You have all stitched hope in my heart

Well not quite reaching our goal of $4000 we march on, doing as much as we can in the time we have to raise the rest of the funds needed. We will do so through car washes and bake sales etc. but we also decided every week we will sell something at school. Knowing kids, and their minds solely set on food, we came up with a schedule to sell food and our first product was the left over juice from our event. With the support of our fine leading teachers (Principal Mr. Devin and Assistant Principal Mr.Jenson) who eagerly allowed us to continue fundraising at school.

Immediately at lunch when we started to sell the juice, people started to buy it for our cause.

Soon all our friends came around and tried to pull other people in with sale slogans for our juice, screaming

“Buy juice and change a family’s life!”

Do you remember how I told you before how we had a table cloth that we had people sign at the Silent Auction?

People who did buy juice or donate were rewarded with being able to sign orange fabric that we are going to make into curtains and hang in the house. Symbolic of all the people who love and supported us, enabling us to help this family. At one point our friends walked around the school and asked people for straight donations, we were surprised by the outcome. By the end of lunch we had made 37 dollars and our curtains were signed by numerous names to represent the kid’s involvement in changing the world. You have all stitched hope in my heart and restored my knowledge that the world is filled with kindred souls of all age, creed, race, we all have the power to come together with one voice and change the world for the better.

We were all partaking in changing the world

Hey guys, so I am a big believer in coincidences which sounds weird especially when it’s usually the other way around. Any who we had a marvelous turnout for our event and I was basking in the fact it was over and we had been successful and that I could finally rest, Hallelujah! This coincidence turned out to be a huge blessing. You know how I talked about the really awesome boy band that came last year and they were the whole inspiration to this trip? Well they are with a big group called absolute which sort of umbrellas over hero holiday and a whole bunch of other awareness groups. We have had so much support from our principal and assistant principal it has been phenomenal for making announcements at school or for overall just having them there to ask, “how’s everything going?” people who genuinely cared about our success and wanted the best turnout! Mr. Devin, our principal recently told as that we were the best motivational thing that had happened to this school in a long time. So over time their support grew as did our eagerness. One day when we were going to make an announcement over the intercom, our assistant principal made an announcement, relaying that this group(Absolute.org) was coming back yet again not later than a week from the day of our event. He also told us later on we could set desks out in front of the gym so we may acquire donations from the students. It was perfect, now the kids at our school, our friends, were able to actually understand and relate to the urge to help, by donating pocket change. Not only that, the ones who wanted to go but might not have the means to go know they helped in a small way for a big cause. The day the group came was awesome. My mum came to the school as she had inquires about my safety and could actually interact with the organization with itself. Not only that but we were able to meet one of the people from the leadership academy, heather, who gasped at our success and accomplishments. She went on to ask if she could invite us on to stage after the show to introduce us and relay our message and what we have achieved over the past year. The presentation was wonderful, filled to the rim with clips and motivation, plus an epic boy band, half chance heroes. Nearing the end, heather gave a wonderful raw heartfelt story and beckoned for us to come on stage. It was great, everyone applauded and I had never felt so much support then at that moment, from my peers. I love my friends and it was great to have them understand and tell us how proud they were of us. At the end we also collected more pocket change.


It was miraculous people who didn’t have money before suddenly threw a five our way. It is amazing to see people come together as a school and so warmly embrace us and our purpose. By the end of the day we made $75.56 off of our supporters, my friends, and teachers, we all went home with a smile on face, knowing we were all partaking in changing the world.

Helping Mexicans without Leaving Canada

In my work with Internationally Educated Professionals I have learned that it is possible to help our brothers and sisters across the globe without even leaving home. I have come to understand that by helping one individual in Canada, you or I can help a family or even a community.

The value of family is strong, for many people around the world. Many people come to Canada with hopes and dreams of a better life not only for themselves, but also for their loved ones back home. Often people work very hard here in Canada only to send the money home to support family and loved ones.

It is possible to help people in other nations, without even leaving Canada.

While Ocean and Janelle are going to Mexico to build a house for a family there, we wanted top invite our Mexican friends, who happen to be artists, to participate in the event. When Ocean made the offer to artists Sabrina Villarreal and Jorge Padilla, the idea was to create an opportunity for them to sell their art. Instead both were more than willing to donate their art so that Ocean could go to Mexico. 


Another friend, Flor, has been trying to figure out what to do here in Canada. Having left behind her dance studio and school, she is leaning in this direction. In the mean time she is starting two new businesses: teaching Zumba and selling the jewelry she has designed. She was approached with the same offer: an opportunity for her to display and even sell her pieces. Again, Ocean's offer was accepted on a condition, that a percentage of the sales goes to support the girls. 


I have asked each to give a brief bio. Being family friends for some time Jorge was quite willing to let me write his. 


Introducing our friends and feature Mexican Artists:

• Flor Zamora
• Jorge Padilla
• Sabrina Villarreal 

Feature Mexican Artist: Flor Zamora

As with most artists, Flor Zamora expresses beauty, life and femininity in all that she does: both as a dancer and as a designer. Flor came to Canada with her husband. As a well respected architect, Luis came to Canada as a Skilled Worker with a Permanent Resident. This means that he obtained a job in his field, before coming to Canada. Not only did they leave behind family and loved ones, they also left behind Flor's dance studio where she taught traditional Mexican Dance.

It was only natural for Ocean to ask Flor, who had been teaching the girls a bit of Spanish, if she would do a dance at the event. Flor readily agreed.

She described the dance:

About the dance we did prepare a traditional dance and we will use traditional dresses. This dance is called la tortuga del arena (turtles on the beach) Legends and traditions have always played an important part in the history and culture of Mexico, often they are a mix of history and imagination and they are kept alive by oral tradition, Mexican people like to express their legends, interests or daily activities through dances and songs La tortuga del arena tells the  story of women going to the  beach, looking for turtle eggs to rescue them  and help little turtles to  return to the sea.

Not only is Flor a beautiful dance, she is also a designer for Balaam. Again in her own words:

My jewellery business (Balaam) is very small but I have 2 jewellery makers and 5 more people working for me in Mexico, my sister in law and I began  this business one year ago, both design jewellery pieces and hand bags. The economy in Mexico is getting worse every day but our country is rich in natural resources,  Balaam  wants to show people around the world the beauty of our country and people.

BALAAM inspiration.

BALAAM jewelry tells the story of Mayan people, BALAAM is the Mayan word for Jaguar,  for the Mayan people symbolized light, abundance and empowerment ,the beginning and ending of  a circle, the soul of the day and the night.

BALAAM designs.

Timeless, Elegant and Wearable

You’ll fall in love with these original sterling silver and semi-precious stone necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets. These designs are limited editions with only a limited number of pieces crafted per year, some of them are one of a kind .

BALAAM first collection  has over 50 pieces available for sale, made with 925 pure silver ,mother of pearl, shell, red and  black coral, fresh water pearl, black pearl, pink pearl, black wood, agate ,tiger eye, turquoise, Amethyst, Onyx, etc.

 Please let us know if you are interested in any of her pieces.

Feature Mexican Artist: Jorge Padilla

The depictions of Mexicans in Hollywood, and in the hearts of many Americans is very negative. Even in Canada Mexican Temporary Foreign Workers are easily disregarded. Yet, like any other immigrant they have a story too.

So it is for Jorge Padilla and his wife Patricia. It is true that they came to Canada as Temporary Foreign Workers. Jorge got a job as a laborer, and Patricia as janitorial staff. Accepting these humble positions was a drastic change from their experiences back home where they were respected members of the community as owners of a veterinarian hospital working with all animals: including exotics.

Never in their wildest dreams did they think that coming to Canada they would be stripped of everything, struggling through the process of immigration and licensure. (It takes an Internationally Educated Vet up to 5 years to complete the examination process and their third exam costs $6000` not including flight and accommodations.) Against the odds, they became Canadian Citizens.

Hardship then struck Jorge. As a result of the work he was doing, he got a hernia. After one year of unemployment, he is still awaiting surgery.

Yet despite all of this Jorge was so willing to donate some of his art for Ocean's event. We were blown away when he arrived at out house the week before the event with what seemed to be his entire portfolio. Among them were Patricia's favorite: the African series. There were also pictures of famous Mexican stars, a Greek Godess, a lovely Indian woman and post WWII women with children. My favorite is the pastel and pencil boat on the shore.

In honour of the event Jorge created several brightly coloured pictures of Mexico.

Both Patricia and Jorge had to work, that evening, so they arrived late to the event. Jorge was saddened by this. He really wanted to talk to people to know what they liked and why they liked them. If you bought his art, please comment.

A portion of the sales of this art will go to the artist, and a portion is for the trip to Mexico.

Feature Mexican Artist: Sabrina Villarreal

Walking around the Silent Dessert Auction tables you would have noticed various pieces of framed art. It was created by a friend, who came to Canada from Mexico. Some time ago she posted a painting on Facebook, and I was very impressed. When Ocean told her about the event and her desire to involve Mexican Artist, Sabrina responded graciously. Here she describes herself in her own words.

My name is Sabrina Villarreal, I have a Nursing and obstetrics degree with 5 years of experience. I'm still working on my nursing registration ( English exam) as I came from Mexico almost 4 years ago and I did not speak English at all . I have 2 years of experience in Edmonton working with adult with disabilities and that has helping me with my English and also to reaffirm my love for nursing and for helping people.

I sign my pictures as "Lara", my second last name that come from my  mom and grandma, two exceptional Mexican women that I admire and love very much. 

As I told Ocean I will donate 4 pictures;"fruits" (pastel colors), "Sometimes love" (pastel colors),"Falling" (acrylic) and "Small joys" (watercolor); the others are only for show. I'm bringing 9 in total. 

If you took home a piece of art, please leave a comment for Sabrina!

Thank You to Our Sponsors (Pictures and Links)

The whole idea behind the Silent Dessert Auction was auction desserts that are not easily accessible and readily purchased. To bring a special touch to the event we wanted to present desserts from specialty shops, bakeries and restaurants. This goal was achieved through the generous donations from various locations. We are please to show you the pictures of the donations from our sponsors.

If you are visiting their establishment, please mention that you attended the silent dessert auction.

Terwilligar Sobeys Mexican Theme Cake

St. Albert Edible Arrangement

Edible Art from Cake Couture

Dutch Delicious Bakery Tarts

Whimsical Cake Studio Cupcakes

High Level Diner Wheat Free Cake

Big City Cupcakes

MSS Brittle

Fudgalicious Fudge

We would also like to thank M&M Meat Shoppe for the Jalepeno Poppers, and the Junction for the vegetable platters.

Junction Eatery, near Grant MacEwan

23rd Avenue and 111 Street

Thank you to Lucy's Sweets and Sugar Bowl for the Gift Certificates.

Sugar Bowl Gift Certificates

Hazeldean Bakery Gift Certificates

In addition to all of the donations from organizations and businesses around Edmonton, you helped to make this Dessert Auction event an overwhelming success.

SUCCESS!

SUCCESS, a roaring crowd of a hundred and fifty joined us n Friday night to participate in changing a whole family's lives in Mexico. After numerous trials and rewards we can say we finished with a bang but our story's do not end here. Friday morning anticipation seeped through my veins about the result of our conquest; the event. It hadn't quite hit me full on the fact that FRIDAY WAS THE DAY, and not just any day but THE DAY that will not only help change a family's lives but ours as well. I cannot tell you that it has sunk in because it hasn’t, it seems like a haze of smiles hugs and support. Getting dressed I honestly focused souly in not inf actuating myself with the details of the event. By lunch that focus had dissipated to pure fear, I worried about the tremendous things going wrong, but Janelle's excitement reminded me of the overall possibility of a huge success and with that I reaffirmed my courage and left the second half of school ready to embrace anything that came my way. We arrived at the church and met my mother and grandma in the gorgeous kitchen of the church, the ran home to get some things needed for the event and we put ourselves to work, busily putting grapes, apples, kiwis, lemons, and limes in a colorful blend together. We wrapped them in clear wrapping paper and tied them up with bright colored ribbon. These table centers were created to use in the end as thank yous for our volunteers. With Christopher help we strategically put the tables, chairs and stage up. Then two of my awesome friends helped my carefully display all the wonderful artwork (31 pieces) we got from Jorge Padilla, a Mexican artist who came to Canada as a laborer, but had his very own vet clinic back home. We also received more marvelous pieces from Sabrina, another Mexican artist who is working to be a nurse in Canada. The art just added the right touch to the overall mood of the room. All our helpers busied themselves with other preparations to make the evening slip through with few troubles, we had a marvelous kitchen organizer (Kathy) who delegated and made food with the help of more of my friends. At one point in the time during prep I walked into the main hall and looked around to see all my friends gathered and ready to help with any thing our hearts desired. I love friends they are just so great! Somehow I thought in my head when the people started to come the jobs would be over. Let me tell you… I was wrong! At around four thirty people started to trickle in. we had fabulous donations lined across tables throughout the room, lots from very wonderful friends/ substantial supporters and others from bakery's from across the city. We also had some gift certificates for a vet clinic etc. along a wall by the art we had beautiful vegetable trays decorated with almost every vegetable possible, generously donated by a lovely gal Deborah, owner of a newer restaurant (formally the garage) the junction. Plus beside that we had free absolutely divine jalapeno poppers from m&m meat shop. Flor Zamora a gorgeous lady with a heart of gold from Mexico had a table dedicated to stunning limited addition jewelry hand crafted by herself, (Balaam) that the money given would be sent back home to support family. People waltzed around tables, attacking their competition on the bid sheets and creating rivalry's on others. The atmosphere was so joyful and elated, and all I could think was all that time work and effort has already paid of before we even received any money for our cause. Nearing to the end of the evening people sat contently eating taco salads while others continued an escapade to win their wanted dessert. Anticipation filled the air as Janelle and I cleared our voices ready to begin our motivational power-point presentation. Love filled my heart empowering a voice that conveyed the message I wanted it to even though it was not said flawlessly. We had a wonderful series of videos meant to give people empowerment to know they can make a difference now. We had a wonderful time on stage and we passed it along to Flor who provided a absolutely wonderful Mexican dance. Flor was a pro. Dancer back home with her own dance studio, so that made everything seem genuinely Mexican. People applauded and cheered. The evening was coming to an end and a mix of sadness but joy filled my soul. I would like to thank all you out their who have helped in any way shape or form, your love and support as uplifted us to change the world with SUCCESS.

By the way, if you are so curious as I suppose many are anticipating, we made a grand total of 2500$ plus 250 more dollars from individual donations. Thanks so much for all your support and love, you truly have helped our endeavor to change the world.

How do you define success?

When you plan an event of any kind, and a fund raiser in particular how do you define success?

·         Is it how much money you make?

·         How many donations you collect?

·         How many people attend?

·         Whether you have enough food for everyone, or not?

·         How many volunteers are recruited?

·         How smoothly everything runs?

Or

·         Is it the smiles on the faces?

·         The support expressed by the community?

·         The celebration of life and friendship? 

In many ways the Silent Dessert auction, at least for Ocean, was  a coming of age ceremony: a ceremony where the community rose up to acknowledge and support her as she stands firm in the center of her being doing what she was created to do. 

Yes, the event was successful. It was successful financially. It was successful because there was enough food, enough people to eat it, and enough people to serve and clean up afterwards. It was successful because there were only a few glitches.

But more than anything it was successful because the girls go to see that with a lot of planning, a lot of hard work, with determination and perseverance they can accomplish great things. They learned that with many small acts they can accomplish great things. Most of all they learned what it is like to have a community come out and support them.  See It takes a Community. 

It takes a community to raise a child. 

What is a community? When Ocean was in kindergarten and grade one, they were taught that a community is the services in your neighbourhood with field trips to the bakery, the grocery store, the fire station. They had guest speakers from Lucerne and Canada Meet Packers. They learned that a community is the butcher, the baker the candlestick maker.  And I always had trouble with this.

To me a community is a group of people providing collective support creating what my friend Lewis Cardinal calls a psychic net, upon which one can lean back upon and receive support. At times it is this net that catches you when you fall.

With this idea, some time ago I hung a mirror at the front door. Around it I wrote, “It takes a community to raise a child.” Around that I hung pictures of families who were very involved in our lives and who created our community. 

But yesterday, at the Silent Dessert Auction, my definition expanded. A community really is the community is the butcher, the baker the candlestick maker. But in Ocean’s case it is the jeweller (Romeo from Birks), the restaurateur ( Deborah C, owner of The Junction Eatery and Bar), the Reverend (Christopher New), the Entrepeneur (Jim Spiers), the Event Planner (Shiela Stauffer, ED of Cornerstone Counselling).

Indeed it does take a community to raise a child: a community created not only by the psychic net of friends and families but also by the people who provide the services in the neighbourhood who become friends and family.... and those who volunteered. 

What makes an event successful? It’s volunteers.

It is true, volunteers are the backbone of any event and event planners depend on them. 

It did not take long for Ocean and Stephanie to choose the director of food services. Last Christmas, 2011, they volunteered to serve the Christmas dinner at a local event. It was then that they noted the skills and abilities of Kathy Stringham, wife of local dentist Dr. Doug Stringham. Not only was she efficient, she could direct people with both poise and directness. This is not an easy task when your work crew consists of more than 10 adults and 20 youth! Ocean was delighted when she asked Kathy, and Kathy accepted. They met one day for ice cream, and Ocean explained her event, her intentions, and her expectations. Kathy listened, commented, expressed her expectations and needs. Recruiting help would be next on the list. Kathy had named Eileen Hallett as a person she would like in the kitchen, and Eileen who has always been like a grandmother to Ocean accepted. Getting more adults in the kitchen was not an easy feat. The question arose again and again: who could we ask. The night before the event Ocean received a phone call from Elaine Dallow. Elaine became a fast friend when Ocean and I started learning sign language, once a week taught by Elaine’s children Tom and Cindy. Having become fast friends with Eileen Hallett it was a perfect match. Then on the day of the event a gift was granted; Alma Mendoza arrived with her girls ready to serve. Having seen some of Alma’s artistic flare with food I immediately recruited her to take the donations from boxed and containers to place them in a pleasing fashion on plates. She took a box of cookies and made them look spectacular. I knew I had chosen the right person for this job. Soon after, I saw her chopping away with Kathy. The next time I walked into the kitchen an assembly line had been created as taco salads were being made and garnished.

Getting the right people is key: both those with the ability to lead and those with a willingness to serve.  Having people who understood the importance of presentation is also key for an event like this. It was amazing to be able to trust in the people working in the kitchen, knowing that they were both willing and able to do what needed to be done with flare and comradely. 

And it is at times like this when you find out who your true friends are. My friendships with Brenda and Christine started some time ago and have been nurtured entrepreneurially and socially: through sewing lessons, weekly canoeing, work meetings on the dock, and getting fresh produce at the farm. At no time have I ever felt judged by either of them as a single mother. (For those of you who are single mothers you know how rare this can be.) Despite busy lives, they always have and make time for me, as I do for them. So when it came to the execution of the actual event, they were the people I called into action knowing they would be there, knowing they would not reply with, “I am sorry I am too busy with my family.” I knew that I could ask them to do anything, and they would.  Both of them took the day off work to help. Christine even made arrangements before I even asked her. Other people simply do not do that. 

Brenda started the day running around picking up donations. Christine started at the church creating the bid sheets and cataloguing items. It took her all afternoon: from 1-4:30. It was not until the end of the night that I realized how invaluable her cataloguing would be. 

Then they manned the table at admissions, selling tickets and greeting people. To some this is not a major thing, but in my reality this is an expression of ultimate trust. And I trusted them implicitly to handle the money and oversee the donations. Despite the fact that Brenda was escorted to her car by someone cloaked in suspicion I never even had a second thought. When it came to collecting hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars, choosing them was a no brainer. 

More than anything it was their commitment and loyalty that I appreciated the most. Everything I asked of them was done. I did not have to check up on them, and I never even had once concern. Placing complete trust in them reminded me that I am a trusting person, and I am great at delegating. As Brenda pointed out, “You know how to match what needs to be done with people who have the skills to do it.” Later she added, “You had a former banker and cashier handling the money.” Yah, I guess if a store and bank can trust them so can I! Sigh, actually I say that in jest, knowing it goes much deeper than that as they have proven time and time again to be real and true friends I can depend on.  I know I have said it before, but I will say it again. 

Thank you.

One other person that was a key player, in more subtle ways, was Betty. Betty has always been a support to me. Both She and Pat Greenways played a vital role in Ocean’s life when she was in elementary school: giving Ocean rides, having her over for sleepovers, and bringing homework when she was ill. Even though their kids are going to different schools from Ocean, we have still kept in touch over the JR High years. Being an experienced silent auction organizer, I often had long conversations with her about the events she planned and attended gleaning what I could from her experience. Although she won’t see it, she was an invaluable source of information that guided me in the planning and execution of the actual event ( a role I later took on when Ocean started to feel overwhelmed with it all as she continued to work with donations, contacting people, recruiting volunteers, and creating the presentation.) Betty committed herself to helping. “I am going to be there so make sure that you use me if you need help.” And I did. There were many things I asked Betty to do. They have been small things, and seemingly insignificant, but she was able to help Brenda and Christine in what they were doing. 

Everything was running so smoothly, until at the closing of the event a group of people who thought they were being helpful pulled all of the auction sheets from the donation tables. This unexpected event took more than 10 minutes to correct, causing everything to fall apart at the end. 

Volunteers are the backbone to any event. Self-appointed volunteers who have no direction or guidance from the event planner can be detrimental. At a post event evaluation it was determined that at any and all future events people volunteers should have name tags with the role or title. And any well-meaning self-appointed volunteer can be encouraged to enjoy the event. (This is for anyone reading this and planning an event.)

To all the appointed adult volunteers, thank you. It is because of your support in action that this event was a success! 

Of course none of this would have been possible without the generous donations.

Donations

Since the beginning of time the girls wanted to hold a dinner and dessert silent auction. They brainstormed about what food to have on the menu and came down to two choices: taco salad or haystacks. Going with the theme of Mexico they decided to have a taco salad. Ocean went to Tim Hortons’ Taco Del Mar, and, Muccho Burrito and Taco Bell to no avail. Three weeks before the event she was getting disheartened, so I asked her to think about the people she knew, and who she thought was a kind generous soul. She thought of a local basketball coach who had given generous gifts to the team members when they won the championship, Dr. Deb Crowfoot. She was swept off her feet, only seconds after calling him, when his answer came simple and quick, “Yes.”

Other donations were just as important: UPS donating the printing of the tickets, Wendy Gibb donating $100 when the event was still in its infancy, donations from restaurants and businesses around the city. The vision was to have a dessert auction where people could bid on desserts served in restaurants and seen only in specialty shops. (you can read all the blog posts about the adventures.)

When we asked for donations from friends, many really stepped up creating:  masterful baskets, beautiful presentations, masterful decorations, combinations of cookies in a beautiful cookie jar. They took home baking to another level! Other cakes, cookies, brownies and squares stood their ground as family favorites bringing in more than would be expected!

At one point in the day I had been asked, “How many desserts do you have.” I did not know. We had 8 desserts to pick up from different businesses, some had been delivered the night before, others were being dropped off at the church later in the day. Some had been group together in baskets.  I guessed there were about 20. Then there was the art, and the certificates. In total I expected maybe 40 items. I printed off 60 bid sheets. We ran out. The church was willing to print 20 more. We ran out again. And for some items there were duplicates, so that the top two bidders “won”! It was truly amazing.

The donations are only half of the story. The other stories are still forth coming: the competitions, the rivalries, and the surprise of how much someone paid for a home-made dessert. There are stories behind some of the desserts: where they came from, who made them, why each person was asked.

Marion will be blown away to discover her cookies went for $60! Deborah was thrilled to get the cake plate with the flan. Romeo was deuced by the fact that Ocean’s grandmother Elda got the huge chocolate cake.  Sara was sad to know the trifle she had on Monday went beyond her reach at $25. And although Eileen was busy in the kitchen, Ron kept an eye on the cookie jar for her and got it. (Anyone who knows Eileen knows her cookies!) But Kathy was too busy in the kitchen to be able to keep bidding on Shirley’s cinnamon buns. I have never had one but now I am really curious about why it would start a bidding war! And Julie went home so happy, as a model she knew the value of the beauty salon products and salon straightener.

Stories, so many delightful stories; please share yours by commenting.

But the event's success was not only because of the donations but also because of the support Janelle and Ocean felt from their friends: The light of the future.