The shirts are here! We have hoodies and T’s – if you selected it as a reward, you should already have yours, or it will be arriving in the mail shortly. (Or if you are my friend and you live in Chicago, I will personally hand it to you the next time I see you.)

Exhibit A: Lucy models my sweatshirt, proudly wearing the image of herself. What a narcissist.

Exhibit B: “This is my good side.” Seriously. She actually said that.

Here is a list of MORE things to celebrate about:

1. The metal parts for the bowl stand have been ordered, as of today! Manufacture is OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY!
2. The stainless steel bowls themselves have been ordered, as of today!
3. The Cardiovascular Institute might be interested in our cause and subsequently in helping Lucy, thanks to the good work and endless generosity of my father’s cousin, J. (I am shipping her three shirts later today to give to some researchers she knows there).
4. Our 501©(3) application is well underway and in very good hands, thanks to the outstanding work of our dedicated lawyer, who I was so lucky to find just two short weeks ago. Cross your fingers our status gets granted… it’s looking hopeful that we will be officially tax-exempt by the end of the year!
5. Plans for our first fundraiser have begun! Stay tuned and clear your calendars the first two Thursday +/or Friday evenings in November, as it will most likely be one of those four nights.

And lastly, please let me know if you didn’t get a t-shirt or hoodie but now would like one… if enough people want them and place an order with me, I will order more.

Have a great weekend! And Happy October :)

Even though I don’t have any pretty pictures of new products to show you today, I wanted to update everyone on our recent progress. And give you a sneak peek at t-shirt and hoodie design! We should be seeing these in the next couple of weeks:

Front

Back

I will leave the color of the t-shirts a surprise :)

In other exciting business-y news, our tax-exempt application is basically complete. I am now searching for some good pro-bono legal help to look it over before sending it into the IRS. I got turned down by the Chicago Economic Development Law Project this afternoon because their mission excludes helping animals. Of course I tried the argument that humans ARE animals, but alas it was to no avail. The good news is that the attorney I talked to was extremely helpful and suggested several other places I could call, including the Chicago Bar Association. Anyone out there know where we could find some pro-bono help?

My board member Melissa and I are taking a seminar next week on writing comprehensive business plans for non-profits! I know it sounds riveting. I’m sure we will learn a lot, and Big Hearts will surely benefit from our effort to learn more and network!

Finally on the product front – the metal bowl stand designs (in 3 sizes!) have been finalized and we are simply waiting on price quotes from our manufacturers. We hope to place an order within the month! Which means, those of you who are excited to own one just may get your chance this fall!

Now, to get to work finishing those hand drawn thank you cards I still owe most of you…