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A DETAILED PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Concept:

Warm The Children is a program whose mission is to provide new warm winter clothing for children of needy families. The mission is accomplished with the cooperative effort of Warm The Children, Inc., a local newspaper, a local charity partner (if the newspaper chooses to have one), social service agency or schools, volunteer shoppers, and cooperating retailers.  The purpose of this memorandum is to outline the specific duties and responsibilities of each participant.

Duties and responsibilities:  

Newspaper:

1. Each participating newspaper (and its charity partner) will assign someone to be Warm The Children COORDINATOR, whose responsibility will be to implement  the duties and responsibilities outlined in this memo, and in the coordinator's checklist provided by Warm The Children, Inc.    

2. The newspaper will be responsible for soliciting donations from readers in the communities it serves. The solicitation will begin and end at times determined by the newspaper. Donations will be solicited by means of news articles run by the newspaper in its own pages, "house ads" run in its own pages, and any other means deemed appropriate for the purpose by the newspaper. Warm The Children, Inc. will provide each sponsoring newspaper with "go-by's" (samples of articles and house ads) for the newspaper to use as it sees fit. Names and addresses of donors become the property of the sponsoring newspaper, which shall retain them for its own records. No donor's name or address shall be divulged to anyone in any way other than publication in the newspaper of those donor's names who have given written permission for such publication.

3. The newspaper (and/or the charity partner) will be responsible for handling and accounting for all donations, and will deposit all donations in a separate Warm The Children bank account at a financial institution of its choice. Funds in the account will be used solely to pay for warm winter clothing purchased in the program. Checks drawn on the Warm The Children account will be payable only to participating retailers, and such checks will require the signature of two persons to be determined by the newspaper, Warm The Children, Inc., and the local charity partner (if there is one). Both signatures shall be on file at the financial institution selected by the newspaper to handle the account. In establishing the Warm The Children bank account the sponsoring newspaper will use either its own EIN #  (if it has secured IRS tax exempt status for its Warm The Children program), or the local charity’s EIN #.  

 4. The newspaper and its charity partner will be responsible for securing the cooperation of a local social service agency or its school system, whose responsibility it will be to provide the newspaper with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of needy families with children. The school system or social service agency will have "screened" the families to establish need, and will communicate to each family the nature of the program prior to the family being contacted by a volunteer shopper.

5. The newspaper will recruit "volunteer shoppers" from its employees, from local service clubs (like Kiwanis, Rotary, etc.), or from any other source it deems appropriate. Volunteer shoppers will contact each needy family whose name has been provided by the newspaper, meet the family at a participating retailer, and accomplish the purchase of new winter clothing according to the instructions provided the shopper by the newspaper. The newspaper coordinator shall instruct each volunteer shopper as to the amount of money to be spent on each child, the procedure for making appointments for shopping trips with families, and paperwork procedure to accomplish the shopping experience.

 6. The newspaper will arrange with as many local retailers as it deems proper for Warm The Children volunteer shoppers to make the shopping trips described above, and for the retailer to bill the local Warm The Children program for the clothing the volunteer shopper purchased. The newspaper will urge participating retailers to provide Warm The Children shoppers with discounts off regular retail prices, and the bills the stores send Warm The Children will be at net (after discounts have been applied).

7. Store bills for clothing purchases will be paid from the Warm The Children bank account as often as agreed to by the newspaper and each store.  The newspaper (and/or charity partner) will establish a system for reconciling purchase records (purchase orders with store receipts) with store bills, and such reconciliation with be accomplished in a timely manner before store bills are paid. Care will be taken to assure payment to stores happens in a timely manner – meaning within 15 days of receipt of store’s bill.

8. The newspaper will be responsible for recording donor names & addresses and the amount donated, and will send a 'thank you' note to each donor. The newspaper will, at its discretion, publish a list (as part of its regular news story series) of those donors who wish their names to be published.

9. The newspaper will, if it deems it appropriate, sponsor a 'thank you' party for all volunteer shoppers after the end of the program. The primary purpose of the party is to thank the volunteers for their time and effort, but an important secondary purpose is to get 'feedback' from the volunteers for use in improving the program in subsequent years.

10. The newspaper will, if it deems appropriate, publish a "thank you" house ad at the program’s conclusion. Names of all donors (who gave permission for their names to be published) would be listed as well as names of all volunteer shoppers – and anybody else in the community whose name, in the opinion of the newspaper, should appear as part of the “thank you” message. Warm The Children, Inc., will provide copies of other sponsor's thank you ads.

11. The newspaper will be responsible for preparing and providing all forms and paperwork necessary for the execution of all the Warm The Children functions. Warm The Children, Inc. will provide each newspaper with copy, art, and "go-by's" for all house ads, and paperwork.  
 

Social Service Agency/School system

1. The social service agency or school system’s primary responsibility is to identify local families with children whose needs are such that purchase of warm winter clothing through the Warm The Children program satisfies a real need. The school system or social service agency shall use whatever screening process is deemed by it to be appropriate, such screening process to be made known at any time to the sponsoring newspaper upon request by the newspaper.

2. The school system or social service agency shall make available to the sponsoring newspaper the names, addresses, and phone numbers of needy families identified in (1) above. The number of names made available and the times such names are made available shall be set by mutual agreement between the newspaper and the agency, keeping in mind every effort will be made to accomplish the shopping trips as early in the fall/winter as possible.

3. The social service agency or school system will contact all families chosen for Warm The Children shopping trips, informing them of this fact and telling them to expect a call from a volunteer shopper.  
 

Volunteer Shoppers

1. Volunteer shoppers will carry out the shopping experience in accordance with the instructions for shoppers provided by the newspaper, and will make sure the purchase is made in accordance with these instructions as well as those instructions provided the stores (a copy of which will be given to each volunteer shopper).

2. Volunteer shoppers will make contact with the families whose names they are given by the newspaper, and arrange to meet at the store they are assigned.

3. After the shopping experience the shoppers will return to the newspaper a copy of the completed purchase order for each child served with a store receipt attached.   
 

Recipients

1. It is the responsibility of the recipient family to arrange their own transportation to and from the store where they will meet their volunteer shopper.  
 

Participating Stores

1. Each store shall provide a discount off of regular retail price for warm winter clothing purchased by volunteer shoppers, such discount to be by mutual agreement between the retailer and the sponsoring newspaper.

2. Participating stores agree to offer adequate selection of clothing.

3. Participating stores agree to follow the guidelines provided by the sponsoring newspaper.

4. Participating stores will bill their local Warm The Children program as often as is agreed to by the store and the newspaper, such billing to include a listing of transactions with date of sale, amount, and purchase order #.  Payment can be expected with 15 days of billing.