Dear Friends and Family,

You probably know me. My name is Delia and I'm founder and president of the nonprofit organization Night Night Monster. We make dolls for children locally and abroad who suffer from severe nightmares and night terrors caused by trauma. In 2011 we were recognized for our work by President Clinton in Peace and Human Rights at the Clinton Global Initiative University Bracket Challenge. We won our division.

In 4 days, on June 30th, I'll be turning 23. Birthdays are always a time of anxiety and depression for me because I lived with someone who had seasonal depression, and he would get depressed and aggressive during this time of year. He would act eratic, yell, be violent, and eventually walk out on my birthday (which was the highlight. It's best if he wasn't around.) Most of my birthday memories are unhappy for this reason. Perhaps this is where my own nightmares started. I had a troubled home life. As you know, I started Night Night Monster because I too suffer from nightmares and night terrors. I find myself in an induced negative birthday cycle, even though that person is long out of my life. For me, birthdays aren't fun. I dread them.

On top of this, 2014 has been one of the worst of my life. Since Hurricane Sandy, my health has gotten much worse. I now have MS, a disease I believe was brought on by the stress of Hurricane Sandy. I'm still waiting on my medicine to be cleared from my insurance, and since my last scan and the time it's taken for medical clearance, I've gotten an additional brain lesion. It is my understanding that this lesion could have possibly been prevented with the medicine. I got this news on the week of my birthday. I once again felt there was nothing to celebrate.

My house is still being repaired from storm damage, and everything keeps breaking and needs replacing which is hard on my family and I. Money is tighter than ever. And overall, life is a greater challenge than normal, both physically and emotionally, and this week it's all coming to a front. I feel like there is nothing to celebrate at all this birthday. I'm trying my best to complete school work left over from before I went on leave. I'm writing for Life Magazine. I'm trying to keep busy and stay positive. I keep myself around the people I love, new and old. But, it's hard. Hopelessness is a feeling I lately find myself in more often than not.

The thing is, I'm not alone. In fact, since Hurricane Sandy a lot of other people on Staten Island are going through the same things as I am. That's why I have been starting up Night Night Monster (Night Night Dolls Inc) again. In the past few months, we've already sent dolls to Europe and partnered with a local Girl Scout Troop for at-home outreach. I'm so excited to get NNM more local! On July 17th we are going to a summer camp in SI set up by pediatric mental health professionals who solely cater to Hurricane Sandy children with PTSD. These kids are just like me! And, these kids need Night Night Monster dolls to help them overcome their fears and sleep peacefully. The camp managers think this will help the children sleep better. They will use our Night Night Monsters as healing tools. It fills my heart with such joy. It gives me much hope.

People keep asking me what I want for my birthday. I now know what I want. I want to be able to continue to work on making Night Night Monster the organization it was before Hurricane Sandy, before my life went down the gutter with the sand in the streets. I want NNM to be on a stable path of growth, like it was before. And to do that, we need to raise money to finally get our 501c3 papers filed. As of now, Night Night Monster is recognized by the state as a nonprofit. We are not recognized federally.

Why is being a 501(c)3 important for Night Night Monster? For one thing, it gives us greater validity for sponsorship. Select banks will no longer charge us a monthly fee for having an account with them. Night Night Monster does not cost much to run. It works because we have a very small budget. But, when a bank takes $5-$20 a month it's a lot for us. We lost $100s banking with Chase under a business bank account. That would have paid for a whole years worth of in-country shipping + all materials.

With a 501(c)3, we can use those $100s for what is really important- getting our Night Night Monsters out where the children who need them are. With a 501(c)3, we will also be eligible for grants from big and small private organizations, locally and globally. This will help us pay for doll supplies, shipping materials, shipping, and web hosting.

Please help me help children who feel hopeless in Staten Island, NY. Please help me help children everywhere who are afraid to go to sleep. Please contribute in lieu of a 23rd birthday present. Make this my birthday present. It will make me more happy than anything else in the world.

Love,
Delia