Fund One Modest Need

Modest Needs funds one-time crises — the transmission, the deposit, the utility shutoff — for working families who earn too much to qualify for aid and not enough to absorb a $700 hit.

CategoryThe Poor

Time20 min

Cost$50–$1,000

ModeAlone · With a friend

A family making $42,000 a year doesn’t qualify for much of anything. Then the transmission goes, and there’s no version of the month where that gets paid.

These are the cheapest saves there are. Nine hundred dollars keeps a job, an apartment, and a school district.

What you'll need

An account at modestneeds.org, or your church's benevolence fund
Twenty minutes to read actual applications and pick one

Pitfalls

Read the applications. Picking a specific family is different from writing a check to a category.
Fund the whole request if you can. A half-funded car repair is still a car that doesn't start.
Set it monthly. One rescue a month for a year beats one big gift.

Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise. — Luke 3:11