Start The Swift Salutations Foundation

Hello, my name is John Hodges. The purpose of this fundraiser is to start and maintain a non-profit organization, The Swift Salutations Foundation.

The Reason

The Swift Salutations Foundation has been in the making for a few years now, I just didn’t know it. My wife (Nishelle Hodges) and I have a passion for helping people. If we can help make someone's day and put a smile on their face no matter the cost it is the greatest gift we can receive. We have wanted to start a non-profit for a while to pursue our passion. The hardest part I will admit has been trying to decide who we are going to help. Should we help the elderly or the homeless? What about wounded veterans or children in poor neighborhoods?

Has there ever been a time in your life when you knew that you were supposed to be exactly where you were at that exact time? You hear or see something that you know without a doubt was meant for you? This may sound ridiculous to some but this is what happened to me.

I was driving home from dropping Nishelle off at work one morning and began flipping through the radio stations. As I flipped to another channel I immediately heard "God is talking to you" coming from the radio. It hit me like a ton of bricks! As I listened the pastor continued and said "If you have a passion in your heart, then god says go do it". I couldn't believe what I was hearing! "Don't worry about how difficult it is or how you are going to do it, just go do it. As long as you are doing God's work he will be there to lift you up and push you forward". I promise to you that it felt like someone just slapped me in the back of the head saying come on dummy. Why do you have to choose who you are going to help? Why not just help as many people as you can no matter if they are homeless, elderly, veterans or children.  The message was clear!

The Idea

Nishelle and I wanted to start a non-profit that would generate money to help support our ongoing mission to help people in need. The idea was simple, greeting cards and gift baskets. Everyone gives greeting cards to their family, friends and sometimes co-workers. Gift baskets go along great with any celebration from birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, holidays or just a simple I Love You.

The greeting card service is a great way to send out greetings without having to go to the store, pick out the card with everyone else there in your way, put a stamp on it and then mail it out. We would hand write the custom message in the card and send it to the recipient from the sender with no additional postage charge.

The gift basket service would include an awesome selection of baskets with varying categories and price ranges to fit most any budget. They would also include a custom message for the recipient.

There would also be a paid monthly membership program which would give members a 20% discount on any purchase. The monthly membership fee would help us determine a specified number of people that we would be able to help on a long term basis if need be.

Once the non-profit is established we will be going out to churches and neighborhoods in the Houston, Texas area to inform people of our services. The idea here is to inform people that we are here to help. We will encourage people to spread the word about our non-profit and if they know someone that could benefit from our services to make sure they contact us.

The Fundraiser

This is the starting point for the Swift Salutations Foundation. We need all the help we can get to start this non-profit and keep it going. We know that everyone cannot always give money, so we ask if you have any extra time and want to help please let us know. We will gladly accept your assistance in spreading the word with us.

I have several suggested donation amounts from which you will be rewarded with a gift. I threw in a few self-defense items to start out. For a $25 donation you will receive a ½ ounce can of pepper spray. $50 donation, you will receive a ½ ounce can of pepper spray and a 3.5 million volt stun gun. A $100 donation, you will receive a small gift basket and a $250 donation you will receive a large corporate gift basket.

Thank you for your time!

John and Nishelle Hodges