Feedback Distribution #2 - Enrile Cagayan Philippines - 25-Sep-2014

Here are more pictures from the dress distribution made in Enrile Cagayan Philippines. I thought they were the same pictures I posted earlier but when I started looking at the dresses they were different. I guess too many kids just made me confused especially when you receive them in the evening and your eyes are tired.This distribution was made in one of the 3 far-flung areas. 

BATU is a small barrio with about 2000 residents mainly farmers. The place is accessible through a small rough road. The School is headed by Mrs. Vilma Vilma Tallod-Domingo with eight teachers and 400 School children. The Outreach included several presentations and the parents were also present with Capitana Adel Tanguilan. A very fun filled day for everybody. Jose Maddatu and Norie Bordador sponsored the Outreach Program. Every child that was accommodated with a dress also received a pair of new slippers and a food pack.

To see more pictures and larger and individual images of the above, please click here.

Thank you so much to Norie for providing me with the pictures of the distribution and to the rest of her group for making the distribution a reality. And thank you to the donors as well for making this distribution possible. Much appreciated.

Feedback Distribution - Enrile Cagayan Philippines - 26-Sep-2014

Here are pictures taken from the dress distribution made in 3 far-flung locations in Enrile Cagayan Philippines. The distribution was made in schools as part of an outreach program. Distribution was made by Norie Bordador and the missionary sisters of Mercy. These dresses were part of the 12 boxes of dresses sent to the Philippines last May 2014.

For larger versions and individual pictures of the distribution, please click here. 

Thank you to all the donors who made this distribution possible and to Norie and her group for making the distribution a reality. Thank you. Much appreciated.

Sewing Bee Day for Project Hope Burma (Victoria Hdqrtrs)

Yesterday was sewing bee day organized by Barbara Dodson for the Project Hope Burma (Victoria Hdqrtrs). Sixteen more dresses were sewn and 4 pairs of shorts -

and here are some of the ladies involved in the Sewing Bee -

Thank you Barbara and thank you Ladies. Job well done for the kids of Burma.

Update from Distribution (Enrile Cagayam Philippines)

This is the message I got from Norie (one of my main contacts in the Phils) last night on the dresses they distributed last week - 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hi Gigi, we finished distributing dresses in 3 locations at Enrile
Cagayan. You could just imagine the happiness on the face of the children. Being located in far-flung area, we were told it was the first time for the children to receive this kind of gifts.
The teachers and parents in other locations are also requesting us to bring dresses to their places.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The location is about 8 hours away from the main capital of Manila. The group who travels to the location to distribute normally matches every dress with a pair of slippers and a food pack making it more special for the kids. The missionary nuns are also requesting for more dresses to give to kids in depressed areas. Hope to receive pictures soon.

Coming Soon!!

So many things to do ....so little time. Coming up soon -
1) "i-wear" because "i-care".
2) Charity drive for size 2-4 dresses to fill up my half-filled box. I probably would need only about 100 more. Details coming up soon once I have confirmed how many more I would need.

Due to the number of interests I have received on this size 2 to 4 drive, I will be putting up a maximum number of dresses that each individual can donate and this will be confirmed once I know how many more I would need to fill up the box. Also, I want the dresses that I sew to go into the box as well.

Thank you.

Thank you

I would like to say thank you so much to those handful of people who are helping spread the word about my handmadecards and other handmade items that I sell to raise money for postage including those papercrafting supplies from my personal collection that I have decided to sell as well and are selling. I actually know who you are. The sale may not be that much but if you add up all the one dollar and two dollar proceeds it can eventually pay for the cost of sending a box of 50 to 60 dresses to a few locations around the world. 

More items from my personal collections will be put up for sale including fat quarters and quilt kits (unfortunately I have no more time to use or make them into something) to raise money for the Dress A Girl Australia well for Kalagi Uganda. I hope you will find the time to look into them and make a purchase if there is anything you would like. Proceeds go to a very worthwhile cause. Thank you so much.

Reminders on Dress Guidelines

Good Morning everyone! It looks like there are new ladies joining this campaign. I want to remind everyone again about the guidelines on dresses especially on fabric materials to use. If you want Dress A Girl Australia to feel inspired and motivated to continue to accept dress donations from those who wants to make a difference, then please follow the guidelines. It is not easy to raise money to pay for the cost of sending these dresses to different locations around the world even if they are handcarried as excess baggage has to be paid, not easy to find recipients and not easy to find willing volunteers to distribute in remote areas so I repeat guidelines, guidelines, guidelines. Thank you.

Dress updates from Project Hope Burma (Victoria Headquarters)

Wow! More dresses from the Ladies of Project Hope Burma in Victoria Headquarters. Ten dresses were donated and sewn by Elaine Rees -

and today Barbara and Elaine did these 11 pairs of shorts together -

To Barbara, thank you so much for providing me with the updates and thank you to you and Elaine for the dresses and the 11 pairs of shorts you both sew today. It is much appreciated. Thank you.

Nice feedback from CDO Philipppines

When Dr Sha Azura-Pagli went back yesterday to Barangay Balubal (one of the remote areas in CDO Phils) for her weekly medical consultation/visits, this is one of the girls who was there in the clinic waiting and wearing the dress she received last month when Sha did the dress distributions in their location. And note she also came and brought with her the teddy bear that she received with the dress. Isnt that cute? And the medical personnel also observed that during their mass immunization last week most of the kids who came were wearing their dresses. 

Traced the dress and was donated by Bluebird Vintage and Boo Boo Dee. Teddy Bear am sure was by Monika Osvald who loves sending me stuff toys.She must feel joy wearing the dress and feel comforted by the teddy bear.  Thank you ladies.

"i-dress"

with all the words starting with 'i' coming up since the iphone was born, here is the 'make a difference' version of the 'i' word -

Charity Drive for dresses made by kids/students to open up soon.

The past two weeks I have received about six or seven emails from mums writing on behalf of their daughters who are sewing dresses for Dress A Girl and asking for information. This has made me so ecstatic so much so that the few disappointments/discouraging remarks from a few adults is being wiped out by the knowledge that there are daughters who are busy making dresses and helping make a difference, i will be starting a new charity drive very soon where donations are preferably from these kids, their dresses will be the priority of the drive. With school holidays coming up soon, hopefully there will be an addition to the current number of kids sewing dresses. More details to be posted soon. Thank you.

Christmas cards for Fundraising.

Well, in case no one is aware my focus for the next few weeks is on finding measures on how to control or minimize the cost of running this campaign and how to raise funds to pay for the costs. Contrary to what people are saying, this is a self-funded charity work. I do all the tasks of finding the money to pay for the cost of running this campaign including the cost to send parcels all over the world in addition to making sure that those dresses get to where they are intended.

Christmas cards are now available for sale as early as September. Proceeds from the sale of these cards will go to the Dress A Girl Australia petty cash fund to pay for the cost of running the Dress A Girl Australia activities more particularly on the cost of sending dresses around the world. Every card sold can pay for a dress to be sent to Uganda, the Philippines, India or anywhere in the world. All these cards have been made by myself. To check them out, please click here or click on the image below -

If you are not into cards or you dont like my cards, you can still help make a difference by spreading the word around about my handmade cards. Thank you.

More dress donations for Project Hope Burma (Victoria Headquarters)

Wow! More dress donations for Project Hope Burma received by the Croydon Hills Baptist Church in Croydon Hills Victoria -

And here is Kathy Thompson and Barbara Dodson sorting the dresses they have received -

Thank you so much to everyone who is supporting this project. Much appreciated.

Dress A Girl Australia Labels

The past few days I have been brainstorming again on how to minimize my cost of running this campaign so it is sustainable. I have identified Dress A Girl Australia labels as one that could contribute to lowering cost. Instead of totally phasing out the labels, I give possible donors the option to still attached labels by printing the labels themselves. I have converted the label file into a pdf format which can be requested via email to be sent to you as an attachment and you can do the printing yourself or you can print directly from this blog.

If you decide not to put labels on your dresses that is fine with me. Especially for those dresses that do not meet the guidelines where I am being ask to drop them in charity bins, it will make the task easier for me as I do not have to remove the labels from the dresses although I would still be encountering cost doing this errand as I have to drive to the location where these charity bins are located so I still insist on guidelines.

If you want to do the printing of the labels yourself, all you have to do is go on the left navigation pane of this page, (1) locate 'Dress A Girl Forms' section, (2) locate "Print Dress A Girl Australia labels', point your mouse to the selection and 'click' your mouse. The label sheet will be displayed on your screen.

To print, make sure your paper size is 'A4'. Color should be Color and if you have the option of 'Fit to page' to select, make sure you tick on this box.

If you want to save the file on your drive, you must select the 'Downward arrow' key and select 'Download'.

If you want me to send the .pdf file to you instead, you can either send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com or select the Request for Dress Labels in pdf format

There will be more changes as they are identified and will be published here for everyone's info. Thank you.
.

Sharing some pictures from South Africa

I received these two pictures today from South Africa, on a day I consider a very special day. These are some of the kids who were recipients of the South Africa winter collection which I sent in ealy July. It is pictures like these that keeps me going and why I insist that guidelines have to be met. It is time for people show some respect on what is needed to make this campaign a success and makes the dresses worth sending to different locations around the world. From today,  ignoring the guidelines means donations will also be ignored.

At the end of the day, the decision is final. If the dress does not meet the guidelines, the dress is not going anywhere. There will also be no returns of dresses rejected. If you want your dresses to be returned, you can send me a prepaid satchel that I can use to send the dresses. If after 4 weeks, I do not hear from the donors with rejected donations, they will be dropped off to the nearest charity bin. Note that taking these dresses to the nearest charity bin also incurs a cost as I have to drive.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#133 - #134 - Donated Items for Sale from Frances and Jo

Number #133 and #134 on the list is something different. They are items donated to Dress  A Girl Australia to sell to raise money for postage. They will be sold in markets when I have one scheduled before the end of they year and I will also make them available in the Dress A Girl Australia website to sell just in case someone would see and like them and make a purchase. All proceeds from the sale of these items goes to the postage fund of Dress A Girl Australia -

1) Number #133 is from Jo Holt. It is a dozen of sleeveless shirts with embroidery in front - Also included in the parcel were 5 packs of girls undies. These undies are not for sale. They will be included in future dress distributions.

2) Number #134 is from Frances Cornish. Fourteen pinholders in the shape of a mouse and 6 mini pillows and mini quilts for dolls which I can use for the six dolls I have made for sale which still needs to be posted for sale when I get the chance.

Thank you to Frances and Jo for your sincere efforts to help sustain this campaign. It is very much appreciated. Thank you.

School Supplies #9 - 12 exercise books for my Education Without Borders 2015 Drive

I thought I would extend my blessings today by purchasing a dozen exercise books for my "Education Without Borders" 2015 drive from my flybuys bonus points. Here they are -

and what lucky street kids who would be receiving some of them in 2015.

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

These 3 parcels closes off the hugely successful Project Hope Burma for Karen Refugees. These 3 parcels to be sent to The Hope Project in Croydon Hills Victoria holds 100 dresses and 37 matching sets of t-shirts and shorts for boys. With the close of the project the final total count is 276 dresses and 112 matching sets of t-shirts and shorts for boys (for the October delivery)
Here are the parcels -

and here are the contents of the parcels -

made possible by the following donors -

1) Ann Field

2) Frances Cornish

3) Maureen O'Brien

4) Tannis Brennan

5) Vanya Bryant

6) Ladies of QCWA WIllows Branch organized by Jacqui Piper

7) Jayne Hogan

8) Betty Barrett/Betty Paull

9) Catherine Jenkins

10) Sian McIntosh

11) Nicole Devet By Dress A Girl Australia

12) Eliza Leahy

13) Monika Osvald

To see larger images of the contents of these parcels, please click here. For more details on this distribution (and also at a later stage when feedback is received).please click here or click on the special 'Dress Distribution' tab which you can find at the top of this page.

To see larger images of the full Project Hope Burma (October delivery), please click here. To see larger images of the collection being done at the Hope Project Headquarters in Victoria, please click here.

A big thank you to all the donors who made Project Hope Burma (for Karen refugees) a huge success and made these parcels possible. A special thank you to Catherine Jenkins for the t-shirt donations. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. And thank you to Barbara Dodson for linking Dress A Girl Australia with the Hope Project. 

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#132 - From Sian

Number #132 for the year and the last donation acknowledgement for Project Hope Burma is a parcel of 4 dresses from Sian McIntosh. Three of the dresses have been allocated to the Project -

Thank you to Sian for the dresses. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated.

Details of the last batch of parcels to be sent to Project Hope Burma will be released soon.

A good question to ask when deciding whether to donate or not.

For one who wants to sew a dress or a pair of shorts to donate, I think this is a good question to ask when looking at the clothing you just made. If I were asked to wear the dress or pair of shorts would I wear it? Would I go out, hop, jump, run and walk around wearing the dress or pair of shorts? Would you like to see your child wearing it? If you can answer a 'YES' to all of the questions, then you are meeting the guidelines on how to make a dress. If you cannot, then I do not really know why you are still making it into something. Is it just for the sake of donating a dress? To keep you busy perhaps? A few of the dresses and/pairs of shorts I received even had big stains on the fabrics so I wish I knew what was on people's mind why they would want other people to wear it and not them. It annoys me to see these kind of donations. We give them something new to wear to at least make a difference to the life they are so used to . Why give them something to wear with a stain? It does not make it any different from what they are already used to wearing. I hope people would think about this the way I think about it and you will understand why I keep on insisting on guidelines and why I am rejecting some donations. Thank you.

Dress updates on Project Hope Burma (October Delivery)

Everyone should be aware by now that there is also a special group of ladies who are based in Victoria and are busy sewing for Project Hope Burma. Here are 3 dresses and a couple of Boys' shorts made by Rowena Turk for this project. 

These dresses will be retained in the Croydon Hills Baptist church headquarters and added to the collection. Thank you Rowena Turk for these lovely dresses and shorts.

Change on Guidelines Policy effective immediately

I think this month I spent quite a sum of money paying for postage of dresses that did not meet the guidelines. This should not be happening as it is adding more burden on the cost of running this campaign. So effective immediately any dresses that I received that does not meet the guidelines of a project or a drive will not be returned. You will be contacted and advised how many dresses will not be included at all in any of my distributions and if you want your dresses back to send me a pre-paid satchel. I will keep the dresses for 4 weeks and if I donot hear back from those advised after four weeks they will be dropped in the nearest charity bin. Please be guided by this new information to avoid inconveniences. Thank you.

Update on Project Hope Burma

Good Morning Ladies, I still am not strong enough to lift parcels so PLEASE do not send me anything unless they are for Project Hope Burma. Last day of parcel pickups for Project Hope Burma is Wednesday after that I will not be going to the postoffice to pick up anything. I really hope you ladies understand otherwise I will have to do something drastic. I am fine but I dont want to be lifting parcels unneccesarily especially now that all projects are completed. Sending me parcels is putting pressure on me and my arm. Thank you.

Updates on Parcels and dress distributions

Sometimes it is not an easy task to make follow-ups. Even when you are not feeling well, you still have to make a follow-up on the dates to make sure that they arrived safely and I wish people learn how to appreciate this task. But then again since I started Dress A Girl Australia I have learned that there are people in this world whose role is to be cruel to other people and I have learned to ignore that but not today as I still am not feeling well after 3 days.

Received message that the 2 parcels sent last week for CDO Phils has been received and delivered today. 

More dress distributions are being scheduled as part of parcels sent in May 2014 -
1) Street kids of Metro Manila distribution will happen on the 18th of Sept. 
2) Parcels for Enrile Cagayan which is about 6 hours and 30mins away from Metro Manila by road transport will be distributed on Sept 24 and 25. 

Thank you to all the volunteers who make this distribution happen.

More Fabric Earth Cards for sale

Everyday, I would normally go for an hour's walk with my sister (except today as I was not feeling well). We go through an open field and pass through areas filled with trees. 

Looking around the environment while walking I keep on thinking there must be something in the area that I can use to create something. It is an area full of trees and birds and dead twigs thus while walking we are actually connecting with nature...walking...loving the earth.

Inspired by the scenery and the possibilities of creativity, with an appliqued bird made of fabric scraps and re-purposed to an appliqued bird perched on top of dead twigs and leaf brads below it this Fabric Earth card - Connect with Nature - Bird was conceived and expect more to come. This card is now available for sale at my handmadecards for you online shop. Proceeds from the sale of this card will fund the cost of sending at least 3 dresses to 3 disadvantaged kids anywhere in the world. 

To check it out, please click here. Some people may like it..some people won't but if it sells, it will fund a very worthwhile cause. So please help spread the word around about my handmade cards for sale.

Reminder on Project Hope Burma

Just a reminder that Project Hope Burma is closing down in 6 days. If you are intending to donate dresses to this project, please make sure they are posted by Sept 15, 2014. 

Also, for those who are still making dresses to donate in the future, please hang on to your dresses and do not send them to me at this stage (unless they are for Project Hope Burma). I will publish the date I will start to accept dresses for new distributions. I want to have a rest from going back and forth to the postoffice and lifting parcels. Thank you.

New handmade cards for sale

Good Day everyone! Apple made a significant release of their products today so I thought I would do the same. Dress distributions would not be possible without the things I sell. Today am releasing new handmade Christmas cards and new earth cards for sale. Please check them out and if there is anything you like, please make a purchase. All proceeds go to Dress A Girl Australia's petty cash fund, If you don't like any of them, don't make a purchase but you still can help by spreading the word amongst your family and friends. They may like something and make a purchase. More items will be made available as they are completed. Quantities are limited at this stage.
These are some of my Badge Greeting cards and new ones for Christmas -

and here are my new Fabric Earth cards. I call them earth cards because the materials I used are from scraps which I repurposed -

If you are on the lookout for other greeting cards, check out my handmadecards for you site by clicking here.

I know most of you, if not all, are handmakers so you probably will not get attracted to what I sell but am sure you have friends around who would prefer to make a purchase. I worked hard making these items to make them unique so people would possibly buy so please help spread the word around. Unfortunately, money just don't get dropped out of the sky. One has to work hard for it so for those who feel offended that I am selling items, I am not going to apologize. Thank you.

Two more pictures from the Caloocan Phils Dress Distribution

Here are two more pictures I received from the Caloocan Phils Dress Distribution. If am not mistaken I think this dress was made by Elaine Klein.

 Some girls posing with Norie and the other members of the group who are distributing the dresses.

Thank you to Norie and her group for bringing these dresses to the children.

For larger images of the distribution, please click here.

Dress Distribution #77 (Charity Drive #7) - For Destiny Faith Ministries Uganda

Charity Drive #7 for Destiny Faith Ministries in Uganda is Dress Distribution #77. These three parcels will be posted to Julie Jones who will take charge of the distribution when she visits Uganda.
Here are the three parcels which contains 177 dresses and a few undies -

and here are the contents of the parcels -

made possible by the following donors -
1) Karina Tomlinson
2) Virginia Smith
3) Linda Smyth
4) Alexandria Achievers, Australian Sewing Guild organized by Jennifer Kearns
5) Members of All Saints Parish, South Hobart organized by Suzanne Nixon
6) Elaine Klein
7) Sian McIntosh
8) Tannis Brennan
9) Ladies of QCWA WIllows Branch organized by Jacqui Piper 
10) Wollongong Group Australian Sewing Guild

11) Sharyn Cafee

12) Betty Barrett/Betty Paull

13) Nicole Devet by Dress A Girl Australia

14) Jenni Kirillov on behalf of her mum by Dress A Girl Australia

15) Millhouse Collections by Dress A Girl Australia

16) Eliza Leahy

17) Renade Fulton

18) Toni Renn

19) Lyn Granger

20) Maryann Conway

21) Michelle Cornish

22) Lou Lu

23) Janine Steedman

24) Catherine Jenkins

25) Heather Capell

26) Mo O'Brien

27) Jayne Hogan

To see larger images of the contents of these parcels, please click here. For more details on this distribution (and also at a later stage when feedback is received).please click here or click on the special 'Dress Distribution' tab which you can find at the top of this page.

A big thank you to all the donors who made Project Uganda (Destiny Faith Ministries) a huge success and made these parcels possible. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. And thank you to Julie Jones for giving us the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of a few teens in Uganda.

Feedback Dress Distribution - Caloocan Philippines - 8-Sep-2014

These are images from the distribution of dresses in one of the depressed areas in Caloocan Manila Philippines. The distribution was made in the local parish church. Distribution was made by Norie Bordador and the missionary sisters of Mercy. These dresses were part of the 12 boxes of dresses sent to the Philippines last May 2014. There are more distributions scheduled in the last week of September once the rains have stopped.

Thank you to all the donors who made this distribution possible and heaps of thanks to Norie Bordador and the missionary sisters of Mercy for making this distribution a reality. Thank you. Much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY14/#128 to #131 - Dresses from Mo, Heather, Vanya and Jayne

The last batch for the night on Donation Acknowledgements and still for the month of September are four parcels from Mo O'Brien, Heather Capell, Vanya Bryant and Jayne Hogan. Same with the other batches some of the dresses have been allocated to Project Uganda and a couple to Project Hope Burma.

1) Donation #128 is a parcel of ten dresses from Mo O'Brien. All allocated to Project Uganda -

2) Donation #129 is a parcel of 6 dresses, packs of undies and colouring pencils for the "Education without Borders" 2015 project (School Supplies #8) from Jayne Hogan -

3) Donation #130 is a parcel of 5 dresses, undies and 4 girls' t-shirts from Heather Capell.

and this is Heather holding one of her dresses -

4) Donation #131 is a parcel of 12 dresses, 4 pairs of shorts, 3 school bags for the "Education without Borders" 2015 project (School Supplies #9) and two fabric toys from Vanya Bryant. Six of the dresses were allocated to Project Hope Burma.

To Mo, Jayne, Heather and Vanya, thank you for these wonderful donations. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated.

With these dress donations, the final total count of dresses for Project Uganda as of this writing is 163. All dresses collected will be packed and sent to Destiny Faith Ministries c/o Julie Jones. My big thank you to all the donors who made this project a huge success. Details of donations will be published tomorrow.