In ten minutes I had a simple donation form created. In less than an hour I had $1,000 raised to help this poor family.
~ Marc Benzakein
Marc and Jessica are some of the most compassionate people you’ll meet. Ever.
In 2013, Marc and Jessica moved from Small Town Northern Wisconsin to Milwaukee. They were driven to help make a positive impact on children in the foster care system; specifically, older children and siblings groups who are often overlooked. Jessica, having aged out of the foster care system, knew the struggle that came with not having family support in place as an adult when things got tough.
In October of 2014, Marc and Jessica were granted full guardianship of three brothers in need. Since the goal always was to foster and then adopt an older sibling group, this fit nicely within their plans. While their house was not technically ready for three more kids, they found a way to make it work and dedicated as much space as possible to walking the talk. Their new home in Milwaukee is actually 115 years old and – at the time – was going through a heavy construction phase. Needless to say, the fall of 2014 was an exciting time for the whole family, all the children, and all the construction happening!
But the story doesn’t stop there. Last Spring, Marc and Jessica launched a new initiative. They wanted to take on another sibling group, but to do so, they would need more bedrooms. They began an extensive renovation of their attic for the sole purpose of helping others in need.
This desire to help others led them to act, when, this past August, they met a homeless mother and her four children sleeping in a broken down car parked in the alley behind their house. They had been living in the car for a while and the situation seemed bleak. Their story is not simple, but it will certainly warm your heart. And it’s not over.
Read their story on the Blog, and help if you can
As a WordPress Developer, Marc knew how to set up a website in which he could tell his family story. His blog, From Two to Five Overnight, Marc has chronicled their family’s journey. After discussing it with his wife, they decided to utilize their blog to ask for help in covering the out of pocket expenses they were facing in order to get this mother and her four small children off the street and into safety. However, none of the popular online crowdfunding services could provide him the control he was looking for. He also knew many people don’t like to go through a registration process before sharing their generosity. He knew that there was a better way that did not require people to jump through hoops simply so they could donate to a cause.
Enter GiveWP
Once Marc discovered the Give WordPress donation plugin, suddenly creating a simple donation form was, well, simple! Marc says it took him less than ten minutes to set up the campaign, tweet about it and get some traction. Within 30 minutes, he had already raised more than $1,000 for this mother and her children. Friends, family, WordPress colleagues, and strangers have stepped up to help support Marc & Jessica as they help this mother and her children get back on their feet.
And Give made it easy, to, well….give! We helped Marc fix a small issue and got his campaign up and running in under 30 minutes. Once it was live the sharing began and, all told, Marc and Jessica were able to recoup almost all of their own personal family funds. The financial results were better than Marc had expected. And setting up the plugin was easier than Marc expected!
Marc and Jessica, thank you for allowing Give to be a part of the amazing work you are doing within your family. We are honored to be a part of the legacy you are building. Here’s to building the web and changing people’s lives. Keep it up!
We’d 💚 to Tell Your Story!
Share your Give story with us so we can share it with the world! We love hearing from our Give users about their fundraising and causes. Submit your story now using the button below.Submit Your Story
About the Author
