Well the auction seems to be coming together in the traditional awesome way.
We tried a new system for ticket sales that went over very well. We had a line up outside the 50+ Club starting at 9:30. That was amazing to see. Our first sale was for 20 tickets. The Pay Pal account worked very well. I was very nervous about how that would all work together. But it went very smoothly. We found a new system that really worked for us.
We sold 131 tickets in the first 15 minutes. At the end of the four hours we only had 29 tickets left. We are down a few more tickets now. I think we only have 19 left. I am very happy that we are almost completely done. It was very easy to get the tickets sold, letters addressed and mailed out in the same few hours. So much simpler.
Items are rolling in. We have some amazing things coming in. We are grateful for the generosity of people every day. And as if a reminder of what we do, we have an application waiting for a woman who had exhausted her EI disability and is still taking chemo and radiation. She will need thousands to keep food on the table until she can return to work in the summer time. IF she can return to work.
And there but by the grace of God, go I.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Sunday, 24 February 2013
MIA Control issues
So here's the deal. I am a bit of a control freak. This is probably not a big surprise to those people close to me. There is probably a lot of eye rolling going on in the Internet world right now. The auction is coming up and there has been a development.
Everyone in FFOH has real jobs. We all have real world commitments. I am a real estate agent and an insurance broker. There are several levels to both my jobs but my insurance is the one that requires my attention now. I will be away from home from the 15th to the late afternoon of the 23 taking a course. I have a test in the morning of the 23 so I won't be back until after I write the test and drive the three hours home. This means that for the first time in eleven years I won't be there to help set up the auction.
Don't get me wrong, I have complete faith in my board. I know they will do great. I can't say that I will be okay but I know that the auction is in good hands.
The Indian Head Bakery is on board to do the cheesecake buffet for us this year, yum! And the Domo in Qu'Appelle is going to be our liquor provider again. Scot's Printing is on board to help by printing tickets and getting our decorations ordered in.
My control issues are running full blast right now. It's really amazing to me. FFOH still after all this time challenges me to face different parts of me personality. I knew I had issues but now I am forced to face them. It's good really. Because it forces me to remember to have faith. Keep calm and carry on.
As a reminder, our tickets go on sale March 1 at 10 AM. Call 699-7788 to buy yours. Or you can go to our site and pay online using paypal or a credit card. Mark it on your calender and don't forget!
Thanks for the reads!
Everyone in FFOH has real jobs. We all have real world commitments. I am a real estate agent and an insurance broker. There are several levels to both my jobs but my insurance is the one that requires my attention now. I will be away from home from the 15th to the late afternoon of the 23 taking a course. I have a test in the morning of the 23 so I won't be back until after I write the test and drive the three hours home. This means that for the first time in eleven years I won't be there to help set up the auction.
Don't get me wrong, I have complete faith in my board. I know they will do great. I can't say that I will be okay but I know that the auction is in good hands.
The Indian Head Bakery is on board to do the cheesecake buffet for us this year, yum! And the Domo in Qu'Appelle is going to be our liquor provider again. Scot's Printing is on board to help by printing tickets and getting our decorations ordered in.
My control issues are running full blast right now. It's really amazing to me. FFOH still after all this time challenges me to face different parts of me personality. I knew I had issues but now I am forced to face them. It's good really. Because it forces me to remember to have faith. Keep calm and carry on.
As a reminder, our tickets go on sale March 1 at 10 AM. Call 699-7788 to buy yours. Or you can go to our site and pay online using paypal or a credit card. Mark it on your calender and don't forget!
Thanks for the reads!
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Back to the land of planning
We are on the countdown to our spring auction. Our letters have gone out, donations are already coming in. Co-op Refineries, Dusyk and Barlow, Thee Lingeree Shoppee, Sherwood Co-op and Indian Head Technologies are on board already. The response is always amazing.
We are set for the 23 of March. I am looking forward to it. The lovely April Nichol is on board to be our MC for the evening. We have a great evening shaping up again. The caterer for the evenings appy's is Crystal Cook who was our caterer last year as well. We are very lucky to have the support of these great folks.
We are going to start selling tickets at 10 AM on March 1 at the 50+ club in Qu'Appelle. We will be manning the phones and watching the Internet for donations and then we will be mailing out the tickets that match the donations that morning. If there are any tickets left after 2 PM they will be available at Qu'Appelle Agencies of by calling me. 306-699-7788
Please support the people that support us. We can't thank them enough. Need a new car, the Capital Auto Mall was a gold sponsor. Need new underwear, The Pink Tree or Thee Lingerie Shoppee are huge supporters of what we do. Let our sponsors know that you are choosing to support them because they support us.
So mark the date on your calender. Both the first for tickets and the 23 for the Ladies Night Out Auction. Our theme is the 80's this year so get your spandex and crimpers out. Call me if you would like to donate something, we would love to have the help. I look forward to hearing from you all!
Thanks for the reads!
We are set for the 23 of March. I am looking forward to it. The lovely April Nichol is on board to be our MC for the evening. We have a great evening shaping up again. The caterer for the evenings appy's is Crystal Cook who was our caterer last year as well. We are very lucky to have the support of these great folks.
We are going to start selling tickets at 10 AM on March 1 at the 50+ club in Qu'Appelle. We will be manning the phones and watching the Internet for donations and then we will be mailing out the tickets that match the donations that morning. If there are any tickets left after 2 PM they will be available at Qu'Appelle Agencies of by calling me. 306-699-7788
Please support the people that support us. We can't thank them enough. Need a new car, the Capital Auto Mall was a gold sponsor. Need new underwear, The Pink Tree or Thee Lingerie Shoppee are huge supporters of what we do. Let our sponsors know that you are choosing to support them because they support us.
So mark the date on your calender. Both the first for tickets and the 23 for the Ladies Night Out Auction. Our theme is the 80's this year so get your spandex and crimpers out. Call me if you would like to donate something, we would love to have the help. I look forward to hearing from you all!
Thanks for the reads!
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Stakeholders
Hello all!
It feels like forever since I have had time to write. And even now I am cooking supper and writing at the same time. You know, busy like every other woman on the planet. How does a stove top crust frittata sound? Hopefully yummy. But at the very least it's a meal.
Some cool stuff has been happening with FFOH recently. We are lucky enough to be on the list of stakeholders on breast cancer in Saskatchewan. This means that we get invited to meetings that a few years ago I could only dream of.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't sit at home and pine away about not getting to extra meetings, but I did always see a disconnect in the system that I knew wasn't right. We knew in dealing with our applicants that there were huge gaps in the system. For example, here is a story.
A woman and her daughter applied for a trip to Calgary for a very specific test that is only done there. The husband and wife lived on just over 1200 dollars a month. The health region only pays for the cost of the test, no other costs' When she applied for travel expenses from one of the other cancer organizations, she was given enough for a bus ticket to Calgary. This woman was about 70 years old, and very sick. She was already going for chemo as it was. She was from a small town in Saskatchewan so getting off a bus in the middle of Calgary and finding her way to a hotel, the hospital, back to the bus station and home again was no easy task. Obviously her daughter wanted to accompany her. The daughter paid for her own ticket, took time off work and was ready to go. Now here is where the gap in the system emerged. The husband in this situation had later stages dementia. He could not be left alone. There was no other family that could help. He couldn't go with them obviously, and home care is not free. The respite for this gentle man was 750 dollars for 47 hours. There was no organization that could help in this situation, nothing they could do. Luckily FFOH could help and did but this is a huge gap in the system.
Years ago, all we could do is complain amongst ourselves about short falls in the system, but now we have a voice. An organization has been formed called the Saskatchewan Breast Cancer Connect or SBCC. This organization is trying to close the gap with knowledge. This isn't a fund raising group. This group recognizes all of the efforts going on in the province and is attempting to tie them all together with meetings focused on getting the right people in the same room. This includes social workers, hospital heads, physiotherapists, large cancer research and education organizations and grass roots charities. The reason this is important is that we can come together and basically teach each other about great programs that exist in parts of the province that we may not know about. Basically it gives our applicants a voice for their specific circumstance. I can voice my concerns over problems they have encountered (not specifically of course) and bring them into the light of day.
http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Saskatchewan+breast+cancer+organization+maps+available+services/7841420/story.html
This link will take you to a Leader Post story on the meeting.
So this is why I am so excited that I have been asked to more meetings. Thanks to the organizers! Getting 45 people from such diverse backgrounds and fields of specialty cannot be easy but it was done! This meeting did not cost FFOH anything but we got so much out!
Thanks for the reads today. No organization in Saskatchewan helps in the way that FFOH does. The Hope Center in Saskatoon is similar but not on the scale that FFOH is. And they have paid employees. (Not bragging, just stating a fact. LOL) The more I see in the world the more proud I am of Forever Friends.
The auction is drawing near. You will be hearing much more of me! Thanks again!
It feels like forever since I have had time to write. And even now I am cooking supper and writing at the same time. You know, busy like every other woman on the planet. How does a stove top crust frittata sound? Hopefully yummy. But at the very least it's a meal.
Some cool stuff has been happening with FFOH recently. We are lucky enough to be on the list of stakeholders on breast cancer in Saskatchewan. This means that we get invited to meetings that a few years ago I could only dream of.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't sit at home and pine away about not getting to extra meetings, but I did always see a disconnect in the system that I knew wasn't right. We knew in dealing with our applicants that there were huge gaps in the system. For example, here is a story.
A woman and her daughter applied for a trip to Calgary for a very specific test that is only done there. The husband and wife lived on just over 1200 dollars a month. The health region only pays for the cost of the test, no other costs' When she applied for travel expenses from one of the other cancer organizations, she was given enough for a bus ticket to Calgary. This woman was about 70 years old, and very sick. She was already going for chemo as it was. She was from a small town in Saskatchewan so getting off a bus in the middle of Calgary and finding her way to a hotel, the hospital, back to the bus station and home again was no easy task. Obviously her daughter wanted to accompany her. The daughter paid for her own ticket, took time off work and was ready to go. Now here is where the gap in the system emerged. The husband in this situation had later stages dementia. He could not be left alone. There was no other family that could help. He couldn't go with them obviously, and home care is not free. The respite for this gentle man was 750 dollars for 47 hours. There was no organization that could help in this situation, nothing they could do. Luckily FFOH could help and did but this is a huge gap in the system.
Years ago, all we could do is complain amongst ourselves about short falls in the system, but now we have a voice. An organization has been formed called the Saskatchewan Breast Cancer Connect or SBCC. This organization is trying to close the gap with knowledge. This isn't a fund raising group. This group recognizes all of the efforts going on in the province and is attempting to tie them all together with meetings focused on getting the right people in the same room. This includes social workers, hospital heads, physiotherapists, large cancer research and education organizations and grass roots charities. The reason this is important is that we can come together and basically teach each other about great programs that exist in parts of the province that we may not know about. Basically it gives our applicants a voice for their specific circumstance. I can voice my concerns over problems they have encountered (not specifically of course) and bring them into the light of day.
http://www.leaderpost.com/health/Saskatchewan+breast+cancer+organization+maps+available+services/7841420/story.html
This link will take you to a Leader Post story on the meeting.
So this is why I am so excited that I have been asked to more meetings. Thanks to the organizers! Getting 45 people from such diverse backgrounds and fields of specialty cannot be easy but it was done! This meeting did not cost FFOH anything but we got so much out!
Thanks for the reads today. No organization in Saskatchewan helps in the way that FFOH does. The Hope Center in Saskatoon is similar but not on the scale that FFOH is. And they have paid employees. (Not bragging, just stating a fact. LOL) The more I see in the world the more proud I am of Forever Friends.
The auction is drawing near. You will be hearing much more of me! Thanks again!
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Final Numbers
Okay so here is the good news!
This is an amazing group of women.
Our 620 CKRM presents "Saskatchewan's Got Talent" raised a total of 12,248.00 dollars for Forever Friends of Hope. We sold 199 tickets. We had six amazing levelled sponsors, and lots of silent auction and table sponsors. The night was a great success!
We had one woman, over a year ago, that was at a level of desperation that was outside of what we had seen before. To get her back on her feet and keep her there until she was returned to work took 12,000 dollars. That money may go to one person who needs it desperately or 12 people that just need a little help.
This season, as the holidays approach, know that a lot of people are struggling. In one way or another, we all struggle. Some struggle more during the holidays. Some find solace in it. Wherever you are in your life, wherever you want to be, remember that this life we have is a blessing and a gift. Use your life, the rest of your days to leave your world a better place. I don't mean give all your money to charity and live as a pauper. I mean don't yell at waiters or your kids, don't take your spouse for granted, tell them you love them or better yet, show them. Look in the mirror and accept and love the person you see. Sometimes we need to be kind to ourselves first.
We can't quit our jobs and live each day on the beach making each moment count like all the motivational posters lead us to believe. We have to keep the lights on, shoes on the kids, and food on the table. We can do those things with an open air of kindness, to ourselves and others. I think it is a feeling, a thought, a real gut level emotion, not a specific act. Random acts of kindness should not be rare. They should be a way of life. I try to make them mine. I don't always succeed but I try.
Thank you all for reading!
This is an amazing group of women.
Our 620 CKRM presents "Saskatchewan's Got Talent" raised a total of 12,248.00 dollars for Forever Friends of Hope. We sold 199 tickets. We had six amazing levelled sponsors, and lots of silent auction and table sponsors. The night was a great success!
We had one woman, over a year ago, that was at a level of desperation that was outside of what we had seen before. To get her back on her feet and keep her there until she was returned to work took 12,000 dollars. That money may go to one person who needs it desperately or 12 people that just need a little help.
This season, as the holidays approach, know that a lot of people are struggling. In one way or another, we all struggle. Some struggle more during the holidays. Some find solace in it. Wherever you are in your life, wherever you want to be, remember that this life we have is a blessing and a gift. Use your life, the rest of your days to leave your world a better place. I don't mean give all your money to charity and live as a pauper. I mean don't yell at waiters or your kids, don't take your spouse for granted, tell them you love them or better yet, show them. Look in the mirror and accept and love the person you see. Sometimes we need to be kind to ourselves first.
We can't quit our jobs and live each day on the beach making each moment count like all the motivational posters lead us to believe. We have to keep the lights on, shoes on the kids, and food on the table. We can do those things with an open air of kindness, to ourselves and others. I think it is a feeling, a thought, a real gut level emotion, not a specific act. Random acts of kindness should not be rare. They should be a way of life. I try to make them mine. I don't always succeed but I try.
Thank you all for reading!
Friday, 7 December 2012
Our Thanks To The Ladies That Help Us Along The Way
| We still don't have our final numbers available from the Casino night but we do have our final numbers from the Quilt raffle. We made $1744.00 from the raffle. $1744.00 How cool is that! These women made these quilts and donated them to us and we are so grateful. Because of these women we were able to sell tickets on these quilts and raise this money. T  |
| Denim Cancer Ribbon
Quilt Made by Linda Andrew from Qu'Appelle |
 |
| Dream Quilt Made by the Prairie Art and Leisure Stitchers (Cheryl Waters, Susan Wittrup, Linda Wood, Lynne Woollam, Helen Strong, Linda Brumwell, & Gisele Pitrowski) Talent always finds a way to support and strengthen those around them. The talent of these women is remarkable. The makers of the dream quilt are a group of ladies that quilt in their spare time. One of these ladies is my Aunt to I may be biased but I am very impressed by the work they do on these quilts. Very beautiful. I had asked them to make a quilt for us for our tenth anniversary. They made and gave us one. When we looked at it, we realized that it was much to beautiful to put in the auction. You see in the auction we may have gotten a few hundred dollars for it. But by raffling it we were able to maximize this fantastic gift. We asked them if they were okay with a raffle and they were very gracious and agreed. In the mean time, one of our members talked to the maker of the Denim Cancer Quilt. When Linda heard what we were doing she decided to make one to donate as well. And that is how we were lucky enough to get these two great quilts. We want to extend our deepest thanks to these ladies for their help with this raffle. We really could not have done it without them. Thanks so much ladies! You Rock! Thanks for the reads and shares. We appreciate it so much. Over 4000 readers. How cool is that! |
Saturday, 1 December 2012
The days after-CKRM Rocks!
620 CKRM The Source ROCKS!
As many of you know I am a very devoted CKRM listener. When I approached CKRM with the idea of a title sponsorship I didn't expect anything. Low expectations are the key to happiness because when they said yes, I was over the moon excited.
Here's how it shook down.
At the "What Women Want" Show last year, Pam and Garry Frigon met Gloria Evans. Gloria is one of the morning DJ's on 620. Pam and Garry told Gloria about FFOH. Gloria asked us if she could come to the auction we have in the spring and help in any way. We were very excited. She came out and helped guest MC with our wonderful MC Jill. However, about half way through the evening we lost Gloria. I found her in the back helping keep track of the items. We were running a few hands short and she noticed another way to help us out. She piled into the work and never looked back.
As we were communicating via email about the auction, I got brave and sent her the info for the Saskatchewan's Got Talent. She forwarded it to the powers that be and voila! Title Sponsorship. Please see my former blogs for my excitement about this.
Perry Nyhas met with me and set everything up. He is a great guy, very kind. However whenever I am near him I get so nervous. I see him with such reverence. I can't help it. I grew up listening to him and am still awestruck. However, I digress.
Gloria and Jamie interviewed me on the morning show, then set it up so I could go over to 92.1 and have an interview with them. I was so nervous. But the graciousness of everyone at Harvard was amazing.
Just before "Saskatchewan's Got Talent" on Thursday, Perry Nyhas stopped by. He and I were standing in the Show Lounge at the Casino Regina. Just us, we were looking at the silent auction items spread out the length of the lounge and surveying the lounge. The sound guy Edgar, came up to me and asked a question. And it hit me. I looked around at Perry Nyhas talking to me, a sound guy asking me something and thought "WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE? WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?" I had no idea what I was doing, what was going on and had the most surreal moment.
I am sure that I screwed something up. Positive that I made some sort of a mistake. I know we fixed one mistake in the afternoon. But I am sure that there are more. I know I learned a lot. I know that I am very grateful for the wonderful staff at the Casino Regina. They fixed a mix up with amazing ease. (I'm sure they swore at me but if we do it again, I will be much better. I promise.) But I know with certainty that what we did was successful. We raised some money. I will let you know how much as soon as we have it tallied. But there is more.
This is how I know we were successful!
As many of you know I am a very devoted CKRM listener. When I approached CKRM with the idea of a title sponsorship I didn't expect anything. Low expectations are the key to happiness because when they said yes, I was over the moon excited.
Here's how it shook down.
At the "What Women Want" Show last year, Pam and Garry Frigon met Gloria Evans. Gloria is one of the morning DJ's on 620. Pam and Garry told Gloria about FFOH. Gloria asked us if she could come to the auction we have in the spring and help in any way. We were very excited. She came out and helped guest MC with our wonderful MC Jill. However, about half way through the evening we lost Gloria. I found her in the back helping keep track of the items. We were running a few hands short and she noticed another way to help us out. She piled into the work and never looked back.
As we were communicating via email about the auction, I got brave and sent her the info for the Saskatchewan's Got Talent. She forwarded it to the powers that be and voila! Title Sponsorship. Please see my former blogs for my excitement about this.
Perry Nyhas met with me and set everything up. He is a great guy, very kind. However whenever I am near him I get so nervous. I see him with such reverence. I can't help it. I grew up listening to him and am still awestruck. However, I digress.
Gloria and Jamie interviewed me on the morning show, then set it up so I could go over to 92.1 and have an interview with them. I was so nervous. But the graciousness of everyone at Harvard was amazing.
Just before "Saskatchewan's Got Talent" on Thursday, Perry Nyhas stopped by. He and I were standing in the Show Lounge at the Casino Regina. Just us, we were looking at the silent auction items spread out the length of the lounge and surveying the lounge. The sound guy Edgar, came up to me and asked a question. And it hit me. I looked around at Perry Nyhas talking to me, a sound guy asking me something and thought "WHAT THE HELL HAVE I DONE? WHAT HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?" I had no idea what I was doing, what was going on and had the most surreal moment.
I am sure that I screwed something up. Positive that I made some sort of a mistake. I know we fixed one mistake in the afternoon. But I am sure that there are more. I know I learned a lot. I know that I am very grateful for the wonderful staff at the Casino Regina. They fixed a mix up with amazing ease. (I'm sure they swore at me but if we do it again, I will be much better. I promise.) But I know with certainty that what we did was successful. We raised some money. I will let you know how much as soon as we have it tallied. But there is more.
This is how I know we were successful!
This picture is compliments of Pam Frigon with the United Voices Choir out of Balgonie.
These girls put on a great and emotional show. But here they are hanging out in the green room with our second preformer Colby Nargang.
These girls got to preform in the show lounge. They missed school, got their hair and makeup done by Marvel Beauty School, had an afternoon sound check, had three costume changes and hopefully the time of their lives. I hope we have, in part, inspired another generation of girls to make a difference in any way they can.
So, with all the work, worry, and moments of down right panic, it's over. I want to thank CKRM for all of the help and guidance. I want to thank our performers.
United Voices
Dionne Warner
Brandy Young and her band
Colby Nargang
Doug Arden
and our MC for the evening
Gloria Evans!
More thanks to follow. But for now, I want everyone to know how much we appreciate CKRM for all the help. Thanks for the reads and shares. I am forever Amazed and Blessed!
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