// A MODEL FOR MUTUAL AID
The In Case of Emergency Club
One simple idea, nine years running: a circle of neighbors, $5 each, one urgent need met at a time. See how it works, what it has done — and how to start your own.
This page is built from the club’s own event log — every approved Ask posted to the group since July 21, 2017. It’s the fullest record we have of who we’ve helped and when.
The log shows 319 approved Asks to date. Through November 2025 — the window on our main page — that’s 297 posted Asks, closely matching the 309 families and $149,396 we report as our audited running total. (A few early Asks appear only as “complete” notices, which accounts for the small gap.)
When the club was larger, we gathered more each week — and the Ask sizes were bigger. As membership settled, the weekly gift settled with it. The mission didn’t shrink; the math did.
// WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS
We fund one Ask at a time — and the size has stepped down over the years
In 2017, posted Asks averaged about $583 (some as high as $650). By 2018 that was $488, by 2019 about $450, and today the standard Ask is $425. That decline tracks membership: with more members each contributing $5, the weekly pool was larger. The model is the same — everyone gives $5, one neighbor is helped — but the amount reflects how many hands are pooling.
Volume peaked in 2018–2019 and has roughly halved
Fifty-one Asks were funded in 2019, the busiest year on record, with 2018 close behind. Since then the yearly count has eased to the low twenties. Fewer members means fewer weekly Asks — worth watching, and worth inviting new members to reverse.
The same neighbors, and many new ones
Across 319 Asks, a core of committed members appears again and again — a handful have carried or received ten to twenty Asks apiece. So our headline “309 families” is best read as 309 approved Asks: some households have been helped in more than one emergency, which is exactly what an “in case of emergency” club is for.
What the Asks were for
From the written request descriptions, housing, rent, and eviction is the most common need (21%), with car and transportation close behind (18%) and medical and dental third (16%). Together those three are more than half of every Ask — the everyday emergencies that knock a working household off balance.
// PASS IT ON
Start your own In Case of Emergency Club
The club runs on a handful of simple, repeatable parts. I now mentor new organizations, ministries, and groups who want to build the same thing in their own community — and I’ll walk you through every piece, from the first member to a transparency page like this one.
A private group
A closed Facebook group keeps giving discreet and protects both members and the families they help.
$5 from everyone
Each member gives the same small amount. Pooled together, it fully funds one neighbor’s urgent need — no one is overextended.
One Ask at a time
A single approved “Ask” each week keeps the burden light and the focus clear: one emergency, fully met.
A simple Ask Form
Members discern the need (we use the L.O.V.E. steps) and submit a short form; moderators prayerfully review within 24 hours.
Fast, direct funds
PayPal friends-and-family and a debit card move money to the family within a day, with no fees.
Transparency & a “Smile”
A public record of giving and a one-time “Smile” update after each Ask build trust and keep the story going.
// A NOTE ON THE NUMBERS
Counts come from the group’s posted event history (319 approved Asks, July 2017–present). Ask amounts for 2017–2019 are averages of the totals posted at the time; from 2020 on we show the current ~$425 standard, since later posts don’t list a dollar figure. Our audited cumulative total — $149,396 to 309 families through November 28, 2025 — remains the authoritative giving figure and keeps climbing with each week’s Ask.
Always Take Every Opportunity to Bring Unity to Your Community
SeeSaw Ministries · Religious Corporation #002109056 · Bartlett, Tennessee · EIN 42-2258772
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