Mission of Deeds, Winter 2021

A Message From Our President

Christopher J. Barrett

One way of looking at the work of Mission of Deeds is that we are helping to keep people healthy. When we give our clients a bed and bed linens for a good night’s sleep, essential kitchenware to prepare and serve a nutritious meal, and a grocery store gift card to buy the ingredients, we aim to support health and wellness. Therefore, it was a significant dilemma how to do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19 and continue to assist people in need.

We closed for a period of time in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, then reopened with all new protocols. We have been operating that way for a year and a half. Even under these conditions, we are heartened that your generosity has allowed us to accomplish so much.

Since Mission of Deeds reopened, we have given beds, furniture, and housewares to more than 750 households, comprising over 1800 adults and children. Even more noteworthy is that the range and quality of our assistance have reached new heights.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we decided to provide our clients with only new bed linens, towels, and winter coats for health reasons. Due to our clients’ many expressions of special gratitude, and thanks to an outpouring of your generosity, we have decided to continue these policies permanently.

The kitchen essentials boxes are tailored to each family’s size and situation. Every client can go home knowing that they have everything they need from pans and utensils to dishes and flatware to cook and serve a meal.

Since we reopened, these boxes have been prepared offsite in what we lovingly call our “Annex” – Donna’s Snow’s garage. Supported by many of you, Donna, our Director of Volunteers and Household Items, has coordinated the preparation of hundreds of these boxes, consisting of gently used kitchenware supplemented with purchased items when needed.

The “Annex” will soon pass into history. We are finishing a complete renovation of our onsite Household Items Room. The inventory from Donna’s garage will then be moved back on our shelves, reunited with the beautiful new linens stored in the other section of the same room. The quality of service the “Room” provides to our clients is in keeping with the vision of our founder, Tony Triglione, that people in need be treated with dignity and respect.

The renovation of the Room is another step along the path of servicing clients in the COVID era. We review every aspect monthly. We are incredibly grateful for the continued support and creativity of many volunteers who still find ways to support us. We love you all! Please be reassured that we will reduce restrictions as soon as possible without taking chances with anyone’s health.

The gratitude we feel for our donors and volunteers knows no bounds. You make it possible for Mission of Deeds to bring joy to our clients. We wish the same for each of you – a holiday season and New Year filled with happiness and good health.

A Message from Our Executive Director

Bruce C. Murison

Daniella and her children, ages three and four, had been homeless. A shelter referred the young family to Mission of Deeds, and we provided almost all the furniture for their new apartment. In addition to beds and bed linens, we gave them a bureau,a kitchen table and chairs, a sofa, an end table, a nightstand, kitchen essentials, and much more.

Sue and her one-year-old daughter fled domestic violence. We gave them many of the same kinds of items as we gave Daniella, but Sue also asked for a TV stand, which we gave her.

Ray is a grandfather suddenly raising two grandchildren whose mom just passed away. We gave him beds with linens, a kitchen set, bureaus, an end table, a bookcase, kitchenware, and more. As we did for Daniella and Sue, we gave Ray a grocery store gift card.
We mention these clients to show the difficult situations the people we help face and also to explain additional realities of client service.

Daniella’s, Sue’s, and Ray’s apartments are not on the first floor and have small rooms. These living conditions are shared among most all our clients. While Ray’s grandchildren are teens, Daniella’s and Sue’s children are young. These aspects profoundly influenced what we gave them —kitchen tables of smaller size, tall chests, safe wooden end tables and TV stands, sofas of average size, microwaveable dishes.

We also ensure that furniture will fit through narrow doorways, around sharp corners, and up winding stairs. These conditions are often present in older converted apartment buildings where many of our clients live. But, just as important, every item we give clients is in good condition, so they have a happy feeling about their new home and about how Mission of Deeds treated them with dignity and respect.
We had the right stuff for these clients because of your donations. Every time our truck goes to your home or when you arrive for your appointment to bring items to our facility, you give Daniella, Sue, Ray, and hundreds more people like them a fresh start in a well-furnished home.

We also appreciate your understanding when we are unable to take furniture you offer, so our warehouse space is available for the items most clients need. For lists of what we accept, and do not accept, please refer to our website, www.missionofdeeds.org.

Thank you for making our work possible. Mission of Deeds transforms generosity into hope for people in need every day because of you.

Save the Date

Spend a foot-tapping night of Americana music with Mission of Deeds. We are thrilled to have Hank Wonder entertaining us for the evening of our March Fundraiser.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2022

Winchester Town Hall Mauer Auditorium

Who IS Mission of Deeds?

Tony Triglione founded Mission of Deeds in 1993 to provide beds, furniture, and household goods, without charge, to people in need.

Tony had grown up extremely poor, then became highly successful in business, but never forgot what it had been like to be poor. His vision was that Mission of Deeds be a place where people would receive needed items while being treated with kindness and respect.

People like you donate furniture and housewares to us, and we buy mattresses, box springs, pillows, and linens from your financial donations. We receive no government funding— it’s all neighbors helping neighbors. Thanks to your generosity and the hard work of our volunteers, Mission of Deeds has furnished the apartments of many thousands of the previously homeless, survivors of domestic abuse, displaced veterans, the abandoned elderly, and others in great need. With Tony’s vision as our guide, we look forward to serving the community for years to come.

loaded van

How Mission of Deeds is Funded

The generosity of individual donors and small businesses provides a substantial majority of our income. In addition, grant writing, led by Sharon Petersen, Director of Grants, and before her by Pat Fenton, has secured crucial funding from some well- known, and some lesser-known private organizations.

We are honored that the Cummings Foundation has supported us generously for many years through multi-year grants. Joyce and Bill Cummings’ extraordinary lifetime of work has built a great foundation whose impact is felt around the world, including in the lives of our clients.

The Flatley Foundation has supported us for a number of years, with special impact in the last year. Founded by the late Thomas J. Flatley in 1982, this wonderful foundation continues to be led by the Flatley family and charitably supports many causes locally and nationally.

The Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation has supported us almost from the beginning of Mission of Deeds. Begun in 1927 by Frank Bayrd in honor of his mother, the Foundation focuses help in the Malden area, where we service many clients. Its impact upon our work continues to be extraordinary.

The En Ka Society of Winchester, with 200 women as volunteers, has supported the community for over 100 years. Our founder’s late wife, Tina Triglione, was an En Ka volunteer many years ago. The annual En Ka Fair, its resale store, and private donations enable the group to help a wide range of local causes, including, for many years, Mission of Deeds. Thanks to En Ka’s financial help, we serviced a refugee family who moved to Winchester earlier this year.

We hope our many individual donors will take comfort that both large foundations and community organizations have also found us worthy of support.

No matter where our funding comes from, we treat every dollar with the greatest of care. Our daily goal is to minimize overhead and maximize impact on the lives of the people we help. To everyone who makes our work possible, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Ways To Give To Mission Of Deeds

We are amazed by the many ways you support us. You donate financially, either by check or credit card; you sponsor and attend events; you donate goods; you give generously of your time. Mission of Deeds is grateful for all the ways you help.

From a financial viewpoint, our monthly giving program is the easiest way to provide steady support for the ongoing work of Mission of Deeds. By giving monthly, you can spread your gift out throughout the year, and make an even bigger impact in helping our clients. With just $15 a month, over the course of a year you are giving a complete bed set to a child in need.

There are other ways to support our work that you may not have realized. Mission of Deeds gratefully accepts gifts in these forms:

  • IRA distributions
  • Appreciated stock and other securities
  • Donor advised fund grants
  • Private foundation grants
  • Charitable gift of a life insurance policy

Please consult with your financial planner to determine the best option. For more information you can contact Bruce at bruce.murison@missionofdeeds.org or Jody at jody.collinsskinner@missionofdeeds.org

Whatever way you support us, please know that you make a huge difference in the lives of those in need.

An Eventul Year


Client Testimonials, In their Own Words

From the mother of a client:

“…you helped my son, by providing furniture and household items for his wife’s new apartment. All of us are so grateful for your help in the situation we’ve found ourselves in. Thank you so much for all the good deeds you do and the help you offer so generously to those in need.”

A formerly homeless family:

“Angels on earth. They’re very nice people. They gave us a lot of furniture and miscellaneous items that we need for the apartment that … the homeless shelter people helped us get.”

A young woman starting over:

“You’re hope and kindness in one place. Thanks to you for my new beginnings.”

From a client, several years after receiving our help:

“I have a job, my life is coming together, thank you.”

A caseworker for a refugee family we helped wrote:

“Being treated with respect and compassion, I saw dignity and hope restored in the faces of these weary parents and smiles from the children.”

A single mother with four children, escaping domestic violence, wrote:

“I would like to say thank you so much for all the wonderful stuff you gave me for my house. You all
were so nice and helpful, everything I needed you gave. I am so grateful, I don’t think you’ll ever know how much these meant to me, my kids love all the stuff, and they thank you all too. Its people like you that know how to make a family in need smile. Your helping has helped me out so much. Again, thank you all so very much.”

A Hand Along the Way Remembered

As much as possible, Mission of Deeds does business with local merchants. Sometimes, however, we need to deal with major corporations. A representative of such a company came to our office recently. The person said how nice it was to see that we were busy and able to service lots of clients.

“Thank you for the good wishes,” we said. “How do you know so much about us?” He responded, “Because you gave me a truckload of furniture many years ago.”

This reminds us of a similar story a while back. An employee of MOD was leaving a bank, when an individual said, “Hello, I think I know you. You gave me furniture last year.”

“Glad to see you. How is it going?” the employee asked, to which the individual responded, “Things are great. I am working now, which is where I am headed.”

Nothing thrills us more than to see our clients doing well.

Beds, The Supply Chain, and Inflation

By Brian Quinn Mission of Deeds Client Services Manager

Bottlenecks in the supply chain, materials shortages, and price increases have become regular headlines. When any of us buy furniture or appliances for our homes or even a car, those headlines become our reality. The same happens at Mission of Deeds.

Beds have always been the core of our service to those in need. We have expanded from providing twin beds to full, queen, and bunk beds, always shopping for the best prices. Since COVID, cost increases have, unfortunately, caught up with us for the same reasons as the rest of the world.

Our long-time supplier never reopened after its early 2020 shutdown. Fortunately, another discount supplier was available, but their wholesale prices were more to begin with and have gone up a couple of times, resulting in costs much higher than we paid pre-COVID. Still, even after extensive research, these are the best prices we can find.

No matter what cost increases we face, our clients experience financial pressures much worse. Tony Triglione started Mission of Deeds so children and adults leaving homelessness would have warm, comfortable beds for a good night’s sleep. We will never waiver from that objective.

FROM AFGHANISTAN TO AMERICA
The Mission of Deeds Connection

Many events in the headlines cause Mission of Deeds to become involved. For example, when a fire or flood in a nearby community or a conflagration in a faraway part of the world causes people to resettle, Mission of Deeds is often called upon to help.

We have a longstanding connection with Afghan families. At least one received our help over twenty years ago when the Taliban was first in power. We serviced several during this summer. Now, Mission of Deeds has begun giving beds, furniture, and housewares to increasing numbers of Afghan families being resettled due to the most recent upheaval.

One family already had a daughter living in Greater Boston. The rest of the family had not seen her since she came to the US and had never held her child. When this daughter talked to her sister as the family was leaving Kabul, she heard gunfire in the background. They arrived in the US safely and, by the time you read this, will be settled in a comfortable apartment, with some items from MOD, including new beds and bed linens for all family members.

This family is being welcomed to Massachusetts by Reading POWIR,an extraordinary team of community volunteers who have arranged to house and handle many other aspects of the family’s arrival. Mission of Deeds is honored to play a part.

Whether people in need have lived here their whole lives or are just arriving, Mission of Deeds provides the furnishings for a comfortable home from which children and adults alike can pursue their dreams.

Why We Give to Mission of Deeds

A little over twenty years ago, I was a stay- at-home mom looking for some way to give back. I happened to see an ad for the Mission of Deeds in the local paper. That week I went in to see Bruce, who told me I was welcome to join him on Saturdays. When my girls reached school age, I switched to weekdays. However, before that happened, Bruce and I would be joined by various church groups weekly. We would help the clients pick out what furniture they needed, deliver it to their apartment, and help set it up for them.

One memorable trip happened in the first few months that I was volunteering. We arrived at an apartment, and when I went to the kids’ room, there were sleeping bags on the floor. Unfortunately, this was not a new apartment; they had been living there for
a while. I will never forget how excited the boys were when we finished setting up their room. It was now fully dressed with beds and furniture. They were genuinely overjoyed and so appreciative. Every person should be able to sleep in a warm and cozy bed, especially
children. How many of us count our beds when we are counting our blessings?

My husband and I are happy to know that the money we donate goes directly to helping people in this area. I have seen firsthand the transformation of both the apartments and the clients’ lives. We feel blessed to be a part of the Mission of Deeds as they continue to transform lives.

Lori & John Grayson

These Are Some of the Items We Can Purchase For Our Clients Based on Donation Levels

$25 Set of Kitchenware for a Family

$50 Linen Set

$100 8 Sheet Sets

$150 63 Pillows

$250 12 Pots and Pans Sets

$500 25 Toasters and Coffee Makers

$1000 4 Sets of Bunk Beds with Mattresses

$1500 167 Blankets

$2000 11 Bed Sets (Mattress, Box Spring, Bedframe, Pillow, Sheet Set, and Blanket)

$5000 30 Cribs with Mattresses

At Mission of Deeds we strive to always put our clients first. We are proud that 85% of our budget goes directly to client care. In pairing with GuideStar, we are giving our donors a look at where their donation goes and how they have a direct effect on our clients’ lives. We hope this information helps you feel great about your decision to donate to Missionof Deeds. GuideStar is the world’s largest source of information on nonprofit organizations. GuideStar’s Nonprofit Profiles provide donors with the information they need to make smart decisions, build connections, and learn from each other to achieve their missions. We are proud to have received GuideStar’s Platinum Seal of Transparency—their newest and highest level of recognition.

Our Gratitude

We want to thank the many businesses that support Mission of Deeds in so many ways. They do things like hold fundraisers, sponsor events, champion Buy-a-Bed and make more affordable (or even donate) needed services. Here are a few members of our Business Hall of Fame. We plan to highlight more of you each newsletter.