There are two amazing bag projects that I wanted to share with you: Bags for Zaza and the Darfur Project.
I first read about Bags for Zaza through the blog Profy.com
where the founder, Jennie, was interviewed about grassroots fund raising. Jennie is creating cool bags from fabric she already has
in her stash as well as from friends and is selling them on her blog
(via an auction model) with all of the monies going to her brother and
sister-in-law for costs associated with adopting a little girl from
Columbia.
In reading the interview I was impressed with Jennie's take on
current fundraising models as well as her personal desire to give
people something for their donation - but something made from materials
she already had.
I ... embarked on a journey into the dusty closets and corners of my home and started gathering all of my fabric into one handy location, my living room. I'm a terrible packrat and as I sorted through my finds, I projected that I could easily make 20 bags with the materials on hand (I realize now that I can make more than that). I made a pattern from my Darfur Bag with a few little modifications of my own. I sewed together 8 bags and built my blog site before I even mentioned the scheme to my in-laws. I told them what I was doing, then launched my site the next day. I sent out emails to friends and family and sold my first batch of bags within a couple days.
In less than 4 weeks I reached my initial goal of raising $500. However, if you know anything about adoption expenses, you'll know that this is just a drop in the bucket. Gosh, I could go on forever, but I'll wrap up this little history by saying that my sister-in-law (Zaza's momma to be) is sewing up a storm now and other friends and family have also helped with the sewing. It looks like we're going to keep going on this until Zaza comes home.
In a nutshell, inspiration for the scheme came from my desire to support Zaza's adoption in a substantial, but feasible way. And the Darfur Project certainly provided a great model to build on. Another family was raising money for their adoption by selling t-shirts. The project was called "Saving Dowensky" and I've certainly thought of them a lot through this.
Bags for Zaza is modeled after the Darfur Project, another online bag auction started by Joyce to raise funds for the unimaginable situation in Darfur. Joyce has this to say about her project:
It has been an unbelievably fulfilling ride to combine several passions
in this project. Listening to the small, still, easily ignored voice of
God. Combining a passion (compulsion) for thrifting with a passion to
create with needle and thread. Using reclaimed fabrics rich with
imagined history and sending them back out into the world to begin anew.
Now
skirts, jeans, curtains, quilts, tea towels, kitchen aprons, flour
sacks, couches, belts, neckties, bedspreads, and table cloths are being
casually slung over shoulders from across the prairies, over the
mountains, and over oceans. The joy and connectedness spreads right
around the world.
From off my shoulder and through my heart, welcome to the Darfur project.
The bags created by Jennie and Joyce are beautiful and unique works
of art. Now they aren't always suited for laptops, but sometimes we need to leave that laptop at home!! Jennie names her bags after different books which is
delightful. I encourage you to check out both sites and maybe buy a bag (or two) for two wonderful causes!!
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