Donation Acknowledgement #4/2015 - Bundles of Socks from Elaine Batch #3

The last item to be acknowledged for the distribution in Molo, Kenya are bundles of socks to keep the kiddies warm in the early mornings and late nights. These socks were sent in and donated by Elaine Klein.

To Elaine, thank you so much for these items. Now I am ready to sort, pack and send my parcel.

Two more pairs of shorts sewn today for Molo Kenya

Luckily I have some fabric materials good for pairs of shorts so I did these two pairs this morning for the Molo Kenya parcel. feeling relieved. Due to miscommunications, a parcel has not been sent and another parcel has not arrived. I can no longer wait as I need to send these items on Monday and make sure it has been received before I leave for my trip.

Luckily, again, I did 4 dresses last week out of the fabric donations of Millhouse Collections which I have put under "nowhere to allocate" bag. My intuition must have instructed me to sew them even if they are not going anywhere as I will need them later. feeling lucky.  

I think it is time to hoard fabrics good for pairs of shorts in case of emergencies.

More Pictures from Mt Hagen, PNG distribution

A few more pictures from the distribution made in Mt Hagen Papua New Guinea.

 

To see larger individual images, please click here. And below is the email from Aunty Rosa of the BFO Orphanage -

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

Thank you to Aunty Rosa for sharing these pictures and thank you to the donors as well. Much appreciated.

Valentine cards for Sale

Not too early to think what valentine card you would want for that someone special in your life. Check out these cards by just one click of the mouse. Proceeds goes to a wonderful cause.

More Sponsored Dresses and more available for sponsorships

Ten more kits were added to my collection of Sponsored Dresses this week. Nine for school-aged kids which included school starter kits and one for boys clothes. Here they are and the donors -

1) For eight(8) school-aged girls with a school starter kits from Suzanne Marshall -

2) For a school-aged girl with a school starter kit and a boys clothes from Brian Chesterton -

Also, I found the time to sew four(4) dresses from fabrics donated by Millhouse Collections. At this stage they are on hold until such time that I am able to allocate it to a location for distribution.

And I have added four(4) more boys' clothes between the ages of 3 and 5/6 and a dress with sleeves in my Dress A Girl Australia on-line shop for sponsorships.

To check out on the boys' clothes, please click here and for the dress with sleeves, click here. Please check them out and if what you see convinces you to make a difference, sponsor any one of them. Thank you.

More Materials for Sponsorships and accessories

Taking advantage of the back to school sales, proceeds from a few sales I had from my ebay listings including a few fabrics, I bought more items for my Dress Sponsorship program. Funny that I had to sell some of my fabrics from my personal collection in order to afford to buy more fabrics to sew for the dresses in the Sponsorship program. And I now have fabrics enough to make into more or less 50 dresses. If I used my personal fabrics I would have less than 50. Prices for school supplies were at its lowest the last few days I was able to hoard quite a few including t-shirts for boys. 

Here are some of the purchases I made and I hope I get more dress sponsorships soon otherwise these items will just be sleeping in my garage.  feeling hopeful.

Contrary to what other people think, I actually do all the sewing of all dresses and pairs of shorts that are being sponsored. I do not use dresses and pairs of shorts donated by other people to be sponsored nor do I use donated fabric materials. Inspite of my heavy schedule during the day, I still find the time to sew at night and this is how it is going to be and sponsored dresses will have priority in distributions when needed.

Until such time that I can meet the funds needed to build a well, all proceeds for dress sponsorships will be donated directly to Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to build a well. This is the main reason why I am working so hard sewing dresses and boys shorts because I want to provide clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. When the well is built, proceeds from dress sponsorships will be used to help pay for the cost of sending dresses to different locations around the world and probably allocate a certain amount to another project.....that is if I get more sponsorships. feeling thoughtful.

If anyone out there would like to make a difference especially those who do not sew, why not think of sponsoring a dress. You get to help disadvantaged kids own new clothes and at the same time help build a well for clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi, Uganda. Click here for more details or click on the links below to check what is available to be sponsored and don't forget to spread the word around. Thank you.

For a 6-year old or older - click here.
For boys' clothes - click here.
For a school aged girl including school starter kit - click here
For a dress with sleeves - click here.

Feedback Distribution - Mt Hagen Papua New Guinea

Such beautiful ladies wearing their Dress A Girl Australia dresses during their high school graduation in Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea. Thank you to Aunty Rosa for sending me the picture. Much appreciated.
Dresses were sewn and donated by Maureen O'Brien and Monika Osvald. Thank you Ladies.

For a larger version of this picture, please click here.

By the way, I learned today that these kids need financial assistance to pursue their studies in college and help them attain their dreams and a better life. If there is anyone out there who would like to help or know someone who can sponsor any of these kids, please contact me at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com for more details. Thank you.

Feedback Distribution - Small waves from Kenya (Widows of Africa) 26-Jan-2015

Sharing a picture from a distribution made by Pastor Joshua of Widows of Africa, Kenya from the parcels sent last October 2014. Small waves from Kenya and am -- feeling wonderful.

To see a larger version of this picture and any future pictures received, please click here.

I can say that the dresses on these pictures were donated by Sharyn Cafee and Karina Tomlinson. Pairs of shorts by Virginia Smith and Lyn Granger. Thank you Ladies and to all the other donors who made this distribution possible. Much appreciated.

Feedback Distribution - Christmas Bags 2014 (Sariaya Quezon Phils)

Sharing a few pictures taken from the distribution of Christmas Bags made on Christmas day, 25-Dec-2014 in Sariaya, Quezon Phils about two hours away from Metro Manila c-o Edna Albufera.

For larger individual images, please click here.

Hope to receive more pictures and will post here when available. Thank you so much to Edna for finding the time to make the distribution and made these kids happy on Christmas day and to the donors of the Christmas parcels. Much appreciated.

Parcel Feedback from Kenya - (Widows of Africa )

Received message this morning that the parcels I sent to Kenya c-o Pastor Joshua of Widows of Africe last October 2014 have been received.

What a relief! Thank you Pastor Joshua for letting me know. Much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement #4/2015 - Sponsored Dresses

Acknowledgement time for 2 pairs of boys' clothes, 1 dress with sleeves and 10 dresses for a 6-year old sponsored for the week.
1) Two pairs of boys' clothes sponsored by Henk van Zetten -

2) A dress with sleeves for a location that requires girls to wear dresses with sleeves or covered neckline as part of their culture sponsored by Sarah Hicks -

3) Ten dresses for a 6-year old sponsored by Suzanne Marshall. I am trying to arrange for these 10 dresses which includes a mini glamour doll on each package to be handcarried and delivered to an orphanage in Bali. Fingers crossed it will happen -

Thank you so much to all the generous donors for sponsoring these clothes for disadvantaged kids around the world. It is so much appreciated. Thank you.

If you want to sponsor a dress and make a difference this year 2015, please click here or click on the special tab 'Dress Sponsorship program' which you can find at the top of this page for more information. Or you can send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you.

Change to Dress Sponsorship for a 6-year-old

I have decided to make a change in the dress sponsorship for a 6-year-old. This pack normally includes a dress, an undie, a toy and a 'special person' button. Although I have lots of stock of the toys and the buttons (either a mini glamour doll or mini teddy bear) this complete pack will only be available for Christmas distribution. Any other distributions will only include a dress and an undie. And the reason for this is because if I only get 2 or 3 dress sponsorship for a 6-year old girl and I decide to distribute it when a need arises, I would not like to see that out of probably 50 dresses to distribute only 2 or 3 will have a toy. It is either you give all of the kids a toy or no toy at all to make everyone happy. So toys will only be available during Christmas distribution. The sponsorship price will remain the same as the $10.00 is actually only for the dress and the undie. The toy is a bonus.

All sponsored dresses will be distributed and given priority whenever a distribution is going to be made. Thank you.

Sponsored school kits

My sponsored school kits for school-aged disadvantaged kids. They are now starting to grow in numbers. As of today I have 10 and am aiming for 100 by June-July. 

If you know of anyone who does not sew but wants to make a difference,please help spread the word. You can check out the kits available for sale and see what is included in the kit by a single click of your mouse here or on the image above. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement #3/2015 - Donated clothes for Molo Kenya - Batch #2

Here is the second batch of donated dresses and pairs of shorts for boys of the Kijji Mission in Molo, Kenya.
1) Two dresses and two pairs of boys' shorts from Lyn Granger -

2) Two pairs of boys' shorts from Karen Neilsen -

3) I did some sewing last week and made these three dresses from fabrics donated by Lucienne Magnay. As much as possible I want everyone to be given a fair chance to be able to donate dresses even from those who donate just fabrics.

With the above donations, this brings my total for the Kijji Mission of Molo, Kenya as of today to 16 dresses, 20 pairs of girls undies, 4 pairs of boys' shorts, nine girls' tops and 4 boys' tops. 

Thank you so much to the donors of this batch. It is much appreciated.

Boys Clothes for Sponsorship

In response to email enquiries, there will be more boys clothes for sponsorship available in my Dress A Girl Australia's online shop for you to choose from. Just a bit slow in taking pictures but they will be posted soon. Thank you.

Thank you ebay buyers

Thank you to the buyers of the items I sell on ebay. You probably do not know that you are actually making a difference. Proceeds from the sale of items you bought are donated directly to Dress A Girl Australia's campaign for a well to be built to provide clean water and hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. It is the small bits of amounts when added together that makes things happen. So thank you so much.

Donation Acknowledgement #2/2015 - Sponsored Dresses

I did three more sponsored dresses this morning for a school-aged girl which includes a school starter kit and so it is time to acknowledge the donations.

1) Two dresses sponsored by Ana and Tania Carvalho -

2) Eight dresses by Suzanne Marshall -

All these sponsored dresses are scheduled for distribution in the June-July timeframe this year. The school starter kits will help the school-aged girl prepare for the new school year. Exercise books, pens, pencils, sharpener and eraser in a school bag will be a big help in lessening the financial burden on the girl's parents of sending their children to school.

Thank you to Ana, Tania and Suzanne for the sponsorships. Proceeds of the sponsorships have been donated to Dress A Girl Australia's Well campaign to build a well and provide clean water to the people of Kalagi Uganda. Thank you so much.

I also would like to acknowledge the few donors(am sure you know who you are) who made and donated the fabric school bags. They are so handy and makes my life easier trying to raise funds as all I have to do is put all the school supplies inside the bag. I do not have to sew the bags which is a big help. Thank you so much.

For more information on the Dress Sponsorship program, please click here or on the special tab "Dress Sponsorship Program" which you can find at the top of this page. To sponsor a school-aged dress, please click here. For other sponsorships, please click on the links below -

To sponsor boys' clothes, please click here -
To sponsor regular dresses, please click here -
To sponsor dresses with sleeves (for locations whose culture requires dresses with sleeves), please click here.

Fabric Materials for Dress Sponsorships

Went to Spotlight today and spent $59.95 for 14 metres of fabrics for my Dress Sponsorship program. For a 100% cotton material and with a width of 120cms, I thought it was a good buy for a good cause.

So I will be sewing away in the next few days for three more dresses already paid for sponsorship and make more dresses to be ready just in case I get more sponsorships.

Donation Acknowledgement #1/2015 - Donated clothes for Molo Kenya - Batch #1

Kenya parcels are starting to arrive in my postbox. Will soon start to sort and pack to make sure everything needed has been met but first I would like to acknowledge the donors of the parcels I have received so far. At this time I will only be acknowledging parcels or items that are needed for the Kenya distribution.
1) Two dresses from Sharyn Cafee -

2) Two dresses from Christine Caputo -

3) 24 pairs of undies from Richelle Brilliant (return address of AusViet Trading) -

4) 8pcs of long-sleeved tops from Lynne Stupple -

The above is Donation #1 for the year 2015 and will be sent to Molo Kenya in mid-March through the courtesy of Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom of Kijji Mission. Thank you to the donors. Much appreciated.

Candle Supplies Wick stickums for sale to raise funds

I've got hundreds and hundreds of this and have decided to sell in my online shop and ebay to raise money for the Dress A Girl Australia well to provide clean water for the people of Kalagi Uganda. So far I have sold 7 packs. That's almost $52.00 @$7.50 per pack from the proceeds which I have donated to my fundraising campaign for a well. 

120 pcs wick stickums @$7.50 per pack plus postage of $2.10.

If you know of anyone who likes candles and candlemaking, please help spread the word about these wick stickums. They are of very good quality made in the USA. 

To purchase, click on the image above or you can go to ebay under 'leisure stuff' user-id. Thank you.

More Dress Sponsorships to support Dress A Girl Australia Well

More dresses and school starter kits for school-aged girls are being sponsored to support Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to build a well and provide clean water to the people of Kalagi Uganda. 

If you would like to hit two birds with one stone to make a difference, please check out Dress A Girl Australia's Dress Sponsorship program via the link below and sponsor a dress.and school starter kit, or a regular dress for a 6-yr-old or boys clothes.

Dress Sponsorship Program 

To sponsor a school-aged dress for a girl and school starter kit, please click on the school bag images above. These batch of sponsored dresses are scheduled for distribution in June-July timeframe this year.

School Supplies for Dress Sponsorship Program

went to k-mart today and spent my 10.00 flybuy reward. went home with 50x of 48-page exercise book, 6x of 96-page exercise book and 6x of 10-pack ballpens. will be using these items for the school-aged dress for sponsorship that includes a school starter kit to help the girl start her education for the new school year. School starter kit includes a fabric school bag, 2 exercise books, 3 ballpens, pencils, ruler, sharpener and eraser. 

As of today, I have received 11 requests for sponsorship (and am supposed to be on break) so I better start sewing the dresses for the benefit of the people of Kalagi Uganda. Proceeds from the sponsorship will go to the Dress A Girl Australia well campaign for clean water and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. Target date of distribution for these sponsored dresses is June-July of this year. I may personally handcarry these packages.

To sponsor especially for those who do not sew, please click on the link below -- http://www.dressagirlaustralia.com.au/dress-for-a-school-aged-girl.html

Featured Products for Sale to raise funds for Dress A Girl Australia Well

If you are looking for high quality handmade items to give as presents or to decorate and make your home warm, here are three donated featured items from my Dress A Girl Australia on-line shop for sale at crazy prices to raise money for the Dress A Girl Australia Well.
1) If you are a candle lover, this screenprinted tealight glass holder cover made of Burlap could be great for your home - sells for $23.25 for a set of 3 holders including postage of $13.25. Just click on the image to access the product -

2) An embroidered singlet for that special little person in your life made of 100% cotton. A real bargain at $10.00 per singlet and postage of a $1.80 -

3) Or if you are the type who wants to feel comfortable sitting in your sofa, why not check-out this set of 2 throw pillows made of silk with hidden zipper and fits any pillow insert size 16. Sells for $20.00 plus postage of $7.20.

Please help make a difference to disadvantaged children around the world, provide them with clean water so they may have hope by purchasing any of these 3 featured items. There are other items available for sale as well in the shop so please feel free to browse. There might be something that will catch your eye and make a purchase. Proceeds goes to a wonderful and very worthwhile cause. Please help spread the word around. Thank you.

Sponsored Dresses for Kijji Mission, Molo, Kenya

Here are five dresses I made the past two days sponsored by Suzanne Marshall. These dresses will be included in the Kijji Mission parcel for Molo, Kenya to be handcarried by Jennifer Hughes-Bystrom in mid-March.

Proceeds from the sponsorship was donated to the Dress  A Girl Australia campaign for a well to be built in Kalagi Uganda for clean water.

For those who are interested to hit two birds with one stone by providing a dress to a disadvantaged child and at the same time help build a well for clean water and provide hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda, please help by sponsoring a dress or a matching set of t-shirt/pair of shorts for a boy or a school starter kit for a school-aged girl. This sponsorship is great especially for those who do not sew. If this is not your type of making a difference in this world, you can still help by spreading the word around. Thank you.

To sponsor a regular dress, please click here.
To sponsor a matching t-shirt and pair of shorts for a boy, please click here.
To sponsor a school starting kit for a school-aged girl, please click here.

For more information, you can click on the special 'Dress Sponsorship Program' tab which you can find at the top of this page or send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you.

Feedback Distribution - Project Hope Burma - 13-Jan-2015

Distribution of dresses is currently going on in Myanmar (Thai Border). These dresses, t-shirts and pairs of shorts are part of the Project Hope Burma Charity Drive. Here is a message from Barbara Dodson who is coordinating this project in Victoria.

And here are some images of the distribution made Mae Sariang near the Thai-Burma Border -

For larger individual images, please click here.

Thank you so much to Barbara for keeping us updated with the distribution and to Gitta Clayton for helping with the distribution in Myanmar. And thanks as well to the donors of this particular charity drive.

Update on Kenya Parcel - 12-Jan-2015, 9:46pm

Thank you so much to all the donors of the Kenya package. I look forward to receiving your pledges. With your donations, you all will make a difference to the daily lives of 20 girls and 6 boys with the new clothes they will soon own and keep them warm and comfortable in the early mornings and late evenings . This campaign is now closed. Thank you so much.

Update on Kenya Parcel - 12-Jan-2015, 7:15pm

As of this writing (7:15pm) what is still outstanding and waiting for donors are 11x long-sleeve t-shirts for girls between the ages of 5 to 12, This request will remain open until Friday,16th of Jan and if there is no one anymore who would like to volunteer to donate, I will take over. I look forward to receiving the donations that have been pledged for this distribution(please post them on or before Jan 25) so I can post them on the 1st week of February. Thank you so much to all who have donated.

Again, unless your parcels are for this Kenya distribution, please do not send any other donations until advised. Anyone who gets offended with this request, there is not much I can do. I will not be responsible for parcels sent and gets lost as there will be no parcel pickups. Thank you for your understanding.

Donations still closed

I am still on a break from Dress A Girl activities. The Kenya package is a special distribution due to the timing of the lady who is leaving in March. Please do not send me donations at this time unless it is for the Kenya package.  I sound like a broken record but Dress A Girl Australia is still closed for donations. Thank you.

Request for Donations

Good evening everyone. I know I am on a break from Dress A Girl activities (and saying no is a big problem for me) but there is a lady who would like to bring a few dresses back to Kenya in mid-March. I will be away for about two weeks in February(Feb 9-21) and would probably have less time to collect things when I get back including at least a week to post) so I thought I will post this information and collect as early as possible from those who would like to donate. I am looking for donors who would like to donate any of the following :
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Updated as of 12-Jan-2015, 11:00am
(1) 12 long-sleeve t-shirts for girls between the ages of 5 to 12, ---------------------------------
*** The items needed are being updated everytime a donor responds with their donation as this posting has also been posted in my facebook page so everyone is aware as to where I stand with the request for donations. *******
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Thank you so much to the donors who responded so quickly and thank you in advance to those who will still be responding. Much appreciated.
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*** The reason for the t-shirts for the girls is because the location of the community is located on the equator at 8,000 ft altitude so it gets cold in the mornings and evenings. The girls layer their clothes to keep them warm and the donations I believe are the most practical way of keeping them warm. ******
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*** For those who do not sew and would like to donate and make a difference, please let me know if you would like to sponsor a dress for this distribution. I can sew a dress for you. Dress for Sponsorship @$10.00 will help me raise money for the Dress A Girl Australia well to provide clean water and hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. ****
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Allowance on sizes are already provided so please if you would like to donate, send within these sizes.
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For those who are donating, could you please respond to this post and let me know which item you would like to donate, size of an item and how many or send me an email at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com as soon as possible and post the items by the 25th of January? The response to donate and deadline is very important so I will have time to raise these items on my own if I do not get enough donations. Thank you so much.
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Postal address is Dress A Girl Australia, P.O. Box 240, Casula Mall, Casula NSW 2170. Any questions, please respond to this post or send an email. Thanks!
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Unless you are a donor of this distribution, please do not send me any donations at this time as I am not ready to accept. I am still on a break but I cannot refuse this distribution. Thank you for your understanding.
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This is a limited distribution due to weight restrictions so to accommodate as many donors as possible I am restricting the number of dresses, t-shirts and pairs of shorts that can be donated. If you are offended by the restrictions, there is not much I can do. I appreciate everyone's generosity but also need for some to be understanding why I am putting limits on the numbers. Thank you.

Heads Up

Sharing this info....

Other organizations around the world providing dresses to disadvantaged children around the world are now starting to have or starting to publish their do's and donts. Probably I was just too way ahead of everyone to voice out what I would call constructive criticisms for a good cause. 

Little Girl's favourite dress

Sharing a message I received from my niece who distributes dresses on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia in one of the remote areas in the island of Mindanao, Philippines. While she was doing her medical consultation in the area for small kids, one of the kids who came was wearing a dress given to her about 3 months earlier and is her favourite dress to wear according to the mother.

Last parcel for PNG posted today

Now that I know that the PNG parcel has safely arrived, it is time to send the last parcel for PNG for the year 2014. In certain locations I never send more than one parcel at a time. I need to know that it has been received first before I send another one as tracking is quite a hassle and takes a lot of time.
Sent the last parcel for PNG today containing clothes for boys. 

Now I can finally focus funds and time for the Dress A Girl Australia well.

Parcel feedback from Papua New Guinea

A good day everyone! Another parcel feedback received early this morning from Papua New Guinea. Thank you Aunty Rosa.

Update on Dress A Girl Australia well

— feeling excited. Received an email regarding the Dress A Girl Australia well for the people of Kalagi Uganda. As of today, I have raised the amount of $3,379.25. I believe I need to work harder to raise the target amount of $10,500 so all moneys from sale from my shops and anything I will sell from garage sales will go to this fundraising campaign until I reach the target.

 If anyone wants to help and make a donation, pls click here - 

Donate to the Dress A Girl Australia well fundraising campaign

Thank you and please help spread the word around. It will be much appreciated.

My forgotten quilt blocks

Am doing a summer cleaning of boxes in my garage and guess what I found. My 'woodstock' quilt blocks. Sometime in 2003 I saw this quilt published in one of the Quilt magazines. As we all know even for those who were not born yet or just learning how to walk or just started school at that time it happened what impact this music festival had in our lives and for generations that came and still to come.

So I started gathering pictures of the event from magazines and in the internet and transferred those that I liked into fabrics to create quilt blocks. I did appliques for the flowers, pants, peace signs, the plants that made everyone who joined the festival high. Anything that I could make by hand I made it and the others such as tickets and the vans I transferred into fabric to make into my own version of a Woodstock quilt. On the same year that I prepared for the quilt I moved house and all my crafting paraphernalias were stored into boxes. And yesterday while looking for things to sell or donate from the boxes I have in my garage(summer cleaning), I found the folder that kept my quilt blocks after almost 11 years in one of the boxes.Too many things happened in the years that passed that I never had the chance to go back into it and even forgot it existed until I saw it again yesterday. Gee, what a forgetful person and can you imagine what my memory would be when I reached seventy. LOL!

Anyway, I took pictures of the quilt blocks and here they are and while am not doing anything for Dress A Girl Australia I am starting to form the blocks into a quilt and I hope to finish it soon. 

Once it is completed I am planning to put it up for auction to raise money for Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to build a well in Kalagi Uganda. Fingers crossed there will be someone out there who would like it and make a purchase. Watch for my woodstock quilt to be posted here hopefully very, very soon.