Today I was in charge of running a fundraiser for the the CWA. And I have to say, I am absolutely blown away by the generosity of people, and the willingness of those around me to help me fulfill my goal.
The goal was to raise funds to send through the Red Cross to those recovering from Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. We ran a BBQ, with a cake stall and a "guess how many lollies are in the jar" competition. I was expecting to make somewhere between $300 and $400. But in just under 4 hours, we raised $747!!!!
Our very first transaction of the day was a man donating $10 while we were setting up.
Throughout the day we had many people tell us to "keep the change".
And at one point a man came over to find out what we were raising money for. After we told him, he walked over to the ATM, came back and dropped $200 on the table! We managed to convince him to have a sausage.
Then there were all my wonderful friends who baked delicious cakes, slices and cookies that we could sell on the cake stall! They looked wonderful and I'm pretty sure the people who bought them definitely enjoyed them!
And, of course, the wonderful people who made themselves available to stand out, next to a hot barbeque, on a really hot day, for no personal gain, who gladly paid for their own food and drinks, to cook and serve and set up and clean up. I am incredibly grateful for each of you, and the time and effort you gave to help make today such a success.
My husband, without whom I think the day would have been very difficult, even though he was desperate for sleep after a night shift.
My son's best friend's mum, who came and helped to set up, serve, and then took the Little Big Fella back to her place so that we didn't have to stress as he became bored and hot and cranky.
My friend who came and helped out for more than the hour she'd agreed to, and her friend who looked after her oldest two children so that she could.
Our CWA Treasurer, who really struggled in the heat, but hung around and helped all day, including packing up in the high heat of the day and counting all the money.
Our CWA President, her daughter and grandkids, who kept things running smoothly when I started to lose the plot this afternoon through exhaustion. And the re-supply of home-made baking that kept the cake stall running hot!
Our CWA Secretary and her husband who kept the stall running with enthusiasm when I was ready to end it early. And they stayed around to help deal with the pack up in the heat of the day, which is really the worst part of any event!
After working for three days at the end of this week (more about that in another post soon), I know that I wouldn't have been able to do this without all of you. And I would never have dreamed of being able to make such a wonderful donation without every one of the people who visited our little stall today.
Thank you! Thank you all so much!
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Monday, 1 July 2013
Generosity
I've known some very generous people in my life. People who've been generous with money, yes. But also people who have been generous with time, skills, love, affection, kind words, praise, encouragement, smiles and laughter.
I'm sure you've met them too. They are the people who give and give and seem to get such pleasure out of the act of generosity. They are the ones that, every time you see them, they greet you with a hug or a compliment (or both!).
And generosity seems to just be in their nature! They seem to do it without thought or concern about how it might affect them.
I love to be around those kind of people! They make me feel awesome, and they make me want to be better than I am.
I've done a little bragging about my Big Fella. And I'll do it again (after all, I'm married to the man and I think he's awesome!). He is very generous!
He's generous with his money. Not only giving people money, but also in buying things for them (particularly at restaurants with good food and wine - he'll often try to pay the whole bill).
He's generous with his time and skills. He'll happily give up a day to help a mate build a shed, or fix their car or do whatever handy work needs doing.
He's generous with his praise. He tells people when he thinks they're great - without going over the top or "blowing smoke up their... ".
My parents hardly had any money when I was growing up but that didn't stop them being generous. We almost always had people living with us, or staying for a few days or weeks. And mum would somehow pull food out of the cupboards to feed all the people that would turn up and hang out for the afternoon/evening every Sunday.
I have a new friend on the Fit Yummy Mummy forums who is constantly encouraging others to keep at their weight loss goals, and pointing out where they're winning.
I have a friend who, despite her personal pain and problems, is constantly looking for ways to encourage and help others who have major life issues.
And here's the thing I've noticed: what goes around, comes around! Call it what you like - karma, sowing and reaping, maybe even fate - but I see it when I look at the lives of these generous people.
They offer their time, goods, love, and encouragement. And they get it back when they need it.
None of these people are generous because they want to get something from others. From my observations, they give because they enjoy the ability to give. Nevertheless, they receive back when they're in need.
And when these people are having a hard time, people seem to jump at the chance to help them! I've watched the givers being completely overwhelmed by receiving.
And I've watched people who lack generosity. They are stingy with their money, stingy with their time, stingy with their skills, stingy with encouragement. In some cases they've even taken from those who have nothing left to give.
And I've seen some of these people fall on bad times. Then the people around them point to karma or say they got what they deserved. I've even seen people snicker behind their hands at the downfall of these ones.
It makes me want to give as much as I can, in as many different ways as I can, and find as much joy as I can in the giving. Not to get anything in return, or even simply from the fear of being the butt of a bad joke, but because I love being around generous people and seeing how happy the act of generosity makes them. I want me some more of that, please!
I'm sure you've met them too. They are the people who give and give and seem to get such pleasure out of the act of generosity. They are the ones that, every time you see them, they greet you with a hug or a compliment (or both!).
And generosity seems to just be in their nature! They seem to do it without thought or concern about how it might affect them.
I love to be around those kind of people! They make me feel awesome, and they make me want to be better than I am.
I've done a little bragging about my Big Fella. And I'll do it again (after all, I'm married to the man and I think he's awesome!). He is very generous!
He's generous with his money. Not only giving people money, but also in buying things for them (particularly at restaurants with good food and wine - he'll often try to pay the whole bill).
He's generous with his time and skills. He'll happily give up a day to help a mate build a shed, or fix their car or do whatever handy work needs doing.
He's generous with his praise. He tells people when he thinks they're great - without going over the top or "blowing smoke up their... ".
My parents hardly had any money when I was growing up but that didn't stop them being generous. We almost always had people living with us, or staying for a few days or weeks. And mum would somehow pull food out of the cupboards to feed all the people that would turn up and hang out for the afternoon/evening every Sunday.
I have a new friend on the Fit Yummy Mummy forums who is constantly encouraging others to keep at their weight loss goals, and pointing out where they're winning.
I have a friend who, despite her personal pain and problems, is constantly looking for ways to encourage and help others who have major life issues.
And here's the thing I've noticed: what goes around, comes around! Call it what you like - karma, sowing and reaping, maybe even fate - but I see it when I look at the lives of these generous people.
They offer their time, goods, love, and encouragement. And they get it back when they need it.
None of these people are generous because they want to get something from others. From my observations, they give because they enjoy the ability to give. Nevertheless, they receive back when they're in need.
And when these people are having a hard time, people seem to jump at the chance to help them! I've watched the givers being completely overwhelmed by receiving.
And I've watched people who lack generosity. They are stingy with their money, stingy with their time, stingy with their skills, stingy with encouragement. In some cases they've even taken from those who have nothing left to give.
And I've seen some of these people fall on bad times. Then the people around them point to karma or say they got what they deserved. I've even seen people snicker behind their hands at the downfall of these ones.
It makes me want to give as much as I can, in as many different ways as I can, and find as much joy as I can in the giving. Not to get anything in return, or even simply from the fear of being the butt of a bad joke, but because I love being around generous people and seeing how happy the act of generosity makes them. I want me some more of that, please!
Monday, 13 May 2013
Diamonds
When the Big Fella and I were first dating and engaged, he decided that it was probably going to be the last opportunity he had for a while to splurge on me and buy me expensive jewelery.
So as well as my engagement ring, he bought me some diamond earrings and had a necklace made for me.
Well, when the Little Big Fella and I were in the motel room after the accident, I discovered that I'd lost one of my earrings. I nearly lost that plot right then. I mean, it's such a small thing really, but added to everything else that had happened that day, plus the sentimental value of those particular earrings, it was just a bit too much.
I casually mentioned it to the Big Fella a day or so after we got home, trying not to make as big a deal of it as it felt to me.
The weekend that we returned the hire car, borrowing a friend's car to get home, we also stopped at the major shopping centre there to stock up. As the Little Big Fella and I were wandering around, the Big Fella poked his nose into the jeweler's. You guessed it! He was looking at diamond earrings!
I nearly cried. My husband knew that I loved those earrings, not because of their monetary value, but because they were a representation of him and his generosity and love. And here he was, choosing exactly the ones I would have chosen (just like he did with my engagement ring, by the way).
I love my husband.
We didn't have the cash to buy them on the spot so the Big Fella paid a deposit, then asked if they clean rings. My wedding and engagement rings haven't been cleaned in quite a while, and being "white gold" need to be re-plated every now and then.
So he had them send my rings off to be re-plated and cleaned as well.
We are still car-less so when we received the call the other day saying that all was ready to collect, I assumed it would still be a few weeks until we'd have the opportunity to go and get them. But, no! My Big Fella put our plight to the lady at the store and she offered to have her son drop them to us on his way through to the coast.
Guess what day they came through! Mother's Day! And they were beautifully boxed and wrapped.
So now I have a full set of clean, beautiful diamond jewelery again. Aren't I a lucky girl???
Oh! You want to see them? Okay :-D
So as well as my engagement ring, he bought me some diamond earrings and had a necklace made for me.
Well, when the Little Big Fella and I were in the motel room after the accident, I discovered that I'd lost one of my earrings. I nearly lost that plot right then. I mean, it's such a small thing really, but added to everything else that had happened that day, plus the sentimental value of those particular earrings, it was just a bit too much.
I casually mentioned it to the Big Fella a day or so after we got home, trying not to make as big a deal of it as it felt to me.
The weekend that we returned the hire car, borrowing a friend's car to get home, we also stopped at the major shopping centre there to stock up. As the Little Big Fella and I were wandering around, the Big Fella poked his nose into the jeweler's. You guessed it! He was looking at diamond earrings!
I nearly cried. My husband knew that I loved those earrings, not because of their monetary value, but because they were a representation of him and his generosity and love. And here he was, choosing exactly the ones I would have chosen (just like he did with my engagement ring, by the way).
I love my husband.
We didn't have the cash to buy them on the spot so the Big Fella paid a deposit, then asked if they clean rings. My wedding and engagement rings haven't been cleaned in quite a while, and being "white gold" need to be re-plated every now and then.
So he had them send my rings off to be re-plated and cleaned as well.
We are still car-less so when we received the call the other day saying that all was ready to collect, I assumed it would still be a few weeks until we'd have the opportunity to go and get them. But, no! My Big Fella put our plight to the lady at the store and she offered to have her son drop them to us on his way through to the coast.
Guess what day they came through! Mother's Day! And they were beautifully boxed and wrapped.
So now I have a full set of clean, beautiful diamond jewelery again. Aren't I a lucky girl???
Oh! You want to see them? Okay :-D
Friday, 6 July 2012
Just when you think you've reached a goal...
Oh my goodness it's been hard to get to the computer this week! Between just doing stuff and being tired, the computer has definitely been last on the list of things to do. Sorry if you were hanging out for a post ;-)
We had a very exciting moment Wednesday morning. The Big Fella's pay came through and we reached our first savings milestone! Yay!
During the morning I noticed the light globe had blown on the fridge. No worries, we can replace that at some stage.
Later I realised I hadn't heard the fridge "kick in" for a while. Uh oh! I checked and it was fully plugged in and turned on. I opened the door for a while and turned the dial up to the coldest setting.
Nothing.
I checked that the safety switch hadn't flipped in the power box. Nope.
Bugger!
Time to let the Big Fella know. Unfortunately he was about to go to bed after a night shift and in preparation for his next night shift. But we all got in the car and, after a false start (we think only because it was cold), we drove to the next town and looked at new fridges.
We got our fridge from the Big Fella's parents as a wedding present, ten and a half years ago. We kind of knew it was likely to need replacing soon but I really wanted to shop around and choose something we'd really be happy with, not have to take the best option in front of us. I wanted it to be an exciting shopping adventure. Sigh.
We ended up choosing a lovely, very large fridge and arranged delivery for the afternoon. We did a little bit of food shopping and collected the mail the headed home.
The Big Fella went to bed in an attempt to get some desperately needed sleep.
I started moving some items to the downstairs deep freezer and a few things into our awesome esky (ice box) and what did I hear??? The fridge kicked in!!! Gah!
So now we have a beer fridge (actually, I'm pretty sure it'll be a sausage fridge because the Big Fella is really keen to make his own, build a smokehouse and whatever else goes into the process). And our upstairs fridge is so nice! It's big and holds everything and is tall enough to stand a cask of wine up without squishing all the other shelves to uselessness.
The only down side possibly has more to do with the house than the fridge - it's kind of hard to get the crisper (at the bottom of the fridge) more than half way out to get to the veges. You have to open the door all the way, but we have a wall in the way so it's a little bit of a struggle. But I think we'll find a way to deal with that so it's no biggie :-)
Oh! And it's a self-defrosting freezer! Yay!!! Given the humidity that we'll get in summer, defrosting the freezer kind of becomes a monthly task so having one that does it all by itself is so exciting!
And it has an ice-tray built in thingy. We go through lots of ice so this is definitely a bonus for us.
And it's easy to pull the shelves and door bits out to clean! The old fridge was great but had a couple of permanent door shelves that caught all kinds of stuff and was tricky to get well cleaned.
So there you go! We have a new fridge! And the Big Fella is now keen to replace the washing machine (about 8 or 9 years old), microwave and bedding over the next few months. Yay :-D
We had a very exciting moment Wednesday morning. The Big Fella's pay came through and we reached our first savings milestone! Yay!
During the morning I noticed the light globe had blown on the fridge. No worries, we can replace that at some stage.
Later I realised I hadn't heard the fridge "kick in" for a while. Uh oh! I checked and it was fully plugged in and turned on. I opened the door for a while and turned the dial up to the coldest setting.
Nothing.
I checked that the safety switch hadn't flipped in the power box. Nope.
Bugger!
Time to let the Big Fella know. Unfortunately he was about to go to bed after a night shift and in preparation for his next night shift. But we all got in the car and, after a false start (we think only because it was cold), we drove to the next town and looked at new fridges.
We got our fridge from the Big Fella's parents as a wedding present, ten and a half years ago. We kind of knew it was likely to need replacing soon but I really wanted to shop around and choose something we'd really be happy with, not have to take the best option in front of us. I wanted it to be an exciting shopping adventure. Sigh.
We ended up choosing a lovely, very large fridge and arranged delivery for the afternoon. We did a little bit of food shopping and collected the mail the headed home.
The Big Fella went to bed in an attempt to get some desperately needed sleep.
I started moving some items to the downstairs deep freezer and a few things into our awesome esky (ice box) and what did I hear??? The fridge kicked in!!! Gah!
So now we have a beer fridge (actually, I'm pretty sure it'll be a sausage fridge because the Big Fella is really keen to make his own, build a smokehouse and whatever else goes into the process). And our upstairs fridge is so nice! It's big and holds everything and is tall enough to stand a cask of wine up without squishing all the other shelves to uselessness.
The only down side possibly has more to do with the house than the fridge - it's kind of hard to get the crisper (at the bottom of the fridge) more than half way out to get to the veges. You have to open the door all the way, but we have a wall in the way so it's a little bit of a struggle. But I think we'll find a way to deal with that so it's no biggie :-)
Oh! And it's a self-defrosting freezer! Yay!!! Given the humidity that we'll get in summer, defrosting the freezer kind of becomes a monthly task so having one that does it all by itself is so exciting!
And it has an ice-tray built in thingy. We go through lots of ice so this is definitely a bonus for us.
And it's easy to pull the shelves and door bits out to clean! The old fridge was great but had a couple of permanent door shelves that caught all kinds of stuff and was tricky to get well cleaned.
So there you go! We have a new fridge! And the Big Fella is now keen to replace the washing machine (about 8 or 9 years old), microwave and bedding over the next few months. Yay :-D
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