Please help me raise enough money to buy a car

Thanks for visiting my blog! As many of you know that have been here before, my name is Dulce. I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself and my current situation, including who I am but also importantly, who I am NOT. I usually don’t go around telling the details of my life to everyone I come in contact with but, in this situation, it might be helpful for you to know some things so you can understand where I’m coming from and what’s in my heart.

I am not only the Owner of The Monkey Shop but I am also a Wife, a Mother of 2 great kids and “Ganka” to my wonderful Grandson. I happily live a simple life out in the country in an old farmhouse with my husband. We have had some rough times financially but are trying our best to get back on track in many aspects of our lives. But, sometimes, we can be working as hard as we can toward something but it’s just not enough.
I’m very thankful for my car and have tried to be as patient as I can with it while trying to earn enough money to not only pay our bills but save up money to either fix the car or invest in a better one. When sales started being less than expected in The Monkey Shop (even though I spend a lot of time promoting, having sales and filling up my store) I decided to take a part time job at Sears to be as responsible as I can be. You see, when things get tough, I’m not the kind of person to sit around and whine and pout about my situation. I’m not the kind of person to ask for help all the time. I try to find ways to help myself. I’m very thankful that I was able to get a job at Sears, even though there aren’t a lot of jobs to be found around here these days.

Not only do I NOT sit around feeling sorry for myself, I try my best to find ways to help other people even when I don’t have many resources available to meet my own needs. I have donated some of my Monkeys to organizations around town and have gone to the local hospital and passed some of them out now and then, because there are other people out in the world who need to have a smile now and then and my Monkeys seem to provide that! I’m also very very happy to be involved with Kid’s Food Basket - a local organization that provides sack suppers for needy kids here in Grand Rapids. I make special monkeys that are sold at a fundraiser called “Juice Ball” for Kid’s Food Basket. Although I don’t make much money on these monkeys, I am happy to be helping families in my area by making special monkeys that are sold to the public and most of the profit goes to The Kid’s Food Basket.

Life is funny sometimes I guess. I got the job to bring in more money and to save for another car because mine is bad. But, how do I get back and forth to work?? Yea.... my sad (but appreciated!) little car. The more I drive it, the worse it gets but that’s the only way I have right now to get back and forth to the source of income that I have to fix it up! The more I drive it the worse it gets and new issues keep popping up. The latest is a new manifold - that just happened last week. I live far enough away from town that I don’t get to ride a bus or I would CERTAINLY use that option.
When the news about the manifold popped up, I realized that something drastic had to be done. My car is not only just an inconvenience; it’s actually dangerous to drive! The shocks aren’t working, there is a leak in the gas tank and now there are fumes in the car from the broken down manifold. Things are happening faster than I can keep up with.

I have been trying every way I can think of to get sales from my shop - even giving crazy discounts that maybe don’t bring in a lot of money but I get to bless people with really good prices on my monkeys and every little bit of money in my bank account helps at this point, even if it’s not much per sale.
So, one more way I thought I could bring in some money for my car was to add a “Donation” button here on my blog and tell you all about it to see if anyone would be willing to help out, even if it’s just a little bit. I’ve tried to help so many other people so many times, I thought maybe it would be OK to ask for help for me, this time. Another way was to try to sell the book that has one of my monkeys in the illustration. I was so excited about this book! I only have two copies of it but I realize that, although I’d be giving up something that I might not be able to get back because I’m not sure when or if it’s getting published, having a safe car is more important.

So, if there is any way you could find it in your heart to help out in any way you think you can to help me get back and forth to work safely - whether it’s buying a monkey or something else from my shop, buying a book or even donating some money - - please know it is for a good cause. I want to keep working, I want to continue to do my part to support my family and I want to stay safe doing it.

Thank you so much for your time and understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

Dulce “The Sock Monkey Lady”