We have been busy here at 2 Shirts Ministry. We haven’t really had a chance to stay on top of social media postings, so here’s an update…
We have been around for almost a year now. We have received many clothing and supply donations. We did not really pursue monetary donations as we wanted to be recognized as a 501(c)3 charity first. We had raised enough money by the end of April to pay the $600 fee charged by the IRS to file our application.
We filed on April 29th. The IRS takes between 6 and 9 months on average to process a full form. When we checked the status, we were a little disheartened to learn that they were still processing applications from last July. This meant that we would be waiting between 14 and 17 months to hear back from them.
By the grace of God, we were approved 4 days later on May 3rd. The IRS is a giant organization that moves at their own pace…but God!
Since receiving our status, we have been able to receive technology grants from Microsoft and Google to help build our administrative infrastructure. This has been a huge step forward for us.
We have also been processing clothing donations and have hundreds of items to deliver within the next couple weeks. We have a lot of seasonal clothing to distribute as well as supplies to distribute to organizations supporting the unsheltered for next season.
We continue to build relationships and are looking to build a network of clothing and supply drop-off locations where we can collect donated items. We have no permanent space of our own and finding a place will be a major goal for us over the next year. Without a permanent home, our volunteer opportunities are also limited right now.
We could use some help soon writing out care cards that we include with the items we provide. We feel it’s important to let people know they are remembered and loved. We will also need help with decommissioning swag clothing soon – nothing major, just some tedious stitch-ripping. We will provide updates over the coming weeks on Facebook and X so stay tuned.
We will have numbers coming out soon showing how many people we have been able to help and how many pounds of clothing we have kept out of the waste stream.
Any spare change or extra dollar bills you have laying around would go a long way to support our operating budget. We love small donations because it gives many people a chance to be a part of something amazing. Of course, if you’re called to give big, that’s okay too.
Thank you for your kind and loving support,
God Bless you all,
TD Maloney
Executive Director