Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Aug 2019.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
58 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
24 people listed on the 990; $108K paid to officers and key staff.
Holly Lewis’s $77K as Executive Director is at the 68th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2168 $100K–1M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holly Lewis | $77,462 | $69,050 | $55,164 | $53,940 | $52,400 | — |
| Heather Whinna | $50,695 | $56,544 | $55,165 | $53,940 | $52,400 | $52,202 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Transforms passive compassion into immediate assistance through art.
Questions for Letters Charity
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Letters to Santa
We surprised fifteen families living in poverty in chicago. Each family received new clothing, new toys, food, household essentials, a new computer for every child and a new tablet for every adult plus an unconditional cash grant to each family.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2022 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY22 | End FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $82K | $157K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $0 | $450 |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $125K | $182K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $21K | $104K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $104K | $77K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $187K | $187K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $113K | $33K | $39K | $40K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $21K | $4K | $10K | $6K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $10K | $3K | $3K | $3K |
| Management feesLn 11a | $2K | $2K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $13K | $213 | $13K | $121 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $18K | $18K | ||
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $803 | $803 | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $6K | $6K | ||
| Information technologyLn 14 | $4K | $306 | $415 | $3K |
| TravelLn 17 | $7K | $357 | $451 | $6K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $50 | $50 | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $3K | $751 | $1K | $751 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $13K | $2K | $985 | $9K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $396K | $231K | $70K | $95K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $690K | $722K | −$32K | $127K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $475K | $411K | $64K | $159K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $383K | $365K | $18K | $95K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 Viewing | $369K | $396K | −$27K | $77K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $307K | $292K | $16K | $104K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $219K | $250K | −$31K | $89K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $369,035 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 23 of 23 board members independent, 3 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $369,035 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $396,219 across 14 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $181,536 assets, 13 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $77,189 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2022 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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