Hi DKos peeps:
I know the holidays are a time filled with financial responsibilities for everyone. So, I certainly don’t expect people here to have lots of money to spare. But I’m hoping that some of us might have $5 or $10 to give to help a really deserving lady keep her house this Christmas and have a happy holiday.
I’ll share the backstory for why I’m doing this. I worked with Lori at our ex-company. She was the HR person and the accountant. She worked tirelessly to try to protect and speak up for the employees within a fairly predatory company. The owner, well, didn’t have the best interests of employees at heart.
In September, the company shut its door with no notice to employees. We found out at 4 pm on a Friday that we no longer had jobs EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.
Luckily, most of the employees — it was a small company — were able to find employment within a month, or some, like myself, just went 100% freelance, and so far have been doing better than when employed (knock on wood!).
My co-worker Lori, however, agreed to continue to help the owner close out the books, get all the financials in order, deal with legal issues, etc. and has spent countless hours helping the owner to avoid legal issues (such as the money missing from employee 401ks!). She was supposed to be paid for her time when the final outstanding project payable came in. I worked with her to get that remaining project completed, and the invoice has finally been submitted.
Now, the owner is saying that its being routed directly to the creditor bank and so she won’t receive the money she’s earned. It’s three weeks before Christmas, and she doesn’t have January’s mortgage payment money. She was counting on that earned money to cover her for January and February while she looked for work.
In addition to the stress of unemployment, she’s also dealing with major medical bills with her teenage son, who is in hospital now.
She would never accept charity money if she knew it was being collected, but I’d love to surprise her with a check for one mortgage payment so her family can enjoy Christmas this year without worrying so much and buy her a little time to find work. (Some of you may know I don’t really celebrate Christmas personally, but I do still enjoy the true spirit of the season, and my friend DOES celebrate Christmas.)
I have created a YouCaring fundraiser page, and only used her first name just because I’m trying to keep it a secret from her. She would be mortified if anyone thought she needed charity. But I can provide any sort of documentation to anyone here who wants it. ALL monies collected will be delivered to her prior to Christmas.
I’ve set a modest goal of $2000 which will cover January’s mortgage payment, and I’ve seeded it with an initial donation of as much as I can afford. Thank you SO MUCH to anyone who has a few dollars to spare. Whatever I collect will be a big help to her, but I’d love for it to be enough to offer some real relief.
Thanks for listening.
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