Am not sure if everyone knows by now how I distribute dresses but I thought I would share it with everyone. This will be the last time I will write or talk or reply to emails about what I do in Dress A Girl Australia and if anyone still makes a comment then there is nothing I can do. I would leave the decision to anyone whether to contribute or not but I will not be making any further comments or reply to enquiries. They will all be deleted in my mailbox unread.
When I receive dresses donated, I do not immediately packed them up and send. I find a place suitable for the dresses like its sizes. I write to prospective recipients and asked if they can find me a child who would be able to wear the dress especially if it is a new location. I give them sizes of dresses. If they come back and say that yes the sizes are ok that is when I start sorting and then packed them up to send.
Question : Why do I do this?
Answer : Because I want to make sure that the dresses can be distributed by the group who has volunteered to distribute. I do not want the dresses to end up just dumped on the sides because no one can fit into the dress. I want to make sure that when the dresses arrived someone would claim them from their local postoffice if they had been sent via posts. It is very expensive to send these parcels so I want to make sure that these dresses are attended to when they arrive.
Question : What happens after the parcels have arrived?
Answer: The group who does the distribution then finds and gathers the children who will fit into any of the dresses based on the information of sizes I sent in advance and schedule a distribution. They schedule a trip if they have to go to a certain location (ie. buy tickets, book hotels etc and all of this at their own expense). The group just do not go to the location and start distributing otherwise it will not be safe for them. Sometimes they have to go with people who can protect them in case it causes a commotion and this happens most especially when they bring in a number of dresses that only a few can be accommodated and it was known in the area that a group was coming to handout dresses. If some of you are thinking that the distribution is easy because all they have to do is handout these dresses you are wrong. From the moment I receive a dress until such time that the dress is worn by a child and sometimes a picture is taken, it is not an easy task. I monitor the progress of each activity. Even if I know that they have been received by the group, I still make a follow-up to make sure that the dresses have been distributed.
I know that some of you buys fabrics and other accessories to make into dresses to donate but I also know that you are doing this because you find it in your heart to share whatever fortunes you've got to the less fortunate . I also buy fabrics and accessories to make into dresses which makes us all in the same boat and in addition to this I find ways and means to find owners of these dresses and raise the money to send these dresses that is why sometimes I feel bad when I read comments and emails asking about why their dresses have not been distributed yet. I think if the reason why I am being asked why the dresses have not been sent yet is because you do not trust that the dresses are actually being sent, then it is really up to you whether you want to donate or not. Honestly I do not want people to donate if they cannot show their trust in what I am doing. I prefer small quantity of dresses with genuine intentions compared to large volumes with full of distrust. Thank you.
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