Familes for 2006 update

I've been asked several questions and thought it wise to answer them for everybody.

Do you want the gifts wrapped or unwrapped?
I can accept gifts either way. They will get wrapped before delivery, so whether its you wrapping or myself does not matter. If you choose to wrap, I ask that you do not put a name of who the gift is from. I prefer to deliver the gifts and let the parents choose who the gift is from--if they want to say it's from them, I'm have no problem with that.

When do I need to get the gifts to you by & how can I get them to you?
As for delivery, feel free to contact me and we can arrange something. As for a date, I plan to do most of the shopping and wrapping the weekend of December 16th and plan to deliver the end of the following week (around December 22nd). Contact me before December 20th to make necessary arrangements.

How do you prefer monetary donations?
In order to keep track of any monetary donations, I'd prefer checks made payable to Project DUFF. I also have set up a PayPal account (link to donate on left) which accepts credit cards and transfers from PayPal accounts. As a last resort, I will accept cash.

Why did you create Project DUFF?
As a young child, my father passed away. Unknown to me, my family encountered several difficulties. The local community stepped in to purchase presents and help my family celebrate Christmas. Only later in life was I informed of this unselfish help. Once I learned, I decided that adopting families for the holidays was the start of what I want to do to give back to the community. It took several years for me to get this project off the ground and running, and I hope it continues to be successful for years to come.

Any other questions, let me know. Thank you for helping.

Families for 2006

Project DUFF is in its 3rd year and this year I have adopted two families:

Family 1:

Father--works outside with his hands so gifts such as coat, thermals, boots, etc are good as well as gift cards. His clothing size is Mens 46-48 (X-Large).
Daughter (Tamara age 12)--likes clothes, hair accessories, belts, MP3 players, CD’s & books. Her clothing size is Junior Women 7-9 (Medium).

Family 2:
I have been informed that the mother does not work & takes care of her son, Rynell, who is 16 and wheelchair bound due to cerebral palsy.

Mother--would like music, house wares, CD’s & lounge clothes. Her clothing size is Womens 8-10 (Medium).

Son (Rynell age 16)--is regular teen despite his disability and likes music, DVD movies, and playing play station (so PS games are appropriate, especially wrestling games). His clothing size is Mens 34-36 (Small)

Any contributions would be greatly appreciated. I have been able to get a great deal on gift cards from GAP, so I am collecting donations to provide these gift cards.

Please contact me at projectduff@comcast.net if you are interested in helping.

Bank Account

I have gone and set up a bank account solely for Project DUFF. This means I can accept checks made out to Project DUFF and not my own name.

Step in the right direction.

Letters of gratitude

Below are letters from one family (mother and two kids) who were given presents through Project DUFF. Click on the letters to magnify.

Name?

When I first finalized the idea of helping families at Christmas, I needed a name. I came up with Project DUFF. Initially, DUFF was supposed to stand for something (as an anagram). I have yet to figure out appropriate words for DUFF.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks!

Duff

Phone Call

I got a phone call today from one of the families that was helped by Project DUFF. The mother was in great spirits and was overly excited with items her family received. She especially enjoyed the educational toys the children received.

More to come in the future...

2005 finished!!

I just got back from dropping off the last presents from this year's Project DUFF. I don't usually like meeting the children of the families (because I perfer to remain anonymous), but the youngest child of the one family was sick and home from school and I got to meet her. It was pretty cool and the mother was crying.

Anyway, just to recap what this year accomplished. We helped three families, with a total of 4 children. Over $550 worth of clothing, toys, educational items and gifts were given. That is an amazing total.

I want to give a huge shoutout to the following people who helped with Project DUFF this year:
Hannah Bingman
Amanda Yeager
Kate Leshko
Jackie Porreca
Heather Harvey
Laura Treadway
Jenn Barbezat
Gamma Xi Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi
Bill & Cheryl Frame
Gabe Lee

I know there were several other people who I received donations from but do not konw specific names for--thank you as well.

Thanks everyone for a great 2005 Project DUFF,
Duff