10/07/2026
💔 FROM $295 TO A DREAM COME TRUE ☀️
Facebook reminded us of our very humble beginnings today.
Ten years ago, we made our first move to help children in Columbiana County.
On October 6, 2016, The Brightside Project launched a GoFundMe with a pretty big dream: raise $100,000 to purchase a mobile unit that would travel throughout our community, meeting kids where they were and helping meet their needs.
We raised $295. 💔
It would have been easy to look at $295 against a $100,000 goal and call it a failure.
But we didn't give up on the dream. 🙏
For the first seven years, Brightside looked a little different than what we originally imagined. We spent those years building, developing, learning, assessing needs, forming relationships, trying things, changing direction and taking one step at a time.
There were successes. There were failures. There were closed doors and unexpected redirections. There were plenty of moments when we couldn't see how all the pieces were going to come together.
But there was also a whole lot of faith, perseverance and trusting God's timing.
And then, in 2023....seven years after that first $295 fundraiser....the dream became reality.
🚌 The Sunshine Bus hit the road. 🎉🎉🎉
The very thing we dreamed about when Brightside was just beginning was finally traveling throughout our community, putting food, hygiene products, books and encouragement directly into the hands of local children.
And now, ten years after that first GoFundMe, it's almost hard to believe that we aren't just operating the mobile unit we once dreamed of....we're preparing to launch our SECOND one. 🧡💙
The Spark Bus is coming in 2027, creating even more opportunities to meet kids where they are and help them discover their gifts, talents and potential.
What a reminder that small beginnings don't mean small endings.
The story of The Brightside Project has never been a perfectly straight line. It has been a story of planting seeds. Of showing up. Of learning. Of persevering when things didn't happen the way....or when...we thought they would.
And through every season, God has been faithful.
Ten years later, we're still planting seeds in the lives of as many children as we possibly can. 🌱☀️
We can't wait to see what God does with them.
Here's to the next ten years. 💙🧡
🌞🧡💙
