Fear not. I won’t be singing to you anytime soon–or dancing, for that matter. Either option would be an unpleasant experience for both of us.

Last Friday, I was invited by LDS Philanthropies to a Blogger Luncheon to learn more about a new scholarship program for single parents.

(I’m the little hobbit in the back.)

We heard all kinds of facts and statistics about the difficulties of raising a family as a single parent. Even though I’ve been a single parent for 12 years, I was still stunned by the numbers. For instance~

Did you know that:

• 28 percent of children now live with just one parent.

• 40% of children under 18 experience a parental breakup.

• 90% of single parent families are headed by females.

• 60% of children living in mother-only families are impoverished.

• Single moms median income is only about 25% what a married couple make.

The truly moving part of the meeting was when Megan Fletcher–the sweet little gal in the middle–got up and told her story. Receiving the *Stella Harris Oaks Scholarship to LDS Business College changed her life and gave her and her daughter hope for an amazing future. And she’s positively adorable besides.

Beat that.

The kind fellows in charge of the meeting explained that they were several Scholarships short of meeting their fundraising goals for the coming year. In the month of November and through the magical powers of the blogging world, they hoped to raise $7,200 total–the cost of one full scholarship–for some deserving young parent. Hmmmm…

Helping others and offering a bit of hope is quite an inspiring thing…

but then so is a focused group of mom bloggers.

We came to the conclusion that helping one parent just wasn’t enough and that with all the incredible bloggers out there in the world–with all their amazing readers, we should be able to do much, much more.

I told them that Gracious Rain was “in.”

So, here’s the simple bottom line. If you’d like to hear Megan’s story yourself–click on the widget on the left. Then see if it doesn’t inspire you to do something…wonderful. If it does, please give, whatever you can. Any amount–no matter how small will help.

And if you’re inclined to share this message, they’ve even made that easy too–just click “Share.”

With your help, we can see to it that–

a little hope goes a long way.

:}

*Stella Harris Oaks–a single mother who raised three children alone, after the death of her husband. One son became a world renowned eye surgeon and another became a University President, State Supreme Court Justice and inspiring religious leader.