Raising Funds

Last Friday and Saturday, I worked a garage sale with Debbie Douglas. We had quite a number of items that were donated. We really had a great time. I wasn't aware how much really goes into a garage sale... Had an early start; we drove around stapling signs on telephone poles of some of the major streets in the area. The signs are a huge deal. most of the people that came to the sale were there just because of the signs.. We put an add in Craigslist, and in The Oregonian but the signs were the main draw. If any of you ever do garage sales, here is a tip on the signs. Big yellow neon paper that says "GARAGE SALE" then a separate neon yellow paper with an arrow that you can staple in any direction. Make a couple sets of those and a few extra arrows and you should do great.. Everyone said "Oh we loved the signs! They were so easy to follow." Another big factor is location. Obviously someone out in the country is going to have a harder time than someone in the heart of Portland's residential neighborhoods. It took a good 2 hours to setup the first time, and around a half hour to setup the second. We sold enough on the first day that we could mostly just move set tables in and out of the Garage. You do, however, always manage to get the early birds that come before everything is out. and that happened both days. They would see the signs, and just start coming. There is definitely a science about the whole thing. Everyone at garage sales likes to barter, so we would just tell them upfront why we were having the sale, and some people decided to make the purchase, and donate additional money for our cause. I had a great time and we managed to make a decent chunk of cash to help pay for plane tickets.  It was a success.

Preparing for 2010

Its almost been a year since the last team trip. I was able to make a trip in January on a small team of 4 to talk to some of our people in Uganda to find out what we would be doing for the summer trip. I once again was able to stay after the team left and build relationships with the children at the orphanage. I led bible studies, and participated in the life of an orphan; doing what they do, eating what they eat, and sleeping where they sleep. My total time there was around 5 weeks.

Since I have been back, we have been doing fund raisers, having meetings, and preparing to go. We will be having a luau to help with fund raising. I know, the first thing you think of when you think of Uganda is Hawaii... at least that is what I think of. =) Even though it mostly has nothing to do with Africa, the one very important thing is that its for Africa. We figured, everyone likes Hawaii.. Everyone likes Hawaiian food.. I know all you older guys have at least 3 Hawaiian shirts that you need an excuse to wear. Well, here is your excuse. Its going down May 16th at Abundant Life Church in Happy Valley, OR at 5:00PM. If you want to help My team and I get to Uganda this year, this would be a fun opportunity to bring your family and have a fun time ...and eat some good food. $10 for adults, $5 for kids, and $35 for a family. You can prepay for your tickets, or buy some at the door when you come in. We would ideally like to presell so that we know how much food we should be buying, but I would love to see my supporters come to it.

I have been trying to raise some cash to pay for the trip this year. I have been getting donations from my supporters which have been a huge help! As of now, my funding is around $1,700. I have been trying to be creative and explore new ways of raising money, so I thought I would try making deck furniture like I did back in High School, and sell those to make a profit that could go directly into my mission account. So I have been creating these chairs that everyone seems to like, but I cant say many are in a real hurry to pay for them. I can assure you however that the chairs are of the utmost quality. the connections are glued and screwed, the screws are all countersunk with dowell plugs. The seats and backrests are cedar, and the frame is hemlock and fir. Check out my pictures!!! the chairs are $150 each, which I think is a steal for the quality. ... Here I am trying to make a sale on all of you, but really. If you know anyone that might be interested, let me know. Like I said earlier all of the profits go to the 2010 Uganda Mission. Send me an email @ small.neil@gmail.com, or gie me a call @ 503.504.3322 if you can help me out.

That is really the latest but I am going to try and blog again this time, so Ill send out the notification emails just like I did last time. thanks for reading!!