From Socks To Stoves

 

If my calculations are right (and let's face it- they're not. They never, ever are. That's why I sew stuff and I don't work as a mathematician, a bank teller, or a Wal-Mart cashier.) Did I ever tell you the story about working at Culture's Restaurant when I was a student at University of Winnipeg? Oh. Well I should.

But say they were right, I would venture to say that I've cut two and a half quilts, a baby quilt, and the salvaged edges of a fourth quilt into stocking shapes, and that twenty-eight of those have successfully sold, generating a revenue of approximately $336.00.

Not bad, I say. Especially because the first quilt was free, the second was $4.00, the third one a gift that had tattered to the point of needing reincarnation, and the baby quilt? Found. So, if my calculations are sort of roughly right-ish, my supplies cost probably cost less than ten dollars. Which leaves a profit of $326.00. And that's only if I deduct my costs going in, which only happens occasionally. That would involve math... which I'm not actually so good at.

But even if my numbers are a little less than perfect, here's what I know so far. I'm going to be donating $336.00 sometime in the next couple of days.

I'm excited to be taking a bit of a diversion from the World Food Program, which we've been sending funds to for years now. I hope you'll be excited along with me.

My daughter Arianna has been participating in a program through Canadian Mennonite University called outtatown: a discipleship school of CMU. After Christmas, she and thirty other students will be travelling to Guatemala to partner with a number of local, grass-roots initiatives. They will be building homes for indigenous families in the Panajachel area.....working with orphaned children, volunteering in a local hospital for children with physical and mental disabilities, assisting with reforestation and community building projects in the rainforest, and supporting outreach ministries to the poorest of the poor in Guatemala.

www.porchdesalomon.org....building homes for local indigenous families that are desperately in need of adequate housing. Solomon's Porch projects include a needs-based street miistry, home building projects, a coffeehouse outreach ministry to expatriates and tourists and weekly worship gatherings for the local community.

Manna Of Life...is a school, feeding program and ministry that reaches out to hundreds of children ech day, offering them access to education and adequate nutrition.

Rock of Help:....food, medical aid, nutritional programs and education for families throughout the city.

Mission Impact Guatemala: a ministry that builds cisterns and fuel defiant stoves for local families, giving people access to clean water and the ability to cook safely within their homes.

Any money raised through the sale of these stockings will go to support the projects that I've listed above. I want to be clear that this money goes directly to the projects, and not to the students who are travelling to Guatemala as volunteers. Their fees have already been paid. This is another reason I'm excited to support these projects. I really like the idea of the funds being directly applied to real needs.

If anyone is curious about following the group as they travel and learn, you can do so by visiting their website: www.outtatown.com

And if anyone is interested in purchasing some awesome socks and supporting some great initiatives in Guatemala, there are still some available in my Etsy shop.

Besides, I still have a couple of quilts that have not yet been chopped....

 

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