Toys for a Toy Appeal project at work

It probably is just my imagination that the box for the toy appeal at work is always empty that I decided to bring a toy today and another one tomorrow.  The box is located right next to the lift and everytime I get in and/or out of the lift I would look at the box and I dont see anything on it. My friend would ask 'where are the donations?'. LOL! I was thinking maybe the person in charge is just too efficient and gets the donated items every hour before the box gets filled up but I really dont think so because there was a day this week where I took the lift almost 8 times and I did not see any item inside the box. Perhaps  the people still can not feel the Christmas atmosphere at work? Still cannot feel the Christmas spirit of sharing? Or just cannot be bothered.

Someone saw me put the toy in the box at lunchtime today (the toy in front of the picture) and she said to me 'What a nice thing to do.' I wanted to say to her, how about putting one too. :-) These 2 toys are not really new. They belong to my nephews who are way too old to play with these items these days and I dont think they really played with it as they still look brand new. I collected them for a second chance toy project at work a couple of years ago but did not make it to the cut-off. 

I kept them in my garage all this time. I was thinking of donating them to a day care centre as that was what the second chance toy project was all about but didnt have the time to look for a daycare centre worth giving it to. So now it is time for them to be given away. Tomorrow I will be carrying with me the school box you can also see on the picture. There are 3 more of these type of toys but I think they need batteries so unless I am able to secure new batteries I cannot donate them. Am sure these 2 will bring joy to 2 kids anywhere in the world as the toy appeal is for a project of the group around the world.

Christmas Bags and Soft Toys

I have been sorting and packing for my Christmas Bags and I think I need more stuff to complete them. If there is anyone who would like to donate string bags or similar to library bags about the size of an A4 paper that I can use as Christmas bags (does not have to be fancy) and some small soft toys it will be much appreciated. Soft toys will have to be small enough to fit the bag as these items will be posted and not handcarried and need to fit as many items in the box. Will be accepting contributions until the end of November and as usual please post to the address below –

Dress A Girl Australia

P.O. Box 240
Casula Mall Casula
NSW 2170

Am actually doing more packing these days just to be ready if and when a parcel is needed then I don’t have to cram when something comes up.

To all those who will be donating to my Christmas bags,  thank you so much in advance. Your contributions are very much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/10 #149 - 8 dresses, headscarves & softies from Monika

Number 149 on the list is a parcel of 8 dresses, about 58 headscarves and 20 stuff toys from Monika Osvald. I think I've got enough headscarves to fill my christmas bags for the Philippines and extras will be allocated for South Africa. My next task after the acknowledgements will be to count the stuff toys I've got so I would know if I could fill at least 50 bags. Here are the goodies I have received from Monika -

To Monika, thank you so much. Thank you for helping me fill up my Christmas bags and bring in more smiles to this friendly world of ours.It is much appreciated. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/08 #110 - 5 dresses and christmas bags from Linda

It's time for my regular donation acknowledgement and number 110 on the list is a parcel of 5 dresses from Linda Smyth. Also included in the parcel are fabric bags which am planning to use for wrapping Christmas presents for kids in the Philippines. Here are the goodies from Linda this time -

Thank you Linda for your unwavering support of Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia. Thank you for the time and effort you spend in helping make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate. Much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY2012 #130 - From Katoomba

MBCCD #10 Number 130 and number 10 on the Christmas Charity Drive donation is from Monika Osvald from Katoomba. An assorted collection of 11 dresses, 14 t-shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 4 head scarves, 28 boys undies and 19 girls undies. She wrote to let me know that she was going shopping at Kmart which was closing down with a voucher she received and wanted to donate to Dress A Girl Australia. And she really went on a shopping spree for the less fortunate children with the number of t-shirts and undies she sent over.  :-)

Thank you so much Monika for your kindness and generosity. Thank you for filling up my box with undies. They will be on their way to Uganda in early December. And the t-shirts will be on their way to India at the end of November. Thank you. Much appreciated.

My Magic Slates have arrived for my Christmas Bags

I have been looking for this item for such a long time and finally found it two weeks ago from a shop in the UK that sells fundraising items and at a price I simply can not ignore.  144 pcs in one box and just the right size (12.5cms x 9cms) I wanted for Dress A Girl Australia's Christmas Bag. It all had the tickmarks needed to convince me to purchase the items. Not too heavy, not too small and not too pricey. In fact it is very light and cost about 37 Australian cents each including postage. Unfortunately something went wrong with the mailing I only received 71 pcs today and have sent my complain for the missing 73. Hopefully I will get them in another week but at least half of it has arrived.
Here is the magic slate which I used to play with when we were small. A perfect fit for my Christmas Bag

And about three weeks ago in one of my shopping spree, I found these activity books. There were 4 in a pack and each pack cost $2.20 making each book at 55 cents each.

I now have 2 items to put inside the Christmas Bag and I think I need to sell more lavender packs to buy more items. :-)

Forthcoming Dress A Girl Australia Events

In a few weeks, the "Make-it or Break-it charity drive will start. This drive will determine if my goal of 1500 dresses and 500 pairs of shorts for the boys to collect and distribute for the year 2012 will happen. As of this writing, these are the Dress A Girl Australia numbers :
                  Dresses -  880 number of dresses done
                                 620 number of dresses to go

                  Pairs of Shorts - 173 number of shorts done
                                          327 number of shorts to go

                  Number of days to event - 

                            
As of this writing, I have made 30 dresses which is not included in any of the numbers above and I hope to make more whenever time allows.

Also, the collection for the contents of the Dress A Girl bags for Christmas will start. The bags will contain a pack of school supplies, T-shirts and one more item which I still am not sure what that would be. :-) 
I now have 3 groups who more or less have committed to helping out on this special project and I am very positive that by the end of October all my bags will be completed and ready for lift-off. 

I have never had this kind of challenge and I think everyday between now and the end of the year will be very exciting and interesting! And I think I will need all the help I can get if I want to win this challenge. :-)