December Number is $169.50!

Ginger on a Mission is going to chalk 2013 up as a pretty awesome year!!!  The month of December brought in $169.50 which ends 2013 with a total of $913 for the year!!!!  

Since December was during Angel Tree a big chunk of our money went to AnnaMarie who met her goal of $1000 by the New Year!  

Ginger on a Mission added $100 to AnnaMarie's grant and she is still waiting for a family!

$12.50 went to the Claus family who is adopting Donald!  

$35 to Emilja who will be adopted by the Jenks family!

$11 went to Helen who is waiting for her forever family!

$11 went to Maria who had a family commit to her but they decided they could not move forward.  This little princess has over $16,000 in her grant!  A large part of her adoption is paid for!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS MADE GINGER ON A MISSION SUCH A SUCCESS!!!

The Winner Is....

We did our giveaway for Angel Tree for anyone who donated to either AnnaMarie or Emilija's grant.  Not only has Emilija met her grant.... SHE HAS A FAMILY!!!  AnnaMarie has also met her goal but doesn't have a family yet, but I am sure one is coming any day! 

Let's just say that it was kind of intense and time consuming to type up 55 pages of names for the entries and then paste it into a randomizer on Random.org but I did it!  

AND THE WINNER IS....

Rebecca Howard Jenks!!!!!

Ginger on a Mission has donated to the Jenks family's adoption as they have been working on adopting an older child with down syndrome and NOW THEY ARE ALSO ADOPTING EMILIJA!  It was awesome to see a family already working on raising funds for their adoption also donate to AnnaMarie as they understand the difference a family can make for a child! Their sponsorship page on RR can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/62945/sponsorjenks-2

Every dollar raised...

Is because the goal is this:

For every child to be in a loving family.

26 years ago...

This ginger was born.... and yes, I wasn't born a ginger!!  

There are some interesting stories I have been told over the years of how I came to be in this world.  Let's just say story telling runs in the Sass family.  My favorite story about how I came to exist is that the nuns at the college my dad taught at were praying for our family to have more children.  There was a sign and all.  (So I am told.)  After my brother was born my parents thought they wouldn't be able to have any more children.  So then they find out they are having another child and my dad tells one of the nuns they are having another child.  She exclaims how wonderful that is and that the sign is up and they had been praying.  My father then asked for the sign to be taken down.  So I may have been a surprise to the world, but doesn't everyone LOVE surprises?!?!   

I would also like to take the time to point out that my mother filled out my school enrollment paperwork wrong and my birth date was always listed as the 16th of December.  I swear it is the 6th and PS my middle name is also with an E (MOM!)

But I digress.  As I turn 26 this year, another person has their birthday this month.  AnnaMarie will turn 15 this month, which means she has ONE year left to find her forever family.  I don't ask for much but for my birthday I would like AnnaMarie's grant to grow by $41, a dollar for each of our ages.  Her grant would need to be $348.80 to reach my goal!  Do you think we can make her grant grow by $41 dollars by the end of my birthday?!

Just chip in a dollar and a dollar from many will get us there.

Remember.  Anyone who donates to AnnaMarie or Emilija will be entered into our Ginger on a Mission Tote Bag Give Away!  You get to choose your fabric!!!  Just simply forward your receipt to gingeronamission1206@gmail.com 

Who doesn't want one of these?!?!

For good measure.  A sneak peak at our Christmas card...

November Numbers- $486.50

Wowza.  November was an awesome month here at Ginger on a Mission.  It was the first month of Reece's Rainbow's Angel Tree and also we hosted a booth at a local craft fair.  We also had some pretty great sales on our Etsy store.  Our Rainbow Friday deal brought in over $200 in extra donations :)  We had our first couple custom orders and launched our newest item, the Mini Tote Bag.  We also got an awesome new logo from my brother in law... seems like we're really coming together nicely.  

Mini Tote Bag

Our awesome new logo :)

Now to the good stuff!  How much did we raise this month?!!?!  Who did it go to?!  This is long, but bear with me because the reason it is long is we helped sooooooooo many different families and children!!!

With our craft fair we raised $486.50 THIS MONTH.  Let's just let our jaws drop a moment.  Yes.  Wow.  So proud.  So Blessed. I don't expect another month to be this awesome but it is an incredible feeling to see this all fall together.  With the craft fair, Rainbow Friday and the holiday season it just all rolled into an AWESOME month.    

$14 for the Winslow family adopting Zoey and Edward.  Their first trip is December 6th where they will get to meet these precious children!

$8 for the Tam family who will be adopting Caroline!  They are now FULLY FUNDED!  

$12.50 for the Monier family adopting my Angel from last years Angel Tree.  

$7 for the Jenks family who is adopting Veronika!  They adopted two children last year and are going back for another sweetheart with Down Syndrome.  

$10 for the Williams family who has announced they will be adding another child to their adoption!!!

$12.50 for the Lusher family who are adopting FIVE siblings!  

$44.25 for Emilija who is waiting for her FOREVER family to find her!  (Sorry no pictures are allowed online but I have seen her and my goodness is she ADORABLE!)  I have heard she is in a not so great orphanage which means she REALLY needs a family NOW.  

$10 for JoJo who looks like a little diva!  She only has until July 2014 to be adopted!  She MUST have a family in her country by then!

$81.25 for Madalyn and needs her forever family to come find her!  Sweet Madalyn is only 3!  How she could thrive in a family.

$15 for Hellen who is still waiting for a Mommy to call her own!  

$10 for Felix who is waiting... and really needs a family!

$10 for Salome who DESPERATELY needs out.  She reminds me so much of Alexander at the institution I worked at. Left to be in a bed all day with little stimulation.  If she is not adopted soon she will remain bedridden for the rest of her life.  

$19.75 for the Claus family adopting Levi (Donald on RR).

$11.25 for Madden who is also waiting for his forever family to find him.

$60 for the Collins family who are adopting Caleb and he LOVES cars.  Can't wait til he is home and playing cars like a little boy should!

$30 for Daphne who is still waiting.  I am unable to post pictures due to her countries rules but based on her profile, it seems like she'd be a such a great addition to a family!

$15.75 for the Tomaszewski family who will be adopting Immanuel!  He ages out on January 1st, 2014 so they need to get to him FAST!  

$108 for our Angel Tree child AnnaMarie.  Still waiting for her to be on the My Family Found Me page.  She turns 15 in December and only has a year left to have her forever family find her!  

Overall Stats:

4046 views on our Etsy Store

133 Likes on our Facebook Page

39 total orders on our site

$743.50 raised for families and children's grants on RR since AUGUST! 

<3 Be Blessed. 

RAINBOW FRIDAY!!!

Since everyone is getting crazy out there for Black Friday that apparently now starts on Thanksgiving, Ginger on a Mission is getting in on the action. I personally LOVE rainbows so I present to you...

 RAINBOW FRIDAY!!

75% of your purchase goes to families adopting or waiting child grants!!!!  ONE DAY ONLY!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/GINGERONAMISSION

You do not want to miss out on this!  Share on your facebook page, spread the word!  Custom orders also started tomorrow will qualify as a Rainbow Friday purchase.  Simply specify at checkout who you want your donations to go to!!!

<3 Be Blessed.  

The Long Awaited Craft Fair

It was definitely a weekend to remember!  I spent Friday night frantically getting everything packed and in order so that when Danielle and Rachel arrived at midnight we could finish sewing the 27 tote bags Danielle had started.  And sew we did... ALL NIGHT.  Rachel went to bed at 4:30 AM after having been awake for over 24 hours, I went to bed at 5:00 AM and well, Danielle never went to sleep.

Hoku gave up on the all nighter too...

Two of my best friends helped make it all happen!

Tracking our purchases.

So many price tags...

We were by far the brightest booth on the block... and one of the youngest booth owners.

Our Awesome Chalk Board Sign that Brandon Made!

I would say not sleeping was worth making the bags!

Some of the kiddos we've helped. Once you started telling people who the children in these pictures are they really got the mission.

 It was such an awesome day.  We raised $160 dollars for orphans :)  We will announce who it goes to in another post as it is hard for me to decide which children and families it goes to.

Some fun comments of the day:
Everyone assumes my name is Ginger :)
Some people asked if we actually made the stuff... and one lady specifically asked if we "helped make the stuff."  Many people commented that it is so nice to see young people sewing as it seems to be a dying art.
We were asked if we went to school there--- Mind you two of us have Master's degrees!
One person asked if I was Ginger on a Mission and then stated, "So you do have a soul!"

And again... I could not have done this without my best friends.  They are awesome!  If I would have told Danielle when we first met in sewing class that 13 years later we would be pulling an all nighter for a craft fair she probably would have decided not to be my best friend.

All of our stuff is listed on our Etsy site.  I LOVE hearing the ChaChings on my phone when someone makes a purchase.  I do a happy dance and quickly search to see who the money is specified for.  So get shopping as Chrismas Season tends to make people spend lots of money, shop with a cause!

We have begun looking at doing another craft fair or four :)  And I am excited for Christmas when I get TWO FULL WEEKS OFF since I work in a school to craft away!

Be blessed.

Because of Them...

I discovered something amazing online the other night.  The orphanage/institution I volunteered at when I spent a semester in South America has a website. I hadn't visited that site for a couple years and when I did the other night I cried such happy tears.  They have made such amazing changes to it.  I have no idea if they have a new director or what but there are so many photo galleries, a facebook page and stories about what is happening in this orphanage.

But WOW is all I can say.  The children in my ward only came out of their cribs for meals and to be dressed.  Sometimes I got in trouble for taking a child from their bed to play with them.  On one of my first days there, I was told when they were laying in their cribs I could just sit behind the desk and watch them.  No thanks!  I was going to interact with them no matter what.  Sadly, I cannot find all the angels I worked with in these pictures.  It makes me wonder what happened to these sweeties and I pray they are okay, but I know the reality of the lives they live.  There are still the "favorites" who appear to be in most of the pictures.

When I spent 10 hours a week for four months, I only saw children leave to go to special doctors appointments and a couple got to go to school elsewhere.  Children with Godmothers were able to go there on weekends but the photos they show have children doing Zumba, in cooking classes, going to the movies, trips to other cities and parading the streets.  These children are no longer hidden away and there are people working with them who truly love them and enjoy them.

My heart is so happy and full.  Because of these children, this is where Ginger on a Mission was born.  I always wanted to do more for the forgotten children.  Some of my friends and family may never understand this mission but I cannot forget these angels.  The children in this orphanage are not allowed to be adopted.  There is one sweet girl whose Godmother fought and fought and spoke with me often about the fight when I was there.  That sweetie is no longer there, their fight paid off.  She is the only one I know of that was adopted.

Be Blessed.