Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregg Robinson
Hi Gregg, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Marcy’s Project is a nonprofit that provides aid to those in crisis or emergency situations in the St. Charles area. We are almost 100% volunteer, with only one part time employee.
We focus on four core projects:
Marcy’s Meals, Marcy’s Market, Marcy’s Kids and Marcy’s Milestones.
Marcy’s Meals is not only a mission to feed those in need but also to educate on how to incorporate healthy options on a budget. We provide meals once a month, January through October. Marcy’s Meals include ingredients, spices, recipes and the shopping list to make 4-5 dinners, a breakfast and fruit for under $60! We currently support 100 families per month, attaining our goal of reaching 100 by October. We provided Meals for 775 families in 2024. We plan to sustain this number in 2025.
We were also a distribution point for No Hunger Holiday at Thanksgiving, providing dinners for 70 families.
Marcy’s Market offers clothing, shoes, accessories, personal hygiene, baby items, small houseware, cleaning supplies and paper products, all for free! Families sign up online for a 30-minute appointment. They have a personal shopper available, a Marcy Volunteer, that helps make sure they get the items they need. Families can sign up once every 60 days. In 2024, we helped almost 1000 families!
Marcy’s Kids helps ensure that no child goes without Christmas, Easter, or birthday celebrations. We provide over 225 Easter baskets that include personal hygiene, an educational item, socks, a stuffed animal and an Easter treat!
For Christmas 2024, we provided presents for over 400 children, 133 families, at our Holiday Market on December 8th. Each child received 4 gifts. A ‘want”, a “need”, pajamas and a special gift from the list they provide. Each child also received a stocking full of age appropriate, personal hygiene and Christmas candy! The weekend after the Holiday Market, we were able to offer a “pop up” for the families that were not able to sign up. They were able to choose 3 gifts per child, another 160 children, along with stockings and goodies to fill them.
Our Birthday Club helped 235 children celebrate their special day with 2 gifts, decorations, birthday cake mix and a card.
We also distributed over 300 Halloween costumes, plus prom and homecoming dresses and suits for the guys, so those special occasions don’t get missed!
Marcy’s Milestones celebrates birthdays for residents in 10 local nursing homes we are currently partnering with. Each resident receives a mini-Bundt cake, a handmade, personalized birthday card which is delivered on the 1st of each month from a Marcy Volunteer, providing over 900 birthdays in 2024.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our growth has been greater and faster than we anticipated. The need is much greater than any of us thought. One of our biggest challenges is space. We have a physical presence on Jungermann Rd in St. Peters but we are busting at the seams. In addition to our building, we have 2 storage pods in the back and 4 off site storage units. Our goal for 2025 is to try to find our “forever home”, which leads to the other challenge, finances.
We have had 2 major fundraisers since we started, a cornhole tournament in April and a golf tournament in September. While they have been successful and the support from the community has been great, we will need more money for that forever home. This year, we will be hosting our first “Heart of Gold” Gala.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When my wife & I started Marcy’s Project, we both had full time jobs. I was a Manager of Retail Recruiting and she a Product Manager for a software security firm. I retired in May of 2023, she still works full time, in addition to running Marcy’s Project.
We both have had experience managing a business and managing people. I think those skills have helped us navigate the unchartered waters of starting and running a nonprofit. While we only have one part time employee, we have over 200 volunteers that help in one way or another. Some are there every day, some once a week or once a month and some jump in for special projects. I believe we are both a “people person” and that has helped immensely in our interactions with not only our volunteers but in the community as well.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Our community believes in our mission, to help those in need. Once they learn about Marcy’s Project, hear our story, they want to get involved. Whether that’s as a volunteer or donating, the community has been fantastic.
Pricing:
- Free to those in need
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marcysproject.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcysproject
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563929621278
