Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#35 - 50 t-shirts from heyboom

Around August of last year my sister Joan Wolf of heyboom brought me a parcel which was supposed to have 50 t-shirts inside. These t-shirts I would have used to make into t-shirt dresses. (She supplies all the t-shirts I used to make into t-shirt dresses). But when I opened the parcel it only had 31 pcs inside. It turned out that she actually splitted them into 2 parcels and one was left behind in Oman where she lives with Andre her husband who works over there. Yesterday she handed over the remaining 19 t-shirts -now I cannot remember if I actually acknowledged the 31 last year but they still are intact, still in the same packaging. And also now I have 50 t-shirts to make into t-shirt dresses for the rest of the year.

Thank you Joan Wolf. Here is one of the t-shirt dresses I made in 2012 from the first batch of 50 t-shirts you brought worn by one of the girls from India. I was told that she loves the dress so much she wants to wear it everyday. She reminds me of our neighbour Vimla who used to ride with us when Daddy used to take us to school everyday. Vimla unfortunately passed away last year.

Acknowledgement on Days for Girls (Oatley NSW) parcel

After twice forgetting to take with me the parcel I packed for Days for Girls (Oatley NSW) I finally was able to send it last Friday, the 28th. I checked out the date I finished the packing and it was on the 4th of March. Took almost a month to get to Oatley. :-)

Today, it was delivered and received this email from Beverly de Meur -

It was a pleasure packing those items knowing the end results of those materials would be going to deserving teens or mums around the world.

Dress A Girl Australia Dress Distribution volunteers

From now on if pictures are available I would be posting the individuals or groups of people who spare their time distributing dresses, pairs of shorts and other accessories on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia. I think you have seen pictures of the group of university students from CDO, the lady from India and the pastor from Widows of Africa and about a year ago some friends from the Qantas Cabin Crew team and from Uganda. I think I even have a picture of the lady who distributed the quilts to the kiddies in Romania.

This time I want to share with you a picture of a group of missionaries and volunteers headed by Norie Bordador who have been busy distributing dresses in various locations in the Philippines on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia. So far they have distributed about 400 dresses and would be doing more in the summer months to come. I think it is just me who cannot keep up with their pace. :-)

I will be creating a special album for these special group of people and share the link on this site in the near future. My way of saying thank you for doing such a great job of making the less fortunate children happy and making this world a wonderful place to live for everyone.

Friendly Reminder on Dress Materials

A friendly reminder once again to please make sure that the materials you use for the dresses are not thin or flimsy materials. If one of the ideas as to why we want them to wear these dresses is also to protect them then using thin or flimsy materials where you can see through the dress is not going to help. So please bear in mind no thin or flimsy dress materials. Thank you.

FY14 South Africa Winter Appeal 2014 Batch 4 - More sets and other accessories for the winter program.

Wow!! Kindness and generosity  and the willingness of others to help make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate children and make this world a better place is overflowing here at Dress A Girl Australia. I feel like singing my favourite song 'What a wonderful world'.

This I believe would be the last batch for the winter appeal program for South Africa as I need to complete my packing and seal the boxes so it can be sent. Unfortunately, I cannot extend the date when I want to send the parcels. For this batch, complete winter sets from Karin Maltby(2), Marlene Van Zetten(2) and Carolyn Walker(1), hooded long sleeved shirts from Natasha Clarke of Sgt Floyd(11), two pairs of leggings from Monika Osvald and 14 beanies from Sandra Turnbull(10), Sarah Tanmahapran(2) and Vanya Bryant(2).And with the number of extras I received on singlets, beanies, pairs of socks and hooded and non-hooded long sleeved t-shirts I was able to create another set of 15 or 16 (I think! Sorry, was too tired to go back and count late last night but could be either of this number). Here are the contents of this final batch -

A wholehearted thank you once again to Karin, Marlene, Carolyn, Natasha, Monika, Sandra, Sarah and Vanya and to all the other donors previously acknowledged for all your wonderful contributions to this appeal thus making it a complete success. Thank you so much for the time, money and effort you all spent making these donations. It is so much appreciated. This posting closes off my Winter Appeal for South Africa charity drive. Heaps and heaps of thanks everyone!!

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#34 - Accessories from Pam, Monika, Sarah and Carol

I think I like combining posting of similar items being donated and just split them by category such as dresses and pairs of shorts or dress accessories or arts & craft supplies or quilts or by charity drive. Not really sure though if it makes the job quicker but does saves space. :-)

Anyway, this category is new which I call dress accessories. It could be anythng from fabric tote bags, undies and small toys and handmade softies which I include as extras to dresses when making a distribution. Light items that do not add that much weight to parcels. In the future this will also include items which every now and then I get to receive from generous donors to sell in order to raise money for postage.  Maybe am just too organize and creating more work for myself!! But being organized sometimes makes things easier for me especially when it is time to pack. :-)

Donation #34 are small tote bags from Pam of Threading My Way (10), string bags from Monika Osvald (44), undies from Carolyn Walker and Sarah Tanmahapran and small softies from Monika.  

Thank you so much Ladies for your kindness and generosity. The time and effort you spend making these small items is very much appreciated and for some kids finding new pairs of undies in the dresses' pockets or being handed a mini toy or softy makes them giggle more. Thank you for making this world a wonderful place for the less fortunate children. Much appreciated.

FY14 Charity Drive - Arts & Craft & School Supplies Donation #4

These Indi Kindi kids are going to have the time of their lives drawing and colouring or learning new skills even with just the box of supplies I have collected for them. On Monday I am going to be bringing with me my bag full of crayons, pencils, sharpeners and rulers, art papers and picture books. If only I can spare the time I have 3 panels left of the very old Teacher's Pets - A learning book I can make them into clothbooks for them.  It is intended primarily for children aged 2-6 and will help to teach them basic skills and concepts such as counting, alphabet, comparatives, shapes and colors and is filled with adorable animals and useful information. Maybe I will just do that one of these nights.

Anyway, here is another box full of arts and craft supplies, school supplies, play and learn books from Carolyn Walker, Karina Tomlinson, Pam of Threading my Way's mum and Dawn Manser, Pam Baber and Myf Macfarlane of Swan Hill Victoria. I've also put in another 3 sets of the big sized colouring pencils. These big sized pencils are supposed to teach you how to hold a pencil properly and write clearly. Maybe its true...maybe not but am sure whoever gets to hold one will have a fun-full of drawing and writing day.

Again, a wholehearted thank you Ladies for your kindness and generosity. With your contributions, you are making a difference to the lives of these children, helping break the cycle of Indigenous destitution through the Indi Kindi campaign of the Nangala project.

For more details and/or information of the Nangala Project's Indi Kindi campaign, please click here.

And here is the almost 4-kilo bag full of educational materials I will be handcarrying to work on Monday and another one on Tuesday - in addition to my normal work-day bag . The weight will be interesting....but anything to make kids happy.  :-)

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#33 - A couple of quilts from Sandra

Quilt Donation #3. Yes, I still am receiving quilts after the '100 Days of Quilting' Charity Drive I did last year. Although I am not doing a quilt charity drive this year, I am still continuing on with keeping children warm with the quilts that are being donated. 
This time Donation #33 is a couple of quilts from Sandra Turnbull and 10 beanies for the Winter Appeal for South Africa.

To Sandra, thank you so much. Thank you for helping keep the children warm during their winter season. It is so much appreciated. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgements FY14/#26 to 32 - From a group of 7 wonderful ladies

I better start my donation acknowledgements and finish by 8:30pm if I am to join the Earth Hour campaign. Since there are only 7 acknowledgements to make I am again combining all acknowledgements in one posting and I think it does save me a few minutes. Not that much but still helps. 

This time from a group of 7 wonderful ladies - Sharron Arnold, Monika Osvald, Eileen Brogan, Pam of Threading My Way, Sarah Macraild, Sarah Tanmahapran and Vanya Bryant. Please note that these acknowledgements are only for dresses and pairs of shorts. Separate acknowledgements will be made for the other items such as for the winter appeal program, arts and craft supplies, dress accessories and even handmade toys. And also this posting closes my collection of donations for the month of March.

1) Donation #26 is from Sharron Arnold - a parcel of 19 dresses and 12 pairs of shorts -

2) Donation #27 is a bunch of 7 dresses and 3 pairs of shorts from Monika Osvald -

3) Donation #28 is a parcel of 10 dresses from Eileen Brogan -

4) Two dresses from Pam of Threading My Way is Donation #29 -

5) Donation #30 is from Sarah Macraild. Here is Sarah with her 4 dresses and a pair of shorts. She thanks her mum for leaving her some beautiful materials which she can make into dresses, her husband for giving her a great sewing machine and God for giving her sewing skills -

6) Donation #31 is a parcel of 5 dresses from Sarah Tanmahapran -

7) And last but not the least is Donation #32 from Vanya Bryant who can't seem to stop sewing. 13 dresses and 3 pairs of shorts this time -

A wholehearted thank you to all of you who made these dresses possible...for keeping the dream alive of owning at least one dress and perhaps a new pair of shorts for some less fortunate children around the world. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. Thank you for bringing more smiles and happy faces into this world through the dresses and pairs of shorts you make. It is much appreciated.

Feedback on Dress Distribution from Navotas Philippines

Dress Distribution done in Navotas Philippines two weeks ago by Norie Bordador and a group of missionaries and volunteers who has decided it is time to go out and spread the word on hope, love, compassion and kindness to everyone. More pictures will be posted soon.

Important Info on Parcel containing winter appeal clothing

I picked up 17 parcels from the postoffice this afternoon. The names of the parcel donors are on this list -

Parcel Acknowledgement 28-Mar-2014

If there is anyone who sent me a parcel containing winter clothing for South Africa and/or arts and craft supplies for Indi Kindi and whose name is not mentioned on the list (link above), could you please let me know so I can look out for it next week. Dont want your items to be left behind (parcels will soon, very soon be sealed) especially for the winter appeal. Unfortunately I cannot extend the date I want to send the parcels to South Africa. Thank you.

Update on Dress A Girl Australia well for Kalagi Uganda

Thank you to Martin Grunburg, the author of the New York Times' bestseller book The Habit Factor for donating my second place winnings from the Habit Factor global challenge and putting in a little extra to my fundraising campaign to build a well for clean water in Kalagi Uganda. It was a pleasure joining the competition. Thank you so much!

As of today, I have raised $942.75 for this project. I have $150.00 worth of checks which I still need to mail. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to post it. It needs my time so I can write a small note to go with it before mailing. I hope to speed up the raising of the money needed to build a well for clean water in Kalagi Uganda in the next 3 months. 

Meet Pastor Joshua from Widows of Africa

One of the nicest thing about what I am doing is (perhaps greatest is a better word to describe) is I get a chance to know people from other places, get connected with people from locations I never dreamed would happen if not for this charity work I am doing. It is not impossible but I just thought it would not happen to someone like me who does not have big connections or big corporations as sponsors. And the best thing about it is that I try to find them in my own little way and make a connection through my charity work and that is why I find it such a very rewarding experience. I get more exposure to the real world.  I get a chance to know and see how some people in this world devote their life and time in trying to make this world a better place especially for the less fortunate and it makes me happy to be a part of it. The heroes of the modern world and here is one of them. Pastor Joshua of the Widows of Africa, Miwani Kenya.

And am proud to say that Pastor Joshua will soon be a recipient of 2 parcels of clothes for the children in his community which I sent in early February. My best estimate is that these parcels are halfway to Kenya by now and I look forward to the day when it finally arrives its destination. 

Update on the 'Habit Factor' challenge - I won second place

WooHoo! Just got notified by email that I won second place in the 'Habit Factor' global challenge that I entered in early January this year. My prize is a $100 gift card or paypal donation. This money goes straight to my fundraising campaign for a Dress A Girl Australia well to be built in Kalagi Uganda. Thank you Habit Factor.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#23 to 25 - From Linda, Vanya, Terri & Marie

Wow! Looks like I did a good job of opening up parcels These are the last 4 I have received from Linda Smyth, Vanya Bryant and Terri Rose and Marie Dale.

1) Donation #23 are two separate parcels from Linda Smyth. The first parcel had 17 dresses -

and the second parcel had 5 dresses inside -

2) Donation #24 is from Vanya Bryant and the last parcel I have received too since January. It had 11 dresses, 6 pairs of boys' shorts, 2 beanies, 8 drawstring bags, 3 packs of girls' socks with 5 pairs on each pack and 20 head scarves.

Also this parcel came with 3 handmade bags for postage fundraising -

3) The last donation #25 came from Terri Ross and Marie Dale. The parcel had 12 pairs of boys' shorts, 4 dresses and 22 sets of boys' t-shirts, pairs of shorts and undies -

Again, thank you so much Ladies for your efforts, kindness and generosity in making a difference to the lives of the less fortunate children who will be recipients of these wonderful gifts. A wholehearted thank you to all the donors who helped make a good start for the year 2014 for Dress A Girl Australia. Thank you so much.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#18 to 22 - From Sharyn, Vanya and Kapunda Sewing Group

More dresses from Sharyn Paull, Vanya Bryant and the Ladies of Kapunda Sewing Group. Here they are -

1) Donation #18 is from Sharyn Paull - 7 dresses -

2) Donation #19 is from Vanya Bryant. There are 2 parcels from Vanya on this batch. The first parcel includes 8 dresses and 7 pairs of boys' shorts

and this is the second parcel which had 10 dresses, 5 pairs of boys' shorts and 6 beanies inside

3) Donation #20 are 3 parcels of dresses from the Ladies of Kapunda Sewing Group. For this first parcel came 22 dresses, 12 pairs of boys shorts and 4 hats -

and the contents of this parcel came from Margaret Adair, Shirley Bell, Loris Pullen, Mary Lauke, Helen Blane, Dianne Cain, Loretta Vodic, Vera Jeffs, Sally Giles and the hats came from Lyn Williams.

The second parcel came with 21 dresses, 1 girl's t-shirt and 8 pairs of boys shorts -

and the contents of this parcel #2 came from Deborah Parish, Margaret Adair, Shirley Bell, Loris Pullen, Dianne Cain, Mary Lauke, Helen Blane, Vera Jeffs, Paisley Parish, Robertstown General Store, Sally Giles, Julie Quast and Chris Redden.

Parcel #3 had 24 dresses and 9 pairs of boys' shorts -

and the contents cam from Shirley Bell, Dianne Cain, Margaret Adair, Loris Pullen, Mary Lauke, Julie Quast and Helen Blane.

4) Donation #21 came from Linda Smyth with 9 dresses inside -

5) and Donation #22 came from Evelyn McCarthy with 8 dresses as well -

Thank you so much Ladies. Thank you for the time, money and effort you spent making these dresses. Your kindness and generosity is unstoppable. Thank you. I also would like to take this opportunity to wish the Ladies of Kapunda Sewing group all the best for the future in their new endeavours. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#13 to 17 - From Kay, Virginia, Vanya, Sharyn and Betty

Third batch of donations to be acknowledged comes from Kay Innes, Virginia Smith, Vanya Bryant, Sharyn Cafee and Betty Barrett. More wonderful dresses to generate more bigger smiles from around the world.

1) Donation #13 is from Kay Innes, A parcel of 13 dresses, 2 boys shorts, 4 singlets, 1 t-shirt and 1 sun hat. the dresses each came with hair ties.

2) Donation #14 came from Virginia Smith which is a parcel of 4 dresses and 11 pairs of boys' shorts

3) Donation #15 came from Vanya Bryant. This is the first of four parcels she has sent in since January. First parcel of 16 dresses, 10 beanies and 9 pairs of boys' shorts.

4) Donation #16 is from Sharyn Cafee - a parcel of 11 dresses, 6 pairs of shorts and 3 packs of girl's undies -

5) and Donation #17 is from dear Betty Barrett - 4 pairs of shorts -

Again, thank you so much, Ladies for your kindness and generosity. Thank you for showing such a consistent unwavering support of the Dress A Girl (Around the World) of Australia. It is so much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#8 to 12 - Donations from LakesAnglican Quilting Group, Sharon, Lyn, Karina and Bett

This is so much quicker. :-) Acknowledging the second batch of five donations to Dress A Girl Australia made between the months of January and March of last week -

1) Donation #8 is from the LakesAnglican Quilting Group of Kanwal NSW sent in to me by Jean Knowles. This group used to be known as the Quilting Group of the Church of the Holy Spirit. This is a parcel of 15 little dresses -

2) Donation #9 is from Sharron Arnold - 8 dresses and 3 pairs of boys' shorts

3) Donation #10 is from Lyn Granger - 16 pairs of boys shorts, 9 dresses and 1 girl's skirt. The parcel also came with one more lavender bag for postage raising. This time the postage of the parcel was paid for by MaryAnn Conway of Kiama Downs. MaryAnn always helps  for this great cause.

and the lavender bag -

4) Donation #11 came from Karina Tomlinson - a parcel of 20 dresses -

5) and last but not the least is Donation #12 from Bett Holmes - a parcel of 18 dresses -

Again, thank you so much, Ladies for all the wonderful donations. Thank you all for your kindness and generosity. It is so much appreciated. Thanks!

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#3 to 7 - From Heather, Elaine, Jo, Jane and Bluebird Vintage & Boo Boo Dee

For this time, I have decided to combine a few donations in one posting due to the number of parcels I have received since January of this year up to last week. This will lessen the number of postings which might be boring for some to read but acknowledgements have to be done. This is one of the tasks I have committed to do for Dress A Girl Australia. I have been doing this at night time for the past two weeks (opening parcels, sorting and taking pictures) so hopefully I have them right -  

1) Donation #3 is from Heather Harris - 3 dresses and 5 pairs of boys' shorts -

2) Donation #4 is from Elaine Klein - 22 dresses, 5 boys' pants and 2 pairs of boys' shorts

3) Donation #5 is from Bluebird Vintage and Boo Boo Dee - 6 dresses 

4) Donation #6 is from Jane Daley - 3 dresses

5) and Donation #7 is from Jo Holt - 4 dresses which came with 4 headbands and 4 undies. 

Thank you so much Ladies. Thank you for your unwavering support of this campaign. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is so much appreciated. Thanks!

Update on Requests for Labels and Patterns

I will try to fill up all requests for labels and patterns tonight and tomorrow and mail them on Monday. For those who are sending me emails which needs a reply, please have patience. I am trying to respond to them as soon as I can at night or on a weekend. Unfortunately, at this time until end of July I only have one day of the weekend to spend on Dress A Girl Australia as I am about to reach my dream..an adventure of a lifetime in July and I need a day of my weekend to prepare for this greatest adventure. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#2 - 9 Quilts from Annette

Two parcels I received in January this year and only opened it last week from Annette Norley although I acknowledged the receipt of the parcels. It turned out that these two parcels had 9 beautiful quilts inside. Annette has been saving all her scraps and made them into such beautiful quilts. Here they are -

To Annette, thank you so much for the quilts...truly a labour of love. Thank you so much.