Quarters in Crawfordville Go A Long Way!! #Charity #SmallBiz #ShopSmall

HolaHolaHola Beautifuls!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with mucho to be grateful for. Babushka por her parte added my community of Crawfordville in her lista of blessings y bendiciones.  This isn’t the first time BB’s written about the generous souls here, but it’s been awhile and this event was special in sooo many niveles that it’s más que worthy of a post. Not only is it a novel idea, but tambien it’s the kinda twofer Babushka loves- shopping while giving back. Now you know that deserves a great big ESO!!I So what exactly was the novelty? A “Quarter Auction” for charity. Not sound like mucho verdad? Bueno Beautifuls, you’d be surprised how it adds up. A quick explanation.

“Guests purchase one ($2) or more ($1) bidding paddles when they arrive. They spend time visiting the vendor booths, networking, shopping for holiday gifts, enjoying snacks, registering for door prizes, and having fun. When the auction starts, vendors take turns introducing their businesses and showing their auction items up for bid. The vendor tells the audience how many quarters it takes to bid for each paddle held up, in the amount of 1 – 4 quarters. If they choose to bid on that item, guests and vendors drop their quarters in the bucket and hold up their numbered paddles. If the number drawn matches the number of an auction paddle being held up, that person wins that auction item. It is fast-paced, generous, and fun! All funds raised are shared between Education Enrichment Council scholarships and the charity chosen for each auction.” En Noviembre, the charity partner was Operation Santa, another wonderful local nonprofit that helps local families who need a little help celebrating the holidays.

And they even fed us!! Special shout out to yummy Mae's Southern Delights.
 Babushka's Paddle.  Lucky double number.

And the auction begins!!

It was a night of winning on so many levels. Do you know how much was raised Beautifuls?  Entre peseta por peseta, a quarter at a time, in a little under 2 hours over 2 thousand dollars were raised!!  Increible pero cierto. And it was only their segundo time having an auction!  Not love my little town??  JU SO FONII!!! A noche of community spirit, fun and good times for two great causes. 

Babushka's Win. A Bella set of  Lilla Rose hair accessories!
Gracias Jodi, BB will be back for some hair sticks. ; ) 

Por supuesto, but of course, it would have been imposible without the great volunteers and vendors. Gracias to Nancy Floyd Richardson for putting together this lista. 

Veronica Forns Wold - Effortless Travel
Cyndi Rasberry Dotson and Shaina Dotson - Rodan & Fields
Nancy Floyd Richardson - Thirty-One
Heather Houser Gray, Yese Reyes, and Melinda Lee Porterfield - Young Living Essential Oils
Kim McMillan and Suzanne Pope Leigh - Plunder
Lisa Latimer Scott - MiaBella Creations
Debbie L. Drum-Smith - LimeLight by Alcone
Nance Nadeau - Scentsy
Cyndi Dewey McKuhen - BeautiControl
Thadra Palmer Stanton - Pampered Chef
Tracy Spencer Britton - Damsel in Defense
Jodi Crone McIver - LuLaRoe
Casie Knight Arciaga - Premier Jewelry
Jodi Franklin - Lilla Rose
Lois Wise Abbott - Noonday Collection
Brandie Oscar - Tupperware
Lola Harrell Pouncey - Magnolia and Vine
Jessica Johnson - Southern Threads
Darlene Roberts - Omnitrition
Sara J. Marchessault - Joyful by Design
Trisha Lee Strickland and Jessica Balchuck Goldin - Fight Like a Fish for Augie
Toria Schmookler - Ornaments for Orphans and Fair Trade Chocolates
Rachel Ogle - Beach Body
Ann Spano Fulghum - A'doorn by Ann

Donations:
Libby McFalls Stewart - Photography Session
Emily Irvin Manley - Usborne Books and More
Angies Marine Supply
Tractor Supply Store
Shannon McDermott - The Garden Center by Gatortrax
Alix Kalfin - Wildtree

Magnuson Hotel

A wonderful time was had by todos. Who are the vendors/small business owners in your comunidad? No se about y'all, but these are the type of people worth helping,buying from. BB gives to those that give from el corazon. How about you?

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

Enough Talk the Talk- Let's all Walk the Walk!! #StopTheStigma

  RAISE $100 AND GET A SPECIAL NAMIWALKS TSHIRT- FREE!!

 The Easy, Peasy Way to Raise $100

• $10 - Your Personal Donation              $10
• $15 - From Spouse or Parent               $15
•  $10   - From a Work Colleague           $10
• $10 - From 2 Friends at Church           $20
• $5 - From 4 Neighbors                           $20
• $10 - From 2 Family Members              $20
• $5 - From Teacher or School Friends  $5

                                        TOTAL                        $100

7 POINTS

EXPLAINING WHY NAMIWALKS IS AN EVENT 

YOUR COMPANY SHOULD SUPPORT 

1. The Issue & Stigma. This Walk is for an issue – Mental Illness – that many think is the 

“last thing to come out of the closet.” The Fear of Stigma is so great and the Walks are 

giving people the opportunity to come together and make public discourse about mental 

illness and admission of mental illness okay. 

2. Inclusivity. The Walk is “inclusive.” We invite other mental health constituencies to 

join us at the Walk with materials about their programs. (Note: We are not sharing 

revenue. This is a NAMI fundraiser.) 

3. Validation and Good Will. The Walk and its participants are part of a movement much 

bigger than themselves. People will be walking in NAMIWalks in cities across the 

country. People are hungry for this validation. Business sponsors of the Walk will be 

in a very visible and positive position with great goodwill to be gained from the 

community. 

4. Benefit to Employers. NAMI programs are grassroots, volunteer driven programs that 

provide education and support to family members and individuals living with mental 

illness. These programs are not provided anywhere else in the mental health system 

and help employees without any cost to employers. Twenty to twenty-five percent of 

employees are touched by mental illness in some meaningful way and can benefit 

from NAMI programs without charge. 

5. Evaluation. NAMI affiliates evaluate the efficacy of their programs and strive to 

maximize measurable results. NAMI Greater Orlando will use our Walk funding to train 

additional teachers so we can expand our Family-to-Family, Basics and Peer-to-Peer 

programs in response to heavy public demand. 

6. Gratitude. We receive emails and phone calls every single day from people who say 

“Thank you so much for doing this!” and then they proceed to tell their stories – often 

for the first time. 

7. Competence and Commitment. We have a very committed and capable Walk 

Steering Committee. They will make sure the entire Walk effort is exemplary. 

Broward County Sponsor Brochure

Greater Orlando Sponsorship Brochure

Lake Sumter Sponsorship Brochure

Miami Sponsorship Brochure

Palm Beach County Sponsorship Brochure

HolaHolaHola My Beautifuls!!  Que?? You thought Babushka was just going to post the NAMI information and that's all??  JU SO FONII!!!  BB said enough talk the talk, never said no more talk! Cubana al fin...

Right now the NUNCA ALONE team has 2 registered walkers.  Sonia Guerra (aka as Babushka on Valium) and my dear childhood friend Howard Cohen- who happens to be a registered and licensed counselor.  Those S Sisters are slick verdad??  Continuing.

AUXILIO!! SOS!! HELP!!

Let's share this, Tweety,Feibu, Instagram, Pinterest, and even good old fashioned phone calls y emails!!  We CAN do this and help #StopTheStigma - if anyone can do this it is you My Beautifuls.  Please register for the team,donate,share- whatever your heart calls you to do.  And from BB's corazon and in the name of my daughter and myself.  1000x Gracias.

Babushka Besos a todos.  Cuidensen.

P.S. Babushka's plea is in gratitude for NAMI's help during my daughter's hospitalization. 

 The complete story can be found on the top of this post - click on #StopTheStigma for the campaign information.

P.P.S. For those not familiar w/Babushka's style, most of the colored words are links. 

 What can I say?  I find color makes the world (and my blog) purtier.

; )  

#SMCSFBlog