Fundraising success

Hi friends and dreamers!

After a slew of fundraising activities over a busy February, I'm excited to say that about $1600 has been raised for my participation in the Maritime Otesha Cycling and Environmental Education tour this summer.

Here is a run-down of the events:
1. Valentine's Choco-gram activity at work
Organic and fair-trade chocolate with personalized greetings cards were made available for purchase and distributed through our internal mail system. It proved to be a fun way to recognize colleagues as well as an opportunity to bring home some very tasty chocolate for loved ones! At $3 a peice, it was a deal for both sides!

2. Greeting cards
I printed 6 different prints for greeting cards and sold them for $10/6. They were super popular (who knew I could draw?) and since they were environmentally-inspired, were a perfect fit for an Otesha fundraiser.

3. 1-sided recycled notebooks
Searching around for a good supply of one-sided recycled paper proved to be quite a challenge, but in the end, the books (with some of my art designs on the front) looked pretty good. They sold for $5 each and hopefully will inspire some folks to make use of the extra side before tossing used paper into the blue bin!

4. Pub night at the Celtic Corner in Dartmouth
For $15 a ticket, friends were able to enjoy a burger and beer at a local Irish Pub that has terrific service and great ambiance. 30 people showed up and we enjoyed music from two friends, Mike and Shane, who jammed it up including some Bob Marley Beats.

In addition, I sold some of my original framed artwork as well as a 50/50 at the pubnight. Cyclesmith, a local bike dealer, donated a couple of certificates for bike maintenance packages (very generous) and Mountain Equipment Co-op sponsored me by donating all sorts of goodies, including water bladders, bottles, bike bells, a reflective vest and other door prizes.

All in all, it was well worth the effort and hopefully the Otesha message will continue to spread through Halifax. Lots of people were enthusiastic about it, which is a great side-effect of fundraising!

Thanks to all the fine folks that supported and encouraged me! :) I'll definitely speak more of Otesha as the summer progresses, but now it's time to focus on my travels to Nepal and India!

Cheerios folks!
Lots of bicycle grease and smiles!

Kristy :)