Donating through Facebook

A new group brings together a 21st-century technology with a basic human instinct. It’s called the "Adopt a Family Project".

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Donating Through Facebook
Giving Back Through The 'Adopt A Family Project'
By David Charns
WPTZ

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. -- A new group, started in New Hampshire, brings together a 21st-century technology with a basic human instinct. It’s called the "Adopt a Family Project," and it’s a tool merging Facebook with charity.

Amy Hebert coordinates donations from her kitchen table. Hebert, a district "gopher" (the group’s term for courier) and administrator of the group, is in charge of matching those who can donate with those in need.

Tina Paré started the Adopt a Family Project before Christmas of last year. What began as a way to give Christmas gifts to children has ballooned into an organization to find everything from food, to clothing to furniture, for families in need.

Here’s how it works: A person in need can go onto the group's Facebook page and ask for help. An administrator will then contact that person and create a list of needed items. On the other side, any Facebook user can sign up to help a family.

Hebert, whose family received help from the group before Christmas, is now on the other side of the equation, and she’s online for a good part of the day.

“Numerous people had emailed [Pare] looking for help,” Hebert said. “She had people on the other end stating they wanted to help a family.”

Administrators give each family or individual asking for help a code name, or what the project calls an "operation." For example, the group’s “Operation Bun in the Oven” surrounds an expecting mother whose husband is deployed overseas.

“The outpouring of support since we started the group has been amazing,” Hebert said.

Gophers, like Hebert, collect and distribute the donations. Hebert’s 12-year-old son, Dakota, also helps out.

Hebert said she goes online throughout the day to check on her operations, but she doesn’t have access to Internet. Instead, she fields her work from her cellphone, hoping her network of donators and gophers come through.

As of Jan. 24, the group had 289 members, and Hebert said more people join by the day. The group has gophers across New England, and they’re looking to become an official non-profit organization in the future.

If you would like to help the Adopt a Family Project, visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/adoptafamilyproject/

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