We’ve all heard that “every little bit helps,” but for a retired couple from Battle Ground, every little bit did help. Last week Modest Needs sent an email to their subscribers about a family in Washington who had to make the difficult decision between their health and their mortgage payment.

This couple made they only choice they could make. They chose their health. And as a result, on 15 August, the couple’s lifetime investment – their home – was going to be sold at auction.
This couple had written by mail (they have no computer) to ask for our help in saving their home. They needed $1200. I felt strongly that it was our moral imperative help this family, but because the amount necessary to save their home exceeded Modest Needs’ maximum grant, I left it to all of you – the active members of Modest Needs – to decide whether we helped this family or not.

Their request hit close to home because I remember how difficult it was to make my mortgage payments after I had been laid off. With a couple of clicks, I increased my monthly Modest Needs contribution.

276 other people also “put their money where their mouse was.”

End result? For an average donation of $13 per person, the couple’s home was saved from the auction block. There was also enough additional funding to pay a rent deposit for a family in Michigan whose house was sold out from under them, to transfer a cosmetology license for a woman in Ohio so she could work and care for her children, and to provide medical treatment for a two year old girl in Rhode Island whose legs were born twisted. (Details in this month’s editorial)

The beauty of Modest Needs is that it helps with the little things — when a small amount of money can make all the difference in the world. This week has proven that when many individuals help with just a nominal amount, some pretty amazing things can happen.