The Car:

• Q: Isn't it nice to have donations pay for a Car?
• A:  It would be, but not in our case.  Andrews father cashed in his stocks to replace a 15 year old truck when the doctors told the family it would be a good Idea to transport Andrew in the cleanest vehicle possible. (Andrew didn't have an Imune system for many months after the Bone Marrow Transplant)
• Q: How much do you get paid for having the Decals on the car?
• A: Nothing,  While there are Charites that might pay for this kind of advertising, this is our personal vehicle, besides, we don't pay for anything that can be donated. The charity decals have been a donation by SIGNARAMA MARLBORO for over 10 years now. Please bring your business to them and let them know how much you appreciate the way they asssit Andrews Helpful Hands!
• Q: It must be nice to have donations pay for Fuel and Repairs?
• A: It would be,  but Andrews family pays for the upkeep, repairs, and insurance on the vehicle. Sometimes, generous doners do make donations specifically for office expenses or event expenses, these types of donation are the only ones that can be used for fuel, but not repairs or insurance.
• Q: How much does that charity pay you to drive the car with their Logo's?
• A: Nothing. We drive the car to get to our jobs like everyone else does. Being Realtors, you will see our car in many towns and at every hour of the day.
• Fyi...... the car is a 2001 model and will pass 200,000 miles in 2012. The Pt Cruiser may be going away in 2013,  what should it's replacement be?    Donations Anyone? (just kidding, this is  personal vehicle)

How Donations are used:

• Q:  How much do you make running this Charity?
• A: Nothing,  Andrews Helpful Hands is run as a "True Charity" in every way.  We don't have payroll!  We are 100% Volunteer!  We don't pay professional fundraisers! We have had a few times where donations were spacifically made for office expenses, at this time we did pay some of the volunteers to build and populate a database for event notifications and informational mailers to past donors.  We "Fun-Raise" vs Fundraise..... but donations are very very welcome, and we don't get enough donations outside of the events we hold.
• Q: If I donate to help a family, how much of my donation does the family get?
• A: 100% of your donation goes into a Family Fund Account.  This account is use to pay the creditors of the family directly. This is used for paying the Mortage or Rent and sometimes other expenses that are in the childs best interests.
• Q: If I donate to the charities office or event expenses, how is this different from a donation to the Families?
• A:  There is a seperate bank account setup for donations toward the opperation of events or office supplies and equipment. This account is always low and sometimes we need to do fundraising for the Charity itself.  We are real grateful to the printing companies that donate the supplies and printing for our event fliers and tickets. This is our largest need besides funds for the families.
• Q: If an event surpasses what the family needs,  where does the rest of the money go? is it given to the family?
• A: All family directed funds go directly into the Family Fund Account.... this is used for all the families we help. Some families need more funds than others. Some events don't cover all the families needs and some far exceed the needs. We have had families that have needed our assistance multiple times, it might be a year or more between so you never know if your event raised enough or not... but this way, we usually have funds available when they are needed.  Funds from past events help us start helping a new family right away without the need for an imediate event just for that family.
• Q: Your events have many gift baskets and raffle prizes,  How much do you pay for them?
• A:  We pay thru our hard work and many hours of asking....  we try to work solely on donations of items. Sometimes we do have people who don't have an item to give but do give a money donation with the expicite direction to spend it on a raffle items of our choice.

Volunteers:

• Q: I would like to volunteer to work directly with the children, what can I do?
• A: Unfortunatly our kids won't have an imune system for many months and direct contact is not a good idea.  A simple cold is very serious and could put them into the hospital for a week or more.   But you can help them by Volunteering at one of our events and making the event more successful. This is the best way to help them.
• Q: I would like to make meals for the family, how can I get this to them?
• A: Again, this is a good thought but the kids shouldn't be eating pre-prepared foods. They need to have every meal prepared fresh and their diatary needs can change rapidly. Many parents will eat only what the child is eating.  Just imagine having your favorite meal delivered and you can't have it while everyone else can. This is a difficult time and food is a very delicate subject with the kids and their emotions.
• Q: I can't make it to your events, is there another way I can help?
• A:  Yes.... there are many ways you can help.
  - First call us and let us know what your thinking of doing so it can be place on our website.
  - Next hold an event in your area.  have a dinner, a dance, a game, pass the hat, hold a can-drive, hold a change-drive, a car wash, a bike ride, a walk, a run, .....
  -
  

Our Goals:

• We are not looking to improve a familys financial situation, we are looking to help manintain what they currently have while they focus 100% on their child getting better.
• We are focused on keeping families in their current homes or apartments so the child has familiar surroundings when they get out of the hospital.
• We are hoping to lessen the parents burdens by paying the creditors directly. No parent needs to be worried about the bills getting paid while their child is fighting a battle with cancer.
• We are trying to get more people on the Bone Marrow Registry so the search for a Bone Marrow donor is quicker and better matches for the child are found. Better matches means an easier and faster recovery is possible.
• We would love to build an endowment that would cover the needs of all the families we meet.
• We would love to expand Andrews Helpful Hands beyond the boarders of Massachusetts. To do this, we would need to find more good people to do "Real Charity" work. We don't believe any "Charity" should have a payroll or funds that go to a payroll without explicite and none-legal-speak notification to doners that they are donating to someones paycheck. A paycheck or fee-for-service shouldn't be concidered an expense that can be slid sidways or out-the-back-door of a donation.