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Sponsored by Oriental Trading and Cricut
I think service is a big part of all of our lives. It’s one of the core values I try to instill in my family. We are not well off but I feel like it is important to teach our children to take care of others less fortunate. Whether it’s helping out at the soup kitchen, donating toys, or helping an elderly neighbor, you can make a difference in someone else’s life. After all, isn’t that what we are here for? This year you can support a cause too! Let me tell you about mine.
Most of you know that I work full time as a nurse practitioner. One of my friends from work has been battling multiple sclerosis for 2 years. Joyce was diagnosed with MS in the fall of 2014. She had been experiencing dizziness, tingling in her legs and arms, walking and writing became difficult and the feeling of fatigue took over. At her lowest point she became blind in one eye and had to use a wheelchair and walker to get around and was experiencing immense pain in her lower back and upper legs. During this early stage Joyce was uninsured and the medical bills have left her drowning in debt. She works 2 jobs to try and keep up. Her friends finally convinced her to allow them to throw a benefit to help ease some of her money worries.
My other friend, Marjorie, is a benefit planning master. She and her amazing team of friends and family were able to pull this off in 2 months! We had silent auction items donated by local businesses in Branson. She also rallied the other offices at our hospital to donate themed baskets available to raffling. We also had a real LIVE auction to help raise money with a new rifle and drone! The chili supper was donated by Joyce’s pastor and his wife. It was a HUGE success!
I reached out to two companies to help! Oriental Trading stepped up in a MAJOR way! They donated all of the table covers, stickers and bracelets for the benefit! Did you know that Oriental Trading has an awareness line? The awareness color for MS is orange. But they have everything from breast cancer awareness to diversity awareness. They support a variety of causes and we are so blessed that they helped support ours!
The orange bracelets were a huge hit with everyone! The orange ribbon table cover is also available at Oriental Trading! The solid orange table cover and the orange ribbon table covers were used on all of the tables to help designate silent auction vs. raffle. The SOLID orange was used for silent auction items. The RIBBON table covers were used for the raffle items!
They also donated all of the orange raffle tickets which was a big help!
I purchased some items from Oriental Trading for our photo booth! The white cardboard frames and orange hair was a huge hit! The leftover table covers provided a great background!
The other company that rallied with us was Cricut! They donated one of their Cricut Explore One machines to be raffled off. People went nuts for it! In order to prove what it could do, I made several decorative additions with my own. The banner from the photo booth was made with my Cricut machine.
I also made these cute centerpieces for the chili supper tables!
The new line of Cricut machines is incredible! You all know how I feel about them. They are truly a crafter’s best friend!
Did you see how small it can cut? I made confetti orange ribbons for the tables too! Hop over to my instagram page and check it out! Click HERE!
We are SOOOO thankful and blessed with all of the support we received for our friend! With everyone’s joint efforts, we were able to raise $8000 to help Joyce! She has been able to stop working her second job which is helping her strength.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
