End of the Year Activity
My garden is almost put to bed, tomatoes are canned and there’s enough split wood to last the winter. Now I just need to get my mind around chilly weather and warm clothing. Where did the Summer go?
I’m sitting at my desk looking at the long list of MoonCatcher tasks that need doing. Here are some things we are working on:
Working with Bonfire.com, we have designed a new t-shirt. Shirts ordered early will ship in mid-November so order yours soon HERE.
We offer four designs, each in several colors.
Our second annual cookie sale will be December 8. You place your order, and we deliver cookies and quick breads right to your door. Sadly, we cannot yet return to our traditional lasagna meals due to continuing COVID concerns.
We will soon be reaching out for volunteers to help with Dining For Dollars Cookie Version 2021!
Our Holiday elves are at work making cloth gift bags for gift giving. Let’s use reusable bags instead of paper this year. You’ll be able to order these online in early November. Choose large or medium for gifts and small for stocking stuffers. We will also offer our first ever bumper sticker. Change the life of a girl by supporting this little fundraiser.
Do you shop at Amazon.com? If you do, you can choose to contribute to MCP through Amazon Smile. Learn more here.
We have welcomed three new board members bringing our total number to nine. We are thrilled to welcome Charlotte Mack, Kelly Cousins and Raeesa Waheed to the MoonCatcher team. We want to give our eternal thanks to our outgoing board members as they complete their terms of service. Thank you so much Pisie Hochheim and Ginger Ertz.
Our sewing guilds in Africa, India and the Philippines are busy making and delivering kits. Soon our annual report will be available, and you can see how many MoonCatcher Kits have been made and delivered. It’s impressive considering the challenges we have all faced due to the pandemic.
The Academy of the Holy Names held an outdoor MoonBee this month. Thanks to our Student Board Member Madison Mackey for helping to make this happen. Thanks too to the wonderful volunteers who worked so hard.
We look forward to heading to Union College to hold another outdoor MoonBee in the coming week. With this cold air I doubt we’ll be able to do many more outdoor events, but it’s been fun to be back in the swing of things – even just a bit.
Our good friend and new partner Teresa Dangwa travelled to Zimbabwe recently. She plans to start three new MoonCatcher Cooperatives. We will provide technical assistance and some supplies to help her get started.
We are also working on shipping another barrel of supplies to Kenya. We know that our cooperative in Kenya as well as four others in Uganda need the ripstop nylon and Tyvek that I usually bring to them when I visit. We are waiting to hear what else they need and will get to work in the coming weeks on this project. I will also be able to send a little gift for my namesake (Jacky’s little girl “Ellie von”).
Our year-end fundraising campaign will start with #GivingTuesday, on November 30. We are hoping to raise $35,000 to help us continue the work of this project and expand our production in all our sewing centers.
Watch for more updates in the coming weeks.
Be well. Stay safe and warm!
Ellie