Modest Needs exists

• To prevent otherwise financially self-sufficient individuals and families from entering the cycle of poverty, when this might be avoided with a small amount of well-timed financial assistance;

• To restore the financial self-sufficiency of individuals who are willing to work but are temporarily unable to do so because they do not have the means to remit payment for a work-related expense;

• To empower permanently disadvantaged individuals who otherwise live within their limited means to continue to live independently, despite a temporary, unexpected financial set-back; and

• To strengthen small non-profit organizations by providing a forum whereby such organizations can apply directly to the general public for the help they need to complete the relatively inexpensive projects that will allow them to better serve their clients and the communities they exist to serve.

A Year of Modest Needs Milestones

For Modest Needs, 2007 truly has been a "banner year"--a year during which the organization achieved a large number of operational goals and milestones. The most significant of these milestones include:

• The success of Modest Needs' ongoing matching grant initiative;
• The implementation of new corporate partnerships;
• The receipt of significant national recognition for our work, and'
• The creation of a new system designed to give our donors direct input into the disbursement of their contributions to Modest Needs.

Founded in 2002, Modest Needs is an award-winning public charity with a simple but critical mission: we work to stop the cycle of poverty BEFORE it starts for the low-income workers whom conventional philanthropy has forgotten.

We do this by empowering compassionate members of the general public to safely and securely help hard-working, low-income households to afford the kinds of short-term emergency expenses that we've all encountered before: the unexpected car repair, the unanticipated visit to the doctor, or the unusually large heating bill, for example.

Since 2002, by working together in this very 'modest' way, Modest Needs' donors have stopped thousands of low-income individuals and families from entering the vicious cycle of poverty and a lifetime of dependence on the public welfare system for their survival.

And, through our unique Non-Profit Grant program, we simultaneously empower our donors to invest directly in small non-profit organizations struggling to serve their communities, but whose needs are generally too small to be considered a funding priority by larger, more conventional grant-makers.

Because Modest Needs has earned the highest possible charity ratings from both Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, our donors can give with confidence, knowing that we won't abuse their kindness.

But more importantly, together, we can make sure that no hard-working person is ever forced to choose between taking a child to the doctor and putting food on the table.