Reach for the Stars...need your help...

So I'm really not one into fund raising or soliciting money from other folks BUT this is for a good cause I  feel in my soul that I needed to come to my fellow knitters for a bit of help.  My daughter's Montessori school is holding a pledged based reading incentive program to help not only fund raise but to get the kids more excited about reading. Our goal is to have each kid in the school read over 300 minutes in the next two weeks (or in my case read to my child since she is a pre-reader.) This also encourages parents to spend more time reading to their children and spending one on one time away from the TV.  I will be keeping a reading  journal to make sure she stays on track and at the end of the two weeks, she gets  a cute little certificate.

Where the money goes - The pledge program is being sponsored by Usborne Books -those of you who know them will know they have GREAT books and are a great asset to all types of educators.  50 percent of the pledge money will go directly to Amelia (well not to her directly but to the school and then to her) to pick out books for her own personal library from Usborne books.  She is choosing to donate 50% of her cut to purchase books for her classroom and the school, which I'm just floored by her little 4 year old generosity.   The other 50% will go directly to pay for books for our sister school in South Africa.   Our sister school was actually co-founded by my friend Anne, who just recently moved here  from South Africa . The story is heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once, but it's also entirely too long to tell all of it right now but I'll give you the basic details with more info to come over the next couple weeks.  There was no formal preschool education in this extremely impoverished South African community in which Anne lived.  So the women at Damion Chrysler pooled their own personal resources to start a school for some of the local children who would probably never have an opportunity to attend any sort of formal schooling.  This community has literally THOUSANDS of  CHILDREN in it, the majority of which are living in conditions with NO RUNNING WATER, NO PLUMBING, LITTLE ACCESSIBILITY TO MEDICINE, AND VIRTUALLY NO FOOD.  And if this is not enough, the entire community has been devastated by the HIV virus as well as drought and famine.   The preschool started in a shack, moved to a clinic and is now in a brick and mortar building, it is run entirely by VOLUNTEERS who pay for all expenses out of their own pockets.  The school has room for 60 children, all of which are chosen by a random lottery. They are provided one meal everyday, which for most of them is their only meal, and are taught English and other skills that will help them survive in their economically devastated community.       

So why am I here?  To ask for pledges from all of you, not only will this teach a valuable lesson to my daughter and her school about the importance of generosity but it will help in the continuation of this grassroots preschool and could literally assure that most of these children will have the opportunity to grow up and teach their own children.   

What am I doing?  Well I'm going to do my own pledging but with yarn rather then money.  If you pledge $20.00 I will send you a lovely skein of my hand dyed sock yarn.  If you pledge $25.00 I will dye a special skein just for you.****** And if you pledge 50.00(which I'm not expecting in the least bit) I will dye an entire pound of yarn of your choice for whatever project you might want at 50% of cost for wool blends and cotton or cost for 100% silks , which will be crazy cheap!  Think luxurious silk blends or nubby wool or naturally dyed cotton, lovely hand dyed sweaters or drapey shawls, think big and 1/10th of the price as in your local yarn botique!   All those who donate will be entered in a lottery to win some other small prizes which I will list in the next couple days (if anyone wants to donate prizes drop me a line.)   

This drive will continue until March 19th and with final donations being received no later then the 21st or the 22nd of March but the sooner the better.  I will begin yarn dyeing now but please allow a couple weeks or a month :) to get your package. 

Accountability - at the end of the drive I will make a copy of the pledge sheet with private information blocked out of course listing all the pledges that were made so you know your money will be going to where it needs to be. I will also attempt to keep a running total in my side bar (does anyone know how to do this? Drop me a line if you do.)  Donations will be accepted through checks or paypal - if pledging by check drop me a line at zolzer @ olypen dot com for information, checks will be made directly to my daughters school.  Funded paypal pledges can go to athyarns at yahoo dot com.  This account will be set up to deposit directly into my daughters school. 

I have not yet set a goal but hope to do so in the next day or so. I need to think in my heart what is a realistic number, I do not want to shoot to low nor do I want to over estimate and unintentionally disappoint Amelia i we don't make it.  Thank you ahead of time for taking the time to read through this and at the very least considering pledging to this worthy cause.  As a personal favor I would appreciate it if you could add a little blurb in your blogs about this, the more the merrier!   Thanks so much! 

P.S.  Due to the overwhelming response already that will have me dyeing for the rest of my life, I'm asking a few of my close dyeing friends to help me out. So the yarn you get might be from any number of small yet FANTASTIC hand dyers but we'll work the details out later! :)   

 

Comments

[Christine]

I think this sounds like a great cause. I think reading and literacy is so important. Count me in.

[Trillian42t]

As one who was a voracious reader as a child (and still is, when time permits), you can totally count me in. You'll see my paypal pledge coming through shortly.

[StacyZ]

Absolutely where can I send my pledge! This is a wonderful cause!

[ambermoggie]

definately in for this. Reading kept me sane as a child spending months in hospital from the age of 2.
(In fact it still does)
amber in scotland

[michelle]

I would love to make a pledge and donate a prize!

[Elspeth]

I'd love to pledge - I'll send it off this afternoon!

[Darci]

My donation is on its way...as an English teacher of students with language diabilities this is close to my heart.

[Machelle]

Count me in.Please email me the information or let me know how you are doin this.

[Machelle]

Count me in.Please email me the information or let me know how you are doing this. Its amazing what happens when people pull together.

[Mama Urchin]

You can count on me Heather. I think you're going to be overwhelmed for the next few days! And don't worry about dyeing for me.

[Kristy]

Money donated and blogged about. You're doing a great thing!

[Emily]

What a wonderful thing to do! I would love to be involved! Count me in. I'll PayPal you if you tell me the right address! (and I am adding this to my sidebar) :D

[Alyson]

What a wonderful thing to do! I'll paypal you to help out the kids - and please, please .... give your daughter a big hug and tell her that I said she's such a wonderful girl. Now I'm all teared up and have to go do something distracting.

[Sarah]

I'm a former elementary school teacher and I have a lot of kids' books that I'm obviously no longer using. Could you use any donations of books?

[Kate/Massachusetts]

Count me in, too!

[Michelle]

I'd be more than happy to donate. Please email me the details for PayPal.

[Karen B.]

I bought shoes for African school girls last week. Why not help out with something to read once they get there?

This is a good thing.

[kmkat]

As an occasional librarian who visited South Africa in 2005, I am all over this one. What a great cause!

[Irene Johnston]

If you would email me the information on how to use my paypal to make a donation I would gladly do so. The conditions in
Africa for many children is appalling. I was just telling my grandchildren about the school that Oprah set up in S. Africa. I believe that great things can happen with just a small amount of faith. Keep up the good work. I wish I weren't so computer impaired!

[Carrie]

What a great idea! And a wonderful way to teach your daughter the love of reading and compassion all at the same time! I'm off to paypal right now :)

[Kate]

Just sent! What a great cause!

[Cheryl Fodera]

I employ young people and have been appalled at the incredible lack of literacy.
My Paypal is on its way.

[Susan]

Already sent via PayPal!

As a new mom who is freaky-deaky about getting her son to read (2 years old TODAY and reading is his absolute favorite thing to do!) plus an academic librarian plus (!) someone who lived in Botswana - the country above South Africa - for a bit, this is something that truly hits me as one of the more worthwhile causes in a long, long time....

[Eva]

Hiya, I would like to make a donation, but I only have CC funded paypal... can you take that too?

Cheers Eva