure that over 600 local foster and adopted children will continue to have services in 2026.
And these services are VERY important to our families. Listen for yourself....
"We've been so thankful to Share My Smile for years. We love the opportunities we've been given because of SMS. We love the family time together, not worrying about money or the cost of anything, but just focusing on how lucky we are to have had fostering and adopting be a part of our lives." -- SMS Member
"Share My Smile is a great organization that helps build and support a social network of foster/adoptive/guardianship and kinship families. My family really appreciates the help with Christmas and Birthday gifts from their Giving Tree and Operation Birthday programs. We also get so much value from participating in Share My Smile family activities throughout the year (pumpkin patch, picnics, trampoline park). These activities are so much fun and provide support for me as I get to connect with other parents who have similar situations (raising children born to other people.)" -- Jill Stone, SMS Member
"Through Share My Smile, we gain lifetime friendships with other foster/ adoptive families. This can be supportive just having someone to talk to that might understand the processes or Medicaid care covered etc. My daughter sees other kids and families like ours, not always blood or your traditional households. Being offered experiences we might never of gotten by being a part of this great organization. " -- SMS Member
As you're planning for the holidays this Fall and budgeting for Christmas, we humbly ask you to consider a pledge to Share My Smile for 2025-206 that can be spread out over time. Smaller, quarterly donations go a long way! And our donation tiers let you know exactly how your donation will be used.
Note: If you prefer a one-time, monthly, or even annual donation, those options are available, as well. You can also choose to cover the donation fees or not.
Smile Starter: Help provide a birthday box filled with essentials for a foster child's special day. You can make it a monthly donation and provide 12 children with birthday boxes!
Care Kit Champion: Equip a foster child with a backpack filled with toiletries, school supplies, and comforting items when entering a new home. When you donate monthly, you provide backpacks to 12 children!
Friend Sponsorship - Your $250 donation will provide birthday gifts, care bags, holiday support, & community events for the year!
When you donate monthly, we will recognize you on our social media and website (IF you give your permission)!
Champion Sponsorship - Your $500 donation could provide 10 birthday boxes foster kids! Or 5 care bags for kids entering a new foster home!
Make this a monthly donation and we will recognize you on all of our social media, website, newsletters, and in our Annual Report (IF you give your permission)!