08/25/2026
Community Notice:
We’re always happy to provide provide transparency—no matter the circumstances.
Los Ayudantes SWVA received our IRS 501(c)(3) approval just this year. The effective date of our nonprofit status was 3/9/26. Once we ultimately received the approval letter, we announced it publicly. We don’t have an available Form 990 because we haven’t been required to file one yet. There is no missing, hidden, or overdue filing.
We only accept donations through Zeffy, a nonprofit specific donation platform that takes ZERO FEES. And yes, it provides tax receipts to all donors. This is the only platform we’ve ever used to accept donations. We don’t and have never accepted donations through Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay, personal accounts, or other untraceable means—and we’re attaching our complete financial records to this post because we have absolutely nothing to hide.
What those records will also show is that we use donations very sparingly. The vast majority of the assistance we provide is material support (i.e food) or is paid for privately by us, just as it was long before Los Ayudantes became a registered nonprofit. As we’ve said before, for every family we publicly ask for help supporting, many more are helped quietly without asking the community for a single dollar.
As of this moment, since becoming a nonprofit organization we have raised a total of $6391 to date. Of that amount $3,965.44 remains in our nonprofit bank account. Why? Because if we can cover it ourselves, we always will.
People should absolutely ask questions before donating to any organization. Ask us.
For clarity, you cannot receive 501c3 approval or register with the VA SCC without formation documents, a documented board of directors, articles of incorporation, by laws, etc. As we’ve repeatedly stated, we have zero paid roles. We are an ALL VOLUNTEER organization. We have no office space. No overhead. Our “admin” costs (phone number, marketing materials, etc) are all paid for privately by our volunteers. So when we say, every penny raised goes to the cause we state—that’s exactly what we mean.
None of us are the face of Los Ayudantes. Why? Because this work isn’t about us—and because protecting the vulnerable families we work alongside and care about matters more than recognition ever will. Keeping names and faces out of the spotlight is not secrecy. It’s safety.
You don’t have to like us. You don’t have to agree with us. And you certainly don’t have to donate to us.
But marginalized families should not become collateral damage in your attacks on us. From doxxing our volunteers, to having our homes and individual personal finances picked apart and speculated about on and offline—to accusations about who we are, and our motives.
Now, it’s our nonprofit’s legitimacy and finances.
You’ve asked, we’ve answered. Let’s get the focus back to where it belongs now, please?
While all of this has been playing out, our team of volunteers have spent the day helping families stay safe. That is the work. That is what matters.
We didn’t build Los Ayudantes to build a social media platform. We built it to for a community that takes care of each other. Neighbor helping neighbor. That was the goal before anyone was watching, and it’ll still be the goal when nobody is💕
