Virtually Tags

Quiet giving means to help others without fanfare, without recognition. I've done this all my life. From buying school clothes for my childrens' friends, paying for glasses for the cashier at our local store, or paying an elderly stranger's grocery bill...God tells us to help each other, no matter how small. Now the shoe is on the other foot. I am in need. I am scared and now understand how it is to wake up every morning with fear and anxiety hanging over my head. I am a teacher who has been a victim of budget cuts 5 times in my career. It has taken me up to two years to find another full-time job each time it happened. I lived off of early withdrawals from my teaching retirement fund while I worked part-time jobs during those times. It is all gone now. I am single mother with two children, no alimony or child support. We have always struggled, but managed to make do with what we had. It wasn't easy, but we were able to keep our home for 16 years now. I have experienced a debilitating illness over the past year and will not be able to return to teaching. I never thought while I sat in college studying for my career, that I would one day be virtually penniless with no place to turn to. I have sold all valuables and now have nothing left to pay the bills or keep our home. I know God hears me, but perhaps the journey is one of empathy for others and of understanding true suffering. I am thankful for the journey, and the lesson is difficult. I have failed my children and myself. I was willing to accept my fate, until a friend told me about this website. If you find it in your heart to help me and my family, I assure you we will pay a portion back to others here in WV who are suffering as well. One day, when I am back on my feet, I would like to be a philanthropist, creating a non-profit organization using quiet giving. Thank you for listening, sometimes it helps just to get it out. Thank you also for your generosity and understanding. Even if you choose not to help my partiuclar family, please be aware of other hard-working families in your own community who may need your help too. Have a blessed day, Mrs. Birdlegs Please help, my family matters too.

in a couple of weeks i will be homeless. after becoming unemployed two years ago i was living off money which i had from cashing in my retirement account. after taking a couple of months for leisure ( i hadn't had an actual vacation, aside from a long weekend here or there, for the past 12 years) i was in the beginning phase of starting a small business. then i had a heart attack. i had surgery to place a stent in one of my arteries. it seems that i was born with a twisted artery and had been living with it all my life suffering no ill effects. according to my doctor artery walls are fairly thin and pliable when one is young, but as a person ages the walls thicken and become less pliant. when you combine these two factors with the twist of the artery, the result is a cutoff of the flow of blood to the heart. my doctor said that had i waited another day to come into the hospital, i would have died. while the surgery left me weak, it was the anti-rejection medication that i was on which was the problem. it left me so tired and weak, that after a walk to and from the local bodega just two blocks from my apartment , after i walked in the door i had to lay the bags down and sit and rest for a half hour or more, before i could put groceries away or even thinking about standing up and preparing food. quite a change from when i was biking 5 miles a day/ five days a week and lifting weights several times a week. my bank account was swiftly drained due to the cost of the hospital stay/surgery, and to the cost of medications ($130/month).
once i was off the anti-rejection meds and feeling well enough to work, i began searching for a job seeing as my hope of starting a business drained away with the money in my bank account. but unfortunately, with the economy the way it is, i have been unsuccessful in my search. i am now virtually penniless and am being evicted from my apartment. i am have sold off what few possessions i have in order to have some cash to buy the things i need for living on the streets, but the accumulated amount came to less than $100.

monetary donations via paypal are more than welcome,
i have also created a wish list at amazon.com for certain things that will be very helpful for me to have while i am homeless, but which i can not in anyway afford.

http://amzn.com/w/298Q89SP8GLCZ

i have left comments next to each item to explain why i feel the need for it. e-giftcards from amazon would also be helpful.

Quiet giving means to help others without fanfare, without recognition. I've done this all my life. From buying school clothes for my childrens' friends, paying for glasses for the cashier at our local store, or paying an elderly stranger's grocery bill...God tells us to help each other, no matter how small. Now the shoe is on the other foot. I am in need. I am scared and now understand how it is to wake up every morning with fear and anxiety hanging over my head. I am a teacher who has been a victim of budget cuts 5 times in my career. It has taken me up to two years to find another full-time job each time it happened. I lived off of early withdrawals from my teaching retirement fund while I worked part-time jobs during those times. It is all gone now. I am single mother with two children, no alimony or child support. We have always struggled, but managed to make do with what we had. It wasn't easy, but we were able to keep our home for 16 years now. I have experienced a debilitating illness over the past year and will not be able to return to teaching. I never thought while I sat in college studying for my career, that I would one day be virtually penniless with no place to turn to. I have sold all valuables and now have nothing left to pay the bills or keep our home. I know God hears me, but perhaps the journey is one of empathy for others and of understanding true suffering. I am thankful for the journey, and the lesson is difficult. I have failed my children and myself. I was willing to accept my fate, until a friend told me about this website. If you find it in your heart to help me and my family, I assure you we will pay a portion back to others here in WV who are suffering as well. One day, when I am back on my feet, I would like to be a philanthropist, creating a non-profit organization using quiet giving. Thank you for listening, sometimes it helps just to get it out. Thank you also for your generosity and understanding. Even if you choose not to help my partiuclar family, please be aware of other hard-working families in your own community who may need your help too. Have a blessed day, Mrs. Birdlegs

Quiet giving means to help others without fanfare, without recognition. I've done this all my life. From buying school clothes for my childrens' friends, paying for glasses for the cashier at our local store, or paying an elderly stranger's grocery bill...God tells us to help each other, no matter how small. Now the shoe is on the other foot. I am in need. I am scared and now understand how it is to wake up every morning with fear and anxiety hanging over my head. I am a teacher who has been a victim of budget cuts 5 times in my career. It has taken me up to two years to find another full-time job each time it happened. I lived off of early withdrawals from my teaching retirement fund while I worked part-time jobs during those times. It is all gone now. I am single mother with two children, no alimony or child support. We have always struggled, but managed to make do with what we had. It wasn't easy, but we were able to keep our home for 16 years now. I have experienced a debilitating illness over the past year and will not be able to return to teaching. I never thought while I sat in college studying for my career, that I would one day be virtually penniless with no place to turn to. I have sold all valuables and now have nothing left to pay the bills or keep our home. I know God hears me, but perhaps the journey is one of empathy for others and of understanding true suffering. I am thankful for the journey, and the lesson is difficult. I have failed my children and myself. I was willing to accept my fate, until a friend told me about this website. If you find it in your heart to help me and my family, I assure you we will pay a portion back to others here in WV who are suffering as well. One day, when I am back on my feet, I would like to be a philanthropist, creating a non-profit organization using quiet giving. Thank you for listening, sometimes it helps just to get it out. Thank you also for your generosity and understanding. Even if you choose not to help my partiuclar family, please be aware of other hard-working families in your own community who may need your help too. Have a blessed day, Mrs. Birdlegs

Quiet giving means to help others without fanfare, without recognition. I've done this all my life. From buying school clothes for my childrens' friends, paying for glasses for the cashier at our local store, or paying an elderly stranger's grocery bill...God tells us to help each other, no matter how small. Now the shoe is on the other foot. I am in need. I am scared and now understand how it is to wake up every morning with fear and anxiety hanging over my head. I am a teacher who has been a victim of budget cuts 5 times in my career. It has taken me up to two years to find another full-time job each time it happened. I lived off of early withdrawals from my teaching retirement fund while I worked part-time jobs during those times. It is all gone now. I am single mother with two children, no alimony or child support. We have always struggled, but managed to make do with what we had. It wasn't easy, but we were able to keep our home for 16 years now. I have experienced a debilitating illness over the past year and will not be able to return to teaching. I never thought while I sat in college studying for my career, that I would one day be virtually penniless with no place to turn to. I have sold all valuables and now have nothing left to pay the bills or keep our home. I know God hears me, but perhaps the journey is one of empathy for others and of understanding true suffering. I am thankful for the journey, and the lesson is difficult. I have failed my children and myself. I was willing to accept my fate, until a friend told me about this website. If you find it in your heart to help me and my family, I assure you we will pay a portion back to others here in WV who are suffering as well. One day, when I am back on my feet, I would like to be a philanthropist, creating a non-profit organization using quiet giving. Thank you for listening, sometimes it helps just to get it out. Thank you also for your generosity and understanding. Even if you choose not to help my partiuclar family, please be aware of other hard-working families in your own community who may need your help too. Have a blessed day, Mrs. Birdlegs

All my life I have suffered from the Tourettes syndrome. It's a living hell, making it virtually impossible to go out, let alone get a job through fear of people poking fun at me. This illness is gradualy turning me into a recluse. I have extreem difficulties in paying my bills on the little money I receive. It has taken me a lot to write this but I'm desperate. Thank you

I've never done this before, and feel ashamed to do so, but here goes nothing. A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with PTSD due to extreme child abuse and torture at the hands of my mother and grandmother. It got so bad that I couldn't cope with anything anymore. My job was very unhelpful with assisting me on having lighter duty and they ended up firing me. This past July my partner of 6 years broke up with me because he no longer wanted to deal with the PTSD and we parted ways. I had to find an apartment that I could afford for me and my dog. I've been able to make rent and pay bills but things are getting tighter. I'm only eating once a day and having to ration my medications to keep afloat. I'm not asking anyone to support me, just a little help. Trying to live on $1,300 a month is virtually impossible and I need my dog to keep my mood up. Along with the PTSD I also have agorophobia and have a hard time just getting out. I still have to pay off my pet deposit also. Thank you.

We are begging for anyone who might want to help us! Two years ago i was laid off from work as a eight year plumber since then everything has went down hill for my family and i! We lost 3 vehicles to our landlord to try and avoild eviction to no evail. Finding work has been virtually impossible and now my wife, our 3 kids and i are homeless! Im not asking for a hand out, i believe anything worth having in life is worked for! And my wife and i are willing to work for help! We need a reliable vehicle and money for move in or a place to live. If you can help and our willing, we currently are in the Cottonwood, Arizona area and can be reach by phone or e-mail at 928-274-2378 or tonianddawn@aol.com Thanks!

A Desperate Plea for HELP… Donations for Luxating Patella Surgery!


I have a Service Dog named FiFi who is a Medical Alert Dog.
My Service Dog has been diagnosed with an extreme case of Severe Bilateral Medical Luxating Patella, confirmed by two separate veterinarians, who consider it to be a chronic and serious medical condition. The grooves in her femurs, where the kneecaps are supposed to ride, are very shallow and have caused her kneecaps to slip out of socket to the inside of the legs. Her kneecaps cannot be manipulated back into place by hand.
She has developed the condition bilaterally, on both sides, her condition is at a Grade 5 out of 5 in both hind knees, which is the most severe, and she needs surgery ASAP on both limbs.

The Luxating Patellas are causing constant pain and discomfort, decreased energy level, tiring quickly, bony protuberances, bowlegged, crouching stance, swollen knees and joints, poor coordination, loss of balance, limited mobility, stiffness when walking, a change in posture, lack of appetite, and arthritis pain.
When she is able to walk she does so with one of her hind legs further out from her body, while the other affected limb is always being carried because it is much too painful to use. For the most part, she must balance her weight on her front legs as she walks, while holding her hindquarters off the ground, which is severely uncomfortable to say the least. She is no longer able to walk, or even stand on her left hind leg, and is not able to move it.

The recommendation is for her to have corrective surgery on both knees within 2 weeks. The surgeon advised that, if left untreated, the condition will worsen and may lead to rupture of the cruciate ligament as well as painful deformation of the leg bones as she continues to grow. The surgery involves deepening the trochlear groove and modifying the joint capsule to prevent the kneecap from slipping out. If there is significant deformation of the leg bones, they will have to be cut, realigned and pinned. She will have approximately 8 weeks of recovery time.

As you can imagine, this surgery will not be cheap. The estimated cost (at a reduced price) is approx. $1,900 to $2,000, per leg, not including pre-op lab work, post-op rechecks, X-rays, narcotic pain medicine, a custom-built Wheelchair for Toy Breeds (to help her get around), plus miscellaneous other medical supplies that she will need after surgery. The Wheelchair (as prescribed by her Veterinarian) must be ordered online and costs $249.00+ Tax + Shipping and Handling charges).

If FiFi does not get the surgery she needs she will be forced to live a life of constant pain with a permanent luxation that could develop into degenerative joint changes, bone deformities of the femur and tibia, and may not be able to walk ever again!

Any donation that you can make towards FiFi's surgery would be greatly appreciated!

FiFi is an adorable Toy Pomeranian with a Sweet and Loving Disposition; a Sparkling Personality and Magical Charm. She is very clever, well-mannered, and is unusually calm and quiet. She is one smart dog!
She has brought so much Joy and Blessing into my life; I can't ever imagine life without her! Wherever I go, FiFi brings out the best in people. I know she brings out the best in me. I have formed a special bond with FiFi. She is not only my Service Dog; she is also my Best Friend and part of my Family.

My dog is a Service Dog, and she's paid her dues. It is a lot of money, but my dog deserves it. She's only 7 years old.

If it were for me, I would not ask for help.

But it's for FiFi!

Thank you all in advance for your donations, prayers and support!!


P.S. I can provide good personal and veterinary references to testify that I am a loving and responsible pet parent. I can also provide medical documentation from FiFi’s Veterinarian to verify her diagnosis and medical condition.


• Monetary donations are gratefully accepted.
• No donation is too small.
• All donations, no matter what size, add up quickly!
• You may make your donation via PayPal.

You can either mail Donations via regular mail or by credit card to my PayPal Account.

(Add Note: "For FiFi")

Mail donations to:
S.J. Wilson
1304 Bruskrud Road
Apt. 1116
Everett, WA 98208-4179

PayPal account: MilkNHoneyB@yahoo.com


Definition of Luxating Patella:

(Luxated Patellas are a congenital (present at birth) condition. The actual luxation may not be present at birth, but the structural changes which lead to luxation are present. A Luxating Patella, or Patellar Luxation, is a condition that involves the dislocation of the knee cap, where it rotates to either the inside or the outside of the leg. A Luxating Patella can result from a traumatic injury or from a birth defect, but it is primarily passed down through ancestral genes).
Grade IV. The Patella cannot be replaced manually, and the leg is carried or used in a crouching position. Extension of the stifle is virtually impossible. Tibial rotation is quite severe, resulting in a "bow legged" appearance.

I am 21 years old..my boyfriend and I live with his mother and she is asking us to move out if we don't find jobs within two weeks.

My license got suspended because I couldn't afford insurance. I don't have any alternate modes of transportation and there are no businesses within reasonable walking distance. There's not much work in the area I live in either. We have sold virtually everything we own and all the money went to bills and now we are stuck again. It is winter and we have nowhere else to go if we are kicked out, we will have to resort to living in my car that is falling apart and risk driving illegally. I am stuck. I have applied online to every place that IS hiring with no luck. Our family has done all they can for us and we now have nowhere to turn.

I need help. I am willing to work if anyone needs a typist or data entry person or any kind of online/typing work I can do it for you.

Thank you and God Bless

Im a desperate mom who has a estranged ex spouse who abused me and my daughter, throwing us ouit, and keeping our stuff.. it has been a really hard asnd terrible time..but With Gods help we are making it threw...i Enrolled in School, to get a new and brighter future, and in another city to get us away from the abuse, and Ive been accepted....But Im suppose to be there in two weeks, and we virtually have nothing, me and my daughter are in desperate need of help ...i have no other family, and no resources...but we have faith and are trying this web site...

If you can help in any way, expense money to find a place to live...after two months my financial aide kicks in, and will cover us while in school but till then were really stuck....or a place to live ..or rent...once i get aide i would even repay anyone who could help us... Me and my daughter would be so grateful..... It's Bakersfield or Bust for us... If there is any way anyone can help, anything would help...even ifwe could just afford to stay in a hostel... Thank you....and god bless. lisa and Trish

Hello to all the kind-hearted, generous Begslist Donors. I am here asking for help with my family crisis. I have been out of work for just over a year, with many, many unsuccessful applications. I am a single mother of a beautiful son. I am a visual artist with a Fine Arts degree. I hope to pursue post-graduate studies in the near future. I am a hard worker and am determined to find work. 4 weeks ago I broke my ankle and had to have surgery. I am recovering well, though it has been difficult. As a consequence of not working for a year, my financial situation is utterly dire. I am seriously behind in all my amenities bills with disconnection pending notices, and every 2nd week this past year, there is virtually no food in my fridge or pantry, which causes much distress and anxiety for my son and I. My washing machine is dying and I have no means to replace it. We are so worn down by this and my broken ankle was like the last straw! I would be forever grateful to anyone who assists me by donating. I am an honest, responsible, resourceful and frugal person. Many thanks.

I am looking for any donations I can get to support a lengthy stay in the Joplin Missouri area to help with the Tornado clean up. I just lost my job for not willing to comply with their illegal practices and strive to always do the right thing, no matter what or how it may set me back. Anyway, I have contacted the Red cross,and United way, yet these services are so inundated with what has happened that I think I have gotten lost in their system after letting them know I am available. I also signed up with "show me response" Which is a organization that uses medical professionals that want to volunteer. I am a Licensed EMT and worked on a ambulance service for 8 years so I hope they can utilize me somewhere, yet have had no response from them as of yet either.

After losing my job and the impact of the economy the last few years I have virtually lost everything I have. I currently have nothing, no car, no home (staying in a hotel) and soon no money. Instead of feeling sorry for myself and my situation I want go to Joplin and help those who have lost everything too. I lost mine over time they lost theirs in minuets. In Joplin the still standing hotels are sold out, the remaining people and volunteers are staying in tents in peoples yards. I did make contact with a lady who offered for me to camp in her yard, but I have no tent. So my purpose of being on here is just to ask some kind hearted people who may not have the option of going to Joplin on their own to help, to sponsor me to get there and get the few things I need so I can help the people who need it.

This is not a scam and am not using this disaster for personal gain through this site, and if anyone has done that or trying to do that just remember God and Karma will someday hold you accountable!! Please help me with my cause if you can:) Thank you. PS if I get enough people to sponsor me to go there, I will email them on a weekly basis of my progress there, as well as try to send photos of whats going on with the clean up. (emails will depend on available wifi connections)

Here is what I am needing : 45.00 for bus ticket Kansas City to Joplin (Jefferson Lines). 49.00 for a Tent, 40.00 for steel toed boots (from Walmart), 15.00 for leather gloves, 5.00 for safety glasses, 30.00 for a used hardhat. and any donations for the purchase of food while I am there you can offer.

There may be food available for volunteers but would rather go down there and not deplete any of their resources as some people have gone down to capitalize on others misfortunes according to some news articles I have seen.

These things are the bare bones I need in order to be able to do this. Since I am unemployed I have the time to go and help, I just don't have the above resources and you can help me so I can help others. Thank you for your time in reading about my cause. Please Donate thanks :)

Hello, I am a married woman in my 20's with a small son and one on the way in December. I am currently a stay-at-home mom. I have a BS in business management and economics. I have had a sound business idea for a year but I do not have the extra funds to bring it to reality. It is a niche vending business with relatively low start-up capital, about $5000. I have 4 guaranteed locations lined up and several others I am in talks with. The $5000 pays for the product machine needed for the locations, filing with the state, tax, shipping, and copies of necessary sales materials and contracts. My vending business requires no inventory, employees, office location, or overhead. It is a simple concept (don't want to give too many details online) with the added bonus of being a niche business. My concept is virtually non-existant in my area and the feedback I've gotten so far has been extremely positive. I am willing to give more details if necessary.
This business would help my family in ways you can't understand. Due to an unscrupulous family member, my credit is bad and I cannot apply for a traditional business loan. I would be able to pay off long-standing debts and help relieve my dear husband of financially supporting our family, while also being able to stay at home with our expanding family. I also need this for me. I need to feel like I am contributing positively to my family and to our neighborhood and beyond. I want to put my business knowledge to work and not waste my degrees. I've spent this past year doing my due dilligence and research around my area and based on my findings my business will be extremely successful. I appreciate any and everything you could spare, each dollar brings me that much closer to my dream.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

P.S. what goes around, comes around. I won't forget this and I cannot wait until I can come back to this site as a donor and be able to give back.

For twenty years I have been married to a violent alcoholic women who has made my life miserable.She has a very nasty mouth and I have slept outside on the beach and park on many occasions to stay away.She has broken many bones in my body over the years when drunk by hitting with anything she can lay her hands on. She has recently violated avo's and good behavior bonds and has been imprisoned for 7 months pending rehab. I recently went to Philippines to get away and to start a new life with a wonderful person whom i have come to love very much, however my planning was wrong and had to come home. I need $10000 quickly so I can go back to my wonderful lady and set up the business that we had planned.
My life here in Australia is virtually over as my wife has turned everyone, including my family against me.
I am begging for your help and such a small amount will give me a life again and a love I haven't had for some 40 years...I am begging..Please help me. I am 60 years old and I just want happiness for the rest of my life and this small amount will give it to me

Hi, Not really sure if this will work but I am at my wits end and this close to loosing it. I desperately need to raise money for a double mastectomy. I had to leave home when I was 15 and virtually all my salary goes on bills. I dont have help from parents and just could really do with seeing the kindness in the world. Any help would be so very appreciated

I am a single mother of three wonderful children...I have been unemployed for three months now, do not qualify for unemployment, no child support...I did manage to get food stamps...but that's it. Its amazing how the "system" is in place to provide help to anyone who needs it, but they make it virtually impossible to get..I have been through so much red tape, its so frustrating and sad, when all I want to do is provide shelter and food for my family. I have worked my entire life...never "lived off the system"...my father always thought me that nothing will ever be given to you, that you need to work hard to get what you want in life...I agree! All that aside...I am three months behind in my rent...I thought I was going to get help from social services, but that has fallen through...PLEASE...if anyone can help...$10, $20 even...anything...I have no family or friends to borrow from. And no one to stay with if we are evicted. I cant put my landlord off any longer. I know I will find a job soon...but my family and I just cannot be homeless...it will destroy us. Thank you to anyone who can help and God Bless...

I am a single mother of three wonderful children...I have been unemployed for three months now, do not qualify for unemployment, no child support...I did manage to get food stamps...but that's it. Its amazing how the "system" is in place to provide help to anyone who needs it, but they make it virtually impossible to get..I have been through so much red tape, its so frustrating and sad, when all I want to do is provide shelter and food for my family. I have worked my entire life...never "lived off the system"...my father always thought me that nothing will ever be given to you, that you need to work hard to get what you want in life...I agree! All that aside...I am three months behind in my rent...I thought I was going to get help from social services, but that has fallen through...PLEASE...if anyone can help...$10, $20 even...anything...I have no family or friends to borrow from. And no one to stay with if we are evicted. I cant put my landlord off any longer. I know I will find a job soon...but my family and I just cannot be homeless...it will destroy us. Thank you to anyone who can help and God Bless...

I am a single mother of three wonderful children...I have been unemployed for three months now, do not qualify for unemployment, no child support...I did manage to get food stamps...but that's it. Its amazing how the "system" is in place to provide help to anyone who needs it, but they make it virtually impossible to get..I have been through so much red tape, its so frustrating and sad, when all I want to do is provide shelter and food for my family. I have worked my entire life...never "lived off the system"...my father always thought me that nothing will ever be given to you, that you need to work hard to get what you want in life...I agree! All that aside...I am three months behind in my rent...I thought I was going to get help from social services, but that has fallen through...PLEASE...if anyone can help...$10, $20 even...anything...I have no family or friends to borrow from. And no one to stay with if we are evicted. I cant put my landlord off any longer. I know I will find a job soon...but my family and I just cannot be homeless...it will destroy us. Thank you to anyone who can help and God Bless...

I am a single mother of three wonderful children...I have been unemployed for three months now, do not qualify for unemployment, no child support...I did manage to get food stamps...but that's it. Its amazing how the "system" is in place to provide help to anyone who needs it, but they make it virtually impossible to get..I have been through so much red tape, its so frustrating and sad, when all I want to do is provide shelter and food for my family. I have worked my entire life...never "lived off the system"...my father always thought me that nothing will ever be given to you, that you need to work hard to get what you want in life...I agree! All that aside...I am three months behind in my rent...I thought I was going to get help from social services, but that has fallen through...PLEASE...if anyone can help...$10, $20 even...anything...I have no family or friends to borrow from. And no one to stay with if we are evicted. I cant put my landlord off any longer. I know I will find a job soon...but my family and I just cannot be homeless...it will destroy us. Thank you to anyone who can help and God Bless...

Oh my god, how life can kick you in the teeth. Currently I have the tax man threatening to take me court, behind on virtually everything and really looking ike i could be homeless, have my driving liccence revoked and in court by the end of the month.

Every penny i earn dissappears into a huge black hole, and banks etc are just not listening to my plight..... I need a way out to turn my life back on track. It really wouldn't take much. My business is viable but cannot get off the downward spiral!!!! Any help or ideas appreciated.....

I need to come up with 2 grand by the end of December.

We are a family of six. I'm a 30 year old mother of two special needs girls. I am a full time student and I work from home. My husband is 33, works and goes to school full time. We also take care of my elderly parents.

My father was diagnosed with small cell cancer two months ago. Both of my parents are on a mediocre social security check which pays for virtually nothing. We usually pay everything that they can't cover.

Because of my fathers recent diagnosis we had to cover all initial tests and specialists, as well as all co-pays. I have just found an organization that is going to help him pay for this co-pays which means our horrible money situation is only temporary.

The problem is that this month we don't have enough to keep our utilities on or pay for our car. If they repo the car we can't get to work, so we are doing everything we can to avoid an all out horrific situation. We are not even thinking about doing Christmas this year. We just need to get through the rest of the month without getting anything shut off -- and of course, we'd like to put some food on the table. Sadly our daughters require a very strict and expensive diet due to their conditions.

Any help you can provide us with would be greatly appreciated. We would also be willing to pay you back once we receive our tax return. We were going to try and get one of those Holiday refund loans (which we've never done before) but we found out that they no longer offer them. We have no where else to turn.

Thank you for reading our story.

I am a 53-year-old divorced mom of two teenagers who is struggling to find work, keep my home, and pay my bills. 2010 has been the most difficult year of my life, as I have had to deal with three major sources of stress all at the same time. The first one (financial) actually began in April 2009 when I injured my right hand in a table saw accident which required hand surgery (almost $5000, which I am still paying off) and prevented me from being able to work for a couple of months. (I am self-employed and do minor home remodeling, as well as decluttering and organizing.) I got behind on all of my bills (two mortgages, medical bills and credit cards) and have been within days of my home being foreclosed upon on three different occasions since then. I have worked really hard to market myself and find enough work to get caught back up, working 10-12 hours a day six days a week when I had enough work to do so. This past May I finally managed to get completely caught up on all my bills, which was a tremendous relief.

Throughout this time, both of my teenagers were living with me and since January I had been doing everything I could to help my 19-year-old son get into the Marines, as I felt it was the only thing that could get him back on the right track in life. I knew he had been drinking, smoking pot and doing some drugs throughout his high school years, but had no idea at the time how bad it was, so I ended up wasting six months taking him to work out with the Marines at the recruiting office five days a week in addition to many other Marine-related things. The last week of June, about a week after he failed his drug test at his Marine physical, I discovered that he had stolen several hundred dollars from my bank account. The next five weeks were utter hell. I managed to get him to admit to me that he was addicted to heroin. We have a tremendous problem where we live with teenagers getting hooked on OxyContin and then switching to heroin (both opiates) because it is about 1/10th the cost of OxyContin. Thank God, my son is scared to death of needles and never injected it (he was smoking five balloons of black-tar heroin a day). If you have lived with a drug addict, you know how it affects every single aspect of your life. Drug addicts are liars, thieves and master manipulators. They can’t help it because their brains have been hijacked by the drug and it is as though they are possessed. The only thing they can think about is how to get more drugs. My sweet, sensitive, smart, funny, loving boy was gone. You cannot reason with an addict and you cannot trust anything they say or do. It is the most unbelievably stress-inducing experience you can imagine. Until his father and I managed to get him into an inpatient rehab facility at the end of July, I spent most of my time dealing with him and trying to keep him from stealing everything in my house so he could either pawn it to get money for drugs or give the items to his drug dealer in exchange for drugs. Among many other things (I could type pages about just those five weeks of all the hell we went through), I had to buy my iPod back from his drug dealer after I discovered it was missing. During those five weeks, my son overdosed once and ended up in the hospital (this happened about a week after I kicked him out of my house). He had no place to go and I was scared to death he would die living on the streets, so I let him sleep on the hammock in my back yard (after I went looking for him and found him stumbling down a sidewalk in a heroin stupor) until he went to rehab (which he had been adamantly fighting against for the prior month) four days later. Because I was only able to work a few days during this period of time and had to spend almost $800 on repairs to my 16-year-old car, I got behind on all my bills again. I have been able to find an average of about 20 hours of work a week since then, so have fallen even further behind. I have been looking for a “real job” for months, without success so far.

Finally – the third source of major stress in my life this year. The love of my life, whom I had been with for 6+ years, ended our relationship in January. We grew up in the same town, went to jr. high and high school together, and I was head-over-heels over him then. We dated after high school, but he was too shy at the time to ask me to marry him, which I later found out he had wanted to do. After 25 years of not having any contact with each other, we reconnected almost seven years ago and it was as though we had never been apart. We were unable to marry at that time because we live in neighboring states and my two children were 11 and 12 then and my ex would not agree to me moving to Colorado and he was unable to move to my state because of his business. I have virtually put my life on hold career-wise for the past seven years, knowing that when my youngest turned 18, I would be moving to Colorado, and so I could have the flexibility in my schedule to make trips to see him every one to two months. Four months before her 18th birthday, he ended our relationship (which was a complete shock; I thought everything was great between us). Needless to say, on top of everything else, this has been very devastating and I am just now beginning to come to terms with the fact that my future with him that I had been working towards and looking forward to all this time is gone, besides dealing with the immense pain of a broken heart. I have felt utterly lost and alone, and very very sad. My wonderful 18-year-old daughter moved out of the house almost three months ago, so it has been kind of hard being in an empty house since then and not having my best friend to talk to every day on the phone like I had done for six years.

I have recently been working for a married mom of four boys, decluttering and organizing her house. Two days ago she called to tell me she had broken her foot and has to keep it elevated for two weeks, so she wants me to wait until after that before coming back to work. I currently have no other job prospects, am desperately looking for work, and worrying about the fact that I have to make two mortgage payments before the end of this month in order to keep from being over 60 days past due, in addition to being at least that far behind on my other bills. I have about $40 in cash, a quarter-tank of gas in my car, and my bank account is upside down.

I have always been a strong person and a survivor (having grown up with an angry alcoholic father). I have never sought any type of government assistance and never will. I have taken care of myself since age 17 and am a hard worker, so it is very difficult for me to ask for help and I apologize for doing so. I assure you that any money you choose to donate to me will only be used to pay bills, put gas in my car, buy groceries, or other similarly legitimate expenses. Thank you so much for helping me out (if you choose to do so). I am humbly grateful.

Hi, I am a 23 year old singer/songwriter. I have been saving for years to make my move to Los Angeles. I mean every penny that wasn't spent on keeping a roof over my head and my utilities running, went straight into the fund for my future. This opportunity meant more to me than anything and making it happen on my own made it even more special. I have been very determined for a very long time. After about 2 and a half years of heavy budgeting and saving,I managed to save about $11,000, which for a waitress is a very difficult financial goal to obtain. On the afternoon of July 13, 2010, I drove to my local bank and withdrew the majority of my savings to then drive straight to a nation wide bank and deposit my savings since my bank isn't in California. I was very nervous having this large sum of cash on my person. I stopped off at the store for a brief moment to grab some quick necessities. Before I got out of my car, I put the money in my glove box, locked it, locked all my doors and double checked them one last time. My reason for keeping it secured in the car, was because I didn't want to chance anything bad happening with that amount of cash on me because some people will do horrible things to a person for that amount of money. Especially to a small female. I thought that was the safest thing to do for myself. I'm inside for no more than 10 minutes, and when I returned my car had been broken into and the money was gone. I called the police and they told me there is virtually no chance of them getting my money back to me. In devastation and desperation, I ask you if you are in any financial position to donate literally anything, I would have an indescribable amount of gratitude and relief. Thank you so so very much for reading my story.

Hopeful,

Jenn

We've both been on Social Security Disability for about four years now; me just a year after we bought our house, and we've been working part time from our home to supplement the SSD income because obviously SSD is not enough to keep the bills paid and keep our house.

We don't use credit cards, scrimp on every dime, shop at the outlet stores and liquidation stores to spend less. We switched phone services to Magic Jack to save hundreds on our phone bill and use our wood stove for heat to cut down on the electric bill.

2009's economy simply tanked my husband's business and put us over $15K in debt, plus put a crush on my transcription business at the same time, leaving us without our savings and driving us further in debt with the bank.

I started two new businesses last year to offset the transcription business and before everything started to fall apart, and what I really need is SALES - I need TRAFFIC to my websites and I need to sell my bookmarks to help bring us back out of debt.

My husband is still trying to get his business back but it's not looking too hopeful because the economy hasn't completely turned around.

So more than just money, I'm "cyber-begging" or "virtually panhandling" for SALES! Although donations of cash if you don't like the bookmarks are greatly appreciated too.

Visit our bookmarks site at www.wedding-favor-bookmarks.com and purchase a set of bookmarks for yourself, for a friend, for an upcoming wedding or bridal shower as favors, or simply donate to help us get our business off the ground at Donate to Wedding Favor Bookmarks Directory.

Thank you!