OUR 10th Birthday!

JOIN US NOVEMBER 3

Our November 3rd workday falls two days after the 10th anniversary of the founding of Days for Girls.  So, of course, our workday will also be a party!  I've ordered a cake from Sweet Life, and you are strongly encouraged to bring presents--large or small (suggestions below)--for our chapter. I suspect I'll also have leftover Halloween candy to contribute.  Please come between 10 am and 4 pm.  Stay for as long as works for you!

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL

Here are a few dozen photos of DFG volunteers and recipients on October 11, the International Day of the Girl!

And do watch this video about Michelle Obama's new Global Girls Alliance announced on the International Day of the Girl this month.

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS

Our kits last at least 3 years with proper care.  If a woman would be buying disposables over that period of time, she'd be out a lot of money, and have added not only approximately 1000 used pads, but also the plastic they're often wrapped in to the environment!

ALL ONE BIG TEAM

I often mention that it's great when travelers leaving the US are willing to check a suitcase full of DFG supplies.  Sometimes just getting kits and supplies to their final destination is the biggest hurdle.  In just the past few months, Linda took supplies to Kenya, Beth and Jim checked a bag of kits destined for mountain women in Peru, and Chris took a bag full of flannel for a New Zealand chapter (our US prices and selection are so much better).  And just a couple of weeks ago, our volunteer Heather let me know that she had relatives in St. Louis heading to Africa.  I found Gerry, the Rolla, Missouri team leader that packed (and had her daughter deliver to the traveling brother, Steve) a suitcase full of kits that left for Kenya yesterday.  I get tears in my eyes appreciating all these friends and strangers putting together the details and effort and time to get kits in the hands of more girls.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

If you have travel in your future, and are willing to check a bag (or more), please let me know.  What is typically arranged is that the recipient will meet you at the airport or your first hotel.

EVEN MEDFORD

We actually could use transport for a few hundred kits by somebody traveling to Medford, between November 4 and 8.  Short window, I know.  There's a Kenyan woman who lives in California driving up the coast to pick up thousands of kits she'll be distributing on her next trip to Kenya.  Medford and Eugene are her last stops.  If we could get our kits to the Medford DFG team, that would save her about 6 hours of driving.  Please let me know if you're heading south!

KEEPING GIRLS IN SCHOOL

Our kits help keep girls in school.  In Chad, a girl is more likely to die in childbirth than attend secondary school.  Let that sink in.  Here is a moving video from UNICEF.

STORAGE AND PREP  SPACE

For about five years, much of my house, many closet shelves and a chunk of my garage have been filled to the gills with supplies/components/kits for Days for Girls, as well as areas for rotary cutting, and die cutting.  Each month, I've tried to pack every inch of my van with what I think we'll need for our workday, often not knowing who was coming, and with what skills.  Then I bring everything home, and try to reorganize it for the next month's workday.

A few years ago, I told Mary Jo, owner of Our Sewing Room and its building, that should it become available, I'd be interested in the space at the back of their building (facing 5th Street) that had been rented to a small church for decades.  Well, that group has given up their rooms, and I agreed to rent them.  The space definitely needs work, but eventually will be great for us to store, prep and organize everything we work on.  

I've been haunting BRING Recycling, the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, a couple of shops that were closing and selling or donating their store furnishings, and talking to friends who have tables, chairs and shelving to contribute.  

Can you help get our space useable? Let me know!  We're going to be cleaning and painting.  The carpet will have to be replaced.  Do you know anybody who could donate that or give us a great nonprofit discount?  I have scored some great work tables, about ten comfortable chairs on wheels, and some big shelving units.  We can definitely use more deep shelving.  A few ironing boards or tables (I got irons from Quiltwork Patches).  It desperately needs painting--do you enjoy that?  Volunteers are welcome--and so appreciated!  We've already been cleaning--carpets, windows, patching holes in wall.  The windows and blinds look so much better now! 

Jackie's been a tremendous help, not only washing windows, but helping with other cleaning, and hauling our furniture bargains in her pick-up.  A million thanks, Jackie!

I want to thank Beth for facilitating the donation of some tables and shelving from The Shamrock, now sadly closed. Why is it owners of favorite shops have to retire?  Same thing with Quiltwork Patches in Corvallis--they're selling me a few things from their shop.

Of course, help with the rent would be superb!   As a DFG birthday present or other donation?   Rent is $500 a month, which is incredibly cheap for commercial space, but pretty spendy for our little group that relies entirely on donations.  Do you know a service organization that would like to support us?  Some group that might like to have a fundraiser for our chapter?

I'm delighted with the opportunity to have more options for meeting and working during the month, and of course having our supplies stored and available where we work. 

10th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AND GIFT IDEAS

In 2007 Celeste Mergens became aware of the lack of reasonable options for girls in Kenya to manage their periods.  Her TED talk tells the story. 

On November 1, 2008 she founded Days for Girls.  As of last January, we had supplied kits to one million girls in 122 countries.  The number of chapters, teams and enterprises increase at a delightful rate and I'm sure we'll be hearing about the 2 millionth kit in the not too distant future.

So, of course I jumped at the opportunity to celebrate this 10-year milestone together with our group.  Our November workday is just two days after the birthday.  We'll work on kit components as usual, assemble a couple hundred kits going to Kenya, guiltlessly devour a chocolate cake from Sweet Life Patisserie, and hopefully receive presents from our volunteers and supporters.  Can you bring a present?  Large or small--they all help. Here are some suggestions:

Polyester thread--medium to dark colors.  Spools for regular sewing machines, cones for sergers.  

Underwear--the style we use is briefs (regular or lower cut).  Girls' sizes 10 to 16, and  women's sizes--up to size 8 is good.

Washcloths--medium to dark colors.  Target and Fred Meyers have a good weight for us.  Avoid the cheap, thin and poorly finished Walmart ones--they won't last, and also avoid thick lush ones--they won't dry in humid climates.

Fabric:  Because of cultural considerations, we avoid fabrics with certain prints:  anything with faces/eyes, camouflage, patriotic, religious/holiday, food, weapons, words, or culturally specific. 

If you have time to wash, dry and press it, that's greatly appreciated!

• Cotton Flannel--Busy, darker prints are best.  The best quality you can afford (higher thread count = more absorbent).   See fabric restrictions above.  
• Quilters' Cotton for Shields--Busy, darker prints are best.

PUL--Polyurethane Laminate:  This is what we put inside our shields, and we currently have plenty of that.  But if you can find some with a print that's not juvenile, we also use it for the Transport Bags that we send to Kenya.  They're a substitute for Ziplocs there, since single-use plastics are now banned.  JoAnn's sells it for washable diaper covers, and some of their prints aren't babyish.  When you have a 60%-off coupon, it becomes reasonably priced.

Rotary cutter blades--45mm or 60mm

Sewing machine needles--Microtex or sharps, size 12-14.

Small hotel soaps  don't buy soap, but please bring any extras from your travels.

Large Plastic totes (airtight)

And, of course, financial support!    If you'd like it to go towards our new space, please let me know!  Or, consider a monthly pledge towards rent.  You could even have it direct-deposited into our DFG account!

I made an online donation to our chapter on The International Day of the Girl, and learned the hard way that they will deduct credit card (and other?) fees from online donations.  A painful 5.26%! A donor to another chapter was charged 5.8%.  I was surprised, because that fee was waived in the past.

So please, if you'd like to make a monetary donation to our chapter, write a check, don't donate online!  You can make your check out to Days for Girls, and put Eugene, OR Chapter in the memo line.  I'm happy to send it in to headquarters for you.  (Or you can mail it to:  Days for Girls International, 102 Ohio Street, Bellingham, WA 98225--being sure to tell them it's for our chapter). They'll send you a receipt either way.  And we get 100% of that!

Do you work for a firm that matches donations?  That would be another bonus for us.  Our 501c3 number is 45-3934671.  And of course indicating Eugene Chapter is necessary for the donation to get to us. hey  

SPEAKING TO GROUPS

I'm always happy to talk to groups in our area (within an hour's drive), because I want everybody to know about Days for Girls, why we exist, and to consider supporting or joining us.  Awareness of the issue is the first step in solving it!  Thirty--forty minutes is great for a thorough presentation, although I can do more or less if requested.  In September, I presented at a Rotary meeting.  This month I'm speaking to a Lions group and a church group, and I talked to several dozen folks at our information table at the Emerald Valley Quilters quilt show.  In November I'm scheduled to present to a PEO chapter. If you belong to an organization that would like to hear about Days for Girls, please let me know.