FundRaising Malawi: We raised $2,311.04 last Sunday!

The five of us (Leah Reynolds, Meital Levi, Julia Silka, Heather Lounsbury, Selen Ermanav) raised $2,311.04 at our first team event this past Sunday at Kyle Mathis Hairdressing.

In addition to hair, nail, brow waxing and massage services, we set up a donation box and a table for silent auction items.

Selen sold her handmade candles from Sevin Candle Company and donated 50% of the sale to Raising Malawi. They're beautiful! 100% soy, good to environment and available in three choice scents: orange, lemongrass and lavender. I bought two and Leah bought 8 or so to thank the staff volunteers. (If you like Selen, and what's not to like, may I suggest you buy a candle at www.sevincandle.com). I'm counting her donations from the candles as part of our donation box tally.

Here's a quick breakdown of the math

$1,316.04 hair and salon services
$ 570 donation box
$ 425 silent auction **
-----------------
$2,311.04

**I am not counting silent auction dollars till we officially award items and collect on their bids. Still, no time like the present to thank our generous donors:

-Berri Good for $50 gift certificate (winning bid $30)
-Heather Lounsbury for acupuncture session ($85)
-Joseph van Arsdale for private yoga session ($85)
-Selen Ermanav for photo session/headshots ($50)
-Collective Soul for 2 concert tix, backstage passes & signed photo ($50)
-Holly Sidell for HeartMath treatment/therapy session ($125)

Plus, two cases red and white wine from restaurant owner, Franco Simplicio to class up our little event :)

And of course, a HUGE, WARM THANK YOU to the most-generous Kyle Mathis for opening his salon up to us and offering half price services with 100% of all proceeds to Raising Malawi.

Here's a picture of Kyle cutting our first guest's hair. I believe Leah and Heather stopped this fine young man on the street to tell him he needed a haircut and escorted him inside. Nice work, ladies!

I got my do done too.

A personal highlight for me (other than my personal highlights) was giving away a bunch of balloons to an angelic little Japanese girl outside waiting for her dad to get some stuff out of their car. She eyed our balloons and was so happy when I gave her a bunch! Her dad tied them on her wrist and she ran down the sidewalk looking back every few seconds to watch the balloons chasing her. Wish I had my camera for that.

We took turns working the table outside. We had it set up in the Promenade at first, but didn't get a lot of traffic in the morning, so we moved it in front of the salon.

We had wonderful free samples of Lierac skin cream and Macro Greens/Miracle Reds to stop passersby, if only for a 3 second awareness pitch for our cause. We had lots of samples and they all went. :)

And how about this for support: My friend Renee from work was letting her hair grow out for months so she could come out and support us. When she finally arrived for a haircut, everything was booked. We asked if there was any chance she could squeeze in for just a quick cut (her hair was very long) and they agreed, given her commitment and all, but wouldn't have time for a blow dry.

Next thing you know, I look over and my friend has gone all Katie Holmes on me! I could see her neck! How fun! A true charity-inspired transformation.

All in all, we had a great day. And we pulled in a decent till for our first gig. But it's not about the money. Fundraising is never just about the money. It's about building awareness for this great cause and waking up, all of us, one by one, to change the order of things. We can make a difference for the world's most vulnerable, and oft-forgotten children. Together, we can Raise Malawi!