Please help us fill our bags!

The title of this post reminds me of a story David tells about the flight attendant in BA first class who asked him to please empty his nuts. (Ha!) But that's not what this is about. A little background:

This nice chap Todd Petitt found my blog and reached out seeing as we're up to something very similar. He co-created Africa Bags, a non-profit organization that produces reusable cloth shopping bags.

In May '07, they introduced their project into three villages near Mzuzu, Malawi - Kamweko, Viweme and Nkhata Bay. The villages were provided with foot powered treadle sewing machines, cloth and all other items needed to make the bags. They trained small groups from each village to operate the treadle sewing machines. Shortly after they left, a fourth group formed itself in Chintheche.

The village in Kamweko has really taken off. Currently, they're in the process of making over 25,000 bricks to build a 1,000 sq. foot community center, all paid for by Africa Bags supporters.

Since 100% of the profits from these bags are returned to Malawi, I figured I'd buy 50 or so to get started (they cost $12 each) and see if I could stuff them with cool swag to sell for $50-100 each (depending on content), 100% of proceeds to be donated to Raising Malawi.

Here's where I really need your help. We all are connected to someone who can donate 50 cool items (T-shirts, DVDs, sun lotions, water bottles, magazines, notebooks, vitamins, health bars, etc.) that would be great for stuffing these bags.

I'll sell them at our upcoming fundraising events. I'm working with a team now trying to secure a cool hollywood venue. It's for such a great cause (orphans and vulnerable children) and is awesome exposure for like-minded companies. I really want to STUFF these bags and sell them out fast. It'll give us a reason to buy more and create a powerful circuitry to pump dollars back to the people who need them most.

Please be a hero today. Do you have at least 50 items to donate or know someone/company who does? Even if you just have an inkling....someone you think you can approach who may be interested in helping, will you shoot me a note (jsilka@yahoo.com) or leave a comment and let me know what's in your head? It'd make my whole day. And you know the deal, it could actually save a life.