Happy 1st Birthday to My Little Waiting Room!

Watch our first birthday celebration here. 

What a year it's been!  We are so thankful to so many people:

1.  To the more than 1,000 families who made more than 4,000 visists to My Little Waiting Room over the course of our first year, thank you for sharing your children with us.

2.  To the leadership teams at Providence St. Vincent and Volunteers of America Oregon, thank you for your vision and dedication to serving families in our community.

3.  To our donors, thank you for making it possible to provide this service at no cost to families, and for enabling My Little Waiting Room to expand our hours to 40 a week, up from our initial 30.

4.  To the staff from Volunteers of America, Oregon, thank you for your gifted professionalism and spirit.  You make every child who walks through the door feel special.

5.  To everyone who has supported us along the way, know that you are helping to make a meaningful, positive difference for many.

My Little Waiting Room Honored at 2010 Portland Monthly Light a Fire Awards

Thanks to Portland Monthly magazine for honoring us with their 2010 Light a Fire Nonprofit award, and putting together this wonderful video, story and photo.  All of these photos are courtesy of Jamie Coughlin and Portland Monthly magazine.

Read about My Little Waiting Room at AOL Good News

Thanks to AOL Good News, writer David Moye and our friend Megan for this great story about My Little Waiting Room!  Click the link above to read all about it. 

My Little Waiting Room Fall Update (2010)

Dear Friends:

Happy fall! We have a few exciting updates to share with you:

1. My Little Waiting Room has served 2,000 appointments! In just six months since our opening on April 5, we met this major milestone. Visit www.mylittlewaitingroom.org/test to read heartwarming comments from our trailblazing first families. One mom sums up her experience by saying, "Thank you for allowing me to take care of my son while you take care of my daughter."

2. We've raised nearly $99,000. Wow! Special thanks go to the following organizations that made donations recently: Ikea (again!) Walmart, Hitachi, Providence Health System Federal Credit Union (again!), Celebration of the Creche for Children and Providence St. Vincent Employees (again!). And thanks to all of you friends and family members for your generosity! Visit www.providencefoundations.org/foundations/news-and-events/Pages/hospital-drop-in-child-care.aspx to read details about the service and/or donate.

3. Light a Fire. We are a finalist for Portland Monthly magazine's Light a Fire award called, "Purely for the Love." We'll find out on Oct. 27 if we've won. Thanks to friends Shawn Jones and Erika Simms for getting us nominated!

4. It's official. Thanks to our pro-bono intellectual property attorney Chris Erickson at Tonkon Torp, MY LITTLE WAITING ROOM® is now a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

5. Do You Tube? We tube. See inside our first location on Tony Martinez' Better TV story on our new YouTube channel. Visit us there at www.youtube.com/mylittlewaitingroom and hear one family's heartwarming story.

As always, thank you for your good wishes and support!

Amy & Melissa, Co-founders
My Little Waiting Room
http://www.mylittlewaitingroom.org/

Do you know a Pink Power Mom? Nominate her today!

Do you know a mom who is a breast cancer survivor who deserves recognition for her work in the community?

Through June 30 Bright Starts is accepting nominations for 2010 Pink Power Moms.

Nominate her at http://www.pinkpowermom.com/. If your nominee is chosen, My Little Waiting Room could receive $2,500 and she’ll receive $5,000 to donate to the charity of her choosing and pampering gifts just for her.

All you need to do is share a short essay (250 words or less) about the Pink Power Mom in your life:

• how she is an inspiration to her family, friends and community
• how she turned her experience into something positive and
• the work she does to remain involved with the cause.

Thanks to Bright Starts and this wonderful program, My Little Waiting Room has met some incredible people and received tremendous support and visibility over the past two years.  We look forward to meeting the 2010 Pink Power Moms and reading their inspirational stories!

Click for Good

Bright Starts will donate $1 to Pink Power Mom charities (that includes us!) for every new Facebook Fan who joins their site by June 30.

Click here to become a Bright Starts fan and help My Little Waiting Room bring drop-in childcare to families at the hospital.

Honor Your Mother, Help Another

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9.  Honor your mom with a gift to My Little Waiting Room and help another mom.  Your gift is fully tax-decutible. Just $15 underwrites one hour of child care for a family in need.  We'll send her a special note letting her know that you've given a gift in her honor.  Now that's a gift that many mothers could love!  Click here to donate.