Having a Nonprofit Sucks

This is my first time working for a nonprofit.

I hate that we don’t have a capital budget that can cover the expenses of the volunteers. However, I’m grateful for all the extraordinary people that have dedicated long hours helping with laundry, cleaning, picking up, or dropping donations.

I hate that we don’t have a large truck that can accommodate all donations. However, I’m grateful that I have a good SUV and friends and families with vehicles that help. We have to do two or three trips to move the donations, but we do it with love. I have one mama with a small car that makes miracles to accommodate donations.

I hate that we don’t have an operational budget to buy diapers, kid’s underwear, baby formula, toiletries, backpacks, feminine products, and not even drinks for my volunteers. However, I love when families donate the little or much they have to share with other families. My favorite part is the anonymous donations, yes anonymous donations have arrived at my house!! Also, do you know that the majority of mamás that receive give as well! ?

I hate to beg for money or children’s items. I spend hours every day in Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor begging people to donate what they are selling! Who knows, maybe I asked some of you. However, we have always enough to share with every family because God is good and He frequently touches the hearts of a lot of people!?

I hate that we don’t have a decent space or warehouse to accommodate all donations. However, I’m grateful that I have a nice home and a patient husband that allows me to use every single square footage to storage and pack all donations.

?This is my first time working for a nonprofit and I would never change a thing. I feel blessed that God chose me from so many remarkable people in this world; he chose a very tiny flower. I hate that I don’t have enough resources, money, or manpower, but I love the experience. In the past eight months, I have met extraordinary Flower Mamás like the mom with 37 weeks of pregnancy and a toddler that just arrived from Venezuela or the single mom who is 34 weeks pregnant and with two kids and that works as a caregiver at night for a terminal patient. I have helped mamas to get into a shelter for abused women or the one that is living with her two weeks son in the hallway of a basement. I have met, the single mama with nine kids that also help other mamas in her community or the single mama that was kicked out of her home because got pregnant and now is living and taking care of her disable grandma and her newborn. ??

I love to meet the mamás that adopt another mamás, the ones that collect children’s items among friends and neighbors and leave them on my porch, the 15-year-old kid that gathers with friends to prepare bags for the kids, or to celebrate a mamá that gave birth to her first baby after losing several pregnancies. I love to work with the big huggers and we need tons of those. Yes, we need a lot of huggers because when a mama comes to receive their donations they come humbled and shamed and that is not fair. On the contrary, I want them to know they are strong and brave. They say that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a whole community to help a family and I chose to be part of it.

It sucks to work for a nonprofit because of the lack of funds and capital because we give 100% of the donations to families and we do not have any income. However, God never fails. We always manage to find children’s items donations, volunteers, and time. Every single effort is planned and executed with love and passion. ?

We have served over 500 families (over 1,500 kids) in Georgia only in the past nine months! All based on donations from other families, used items! I hope Mother Earth is happy with the small reductions in human footprint! Every time that I received a request from a family I always pray that we can help them. I pray for every family, the giver, and the receiver. I pray while cleaning the toys and bless every single piece of clothing that we receive because I want to make sure of two things: that every kiddo has the opportunity to have covered their basic needs and that every Flower Mamá pay forward with kindness, love, and charity. Imagine the chain of random acts of kindness that we are creating!!

?Having a nonprofit sucks, but I love it!

I’ll be praying for every person that reads this message. Please feel free to share to multiply the blessings! Also, we never know how and when the Holy Spirit will call you to serve others!

Many blessings!

Natalia- Founder of The Little Flower Group

www.thelittleflowergroup.org

https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelittleflowergroup