About Us

The Be a Gift Foundation was inspired by the following words of Pope John Paul II: “To say that man is created in the image and likeness of God means that man is called to exist ‘for’ others, to become a gift.” The Be a Gift Foundation was created to be a vehicle through which people could become a gift to those in need.

Our playbook comes from the words of Mother Teresa—”if you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one”. We may not be able to solve homelessness or world hunger, but we can help one family at a time stay in their home or put food on their table.

Our gifts our modest in amount but have a tremendous impact. In most cases, the individuals and families that we help are experiencing a short-term financial setback caused by a sudden job loss or illness. A gift of as little as $500 can be the difference between a family staying in their home or becoming homeless and spiraling into unrecoverable poverty.

That is where we come in. Social workers and the staff of other non-profit organizations make us aware of these urgent needs, and we respond quickly, often within 24 to 48 hours.

Although the amount of our average gift generally does not exceed $1000, we consider larger requests on a case-by-case basis.
We consider almost any type of grant request that falls within our mission. Here are a few examples:

• Helping a family survive a sudden loss of income due to job loss or illness by assisting with rent, utilities or other household expenses
• Car payments and other transportation costs
• Providing a young adult transitioning out of foster care with start-up funds for shelter, food, and/or clothing
• Assisting unwed mothers with pregnancy and newborn baby needs and medical expenses.
• Funding for needed medical care or equipment
• Helping a child or teen go to camp or other special program to help keep him/her off of the streets
• Funding for drug rehab or counseling.
• Providing foster or indigent children with necessary or discretionary items or services for which no government funds are available, such as special classes to learn a trade or skill, music or art lessons, equipment needed to develop special skills, tutoring, and other similar items or services.

Meet the members of our team.

The officers and directors of the Be a Gift Foundation volunteer their time and talents to the organization without compensation.