I think today, the big Number Fundraiser day, deserves a blog post of it's own. In fact, I'm certain, that I owe it to our very own Jenn Schenk to write one. Here's why.
By default, Jenn is our fundraiser. She is the person who can really connect with people and share our story in a way that makes people want to get involved. Of the two of us, she's the only one wiling to make big "asks" when we really need money. She's the one that takes it upon herself to plan fundraising events. And when all is said and done, she's the one we send on a plane to go do the sharing.
Jenn's also the one responsible for managing the organization's money and controlling how it is spent. She's the reason why before we had even spent $200,000 we had a vehicle, employees on salary, rent paid, oh, and a fully functioning facility built from the ground up. She knows how to make a dollar and she knows how to stretch one.
Naturally, the big joke when we first started to assemble the numbers was that Jenn should take a picture with the number 15 (since it'd been about 15 days since she'd last asked for money), but there wasn't a number on the board large enough to reflect how long it'd been since I had. Talk about a guilt trip.
This time, I don't want it all to fall to her. The less money we raise today the sooner Jenn has to get back on a plane, fly to America, and do more sharing and more asking.
So today, it's my turn. This one's on me. Today I will do my part to connect, to inspire... to ask!
If you haven't read the details about today's fundraiser it's so simple. It won't take more than two sentence for me to sum it up.
First we wrote the numbers 1 - 144 on pieces of paper and taped them to a blackboard. Now, we want to take them all down.
We're asking everyone we know to pick a number (something that means something to you) and to give a donation in that amount. We just had a friend choose 3 numbers for the date, month, and year of her daughters birthday. Last year we had someone donate the age of everyone in her family. Each time we get a donation we take those numbers off the board. And we post a new picture on Facebook to show what numbers still need to go.
We have also taken a bajillion (I'm not exageratting) photos in the last few days. But for good reason. At Second Mile numbers really matter. Take the number 2 for example. What if I were to suggest that if a mother was able to increase her income by just $2/day she would never have to consider placing her child in an orphanage or giving him up for adoption? 2, such a small number! Numbers (a child's height and weight and a ratio between them), also determine whether or not a child qualifies for admission into our program. The number of children we have at a given time determines how much Plumpy Nut we need to buy. The number of boxes of Plumpy Nut we buy determines how much money we must raise. The number of seeds a plant produces determines how we will expand our gardens... the number of chickens we have determines how much corn we will have left over to sell... You get the point.
8 cows, 40 yogurts sold this week, 55 meals served per day.
45 - The number of severely malnourished children admitted to Second Mile since May 2013.
22 hours of education offered to moms each week, 29 months working for Second Mile, 33... this mom's favorite #
A pod from the Moringa tree produces enough seed for 24 more trees.
12 - the number of bee colonies currently living in our gardens.
106- the number of Plumpy Nut sachets this baby ate during his recuperation.
44- the number of boxes of mamba we've purchase in the last 7 months.
100 - the percentage of time Second Mile is fully sustainable with solar energy.
Ok, so we're number freaks.
But really, we just thought it would be a fun way to share some little-known-facts about what we do (you know since we promised this fundraiser would be fun).
The funny thing is, we've also been learning more about you! --the ages of your children, the dates that are important to you, and well, that some of you are pretty darn good at math.
It's been a really fun, if not exhausting, day. We're looking forward to what these last few hours have in store. We're losing energy, I must admit but we are very, very grateful for the support that has come in so far. Don't forget it's just a one-day fundraiser! And don't forget that we don't want to send Jenn on a plane to fundraise in America any sooner than we have to. ;) The money we raise helps us employ parents, empower women, save lives, and keep families together. We hope you can help us clear the board.
Click here to donate.
Click here for an updated look at what numbers still need to go.