Monday 30 March 2015

Feedback from Parcel sent to PNG

The parcel I sent to Papua New Guinea about 3 weeks ago has been received and acknowledged by Aunty Rosa. Thank you for letting me know.

Saturday 28 March 2015

Parcel picked up yesterday without name - For everyone's info - pls read!

I picked up a parcel yesterday with a return address of Ware, Currimundi 4551 which I think comes from QLD. May I please ask the sender to identify herself by sending me a message at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com? This is to avoid inconveniences and complications that I am trying to avoid may or may not happen regarding your donation. So PLEASE help by letting me know who you are. I will put your donation on hold and not include in any distributions. Looking forward to hearing from you. 
Also, for future donors, please make sure that you write your full name or email address on a piece of paper if you do not want to write your return address on the satchel. Thank you.

Dress A Girl Australia Well now open for the community of Kalagi Uganda

The well that I have been fundraising for the community of Kalagi Uganda is now open and has been handed over to the community. Here are some images taken by Hope-4-Kids International during the opening and handing over of the well.
Pictures courtesy of Hope-4-Kids International
For larger and individual images, please click here

I want to thank all the donors who helped in contributing to the funds raised through dress sponsorships, purchases from my on-line shops and ebay, family, close friends and a few friends from Dress A Girl Australia. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have helped restore hope to a village in Uganda through clean water. Thank you so much.

And here some communications from Hope-4-Kids International leading up to the opening and handing over of the well to the people of Kalagi Uganda.
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14-Mar-2015 - Kalagi, Uganda - Your well is open
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4-Mar-2015 - Kalagi, Uganda - Your well is finished!
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Status of Sponsored Dresses as of 27-Mar-2015

Just to give an update on status of all sponsored dresses since 1-Jan-2015 - 
1) 94 dresses were sponsored including 10 boys clothes
2) 63 sponsored dresses were distributed in the months of Feb and Mar 2015. Click on the link below to see where they have been distributed -
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3) 31 dresses are allocated but waiting for send-off/distributions. Except for the Vietnam allocation, the other two groups will be handcarried by me to the Phils sometime in June and Uganda to be confirmed. Click on the link below to see where these sponsored dresses are going -
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4) I have 15 dresses and 8 boys clothes waiting for sponsorships at $10.00 each. I will be making more to raise money to purchase school supplies for distribution in June 2015- Click on the link below to sponsor a dress -
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If you want to make a difference and sponsor any of the items above, please make sure that you click on the link above and click on the dress or boys clothes you want to sponsor so it is processed and documented well to avoid inconveniences. Thank you.

Thursday 26 March 2015

Calling out for dress donations for Project Vanuatu (Dress Distribution #92-04/2015)

Update to this callout as of 7:25pm - 26th of March.

Just a friendly reminder to the ladies who committed dresses for Project Vanuatu. I think the deadline is the 31st of March which is fast approaching. If you can please send as soon as possible or if not able to make it to please let me know so I can find the time to make the dresses. MIght be away on a business trip mid-April so I want to make sure that I have all dresses before then. If there are any issues, please leave a message here or send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you.

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Update to this callout as of 10:55pm - 14th of March.

Hi everyone, I have officially closed the call-out for 50 dresses for Project Vanuatu. Thank you so much for the overwhelming response but unfortunately the number of dresses has to stop at 50. Thank you to the following donors who committed to 3 dresses each - Monika Osvald, Frances Cornish, Toni Kirkpatrick, Pamela Thompson, Jayne Hogan, Maureen O'Brien, Nicole Parrott, Rosina Perrin, Anna Collett and Lynne Stupple. 

Please take note that all parcels should be in my postbox by the 31st of March so I have all the dresses by mid-April. If for any reason you cannot meet the deadline, please send me a message or email at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com to allow me more time to find an alternative. Thank you so much.

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Update to this callout as of 1:40pm - 14th of March.

Just to let everyone know that Project Vanuatu is a very limited collection of 50 dresses only and not a dress more that is why I am limiting the max number to 3 per donor to give everyone who wants to contribute a chance to make a difference. The more donors of 3 each so much the better. It is more work on my part trying to organize and monitor 3 per donor but at least I get the chance to help more people make a difference. Your kindness and generosity and understanding is much appreciated. Thank you.

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Update to this callout as of 12:04pm - 14th of March.

In as much as I truly appreciate your kindness and generosity, I can only accept 3 dresses per donor. In fact I might be bumping off the donations that have more than 3 in the album (Check Project Vanuatu collection below). So if you are still willing to donate only 3 and not a dress more, let me know and I will start counting. I want to have as many donors as possible even for 3 dresses each only. As of this writing, I have 2 donors who committed to 3 dresses only so that means I only need 30 dresses more from 10 donors. Thank you.
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Tonight am starting a new collection of 50 dresses for the kids of a special community in Vanuatu. Am calling out for willing donors to contribute at least 3 dresses each to complete this collection. 

At this time I have already 14 dresses on this album. If you are one of those donors whose dresses are already in the album, please refrain from sending any more donations to give other ladies a chance to contribute and make a difference. Please click on the link below to check out the dresses/donors already included in this collection -
I still need at least 36 dresses. Please click here to send me a message if you would like to donate at least 3 dresses. Deadline of dresses is at the end of this month - 31st of March - all dresses should be in my postbox. For those who do not sew but still want to contribute and make a difference, please sponsor a dress here or click on the link below - You will be hitting two birds with one stone - dressing a girl in Vanuatu and at the same time giving hope to another girl in Kalagi Uganda through clean water.

Any questions, please send me an email at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you.

Kalagi Uganda fund now closed

The fundraising page for the Kalagi Uganda fund is now closed. Today and tomorrow's spare time will be spent removing all references to the Kalagi Uganda project from all my online shops and blog since it is now closed and completed.

Dress A Girl Australia Update on Dress Collections - Please Read!!

For everyone's info...please read!....
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Re: Australia Distribution
Just to let everyone know that this collection is cancelled. After almost a day of email exchange yesterday, the organization has decided not to distribute dresses on my behalf due to conflict of interest with a group of people who are currently sewing for them. To avoid inconveniences it is for Dress A Girl Australia's best interest that I do not pursue. My apologies if I stirred a few people up but am sure you all would understand if you knew the details behind the cancellation. 
For those who would like to proceed with their intention to donate directly on your own, please send me a message or email me at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you.
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For the last two weeks I have been contacting different groups and organizations who can possibly help distribute your dresses without having to spare a few dollars from each donors to pay for the distribution but have so far failed. Everyone I spoke to who wants to help are asking for me to pay for the cost of distributions on top of the cost of sending the dresses to them. I have selected one so far for distribution here in Australia which I believe deserves any dress I can collect. 

Starting April 1, I will be collecting 100 dresses for distribution in communities in the Northern Territory. I plan to do this collection every quarter. For those who would like to contribute dresses for this location, I will appreciate it much if you could include a dollar for every dress that you donate. The money is NOT to pay for the cost of sending the dresses from my location to the Northern Territory location but to pay for the cost of sending the dresses inside the different communities where the dresses are going. 

I know that there are some donors who prefer their dresses to go overseas or prefers to donate dresses only but for this particular distribution I would appreciate if you could spare a few dollars for every dress that you donate. We all know that charity begins at home so will appreciate if you could spare some of your dresses to these kids. And as usual, quality is very important as the organization has also stressed quality on anything that is going to be donated. Thank you.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Update on Dress A Girl Australia well

As of today, I have raised the amount of $5,000.US dollars ($6,352.92 in AUD) for the Dress A Girl well in Kalagi Uganda from dress sponsorships (Dec 2014 to Mar 2015), sales from my on-line shops and market stalls last full year 2014, ebay sales 2014  from my unwanted items and donations from family,close friends and a few friends of Dress A Girl Australia. I have also been advised that the well has been finished. More details of this successful project will be made available soon including well dedication. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the donors who helped me make this project possible, for helping give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda through clean water. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Dress A Girl Australia Sponsorship For everyone's info.

It has come to my attention that there are a few who are questioning where the money from the Dress Sponsorship program are going. Dress A Girl Australia is an open book. I even post some of my personal feelings in my blog. Every cent that I spend and/or receive from a few generous donors including the Dress Sponsorship program is well documented. Every income and expense that goes in and out of this charity work is well documented and fully supported. All dress sponsorships are being sold under my ABN (Soft Treasures) and every receipt issued for every sponsorship is being tracked and monitored and recorded for tax purposes. All items that I sell from my online shops are being issued receipts for tax purposes. I cannot accept donations even for dresses to help with the sponsorship as I am not authorized to accept donations. I still have to record the income that it represents and pay tax if I have to making things more complicated. If turning down offers of help in sponsorship is offending anyone, there is nothing I can do but I want to make things as simple as possible. Anyone who has any doubts or would like to discuss this further, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you.

Boys clothes for sponsorship

Looking for a way to make a difference? Sponsor a set of boys clothes. For $10.00 you get to provide a new set of t-shirt, pair of shorts and undie to a disadvantaged boy in any location where needed. If you do not know how to sew or have no time but want to make a difference, this sponsorship is the answer and also the answer to helping Dress A Girl Australia financially sustain this campaign of dressing kiddies around the world and other related projects. You can read about all the projects here in my blog.
Available in various sizes, click on the image above or click here to check them out. Thank you.

Monday 23 March 2015

Dress A Girl Australia Updates

Just a few updates to share :
1) My focus this year is to promote Dress A Girl Australia in schools. I have spoken to a few people about this and they even proposed to donate a gold coin for every dress that they will sew which I find very relieving as it will be great help on my part as I will be able to spend more time on finding locations needing the dresses and less time raising funds. Fingers crossed this school project will be the highlight of Dress A Girl Australia this year.

2) Just to let everyone know that I am looking for ways for the dresses that you are making to be distributed by other people. (I can only distribute based on the funds I raise and due to poor sales and not enough time for me to keep on making items to sell, my distributions this year will be very, very limited.) Some refused to accept as they want cash donations, some wants to sell them so they can raised cash and some wants your dresses to be donated with cash to help them pay for the cost of distributing those dresses. So anyone who is willing to donate cash with their dresses so these people/groups can distribute your dresses, please let me know but you will need to send those dresses directly to them. I will just help in finding people who can distribute your dresses on your behalf Thank you.


3) With your help in spreading the word around, even with less and very limited number of dresses to distribute...it will still help make a difference . Support Dress A GIrl Australia's online shop to help pay for the cost of running and maintaining Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to help disadvantaged kids around the world.

Check out my Easter specials at give-away prices -
Sponsor a Dress and help make this world a better place -

Thank you . Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated.

Friday 20 March 2015

Donation Acknowledgement #12/2015 - For Project Vanuatu Batch #2

Three more parcels arrived at my postbox today for the kiddies in Vanuatu. Total count of dresses received as of this writing (20-Mar-2015 6:56pm) is 38. Am expecting 4 more parcels to arrive sometime next week with 3 dresses each and that should complete my total collection of 50. Here are the dresses that arrived today -
1) Three dresses from Monika Osvald -
2) Three dresses and extra undies from Lynne Stupple. The extra undies were also allocated to this project -
3) Three dresses from Frances Cornish -
Thank you Ladies for the lovely dresses. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. Much appreciated.

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Donation Acknowledgement #11/2015 - For Project Vanuatu Batch #1

The dresses for Project Vanuatu has started to arrive from the following donors. A few of them were from previous postings with no planned allocation yet until this project was opened. Due to the restricted number of dresses that can be allocated to the project, I have restricted a maximum of 3 dresses per donor only.
1) Three dresses from Beatrys Fittler -
 2) Two dresses from Lorraine Walter -
 3) Three dresses from Anna Collett -
 4) Three dresses each from Toni Kirkpatrick and Pam Thompson. Could not identify which ones are from either Toni or Pam so have bundled them up.
 5) Two dresses from Inspired Peel Sewers
 6) Four dresses from Lyn Granger -
 7) Three dresses from Christine Caputo
 8) Three dresses from Dawny Bull -
 9) Three dresses from fabrics donated by Millhouse Collections and sewn by Dress A Girl Australia -
To see larger and individual images of the above donations, please click here.

Thank you to all the donors of the above dresses. Your kindness and generosity are much appreciated. Thank you.

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Feedback from Peru

Sharing with everyone a message I received today on the dresses handcarried by a friend who returned to Peru last month.
For a larger and more readable version of this message, please click here. Thank you to all the donors who made this distribution possible. Much appreciated.

Monday 16 March 2015

Petty cash replenishment for postage

Since January I have been saving up all the coins I had in my wallet (makes it heavy when there are too many coins in the bag) and been selling old books and magazines in ebay. Whenever an item gets sold in ebay I put the proceeds into my tin can. Tonight I decided to count all the coins  I had saved up and cash money earned from old books and magazine sale and have raised $26.75 since the year started.
I have a few old books and magazines left and sometime next week I will start a sale (50%) on craft books I used to sell. They are all new and I still have quite a few left unsold in a cabinet. I think it is time to get rid of them to raise money for postage. I also have a few computer games to sell too. So watch for this event coming your way very, very soon. I always say very soon as all of this depends on the time I can spare. To avoid burn-out I try to stop and go to sleep before midnight.

Sunday 15 March 2015

New Collection for new donors/campaigners only

I will be opening up a new collection very soon (starting 1-Apr-2015) dedicated to "new donors" only especially for those who keep on missing collections available for immediate distributions. There will be no deadline to this new collection . The album/parcel will remain open until it is filled up (about 70-75 dresses I believe to fill up a parcel but I do hope the parcel gets filled in 6 months time) and once filled will be sealed and allocated to a disadvantaged location. The maximum number of dresses that can be donated will be 3 per new donor only and between the sizes of 6-10. This way, more ladies are given the chance to contribute. If you want to be involved on this project and help make a difference to disadvantaged kids around the world, this is an opportunity opened for everyone new to this campaign. Take advantage of this opportunity and help spread the word around.
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**** Please note guidelines on how's/what's/whys to make dresses will be strictly implemented even if this is only for new donors. There will be no exceptions as Dress A Girl Australia prefers quality over quantity. Thank you. ****
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To have a fair number of dresses for each sizes, may i suggest that if you are donating 3 dresses, please make one dress for each size (ie. size 6-7-8 or size 8-9-10 etc.).

Also, please make sure that you include your name and email address inside your parcel.

If you have any questions and/or concerns, please feel free to send me a message or leave a comment here or send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Thursday 12 March 2015

Still sewing smoothly...waiting for sponsorships

After more than 700 dresses and 100 pairs of boys shorts and since the start of the year 2015 has sewn 93 sponsored dresses and 26 sponsored pairs of shorts, my best friend is still going strong...still sewing smoothly making a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids around the world and very soon going to build a well for clean water to give hope and a better future for the people of Kalagi Uganda. 

Help it achieve more....help change the world and make it a better place to live for everyone....Sponsor a Dress or a boys clothes. For $10.00 or for a price of about 3 cups of coffee, you can help a life. 
Or do something different this year. Make a donation on behalf of someone who is probably going to be celebrating their special day, wedding, anniversaries, graduating or just to say 'Hi' and remind them that someone has been thinking about them. I have the donation greeting cards available for sale at $2.00 each. Comes with a matching white envelope.
Donation greeting cards                           
Please help spread the word. Thank you.

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Parcel for Project Cabaraban Philippines sent this morning - 11th of March

After making sure that all the plastic bags I had containing 140 dresses, 7 girls matching sets and 10 boys matching sets fitted into one large box, I finally sealed the box around 1am this morning. The parcel was picked up from my house late this morning and is starting its journey to the Philippines. By the time the parcel arrives in CDO, my friend Sally will have also arrived from the US and take care of the distributions.
Now I have to find a way to repay the money I used to pay for the postage. The cash was taken from my Dress A Girl Well fundraising to build a well and give hope to the people of Kalagi Uganda. The parcel cannot be delayed as distribution has to be done before my friend goes back to the US at the end of March.

Dress Distribution #88-03/2015 - Project Cabaraban CDO Philippines

The final distribution for the month of March with a total of 140 dresses, 10 boys matching sets and 7 girls matching sets for the kiddies of Cabaraban CDO Philippines to be distributed at the end of this month of March by Sally Sanchez.
Here is the parcel weighing a total of almost 30 kilos -
and here are the contents of the parcel -
made possible by the following donors and sponsors -
1) Suzanne Marshall (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
2) Lucy Maandig (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
3) Lynette Granger 
4) Henk van Zetten (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
5) Brian Chesterton (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
6) Monique Sun-Naranjilla (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
7) Beth Sun (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
8) Heather Harris
9) Joan Wolf
10) Christine Caputo
11) Anna Collett
12) Cherrie, Dorothy and Toni Kirkpatrick
13) Inspired Peel Sewers c-o Judy Scott
14) L Brown
15) Sharyn Cafee
16) Rhonda Punzet and the Newcastle Embroiderers Guild
17) Lyn Stupple
18) Karen Neilsen
19) Amanda Brown and the Hobart Salvation Army
20) Monika Osvald
21) Millhouse Collections (sewn by Dress A Girl Australia)
22) Caloundra Girl Guides c-o Nicole Parrott
23) Patricia Burton
24) Rosina Perrin
25) Dress A Girl Australia

To see larger and individual images of the contents of the parcel, please click here.

Thank you to all the donors of this special distribution and my heartfelt thank you to those who sponsored dresses and helped raised postage for this parcel. Thank you all for your kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated. And a very special thank you to Sally Sanchez for finding the time to share these blessings with the kids of CDO Philippines. Thank you Sal.

Donation Acknowledgement #10/2015 - Dress Donations for Project Cabaraban CDO Philippines Final Batch 4

These are the final 3 parcels allocated to the Project Cabaraban Philippines bringing the total of the special collection to 140 dresses, 10 boys matching sets and 7 girls matching sets. The parcel is being picked up tomorrow (Wed., 11th of March)  and schedule of distribution is end of the month of March.
1) Parcel of 5 dresses from Patricia Burton -
2) Parcel of 5 dresses sewn and donated by the Caloundra Girl Guides of Queensland sent in by Nicole Parrott -
3) Parcel of 5 dresses donated by Rosina Perrin -
Thank you to the donors of the above parcels. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated.

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Advice Feedback on parcel sent to PNG

After I sent the parcel yesterday to Papua New Guinea, I immediately sent an email to Aunty Rosa of the BFO Orphanage letting her know that a parcel is on its way and what the contents are. Sharing with you all the email I received today from Aunty Rosa upon learning of the forthcoming parcel - 

This is the only reason why I worked so hard from the time the dresses are sorted and packed and sent and making sure that parcels arrive at their final destinations (dont care about the endless followups I have to do)...nothing else matters but the excitement and sincere happiness and gratefulness of the intended recipients - Thank you to all who genuinely helps make this difference in the lives of the lucky recipients. Es muy apreciada. Thank you.

Monday 9 March 2015

PNG Parcel sent today

The school supplies and dresses parcel for Papua New Guinea has been sent out today.

Public Service - Please send me a message if you are reading this!!

Could the donor of two large white parcels of dresses I picked up from the postoffice today please contact me at dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Will appreciate it if you can identify yourself to me by sending me a message. Thank you.

Dress Collections officially closed - Pls READ!!!

All dress collections this month of March are officially closed. I am not accepting any dress donations at this time. Dresses received will not be included in any of the March distributions so please do not send any dresses. I have no space to keep the undistributed dresses nor do I have the funds to pay for unplanned distributions. I am asking everyone to please be guided by this request. Thank you.

Dress Distribution #90-03/2015 - Project School Supplies - PNG

This is a special distribution of school supplies for the orphans of the BFO Orphanage in Papua New Guinea to help the kids in a small way prepare for the new school year which I believe started this month. The parcel includes 15 fabric school bags, 7 large messenger school bags, pens, pencils and exercise books. Also included are 6 dresses with 5 t-shirts to wear underneath the five pillowcase dresses and 3 boys undies.
Here is the parcel which will be sent this week -
and the contents of the parcel -
made possible by the following donors and sponsors -
1) Jayne Hogan
2) Monika Osvald
3) Karen Neilsen
4) Suzanne Marshall
5) Ana Carvalho
6) Tania Carvalho
7) Brian Chesterton.
Eight of the school kits were re-allocated from the Project Peru allocation which were offloaded due to excess baggage weight. For larger and individual images of this distribution, please click here.

Thank you to all the donors and sponsors of this special parcel. Thank you for believing that education will help provide for a better future for these disadvantaged kids of the BFO Orphanage. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. Thank you.

Dress Distribution #86-02/2015 - Project Peru

I handed this parcel over to the lady who was going to handcarry it to Peru last February but decided to acknowledge donors/donations at a later stage since I was not sure if the parcel will make it or not to Peru as it was dependent on the baggage weight of my friend. I allocated 22 dresses and ten of which included the school kits. When I came back from the US I was told that only 16 of the dresses made it of which two included school kits. The rest were offloaded due to excess baggage weight. I went to pick up the items today (8-Mar-2015) from my friend's parents and have added the offloaded school supplies kits to my PNG distribution.

Here are the dresses that made it to Peru through the kindness of Pilar Janet Pacheco Ruales on her trip back to Peru last 17-Feb-2015 for Julia Chuquitaype Quintana Ministry
made possible by the following donors and sponsors -
1) Fabrics donated by Millhouse Collections and sewn by Dress A Girl Australia
2) Suzanne Marshall
3) Ana Carvalho
4) Tania Carvalho
5) Brian Chesterton

Please note that the image above still shows the school supplies kits but what made it are just the dresses and the undies. For larger and individual images of the collection, please click here.

Thank you so much to the sponsors of these dresses. Thank you for believing and helping make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids through my Dress Sponsorship program. It is much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement #9/2015 - School Supplies from Jayne and Monika

I received two parcels filled with school supplies, fabric school bags and 3 small books from Jayne Hogan and Monika Osvald to boost my ongoing Education without Borders project for 2015. A few of these items will be allocated to a special project I just thought of when I was sorting the items I received. Project School Supplies - PNG to help the orphans of the BFO Orphanage in Mt Hagen Papua New Guinea in their preparation for the new school year which I think started this month.
1) From Jayne Hogan, 24x of fabric school bags, packs of pens and pencils -
2) From Monika Osvald - three messenger school bags and 3 small nursery books. I have not decided where to allocate the nursery books but I already have about 2 locations in mind.
To Jayne and Monika, thank you so much for your support of the ongoing Education without Borders project, for helping disadvantaged children aim for a better life through education. It is much appreciated.

Sunday 8 March 2015

Sponsored Dresses for the month of March Batch #1

This is the first batch of dresses sponsored by Suzanne Marshall for the month of March. Except for the dress with sleeves which is waiting for an allocation, the rest of the clothes on this batch have been allocated to the special distribution Project Cabaraban Philippines.
Hope this is the start of more sponsored dresses for the month of March. My heartfelt thank you to Suzanne for believing on this Dress for Sponsorship program. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement #8/2015 - Dress Donations for Project Cabaraban CDO Philippines Batch 3

These are the latest parcels received for the Philippine Distribution (Project Cabaraban) which is a special collection for March distribution. Please note that this collection is officially closed. No more donations will be accepted.
1) Five dresses and 2 matching sets for boys from Lynne Stupple -
2) A parcel of 5 dresses from Karen Nielsen -
3) A parcel of 5 dresses and two matching t-shirts/shorts sets for girls from Lyn Granger - 
4) A parcel of 12 dresses from Amanda Brown and the Hobart Salvation Army all allocated to Project Cabaraban -
5) A parcel of 8 dresses from Monika Osvald -
Thank you to all the donors of these wonderful dresses. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. Thank you.

Saturday 7 March 2015

Feedback Distribution - Letter of gratitude from Mbale Uganda

Sharing with you an email of gratitude I received today from Anne Wandendaya of Mbale Uganda for the dresses I have been sending to the kids in her community -
Please click here if you want to see a larger and more readable version of this email. Thank you.

For everyone's info

I will appreciate it much if you do not send me donations unless they are needed for a distribution. I do not want to be stucked with boxes of dresses in my garage with nowhere to go due to lack of funds especially donations that exceed the max number from a single donor or a group. I have a very limited space in my garage. For two months now I have not had any sale at all from my shop which finances the distribution and I think everybody knows what this means. So please do not send anything. I will post on this page or in my blog when I need dresses or whenever I have a location to send dresses to. When I do this, that means I have the funds to pay for the cost of administering these dresses (i.e. pay for postage or pay for excess baggage etc etc). I have a plan that needs to be strictly followed to make sure that distributions happen and not just distribute for the sake of distributing. I hope you all understand. To those who have made postage donations, my heartfelt thanks. 
For any questions or concerns, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.  As much as possible I want to be able to help you all make a difference but your help and understanding is also needed to make a difference. Thank you.

Friday 6 March 2015

Dress Distribution #89 - Project Burma 2015 Parcels

feeling grateful - These are Project Burma Parcels (Distribution #89) sorted and packed by Barbara Dodson, Dress A Girl Australia's Project Coordinator based in Victoria. Here is a message from Barbara for everyone who helped make these parcels possible. -
"I have made 4 fairly equal packages of assorted sizes. The lady going to Burma next week is going to 4 places where they will be distributed. Hopefully they won't exceed her weight allowance. Anything not taken this time will go in April with someone else. Total of 57 dresses and 12 sets for boys. Thank you everyone".
Here are the dresses that were sewn and donated by the AMES tutors that were also included in the Burma parcels above -
and the AMES tutors teaching Karen ladies how to sew -
Thank you everyone for helping make a difference to the lives of the kids who will be lucky enough to receive any of these items and special thanks to Barbara for all the work on this project.. It is much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement #7/2015 - Dress Donations for Project Cabaraban CDO Philippines Batch 2

Two more parcels received for the two special collections made this month and have also added four dresses from a previous donation. The distribution for the Philippines will happen later this month.
1) A parcel of 39 dresses from Rhonda Punzet and the ladies of the Newcastle Embroiderers Guild. Also included in the parcel was a special collection the group made to help with postage which I am very grateful for. All dresses will be included in the Project Cabaraban for the kids of CDO Philippines to be distributed by Sally Sanchez at the end of the month.
2. A parcel of 3 dresses and ten ladies t-shirts and three boys undies from Sharyn Cafee. The dresses will be allocated to the special collection for the Philippines, six of the t-shirts have been allocated to Project Burma 2015.
3. Four dresses sent in by Christine Caputo sometime in January which could not be previously allocated has  this time been allocated to Project Cabaraban -
With the above donations, this has brought the total number of dresses to 90, 4 sets of boys clothes and 4 girls shorts/t-shirts set for the Project Cabaraban Philippines.

Thank you to all the donors and a special thank you to the ladies of the Newcastle Embroiderers Guild for their special postage contribution. Thank you. Much appreciated.