Promoting Days for Girls
Great News! This year, Days for Girls Georgia will be represented at the Southeast Women's Herbal Conference in Black Mountain, NC in mid-October. I've been attending for a few years as a vendor for my own business, but this year I will devote half of my booth to promoting DAYS FOR GIRLS!
A Package from our Sisters in Los Angeles
Today DFG Georgia got our first package from a sister chapter. Thank you
DFG Los Angeles for ONE HUNDRED (!!!) shields, acrylic liner pattern
pieces, a drawstring tool, and several yards of fabric to share Debbie's
Light.
Also, a $50 donation came in yesterday, so we are half way to getting a full roll of PUL. I have made up some flyers to give out at our meeting on Saturday. If each of you could take one flyer and put it up in a public place, we can get the word out about Days for Girls. In the last three weeks, I have gotten communication from four women who are interested in joining us! Yay!
Also, a $50 donation came in yesterday, so we are half way to getting a full roll of PUL. I have made up some flyers to give out at our meeting on Saturday. If each of you could take one flyer and put it up in a public place, we can get the word out about Days for Girls. In the last three weeks, I have gotten communication from four women who are interested in joining us! Yay!
Yesterday's Meeting
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Lutheran Church of the Messiah to sew for Days for Girls! We ended up with about 20 kits 100% complete, 30 shields, 20 drawstring bags, and 100 liners. We are still in need of funds to purchase PUL for the future gatherings, but we had a very kind donation of $50. That's a great start!
More Exciting News for Saturday
I'm so excited about this next meeting! The Director of the fabulous daycare center that occupies the building at Messiah has donated lots of fabric to Days for Girls. Once upon a time, she was a massage therapist, so she gave me all of her old flannel sheets. These will be GREAT for pad liners! We also have some cute prints that we can use for either pads or drawstring bags. And if that weren't enough... she's bringing in her sewing machine for me to set up for anyone who would like to use it!
I have dozens of shields sewn and turned that will need topstitching, and I have yards and yards of flannel with two edges serged for us to cut into liners and finish serging. I also have some drawstring bags that will need the twill put into the casings at the top- perfect job for our little girl helpers!
Also, as some of you may have already read on the DFG Georgia Facebook page, DFG International has put a challenge out to all of the chapters for fundraising. I spoke to Celeste, the founder, last week. She has had an anonymous donor promise to match ALL donations up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!! She will be leaving for Africa, along with volunteer extraordinaire Kayte next week. There are lots of items that these two will be purchasing once they are in country. Specifically, the DFG Zimbabwe office is in need of supplies, and they can purchase them there while they visit. There is only so much they can carry on the plane! Saturday, I will have a collection jar for DFG International. Whatever you can give, please do. I will deposit all of the donations and send them to Celeste via paypal ASAP. If you would like to write a check directly to DFG, see DFG International Donations for the mailing address, but please mark on your donation that it was from a member of DFG Georgia!
See you Saturday!
I have dozens of shields sewn and turned that will need topstitching, and I have yards and yards of flannel with two edges serged for us to cut into liners and finish serging. I also have some drawstring bags that will need the twill put into the casings at the top- perfect job for our little girl helpers!
Also, as some of you may have already read on the DFG Georgia Facebook page, DFG International has put a challenge out to all of the chapters for fundraising. I spoke to Celeste, the founder, last week. She has had an anonymous donor promise to match ALL donations up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!! She will be leaving for Africa, along with volunteer extraordinaire Kayte next week. There are lots of items that these two will be purchasing once they are in country. Specifically, the DFG Zimbabwe office is in need of supplies, and they can purchase them there while they visit. There is only so much they can carry on the plane! Saturday, I will have a collection jar for DFG International. Whatever you can give, please do. I will deposit all of the donations and send them to Celeste via paypal ASAP. If you would like to write a check directly to DFG, see DFG International Donations for the mailing address, but please mark on your donation that it was from a member of DFG Georgia!
See you Saturday!
Our June 9 meeting will be for....
A note from Days for Girls International:
Heads up! We have a rather large request for July 1st. 600 kits for Uganda for Worldwide Orphanage Relief Corporation. We need to have this ready to go by June 15th. DFG Chicago has a huge commitment too, 1200 kits. And... if they are getting close... DFGI could use shields, liners and supplies in a big way in coming weeks as we are about to empty out almost everything we have to fulfill recent requests AND the Africa trip. Whoo hoo! It's terrific to have so many opportunities to reach so many girls!!
Heads up! We have a rather large request for July 1st. 600 kits for Uganda for Worldwide Orphanage Relief Corporation. We need to have this ready to go by June 15th. DFG Chicago has a huge commitment too, 1200 kits. And... if they are getting close... DFGI could use shields, liners and supplies in a big way in coming weeks as we are about to empty out almost everything we have to fulfill recent requests AND the Africa trip. Whoo hoo! It's terrific to have so many opportunities to reach so many girls!!
Let the Travel Fundraising Begin....
I just created an account on "Go Fund Me" to take donations for my trip with Days for Girls next year! Check it out- HERE
June's Meeting
Preparations have already been made (by me!) for June 9th's meeting at Messiah. I have cut out ONE HUNDRED shields, and I have lots and lots of flannel and hemp fleece for the liners.
Here's our problem, though: WE NEED PUL!!! We are completely out. It is only available online, and there is a link in the "Buy Supplies" tab above if you would like to order it yourself. But... Days for Girls International can get it for us at wholesale prices- which means about half off the retail price. We only have three weeks until the meeting, and I'm assuming that the wholesale order would need to be placed fairly early to get here in time, so I'm going to make a deadline of Sunday, June 27th for monetary donations. That will give the manufacturer two weeks to get it to us. If we cannot raise enough funds for the full roll, we will just need to order it at retail price.
Here's our problem, though: WE NEED PUL!!! We are completely out. It is only available online, and there is a link in the "Buy Supplies" tab above if you would like to order it yourself. But... Days for Girls International can get it for us at wholesale prices- which means about half off the retail price. We only have three weeks until the meeting, and I'm assuming that the wholesale order would need to be placed fairly early to get here in time, so I'm going to make a deadline of Sunday, June 27th for monetary donations. That will give the manufacturer two weeks to get it to us. If we cannot raise enough funds for the full roll, we will just need to order it at retail price.
May's Meeting
This Saturday, May 12th is a regularly scheduled meeting date for Days for Girls Georgia. Due to previous commitment (AKA a little boy's martial arts tournament), I am going to have to cancel the meeting.
If anyone has collected supplies or donations, please bring them by Lutheran Church of the Messiah any Tues- Fri (9am- 1pm).
If anyone would like to cut fabric or sew from home in preparation for next month's meeting, please contact me!
If anyone has collected supplies or donations, please bring them by Lutheran Church of the Messiah any Tues- Fri (9am- 1pm).
If anyone would like to cut fabric or sew from home in preparation for next month's meeting, please contact me!
Today's Lessons Learned
1. Don't wait till the last minute to ship a package. 'Cause you'll end up paying half your salary in postage.
Yeah. That's what I did today. I've been working on an order of 60 Days for Girls kits (I shipped 30 of them), and I just finished the last of the liners and packaged this morning. In my infinite wisdom, I was thinking, "I know the deadline is today, but SURELY the trip isn't until next week." Uh... yeah... well... I was WRONG! The trip is tomorrow. So how much does 26 lbs from Georgia to Virginia cost with FedEx Overnight..... $196. Ouch! But the cashier was really nice and helpful and seemed very interested in DFG. Maybe I recruited a new volunteer.
2. Good things happen.
I got an email from my boss today asking if I had submitted an article about DFG Georgia to a local organization of Atlanta churches. I had not. But, lo and behold, their weekly newsletter said this:
So here's the very first shipment of 30 kits from Days for Girls Georgia:
Yeah. That's what I did today. I've been working on an order of 60 Days for Girls kits (I shipped 30 of them), and I just finished the last of the liners and packaged this morning. In my infinite wisdom, I was thinking, "I know the deadline is today, but SURELY the trip isn't until next week." Uh... yeah... well... I was WRONG! The trip is tomorrow. So how much does 26 lbs from Georgia to Virginia cost with FedEx Overnight..... $196. Ouch! But the cashier was really nice and helpful and seemed very interested in DFG. Maybe I recruited a new volunteer.
2. Good things happen.
I got an email from my boss today asking if I had submitted an article about DFG Georgia to a local organization of Atlanta churches. I had not. But, lo and behold, their weekly newsletter said this:
Every Girl in the world deserves education, safety, and dignity is the motto of Days for Girls. A Days for Girls Chapter has been organized in Georgia, in Decatur. Find out about this organization at http://www.daysforgirls.org/#! And contact the Georgia Chapter at lmessiah@bellsouth.netGood things also happen because within 5 minutes of shipping that invaluable package, I have three kind folks who agreed to help pay for it.
So here's the very first shipment of 30 kits from Days for Girls Georgia:
 |
| 30 girls lives changed for the better! Way to go DFG Georgia! I'm so proud. |
Sunday, April 15, 2012
This was a great day.
Last week, a group requested 60 DFG kits to go to Niger. The catch? They need them by THIS week! On super short notice, I informed our volunteers, but many had previous engagements. I ended up with myself and two other adults cutting and sewing liners and drawstring bags.
Jody did a great job seaming up the sides of the bags I had prepared at home, and then we had a few kids and their mom who dropped in for a bit threading the drawstrings into the bags. Jody had the idea at our last meeting to use a crochet hook to pull the strings through, but alas, we forgot them. But the kids came up with their own system! They taped two coffee stirring straws together and pushed the strings through. I love inventive kids!
The three of us (and various children) worked from about 1pm until 3pm when one of our adults had to leave. Myself and Tegan decided to keep pushing.... and we worked until 6pm! My sister even showed up the last hour with dinner, drinks, and to lend a hand helping the kids finish threading the bags.
At the end of the day, we had ready for distribution 40 bags and 160 liners. Combined with the kits we had pre-assembled at our last meeting, we now have 26 kits that are 100% ready to ship, two that just need the liners serged on the outside, and 12 more awaiting inserts. I plan to cut those out today and start serging to have them ready to ship to Virginia on Wednesday!
Thanks to EVERYONE who made this endeavor a reality for me, and most importantly, for the girls who will receive the kits.
Because EVERY girl in the world deserves education, safety, and dignity.
Last week, a group requested 60 DFG kits to go to Niger. The catch? They need them by THIS week! On super short notice, I informed our volunteers, but many had previous engagements. I ended up with myself and two other adults cutting and sewing liners and drawstring bags.
Jody did a great job seaming up the sides of the bags I had prepared at home, and then we had a few kids and their mom who dropped in for a bit threading the drawstrings into the bags. Jody had the idea at our last meeting to use a crochet hook to pull the strings through, but alas, we forgot them. But the kids came up with their own system! They taped two coffee stirring straws together and pushed the strings through. I love inventive kids!
The three of us (and various children) worked from about 1pm until 3pm when one of our adults had to leave. Myself and Tegan decided to keep pushing.... and we worked until 6pm! My sister even showed up the last hour with dinner, drinks, and to lend a hand helping the kids finish threading the bags.
At the end of the day, we had ready for distribution 40 bags and 160 liners. Combined with the kits we had pre-assembled at our last meeting, we now have 26 kits that are 100% ready to ship, two that just need the liners serged on the outside, and 12 more awaiting inserts. I plan to cut those out today and start serging to have them ready to ship to Virginia on Wednesday!
Thanks to EVERYONE who made this endeavor a reality for me, and most importantly, for the girls who will receive the kits.
Because EVERY girl in the world deserves education, safety, and dignity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)