BONANZAS!!

Flannel plus flannel 

On October 11th, I took advantage of the 20% coupon and flannel sale at JoAnn's, for my private celebration of the International Day of the Girl.  I found 4 different flannels with colors and patterns that will work well for our liners.

Then, fairly late Thursday evening I decided to check for flannel on Craigslist. I've never been successful at that before.  To my amazement, this popped up:

 FLANNEL MATERIAL(new) (Springfield)

Have over 200 yards of flannel, prints/plaids/plain. All has been prewashed and shrunk. Pieces range in size from 1/2 yard to 6 yards. Pieces range in price from $1.00 to $12.00 (that is about $2.00 a yd. Great for quilts, craft projects or pj's. Not flame retardant. No texts please. 

I contacted the seller, Carla, and I went to her home with empty boxes.  I brought home 56 yards of medium to dark flannels, at just $2 a yard.  And as you might suspect, I'm thrilled that she's already washed and dried it!

She has many others, as you can see in the first picture, that have light backgrounds.  She's willing for me to go back to pick those up if dying liners turns out to be an efficient use of our time.   Thank you, Carla!

Black Friday Flannel

Normally, the lowest price of the year on flannel is at JoAnn's the day after Thanksgiving.  Last year, when prices hit rock bottom, I bought bolts of flannel that would work well for our liners.  As I wheeled a wobbly tower of flannel out to my car, a customer heading in couldn't resist asking what in the world I would be doing with that much flannel.  I told her about Days for Girls, and gave her my contact info.  Sue was already doing quite a bit of sewing for charities, and is now also a prolific volunteer with Days for Girls Eugene!  This Sunday she couldn't stay, as she had Grandma duties,  but the grandkids helped her deliver all the liners she'd been working on since last time.

Best looking delivery crew ever!

Springfield Lions help out again

Last May, the Springfield Lions Club very generously donated $500 to our team.  Because of the 2:1 matching fundraiser going on at that time, our Eugene/Springfield team received the $500 and headquarters received $1000.  Timing was everything!  At our October 18 workday, six Springfield Lions came and spent several hours ironing flannel, serging, cutting fabric, applying Fraycheck, and affixing snaps.  Their presence was a great photo opp for this oversized check, representing the May 2015 donation.  Thank you so much, Springfield Lions!  I hope we'll see you again soon.

Revlon Challenge

The leader of another team suggested that if every supporter or volunteer on every team just donated $10 to their team during this fundraiser (the Bernie Sanders model), Days for Girls International would easily come out on top.  Right now, we are in 4th place.  All the competing organizations are great causes.  I think Days for Girls may affect more individuals worldwide than any of the others.  If a donation of any size can fit in your budget, here is where you go to donate.  Scroll down through the red rectangles for different teams/chapters, click "Show all" below them.  Keep scrolling, and then click on the rectangle that says, "Eugene OR."   If you prefer to donate by phone, call Leah Spelman, Development Director of Days for Girls at 206-518-7428.  Be sure you tell her the donation is to benefit our Eugene team.   Please be aware that this challenge ends on October 29 at  the odd time of 10:59:99 AM Pacific time.

Join us to celebrate The International Day of the Girl Child next weekend

Our next workday is Sunday, October 18th, so we'll be celebrating the Day of the Girl a week late.  We have lots to do, including keeping that Accuquilt busy cutting out shields and PUL for shields.  Please let me know if you're up for learning how to do this.

And, as usual, please remind me to take pictures throughout the day!!

Orange Dot

One (or more) of the pictures we need is of the group or individuals, with a big orange circle.  This is a request from headquarters.  Keep reading:

Posted Sunday, October 11:  Happy International Day of the Girl. Today the world celebrates girls and their ability to influence and transform global challenges. This year's ‪#‎DayOfTheGirl‬ theme focuses on the ‪#‎PowerOfTheAdolescentGirl‬. 

Days for Girls International also believes in the power of the adolescent girl to inspire global change and empower communities around the globe. And all of you, in our global network, make our work possible. Together, we give the ‪#‎GiftOfTime‬. Our network of volunteers, supporters, chapters, enterprises, and donors create access to menstrual hygiene kits that help girls continue in school, access economic opportunities, and educate their families about women's reproductive health.

From now until December 10th, the end of the 15 day UN Campaign to End Violence Against Women, Days for Girls International wants to celebrate the global network that inspires so many women & girls around the world. We invite you to join us in celebrating women and girls around the world for the next two months with a challenge. We want to see how many Days for Girls supporters, enterprises, distributions, volunteers, and donors we can document on the map from around the world. If you want to participate, please send us a photo of you and your group, or yourself, or Days for Girls contacts, holding an Orange Dot. The Orange Dot represents the Days for Girls motto of "Every Girl, Everywhere, Period." 

Do you think we can find support on all seven continents? We think it's possible! 

Would you try to snap some photos of your team holding up an orange circle or two? Plate sized is fine. We will be featuring them for Orange Your World, a UN campaign about highlighting ending violence against women and we'll just tie it all in to Every girl. Everywhere. Period. Just take a photo with an orange circle of paper, fabric, paper plate, whatever works and send it to socialmedia@daysforgirls.org. Wherever you are. Anytime. They will be happy to feature YOU! 

Delivery from the North

Our friends from a Tualatin Women's Ministry Group drive down to join our workdays when their schedules permit, bearing supplies.  This past Thursday, Nancy found someone headed our way and he dropped off a huge tub and big bag, both brimming full of Ziploc freezer bags, washcloths, underwear, washed flannel and pretty bags and liners.  Thank you very generous ladies, once again.

There was much more, but I didn't remember to grab my camera until I'd put lots of it away.

 Radar

A few local church youth groups also have us on their radar, and have collected supplies and worked on components.  The most amazing evening was when a dozen middle and high school girls sorted the hundreds of pairs of underwear purchased and donated during the recent back-to-school sales.  We had one size of panties per table, and the girls opened the packages, removed the tape from each pair, and sorted each size into ones that needed to be dyed, ones with prints that can't be used in some cultures, and ones that are perfect as is.  What an extremely helpful donation of their time that was!

Each 12- or 9-pack normally includes whites, lights and animal prints or words.  Bags of Love also collects underwear to include in their bags.  Happily, they aren't as picky as Days for Girls, so we swapped some styles and patterns with them.  A big thank you to Patty, who spent a lot of time in the underwear departments of various Targets, and facilitated the swap.

More Great Donations

Many others have spent their time sewing and purchasing supplies for us.  We appreciate you all!  These are some of the recent donations!

Day of the Girl

Just two years ago, the UN declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to raise awareness about all issues concerning gender inequality around the world.  It’s a day when activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere.

October 11 is not just a day; it’s a movement.

A worldwide revolution.

We want ourselves, and girls everywhere, to be seen as equals, in the eyes of others and in our own eyes.

I am so proud to be involved in this movement.  I am absolutely delighted with our Eugene/Springfield team.  I've met so many wonderful, caring, creative people, and really look forward to our workdays.  This has been an amazing couple of years--we've created and donated hundreds of kits.  We've made connections, formed friendships and educated ourselves about conditions challenging women in other areas of the world and how we can contribute to changing them.  And we've improved the lives of all the girls and women who have received our kits.

Our Eugene team meets on the THIRD Sunday of the month, so we're celebrating the International Day of the Girl as a team a week late.  But I love doing this stuff, so I will celebrate privately on Sunday--probably sewing a bit.

If you too would like to do something on your own to celebrate The Day of the Girl on the 11th, here are some suggestions:

• Find some fabric in your stash that would make beautiful bags, shields or liners
• Buy some flannel at JoAnn's (65% off through the 12th, plus an additional 20% off entire order--in mailed flyer) or other quilt/fabric shop.  Remember--darker, busy stain-hiding colors and patterns. 
• Wash, dry and iron fabric
• Buy something else--polyester thread, Ziploc gallon Freezer bags, colorful washcloths, undies, etc. (the list is in an earlier post).
• Make a donation.  Days for Girls is currently in 4th place in the Revlon Challenge.  Winning the million dollars would certainly expand our ability to help girls and women in impoverished areas of the world.  Your donations purchase our team's supplies and help our organization's chances of winning the big prize.
• Post the Fundraiser info and link on your Facebook page 
• Post a link to this blog on your Facebook page
• Spread the word--most of our contacts with new volunteers and requests for kits have started with a simple conversation.  If you know somebody who loves to sew, you might mention Days for Girls.  If you know somebody who has a connection in a Third World Country, tell them what we do and why.  I'm also looking for people traveling to Munich in the next few months who could take some PUL (for kits going to the refugees).

I sincerely appreciate all of you who contribute in so many ways.  Thank you all for your interest, generosity, hard work, travel hours, ideas, various amazing donations, friendships and abundant support.  You make it so rewarding!