March 2014 Recap

On Thursday, March 20, we were able to invest a sizable amount of our restricted fund from donations. We made 18 loans (approx. $500). In addition, we made 6 loans from our loan paybacks. Curtis and I had to reassign seven loans on Friday because of problems with PayPal. PayPal did not let Kiva know what the $500 was to be used for, so Kiva assigned it to our credit account. Fortunately, 11 of our loans were still available, but we had to make substitutions for seven of our loans. We chose loans very similar to the ones we couldn't retrieve.

The 24 loans we were able to make pushed our cumulative total to 906 loans worth $23,625. Alleluia! We are on pace for another very good month.

February Finishes Strong

Despite being the shortest month, February produced outstanding results for Wellshire Microfinance. Our group made 59 loans worth $1,625. We had investments made by a large number of our members. Our cumulative totals are now 866 loans worth $22,650. It's very gratifying to see that commitment to microfinance remains strong.

The prospects for March also look positive. We've already received word of six loans made by Club 45, our fourth and fifth grade group. Since February, 2012, Club 45 has made 26 loans under the direction of Holly Inglis and Dan Zuchegno. That's terrific!

In March, Wellshire Microfinance will concentrate on investing the donations in our restricted fund. Our next meeting will be on March 20 at 12:00 pm. We hope to see you there.

When we read about so much unrest in our world, it's good to know that we can do something positive to help the poor around the globe.

Results for January 2014

In January, our members invested in 21 loans worth $725. In addition, WMF received another generous donation. We will try to invest this money, along with our loan paybacks, at our February 20 meeting at 12:00 pm at Wellshire Church. We may have to schedule an additional meeting in March to complete investing these funds. Our year is off to a good start. The cumulative totals through January are 807 loans worth $21,025. Thanks to all who contributed in January. Please pray for Kiva as the organizations struggles with problems in the Middle East, South Sudan, and the Philippines.

Year in Review: Wellshire Microfinance Results 2013

A Year of Inspiration

Over 1 million people funded over 1/2 billion dollars to 1 million people through Kiva -- truly something for which to give thanks. As there were far more loan requests than Kiva could fund, Kiva has begun experimenting with new ways of funding and recruiting large corporate donors to fund more applicants.

Wellshire Microfinance Results in 2013

We started the year with 313 loans worth $8,250. By the end of November we had cumulative totals of 721 loans worth $18,625. In December, we invested in 65 loans. That brought our year- end cumulative totals to 786 loans worth $20,300. That is an increase of over 200% for the year. Amazing! In addition, we received over $1,000 in donations to apply to new loans. We look forward to building on these totals in 2014. A sincere thank you to everyone who contributed and committed to reducing poverty in 2013!

Looking Ahead to 2014

We hope to reach 1,000 loans this year. If we all reinvest our loan paybacks, this should happen in the near future. Also, we would like to add new members; please talk to people you know about joining Wellshire Microfinance. Our first meeting in 2014 will be Thursday, January 16 at 12:00 pm.

November 2013 results

Our group made investments consistently throughout the month. Whenever we have a pattern of investing from start to finish, we usually have a very good month. November was no exception. We finished the month with 46 loans worth $1175. Our cumulative totals are now 721 loans worth $18,625. In addition, we received two generous donations from our members. We are grateful for the participation of so many of our members. We look forward to strong participation in 2014.

May you experience the blessings of the Christmas season in the weeks ahead!

Recap of November 2013 meeting

At our regularly scheduled meeting this past Thursday, our group was able to make 21 new loans. Ten of the loans were made using loan paybacks. Eleven loans were made using two recent generous donations. We are grateful to the two people who contributed the funds. The extra loans we were able to make put our cumulative total over 700 loans.

We received notice on Friday that loans to the Philippines will probably show on our accounts as delinquent because many of the loan recipients were totally wiped out and the Field Partner has no way to communicate with Kiva. I think it's likely that loans to the Philippines will go into default. Fortunately, we don't have many loans outstanding in the Philippines. You may want to check your portfolio to see if you have any loans there. We simply had no way of predicting that this would happen. Natural disasters of this magnitude affect every area of life. Pray for those affected by this horrible tragedy.

October 2013 Recap

This month, our members made 28 loans worth $700. We had some donors make multiple loans, which always makes our totals grow faster. Our cumulative totals through the end of October are 675 loans worth $17,450. Our members continue to invest regularly, including using up their loan paybacks.

Since the start of November, we have added 11 more loans which will be counted in the November totals. In addition, we will be able to invest our loan paybacks, which will add 10 - 12 more loans for November.

November is also the time for the Alternative Christmas Market. We hope to add new members at that time. If any of you would be willing to sit at our table for the ACM, please contact Wes Smits.

Thanks to everyone who participated in October. Your dedication to microfinance is so important to the success of our organization.