Happy New Year to everyone!!

Best wishes for a happy new year to everyone !!

Feedback Distribution - Christmas Bags and Sponsored Dresses(Pasig Phils) Dec 2014

Sharing a few pictures from the distribution of Christmas bags and Sponsored Dresses made in Pasig MM Philippines last Chrismas eve 2014. 

To see larger and individual images of the distribution, please click here.

More pictures will be posted soon.

Compensation Received today

Today I received the compensation for the missing parcel I sent to Uganda in May this year in the amount of $189.00 ($150.00USD). 

Again, true to my word I donated the full amount to my fundraising campaign for a well to be built in Kalagi Uganda and give them hope.

If you want to help make a difference and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda, please make a donation to my campaign to raise money to build a well for clean water. It is a secure site and once you submit your donation, you get a tax receipt for your donation. 

Hope for the people of Kalagi Uganda

Thank you and please help spread the word around.

Totally agree

Feedback Distribution - Thank you from the kids of the Morales Cmpd, Manila

Sharing two videos of a few streetkids from the Morales Compound, Manila who received some christmas goodies yesterday. Merry Christmas to all most especially to those who shared their blessings this Christmas with these few street kids. Thank you and thank you for your kindness from a few streetkids of Metro Manila.

Thank you to the volunteers who spared the time to make this distribution before Christmas day and to the donors who made this distribution possible.

To refresh one's memory of the article posted on this particular distribution, please click on the links below -
http://dressagirlaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/dress-distribution-80-christmas-bag.html
http://dressagirlaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/dress-distribution-80-christmas-bags.html

Christmas donation for the people of Kalagi Uganda

Wow! A bit earlier than expected, I received my never-expected balance of $33.00AUD from Pureprofile and as mentioned earlier and true to my word, I donated the amount of $25.00USD  to my fundraising campaign to build a well for the people of Kalagi Uganda.

Now am waiting for the Australia Post refund to complete my Christmas gift to the people of Kalagi Uganda.

Update on Distribution of special gifts - Missionaries of Charity (23-Dec-2014)

Here is an update on the distribution of the special gifts to the orphans of the Missionaries of Charity, Antipolo, Philippines -
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Hi, Gi! First batch of gift-giving at Missionaries of Charity this morning. Great feeling. We called the kids one by one and gave their gifts, loot bag and toys. You should see the glowing faces of those angels. Thank you very much for sharing your blessing with these kids. Some of them sang their thank yous, some mumbled and some gave us their sweetest smiles. Those are priceless images that will be remembered. At the end of the gift-giving, the bigger kids sang a thank you song. Vincent, the blind kid, sang with them and he was smiling the whole time. WE were all in heaven.
We were not allowed to have pictures taken during the gift giving but we were allowed to have our pictures taken at the venue. The baby i was holding was Francis. We were given calendars as their thank you.
The children were very nice. The bedridden girl who was on a special wheelchair was hugging her teddy bear gift. Although she could not talk, she had a beautiful smile. It was such a great feeling sharing something with these kids.
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This is what I expected but still am touched with the feedback. Thank you so much to the volunteers who took their time to bring these blessings to the kids in the orphanage before Christmas and to the donors who made this distribution possible. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

To refresh one's memory, here is the link to the article on this particular distribution.
http://dressagirlaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/dress-distribution-76-home-of.html

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Update on Dress Donations

Again, In response to a lot of enquiries, I am not accepting dress donations at this time. If I see donated dresses at home, I am forced to make a distribution and at this stage I am Not administratively and financially ready to make a distribution. Dress A Girl Australia is on a break. If big non-profit organizations which gets big funding gets a break, I think an average person like me more than deserves it. Please be more understanding. I will make an announcement when am ready to accept donations. Thank you.

New!! 2015 Dress Sponsorship Program

When I was sewing two size 5 pairs of shorts to give to my nephew this Christmas, I was thinking maybe I should make extras to put up for sponsorship of boys clothes. I did end up making 4 of them and this led to sewing 4 more dresses that I can put up for sponsorship too for 2015 distribution. Am on work break and have lots of free time so why not start sewing clothes for sponsorship.  

So here are the sponsorship packs I have made (3 of them) and are now available at my Dress A Girl online shop for purchase. All these sponsored clothes will be handcarried and distributed by me sometime in the April-June 2015 timeframe.

1. Dress for a 6-year-old. For $10.00 you hit two birds with one stone. You get to dress a 6-year-old disadvantaged girl and at the same time join a group of people making history of building a well to provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. The girl gets a new dress, undie and a mini-doll.

2. Boys clothes for sponsorship. Again, for $10.00 you hit two birds with one stone. You get to provide a small boy between the ages of 1 to 5 with a new pair of shorts, undie and a singlet and like the dress you join a select few of people making history of building a well to provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda.

3. Dress for sponsorship for a school-aged girl. For $12.00, you get the chance to provide a school-aged disadvantaged girl with a new dress to wear on her first day of school, an undie and a fabric school bag filled with two exercise books, 3 ballpens and a pencilcase with one pencil, one ruler, eraser and sharpener set. A school starter kit that will help the girl start her education for the new year. This pack is a couple of dollars more expensive because of the school supplies that goes with it.

All proceeds from the sponsorships will be donated to my fundraising campaign to build a well in Kalagi Uganda. Once I have reached the target I have two choices : end the Dress Sponsorship program or continue to raise money for postage and help send dresses to different locations around the world. At the end of the day, the option is mine to choose .

To check-out the Dress to sponsor for a 6-year-old, please click on the image above or click here.
To check-out the Boys clothes for sponsorship, please click on the image above or click here.
To check-out the School-aged kid dress for sponsorship, please click on the image above or click here.

For someone you know who seems to have everything, this will make a good present for Christmas, Birthday, Mother's Day, Dad's day or for any occasion anytime during the year. Help spread hope not only this Christmas but throughout the new year 2015.

Oh, by the way, these are the two pairs of shorts I made for my 4-year-old nephew. You should see the three PJ's I did for my niece but do not want to publish it here cuz she will see it. She reads my blog regularly. LOL!

Looks like I've got more money to donate....

Not sure if I mentioned this here in my blog but last week I got a confirmation email from Australia Post that I will be compensated for the cost that I incurred on the parcel that I sent to Mbale Uganda last May that got lost or never made it. Took me almost three months of negotiating and communicating and had to make sure that it was within their policy to request for assistance in tracking within six months since the parcel was sent (and this month is the sixth month or I think even more if I count from May 23) but in the end I got rewarded for my patience and diligence over this matter. I will be compensated the amount of $189.00 ($139.00 from cost of postage and $50 for the contents of the parcel.  A bit sad that the 50 handmade dresses never made it (they are irreplaceable) but at least I got back the money I paid for the postage. And since this is money that I did not expect to get I am donating the $189 to my fundraising campaign to build a well and provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda.

Well, it looks like I have more to donate to the Dress A Girl Australia well fundraising campaign. A few years back I used to be very active responding to on-line surveys where you get paid at the end of the survey. This is what I did when not too busy at work or waiting for some processing to finish so I start to find ways to keep myself busy(and being an IT person I seem to find it easy to find something to do. LOL!) Then it lost its novelty and I became inactive. 

Early this week I received an email letting me know that my account has been inactive for more than two years and that it will be deleted if I do not access it to make it active. So I thought why not - just login and see if I would find it interesting again. I changed my password in the settings and that is when I found I actually had a balance in the amount of $33.00 that could be redeemed. My lucky day and thanks to my instinct convincing me to access my account I got rewarded. So here is the letter I got from pureprofile after redeeming my balance. 

I will get paid $33.00 on my nominated bank account on the 29th of December (that is next week) and this amount will go to my Dress A Girl Australia's fundraising campaign to build a well for the people of Kalagi Uganda. Another Christmas gift to my on-going project. Money that I never expected I had and I think I am trying to be active again on responding to surveys. I have just earned $5.40 since I reactivated my account and waiting for it to reached thirty bucks so I can apply for redemption. :-)

Handmade donation cards for Dress A Girl Australia Well's fundraising campaign

Christmas is just around the corner so I spent most of my afternoon today processing donations on behalf of my nieces and nephews as their Christmas presents. While doing this and printing the tax receipt donations I was thinking what the best way was to let my nieces and nephews know that my Christmas presents for them this year was a donation to the Dress A Girl Australia's fundraising campaign to build a well and provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. I had to give them the receipt to show the amount I had contributed on their behalf which at the end of the taxable year next year especially for those who are already working they could use as a deduction from their income tax return. That is when I came up with this idea of a handmade donation card. And not only is it available for the christmas season, I ended up making one for Birthdays and weddings. And thinking that there are other occasions during the year which are appropriate for donations, I also made a blank card for any occasion such as Easter, Valentine's, Mother's day, Dad's day or even as a graduation gift.

Then I was thinking that these cards are only good until I have reached the target amount I need to raise to build a well. This handmade card was such a good idea, I ended up creating a blank card for any charity organization of their choice. LOL!

So here are the cards I made today and are available for sale in my Dress A Girl on-line shop for $2.00 each including postage. You can then insert the tax receipt that you generated after submitting a donation inside the card, fill in the blanks in the pre-printed message in the inside panel and write your own personal message. Each card comes with a matching white envelope for easy gift-giving.

Dress A Girl Australia Well Donation Card for any occasion

Dress A Girl Australia Well Donation Card for Birthdays

Dress A Girl Australia Well Donation Card for Christmas

Dress A Girl Australia Well Donation Card for Weddings

Blank Donation Card for any Charity Organization of your choice

Spread hope this Christmas and throughout the year 2015 for any occasion using these handmade cards and help make this world a better place. Proceeds from the sale of these cards will help raise money for Dress A Girl Australia's fundraising campaign to build a well in Kalagi Uganda. Please help spread the word around.

Parcel Feedback - for Orphans & Streetkids of Manila Received

4 out of the 6 boxes sent last weekend for orphans and streetkids including the 67 sponsored dresses which took me almost three weeks to sort and pack, 5 nights to sew and last minute packing for the sponsored box did not take that long to arrive in Manila. It has been received yesterday afternoon. 

Thanks to all that helped in making this happen. Thank you Rose for letting me know. Good Luck!

Christmas Distribution Update

Good Day everyone! We are eight days away from Christmas and am starting to feel very excited knowing that there will be hundreds of disadvantaged children who will feel very special between now and Christmas day.

Last night I had a chat with one of the volunteers distributing dresses on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia and she said to me that she feels so grateful and happy that she is giving away dresses to the unfortunate. The feeling of being able to make a difference to the lives of these kids especially at this time of giving is something different and an experience to treasure forever (to think that she has so far only given away about 4 dresses and a couple of t-shirts and shorts for the boys)

She is starting to distribute dresses to the street kids who she sees a lot of these days asking or begging for money for Christmas. Some of them walked as far as five-10kms from where they live to get to the town proper hoping that people would give them something. She gave away 2 dresses to the 2 girls and a pair of shorts and t-shirt to the boy who looked so tired and hungry after walking under the sun. Her cousin treated them to a free lunch. Seeing the big smiles on the kids and receiving the most sincere thank you (Salamat Po) warmed her heart and is unforgettable.

What a great way to celebrate Christmas, Edna. Thank you so much for helping make a difference to the lives of a few disadvantaged children especially this christmas. Thank you for making them feel special even for just a day. I wish I could send you more but at least you will be making a few happy. Be safe. And to the donors, thank you.

** Distribution is being made in Sariaya, Quezon Philippines about 3-4 hours away from the capital city of Metro Manila Phils. Pictures will be shared when available.

Postage - Christmas Parcels to the Philippines and India

Here are the last three invoices for the last three parcels I sent last week (six parcels for the Philippines) and today for India (Garden of Life).

Am glad I get special consignment discounts on air cargo as it makes it less expensive to send. It is time to sit down and do an accounting for Dress A Girl Australia.

Clothes for Sponsorships for 2015 Distribution

In one of my earlier blog articles I did mention  that from time to time I will be finding ways to raise funds for the Dress A Girl Australia well, a campaign I am running for the second year in a row to build a well and provide clean water and hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. One of my fundraising drive is the Dress Sponsorship program where dresses are available for sponsorship and proceeds of the sponsorship will be donated to the Dress A Girl Australia well campaign. That is hitting two birds with one stone. You get to dress a girl from a disadvantaged location and at the same time you get to contribute to the building of a well in Kalagi Uganda.

Although Dress A Girl Australia is close for dress activities for the next 3 months for a much needed break, once in a while I will be sewing dresses or pairs of shorts for boys and seek sponsorships. Distributions of these items will be a priority and will happen either in April for Easter distribution or in June to help disadvantaged girls on their first day of school. These clothes will be posted in my Dress A Girl Australia on-line shop. Here are the first batch of dresses and pairs of shorts available for sponsorships -

More details on these sponsorships will be made available tomorrow when my on-line shop is updated with these items. A great opportunity for those who do not sew but keen on making a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids and make this world a better place.

Please help spread the word around. Thank you.

Feedback Distribution - From Mbale Uganda

Sharing with everyone a letter I received from Anne Wandendaya of the Bushikori Christian Centre in Mbale Uganda and a few pictures from the distributions she made in one community.
Here is the letter from Anne -

To see a larger and more readable version of this letter, please click here.

and here are the few pictures from the distribution -

To see larger images of these pictures, please click here.

Thank you to all the donors who made this distribution possible through the dresses they made. Thanks!

Update on Dress A Girl Australia activities

Good Day everyone! Still getting a lot of enquiries and in response to those enquiries (and I think I have posted something about this already) Dress A Girl Australia is closed for 2014 and not accepting dress donations and/or distributing dresses at this time. As mentioned earlier (some of you maybe wondering) but I am taking a much needed break for the next 3 months. As of last night, all I have left in my petty cash fund is $16.25 not even enough to send 5 dresses if I have any left.

The only postings I will be doing in my blog and on this page are feedbacks from the parcels I have sent, post pictures if available, post 2015 plans and posters and most of my spare time will be focused on selling items to raise funds for the Dress A Girl Australia well. 

To those who are still willing to make a difference for the rest of the year through Dress A Girl Australia, perhaps you would like to make a donation and share the spirit of Christmas to my fundraising campaign for clean water for the people of Kalagi Uganda. Thank you and thank you for your understanding.

Help build a well and provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda

Fabric Gift Cardholders to make a difference

Christmas is still around the corner. It is not too late yet to make a purchase from an online shop that supports a wonderful cause and makes a difference to disadvantaged children around the world. Fabric gift cardholders that will make a great personal treasure long after the gift card inside has been used up. 

Please check it out and make a purchase if you like it by clicking on the image above or click here.

Number of dresses update

After a nagging feeling that something did not seem right the past few days, last night I was able to confirm that there were actually 25 more dresses on the last 2 parcels I packed for Enrile Cagayan Philippines which brings the total number of dresses to 216 and not 191 as reported earlier. This changes my grand total to 3,332 and not 3,307 dresses.

Dress A Girl Australia's Final 2014 Numbers

This is Dress A Girl Australia's final count for the year 2014 dress distributions around the world -

Dresses - 3,307 
Boys Shorts - 766
T-shirts - 410
Quilts - 105
Ready to sew Kits - 42

Thank you to all the donors who contributed and made these numbers possible and my heartfelt thanks to everyone who ( through their financial support) helped in making these distributions happen. Thank you all for your kindness and generosity. Much appreciated.

With the above final FY14 numbers, Dress A Girl Australia since its inception in March 2011 has now provided 7,096 disadvantaged girls around the world with one new dress each. Here are the total numbers since March 2011 which now includes 2014 numbers -

Dresses  - 7,096
Boys Shorts - 1,693
T-shirts - 783
Quilts - 135
Ready-to-sew kits - 99

And lastly,  I also want to thank those who bought from my online shops and market stalls. Proceeds from your purchases contributed a whole lot to helping make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids(3,307 girls and 766 boys)  around the world and made 105 kiddies warm, gave them comfort and joy during their winter season.. Thank you so much for your patronage. Some of you especially those who purchased through markets did not realize that you were actually making a difference and making this world a better place by purchasing an item from my stall. Thank you for believing in my products. Thank you.

Dress Distribution #79 - Christmas Distribution Parcel 1E - for Magalalag Cagayan Philippines

This is the last and final parcel for Christmas distribution and for the year 2014 and most likely the last distribution involving huge quantities of dresses. Parcel 1E of 191 dresses and 15 pairs of shorts and 9 t-shirts for the children of the remote province of Magalalag Enrile Cagayan Philippines c-o Norie Bordador. Due to time constraints, the last few parcels sent have no pictures of the actual parcels sent so I cannot post pictures of the parcels but the postage receipts should be good enough to prove that they were sent.
Here are the contents of Parcel 1E of 191 dresses and 15 shorts and 9 t-shirts -

made possible by the following donors -
1) Kylie Shepherd
2) Yve Weinberg
3) Elaine Klein
4) Monika Osvald
5) Kay Innes and the Golden Girls 2
6) Grace Chilcott and her granddaughter Makayla
7) Jody Clooney
8) Karen Chee
9) Chelsea Oliver
10) Heather Harris
11) Sharyn Cafee
12) Sarah Macraild
13) Andrea McCullagh
14) Nameless Parcel

To see larger images of the contents of the parcel, please click here or on the special 'Dress Distribution' tab at the top of the page at a later stage for feedback distribution.

Thank you to all the donors who made this distribution possible. Your kindness and generosity are much appreciated. Thank you.

Dress Distribution #80 - Christmas Bag 2014 Parcel#2 (Morales Compound Pasig Phils)

This is Parcel #2 of Christmas distribution for toddlers for 18 girls and 18 boys of the slum area of the Morales Compound in Pasig Phils c-o Rose Chuidian. All these 36 items have been sponsored by various generous donors who wanted to make more difference this Christmas. They include dresses for girls, tshirts and matching shorts for the boys, undies for boys and girls and small toys.
Here are the contents of the parcel -

sponsored by the following donors -
1) Gaylene Herrmann
2) Pat Burton
3) Marvie Ladera
4) Elaine Klein
5) Maureen O'Brien
6) Virginia Smith
7) Dress A Girl Australia

To see larger images of the contents of this parcel, please click here or click on the special 'Dress Distribution' tab at the top of the page at a later date for feedback distribution.

Again, my heartfelt thank you to the sponsors of this parcel. Your kindness and generosity especially at this Christmas time is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Update on Dress A Girl Australia's 2015 plans

Good Day everyone! Again, in response to heaps of enquiries from school teachers on how they and their students can be involved in the Dress A Girl Around the World charity work. For everyone's info, the first and priority project of Dress A Girl Australia for the year 2015 is to get school teachers/students get involved thru their textile classes. This will complement my other priority project on Education without Borders 2015 for the streetkids of Metro Manila. As to whether I include other country locations on this project's distributions, this will all depend on my financial status in 2015. I will be releasing and publishing a poster and article regarding these 2 back-to-back projects next year (although I have already been collecting school supplies this year for the Education without Borders 2015 project) for more details and information in the next few weeks. Am just about to start taking a break and in the next few days that will include brainstorming so please be patient. More info will be released soon. Thank you and thank you for your understanding.

Dress Distribution #80 - Christmas Bags 2014 Parcel#3 (Slums Phils c-o Rose Chuidian)

This is the third parcel of Dress Distribution #80 of Christmas Bags 2014 for another 37 girls in the slum areas of Metro Manila Philippines between the ages of 1 to 12 c-o Rose Chuidian. This parcel is in addition to the parcel of 67 sponsored dresses and another parcel for the Morales Compound Orphanage which is going to be published separately.
Here are the dresses -

 and here are the donors who made this distribution possible -
1) Sarah Macraild
2) Ketura Whitford (Canberra Grammar School and Canberra Girls Grammar School
3) Teriesa Thomson(Picnic Point High School-NSW) 
4) Nicole Devet
5) Elaine Klein

For larger images of the dresses on this distribution, please click here or click on the special 'Dress Distribution' tab at a later stage for distribution feedback.

Thank you to all the donors who made this distribution possible. That is another 37 lucky girls this coming Christmas. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated.

Update on Dress Donations

In response to a lot of enquiries, sorry but I am not accepting dress donations between now and end of March 2015. I am taking a break. 2015 plans will be published soon. I will not be aiming for high numbers next year and financially being realistic I am only looking at around the 1000 dresses mark to distribute for the whole year. The 5-dress/12 for group policy for individual and group donors will be strictly implemented. For those who wants to distribute in huge quantities, I would suggest you get in touch with the official Dress A Girl Around the World campaign in the US for advise. Thank you and thank you for your understanding.

Dress Distribution #82 - Christmas 2014 Sponsored Dresses

This was actually a last-minute decision to set a charity drive for dress sponsorships for Christmas distribution to raise funds for my Dress A Girl Australia well campaign. I raised about $300.00 between the period July to October selling handmade items and instead of donating the money to my Dress A Girl Australia well I used it to pay for the cost of sending 2 parcels of dresses to Kenya last October. Each parcel I think cost me about $154 and $158 each (will have to dig receipts to get the exact amount although they are all posted in my postage album)  even the guy at the postoffice counter asked me where I get the money to pay for it because it was really expensive to send the two parcels. I wanted to collect the money back but because I keep on sending parcels I could not do it. Acting in desperation and 'giving tuesday' was then coming up I decided to run the Dress Sponsorship Charity Drive. It was a hard decision to make since it would involve myself sewing uncertain number of dresses in such a very limited time. Uncertain number since it would depend on who will be applying for sponsorships.This would mean late nights with my sewing machine but it had to be done as I wanted the $300 back.

I only targetted between 25 to 30 sponsorships which I thought was good enough to pay back what I used in my distributions but thanks a lot to a few people who opened up their hearts I was able to collect $670 for 67 sponsorships in 5 days.  I was able to double up the amount I wanted to raise for the Dress A Girl Australia well campaign. As of today I have now raised a total of $2,804.25 to provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. I've been a little bit lucky with my ebay selling lately of candlemaking supplies that I do not use anymore so am slowly getting there... hopefully will top the $3000 mark before Christmas and soon will make history.

Here are the 67 dresses sponsored for Christmas distribution. This is Dress Distribution #82 for the children in the slums of Metro Manila.

 For larger images of the sponsored dresses, please click here or click on the special 'Dress Distribution' tab at a later stage for distribution feedback.

My heartfelt thank you to all the sponsors for their kindness and generosity, for opening their hearts and sharing the spirit of Christmas among these 67 lucky recipients and make them feel special even for a day. Thank you so much.

For those who want to spare a few dollars and make a difference this christmas to provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda, please click here for the link to my fundraising page. Thank you.

Project Sewing Marathon ended yesterday

I did say last October it will be for the next 3 months but I ended my Project 'Sewing Marathon' yesterday. I have decided to have an early break from distributions now that the Christmas distribution is fully allocated for and posted although I will probably be sewing casually between now and until early April when I open up for Dress A Girl activities again.

As of yesterday, between the period 1-Oct-2014 to 10-Dec-2014 and for 71 days I completed 159 dresses,and 31 pairs of shorts. These dresses included the 67 that were sponsored which I made in 7 days. I also contributed 20 t-shirts to match against the remaining 20 pairs of shorts I made. Not bad for someone who did not do any sewing until the last 3 months of the year. Here are the dresses and pairs of shorts I have made - hopefully they are all in this collage picture.

Now I can proudly say that it was not just sorting and packing that I did this year but I also finished 159 dresses and 31 pairs of shorts in 71 days and made a difference to the lives of 159 girls and 31 boys. To see larger images of the dresses and pairs of shorts, please click here.

I will soon be releasing the final numbers of dresses received and dresses distributed for the year 2014. I would like to say thank you to all the donors of some of the fabric materials I used to complete the project. Thank you. It is much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#182 to #184 - From Jody C, Andrea M and a nameless parcel

Finally, the last parcels to be acknowledged for the year 2014 coming from Jody Clooney, Andrea McCullagh and a parcel without a name.
1) Donation #1 is a parcel of 2 dresses and 6 undies from Jody Clooney -

2) Donation #2 is a parcel of 2 dresses but unfortunately the parcel arrived without a sender's name and there was no note inside the parcel -

3) Donation #3 is a parcel of 75 dresses from Andrea McCullagh. Here is a picture of Andrea with the 75 dresses. I have run out of time to take individual pictures as they have to be sorted and packed immediately to be included in the Christmas distribution -

Ladies, thank you for the dresses. Thank you for your kindness and generosity It is much appreciated.

With this last donation acknowledgment for the year 2014, this now closes Dress A Girl Australia's activities for the year 2014. My heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported this campaign the whole year. It is so much appreciated. 

Although there will be a major shakeup/change in the way Dress A Girl Australia's activities will be run in 2015, I hope there will still be a few who would support this campaign. I will still be continuing my work but unfortunately, these changes have to be strictly implemented in order for me to sustain this charity work and I look forward to making a difference with anyone in 2015. Anyone who is truly motivated to make a difference will understand why these changes have to be made. Thank you.

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Whatever good work you do, you’re bound to face problems and obstacles. Therefore, it’s important to check your motivation. It helps to be truthful and honest. If what you do is good for others, it’ll be good for you too. Once you know your goal can be reached, you should try to follow it through to the end. Then, even if you don’t achieve it, at least you’ll have no cause for regret.
  ~ Dalai Lama
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Feedback update re Project Hope Burma Charity Drive

Sharing with everyone (especially to all those who have donated dresses to the Project Hope Burma Charity Drive) a letter from Gitta Clayton, Coordinator in AMES particularly on the Hope Project Burma. My heartfelt thank you to all the donors who made this charity drive such a big success. The letter is quite long so here is the link so everyone can have a read on the whole letter. -

Letter to Gigi from AMES

Below are the links to the articles I have written re contributions made to the Hope Project Burma including donors, link to the albums etc.

1. Article - 4-Aug-2014 - Dress Distribution #73A - For Project Hope Burma Parcel 1

              - 5-Aug-2014 - Fabrics & Other Accessories for Project Hope Burma Parcel 1

              - 15-Aug-2014  -  Dress Distribution #73B - For Project Hope Burma Parcel 2

              - 18-Sep-2014 - Dress Distribution #73C - For Project Hope Burma Parcel 3

              - 24-Oct-2014 - Dress Distribution #73D - For Project Hope Burma for Chin Villages Parcel 4

Thank you everyone for doing such an amazing job of making a difference.

Dress Sponsorships for Christmas Distribution now closed

The dress sponsorships for Christmas distribution is now closed. I have started updating the album with dresses that I have sewn for the 65 sponsorships and have taken over 3 for non-confirmation. Thank you so much to all who sponsored dresses. Your kindness and generosity to make a difference to the lives of 62 disadvantaged kids this Christmas is much appreciated. Thank you.

Here is the link to the album of Dresses Sponsored.

Sponsored Dresses for Christmas 2014

Sponsored Dresses by Bianca Rose

Last night I sew five dresses and made it a little bit more special by adding laces at the hemline for my niece Bianca Rose. She is my ten-year old niece who asked her Dad to give some of her money ($50.00 of toy money I would think) to me so she could sponsor two dresses for two disadvantaged girls this Christmas. And here are the dresses I made for her - she is a very 'girly' girl who likes to wear beautiful dresses and with laces so I think these five dresses really is a good representation of her personality - 

Five dresses for five disadvantaged kids in the slum areas of Metro Manila Philippines this Christmas. Make them feel special even for a day. Biance Rose, thank you so much. Thank you for having such a big heart. 

Dress Sponsorships still going on!

Yes, dress sponsorships is hitting two birds with one stone. A dress for a disadvantaged 6-year old girl and at the same time help build a well for clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. 

To those who have already sponsored dresses, I have processed your contributions to the Dress A Girl Australia campaign for a well and receipts have been emailed to you. Please check your inboxes.
For those who are still pondering, dont delay...this campaign will only run until Friday, 5th of December. There are no more dresses left for sponsorship in the Dress Sponsorship album in my facebook page.
I seem to have a problem coping up with taking pictures of the dresses and posting them in the album but I will try to post a second batch tonight.

If you want to sponsor a dress and only for $10.00, you get to give a new dress and undie, a hair tie, a toy, a magic slate and a 'special person' button this Christmas to one special little girl, please send me a message or fill up the form below and I will allocate one to you. 

Dress Sponsorship Program

Dont forget today is giing tuesday. The best time to share the spirit of Christmas, love, hope and happiness to disadvantaged kids in the slum areas of Metro Manila Philippines (the only location still open for dresses). Thank you.

Parcel feedbacks from India and the Philippines

Between now and perhaps the month of January, probably all I will be doing is wait for messages that parcels have arrived and start ticking my list. Here are two feedbacks from India and the Philippines -
From India - 

From the Philippines - (Parcels sent to Sariaya Quezon Phils that were offloaded early last week)

To translate the non-English part of the message, she is letting me know that she has not opened the boxes yet but will let me know when she has done it.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#181 - From Grace and granddaughter Makayla

This is the second to the last donation acknowledgement for the year 2014. A parcel of 15 dresses from Grace Chilcott and her granddaughter Makayla. Makayla is the leader of her patrol at Guides and she chose to fund raise for this cause and also paid for the cost of sending the dresses from Ulverstone Tasmania to Sydney. This is Makayla - 

and these are the 15 dresses that will be making a difference to the lives of 15 disadvantaged kiddies -

 

To Grace and Makayla, thank you for supporting this campaign of providing dresses to girls in need around the world. Thank you for your kindness and generosity especially to Makayla. You are indeed a good leader and a great motivator and inspiration to children your age. Thank you so much.

Gi♥ing Tuesday

Just one more sleep and it will be 'gi♥ing Tuesday'. A day celebrated by all to give and I hope that a few of you would support Dress A Girl Australia's day of giving. Sponsor a dress and proceeds from the sponsorship will be donated to Dress A Girl Australia's campaign for a well to be built and provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. That is hitting two birds with one stone.

Here are a  few of the sponsored bags just waiting to go...too excited for someone to wear and hug. Anyone who is as excited as any of these bags....sponsor a dress and make a difference. Your random act of kindness on 'giing tuesday' for a price of perhaps 5 or 6 cups of coffee to miss in one day or two out of 365 days. Don't be shy. Make 'someone special' this Christmas. 

For $10.00 you get to give a disadvantaged child a new dress, an undie, mini magic slate, hair tie, a toy and a button with the 'special person' message this Christmas. It will be distributed at random in the slum areas of Metro Manila Philippines and make a child feel special this Christmas. To sponsor a dress, please fill up the form below, provide details and submit. You will be replied with a picture of the dress and package and sometime in January or after the holidays, you will be sent a picture of the lucky girl who felt special and hugged by your sponsorship.
Here is the link to the form -

Sponsor a Dress

and you can make payment via paypal to email address dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com or make payment directly to the fundraising page of the Dress A Girl Australia well. You will have to let me know then that you made a payment using the fundraising page so I can allocate a dress/package for you. It gives you a receipt for the donation you made -
Here is the link to Dress A Girl Australia's fundraising page.

Dress A Girl Australia well for clean water

This campaign will be running starting tomorrow,Tuesday, 2nd of December until Friday, 5th of December only. All packages will start its journey to the Philippines by Sunday, 7th of December. So join me in this celebration and make someone special this Christmas. Thank you.