Specially Gifted Foundation Q1 2023 Recap

As Specially Gifted Foundation entered its fourth year, we looked for more ways to share with our community the impact they are making when they choose to give back to SGF. This sparked the idea from Co-founder, Macey Belter, to start a quarterly blog intended to provide a recap so you can all see in one place what your partnership is building at SGF. We wish there was a way to carry you through every step of the journey, because a lot goes on behind the scenes. It is our hope this blog series will help paint the picture of how much we appreciate your support. We continue to be amazed by the generosity and power of giving that lives within our communities. Thank you!!

Specially Gifted Foundation Turned 3!

In January, SGF rang in the new year by celebrating its THREE YEAR anniversary! How exciting?! Three years and thirty-six Gifted Families with 16 of those giftings happening in 2020 during the beginning of a pandemic. The impact of our organization has been felt all throughout Georgia, and continues to grow. When our founders created SGF, they had no idea what challenges they would face. However, they channeled the relentless and warrior spirit of the children and families they advocate for. These three years represent the beginning and only a fraction of all the wonderful things our SGF community will do. Don’t underestimate the power of giving. Together, we will create generations of positive change!

SGF Gifts Ella and her Family

On the last day of January we chose our first gifted family of 2023. Our founders connected with the Goldich family in January and we began the gifting process the following month. Ella’s family was referred to SGF by one of our 2020 SGF Gifted Families, Kendall and her family. Kendall is also the sister to Co-founder, Bree, and the reason behind SGF.

Ella’s father, Kyle, expressed their concerns as a family throughout the first year of Ella’s life. She was not meeting certain developmental milestones, which prompted a consultation with a neurosurgeon. It was then that Ella’s parents learned of abnormalities in her white matter. They were devastated and gearing up for a long road ahead. Kyle writes, “but this is where our village and SGF came in to provide us hope and support, which has meant more than we could imagine and has helped to provide some additional bit of perspective of what a meaningful life is about.”

Ella’s parents said they would benefit the most from financial assistance with travel and medical expenses towards their visit at Children’s Healthcare of Philadelphia. Just as Ella’s family is navigating this journey of the unknown, so many of our SGF families can attest to the fear and uncertainty this life can bring. The addition of unexpected expenses adds to the stress.

Gifting’s are always different because every family’s needs are different. One constant is the need, and that is why we exist. No matter how small or big the gift request is, we are grateful for a community that strives to meet the needs of the families we serve. You are not only helping us to gift these families a special gift or opportunity, but you are supporting our mission to provide community and beneficial resources.

Calhoun Times Annual Heritage Edition

As you know, we are always looking for more ways to put SGF in the spotlight. In February, we reached out to Calhoun Times about featuring SGF and Spring in the Valley so we could gain more exposure within the Gordon and Calhoun community. We had perfect timing because not only did they want to feature SGF, but they also wanted to publish the article in their annual Heritage Edition in March 2023. I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Calhoun Times Reporter, Cat Webb, to discuss my role with SGF, our mission, SIV, and the community we proudly serve. You can read the full article here!

Julian Got His Wheels + Dalton Media

Do you remember our Giving Tuesday campaign, Give Julian Wheels, from last year? Did you contribute to and/or share this campaign? If so, THANK YOU!! Within two weeks of releasing our campaign and during pre-launch, forty-two individuals generously donated early and helped us reach our goal of $2,150 to gift Julian and his family!

Julian’s gift request was a custom adaptive tricycle from Freedom Concepts. After several weeks of waiting on manufacturing to be complete, we received Julian’s tricycle in January. Given the fact that in-person giftings were few and far between, we were ecstatic to have the opportunity to gift Julian and his family in-person.

Julian’s mother, Leslie, jumped into action and coordinated with his principal to allow us to gift Julian at school. In February, our SGF team drove up to his school and surprised Julian with his adaptive tricycle in front of several school staff members and his schoolmates who were there to show love and support. We also surprised his family with a check for $2,500!

This gifting experience received media attention as well. Dalton Public Schools Media was present to capture the moment. They featured Julian’s gifting on their website, which can be found here! This was a perfect example of how small gestures can lead to huge moments! Our community came together in two weeks to help us create this moment. The exposure from this gifting then led to more families learning about our mission in the Dalton area.

SGF Goes Live With NetSuite

We announced a generous donation we received from NetSuite in the last quarter of 2022; you can read all about it here. After months of training and implementation, we went live with the software in March 2023. It was a long process of getting everything set up and ready to utilize, but we are so thankful to now have systems in place to help SGF function more efficiently.

“NetSuite is the leading integrated cloud business software suite, including business accounting, ERP, CRM and ecommerce software.” This may sound boring to some, but rest assured that the benefits deserve your attention. Not only has NetSuite helped our accounting processes and finance organization, but the support has been exceptionally pleasant. Our implementation team was very accommodating and patient while we prepared for the transition.

What does this have to do with our SGF community? NetSuite discovered us because of you. Everything we have accomplished as a community led to the kind of exposure we needed to even be considered for this donation. This software helps us to be more productive and focus on the parts of SGF that need our attention.

…and this is what a partnership with SGF looks like!

What to expect in Q2:

Mom’s Coffee Date

Kendra Scott Gives Back to SGF

Third Annual Spring in the Valley Festival

Gifting Announcements

…& MORE!