Reaching my Target!

The last few weeks have been a really stressful time and I've questioned my sanity on numerous occasions. But getting the confirmation back from the matching fund in work that they were going to provide me with enough funds to meet my target made it all worthwhile.

The day after the table quiz notice was posted on the work intranet that the closing date for the matching fund was in one weeks time. Thankfully the proceeds from the quiz the night before meant that I was ready to make my application. I just hoped now that the fact that the closing date for applications was drawing near didn't mean that they were also running tight on funds.

Application submitted and everything crossed all I could do was wait.

Four days later, and on absolute tender hooks, I could wait no longer and decided to send a feeler mail to suss out whether or not my application had been successful. However just as I sent the mail I received confirmation that my application had proved successful. I swear...literally at the same time.

Faith was lending a hand. The relief! I immediately wrote back asking for clarification as to the amount that I had been approved for and received a reply to say that I was to receive the full amount. Absolutely incredible!

Five weeks to the day I had signed up I had made it. And what was even better I would have enough funds left over to bring Mary to her target as well! WOW!

I couldn't contain myself. I started to do a little celebratory dance at my desk! And my smile! Oh the relief! And my joy was shared by everyone around me.

In truth it was a real team effort and the looks on people's faces around me showed me how happy they were all for me. I can truly say that this experience has opened my eyes and I am really grateful for all the support that has been shown to me. I will never forget it!

Asking the Right Questions

It was agreed a table quiz would be a good way of raising more funds and an added extra was that it was something that I could organise in a relatively small space of time.

 

First off we sussed out the local pub (i.e. local to work) and they offered us a room upstairs for nothing so we were off to a good start.

 

Then one of the girls in work volunteered her husband as quiz master. This came as a big releif to me as I was already a nervous wreck and the thoughts of being the focus of a room full of people did not in the least appeal to me. I wanted people to enjoy themselves on the night not witness a nervous breakdown!

 

I knew the next thing that I had to do was get some prizes for the raffle that would be held on the night and the important thing was to try and get these for free.

 

As part of my process for psyching myself up for 'the begging' I convinced myself that I was doing local businesses a favour. After all I was going to have a huge number of people at the quiz (me, being positive) and sure it would be great publicity for them for all these people that would be attending on the night to know how generous the businesses had been.

 

The actual asking though was intimidating. I called it my 'Walk of Shame' as it tended to leave you feeling quiet exposed and at the same time anything could happen. I know, I shouldn't take these things personally but believe me this is easier said than done. In one shop I had the guy tell me that he had never seen me before and asked whether I actually shopped there. Now he was lucky. I had had a tough day at work and so I wasn't at my best. If I had been the guy's ears would still be hurting and his box of chocolates would not have been displayed to their best advantage. However I behaved myself, thanked him for his donation and left....and then started my bitching!

 

Overall people blew me away with their generosity and it was hard (particularly as I was hormonal) not to break down in tears. I did mentioned that I was pretty stressed at this stage didn't I? As well as being successful in my requests to some local businesses, people in work and friends also asked for donations on my behalf. In the end I ended up with a really good mix of prizes that I felt people would be genuinely interested in winning.

 

Next we had to get our questions organised and we got the majority of these from the same guy that gave me the drinks raffle tip. Also, the pub didn’t have a microphone system and after a bit of asking around one of the guys in work brought in his for us which saved us a fortune.

 

I found it hard to get people to actually commit to coming along on the night. I know myself that the last thing you want to do on some nights after dragging yourself home is to drag yourself back out again but you still hope that people will make the effort. Unfortunately a lot of the people that I had counted on to be there couldn't make it. For a while there it seemed as though I had more 'can't make its' then 'cans' and it reminded me of why I'd never done the whole big party thing. It was hard to keep the insecurities at bay. I just hoped people would turn up! 

 

But in the end we had 10 tables of 4 which was great considering. Friends who did come along dragged along family and friends and there was a real positive vibe in the place and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. What was more they were all sooo generous when it came to buying the raffle tickets and we cleared nearly €700 after taking into account the money I paid out for 1^st and 2^nd prizes.

 

I went home that night having sweated about 5lbs from nervous tension. It took me ages to wind down but with the help of a large G&T I eventually managed to fall asleep...with a big smile on my face!

Driven to Drink!

After our not so successful venture into the world of the car boot sale I knew we had to make sure that whatever activities we invested our time in going forward were as productive as possible in terms of raising money.

We started putting the word out. Picking the brains of people we had heard had been successful when it came to raising money in the past. Two of the big winners seemed to be - bag packing in local supermarkets and church gate collections.

I knew that not being originally from Dublin would put me at a disadvantage in that I simply didn't know enough people in Dublin that I could enlist to help with a bag packing venture. However when Mary checked with some local supermarkets in Kilkenny she was told that they were all booked up until after Christmas! So that ruled that option out. The church gate collection was also out as we would have needed a permit from the Gardai.

One of the girls in work suggested that I contact a guy she knew who had also signed up as a volunteer but who had already raised his funds. I did and he was able to give me some great tips, one of which was to organise a drinks raffle in work.

As I had smaller numbers in my work location I changed a few things but it basically involved begging people in work to donate a bottle of wine or a bottle of spirits for a draw to be held the following week... and then asking them to buy tickets so that they could win these bottles back! I know...sounds like a non runner doesn't it

There would be 2 draws with tickets for the wine draw being sold for €5 each and tickets for the spirits draw being sold for €10 each.  There would be as many prizes as there were donations.

Gradually the bottles started pouring in. For some, my mother included, it was an opportunity to raid the drinks cabinet and clear out unwanted unopened bottles. The spirits donated ranged from Barcardi and Gin to Lemoncello and Creme de Cassis.

The day before the draw two of my colleagues (who by their own admission would not be shy) offered to go around the office and sell tickets and I was amazed with how much money they came back with. Their names can be passed on for a small donation!!!

All in all I raised €705 from the draw. Absolutely unbelieveable! And it helped me feel as though maybe, I could do this after all.

And so it begins...

Each volunteer on signing up commits to raising €4,500. Now the fact that I had to borrow the initial deposit of €400 from Mary meant that I wasn't off to the greatest of starts. 

How does one actually go about raising €4,500? And worse still how does one do it in less than 2 months?! In the clear light of day this was looking like a daunting task.

Of course by now people had heard about what we had signed up for and as you can imagine most of them thought we had lost our marbles. I think our parents were ready to have a heart attack. I mean, between the 2 of us we were talking about raising €9,000 in 2 months!

But then there were those who, at least to our faces, said go for it. They were nothing but positive and were so forthcoming with their support. It was these words of encouragement that you latched on to.

After a few days of coming to terms with what we had ahead of us we decided that we would first give the local car boot sale a go. Who knows, maybe we would be on to a winner and could set up a stall on each of the Sundays over the coming weeks.

Now I had never been to a car boot sale but I figured anything was worth a try. And remember we had good on our side! The previous weekend Mary had gone out and sussed the lay of the land so we knew that stalls went on a first come first served basis. Mary decided that she would sell cakes and I figured that I could easily get my hands on spare books so a book stall was the way to go.

The week leading up the sale Mary enlisted the help of our mother and practically had her tied to the oven for the week cooking up a storm. In the meantime I gathered as many books as I could get and I ended up with about 250 - 300, mainly of the 'chick lit' variety.

That Sunday morning at 6:45 (I know, I was traumatised!) we headed out to the car boot sale and took our place in the queue for stalls. We managed to get 2 stalls together and we figured that we had ended up in a good location. We were definitely going to get all the passing trade. Dragging the stalls together we got to work making sure to stick up as many Haven posters as we could. 'All proceeds going to Haven's Build It Week in Haiti!' We even had the t-shirts!

After a slow start Mary's cakes started selling well and we figured that we could have done a lot better if we had just sold buns (cakes were slower to go). In the end though the return could not justify the effort during the week together with the cost of ingredients. But at least her produce sold.

Over on the book stall I could not give books away. I think I managed to sell 20 books if I'm lucky. In the back of my head all I could think about was the fact that I was going to have to pack them all up again...and bring them home with me!

After the cost of the stalls we came away with €112...between us! Richard Branson does not need to be worried.

If not now, when?

I've thought about writing a blog before now but have never progressed any further than the thought. What would I write about? Who would care? Why bother? 

Well that was then and this is now. This last month has shown me that if you want something hard enough anything is possible.

So welcome to my blog. The fact that I've created this blog means that I have now done something else that up to now I have  only thought about.

Over the next few weeks I am going to use this blog to record my upcoming adventure. Five weeks ago today myself and my sister signed up as last minute volunteers for Haven's Build It Week in Haiti starting October 30th. 

Haven was founded towards the end of 2008 and it's mission is to build strong and sustainable communities, through the provisions of adequate shelter and the implementation of practical training courses, capacity building programmes and income generation projects. The shelter programmes run throughout the year however twice a year, in April and October Haven's Haitian workforce is joined on site by a team of volunteers who take part in an intensive Build It Week. 

Like a lot of people, the idea of volunteering had crossed my mind one or two times before but up to now I have always been able to come up with plenty of excuses as to why signing up would not be a good idea. On September 6th something changed. 

That night it was raining and very clammy out and it took us quite a while to find the building where the presentation was being held. The form wasn't great and only for the fact that I had promised my sister I would go along with her to the presentation I would have been at home, in my usual position, sprawled across the sofa.

But I had promised Mary so we dragged ourselves along and listened to what they had to say. I remember thinking to myself as we signed in that I hoped these people knew that I was only along for support and that I was not signing up. Little did I know.

As I listened to the presentation something clicked. They needed people and not just skilled people. Did I really have a good enough excuse as to why I couldn't help? 

As we spoke with some of the people afterwards who had volunteered on previous Build It Weeks more and more of my excuses faded away. Excuses like...I don't have the necessary skills...How would I raise the money (€4,500 per volunteer) in time... and the old reliable...maybe when I lose some weight...

Instead this voice in my head was asking me...if not now, when? I could see from Mary that she felt the same way. So that was it. It was decided. On the way back to the car we siked each other up. To be honest I think if we had been on our own we would not have gone ahead with it. But we weren't on our own and on the way home that night anything was possible.

The next day, to cement our decisions, we submitted our applications and I got my first set of jabs.