First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to read our fundraiser and goals to help our smaller local middle Georgia communities.

My name is Samantha DiBois and I currently live in the same area in which I grew up which is central Georgia - specifically Cochran, Georgia. The bigger cities within this region tend to have more public resources and our little area such as Cochran, Eastman, Hawkinsville, Dexter, Chester and Dublin (to name a few) with much smaller populations have limited public resources and rely on the help of their community members and churches.

The goal of this fundraiser is to help me not only survive my own poverty, but to allow me to continue to help my neighbors who are really going to need it next month! I personally am no worse off as a result of our current economic & political crisis - I do not get snap, not a Vet and I don’t have kids. I am doing this both to survive and to use what I do have which is heart, love and physical ability to continue to help my community through these hard times. I’ve already reached out to local churches and they are only willing to provide for their own people & needs in this area - which is disappointing but also not very surprising either.

But as someone who has lived in poverty the last 6 years, I understand more than many how expensive being poor can be. Even when food is free and available, many people in these low density areas do not have transportation and public transportation is either not available, very limiting or simply unaffordable!

I have been blessed by a good friend whom has allowed me to borrow her van to be able to get back and forth around town. It’s not in the greatest shape at all, but it has been a lifeline!

And in the last month, this vehicle has been a lifeline for everyone in my own neighborhood because a couple of them have had their own car issues and cannot afford the repairs. We still use this vehicle sparingly considering it needs work done and it’s still not paid off either. So these funds will also go into repairing this vehicle and maybe even purchasing it so I can continue to help others.

This originally started as support for myself and while that is still the goal, I have added to this goal to help others in my local community who will not survive without their benefits and without financial assistance for various things.

Most of these neighbors are disabled and on snap - 2 of them are combat vets and one combat vet whom I’ve been helping get to his medical appointments & treatments as well as the grocery store. Financially, I cannot provide much of anything since I’ve been laid off, but I am physical capable of organizing, repairing things they need repairs on, picking up anything heavy, watching kids, watching dogs, sharing my garden with my neighbors and encouraging them to harvest anything they need.

The community I currently live in is a peaceful trailer park with kind neighbors who all love animals and gardening. We are lucky that the landlords also live on this property and actually encourage us to garden and build on the land and I’m going to talk with them about starting a community garden soon. Even in the winter, there are things that will grow and if we are able to build small greenhouses, we could build a sustainable permaculture & polyculture.

Since I am physically able to do various physical things, I save money by gathering wood, massive branches or anything that is found in abundance in nature or even man made materials that can be used to build something with little to no cost.

When I originally had the idea for this project, I started nationally and then state wide and now more local. In the last month, even before the current October Government Shutdown, my local community started needing support and help!

No amount is too small to donate!! $1 is gas that will get us to a store to buy food, $1 can go toward that food, $1 can go toward someone’s medication! Anything, even sharing this will help!

I will be giving updates on this page to show how these funds will be allocated & yes, I have promised many folks that I will take care of myself first, but part of my self-care is knowing what be done everything I can to help others within my power to help.

But these funds will go toward:

- Van repairs

- Gas for the Van

- Van payments & insurance (the insurance temporarily lapse and I got a ticket for it although the insurance clarified it was a computer error, I still got the ticket - not sure what that will cost but it is definitely insured!)

- Travel expenses to take neighbors to medical treatments (weekly - but appointments seem to be close by)

- Medical appointments (for me, I have no insurance at all)

- Medications (for me, again, I pay cash for everything)

- Food - luckily we have a local Aldi’s I can get great deals at and will be posting updates on what we get & if the neighbors are ok with it, telling their personal stories!

- Feminine hygiene products

- Pet food

- Other miscellaneous items - for example, our community was hit by Helene last year and my house still doesn’t have working outlets in 1/3 if it because we never had assistance to repair anything and certainly don’t have the money for it now - so we don’t have a stove - we have an air fryer thankfully but many of our neighbors don’t even have a working microwave or fridge!! The vet I’m taking to medical treatments doesn’t even currently have running water because the hurricane destroyed their pipes - yes, they have been surviving within it running water for a year!!

The amount I am raising will likely go up because there are just so many things our community needs. Once I am able to get my neighbors & myself stable, I plan to branch out to other areas and offer assistance there as well.

I understand this may not be an issue for many, I am lucky still physically able to hunt or garden if I had to whereas most of the people I am helping and who need help, cannot do that or they have kids who depend on them!

I also plan to make things to give away, I have items I want to auction & sell for this fundraiser as well. If you have it in your heart to give or share or even send us good energy & prayers, we will take it all!

Thank you again and I will make updates as often as needed!