Donation Challenge + Giveway to help girls in Kenya | Results & Winners Announced!

If you’ve been following the last few weeks you might have been aware of the Donation Challenge + Giveaway that I was doing to help raise money for girls in Kenya to be able to stay in school. You can check out all the details HERE about how the life of Kenyan girls can lead to a viscous cycle of poverty, especially when a girl starts to menstruate. After a recent trip I took to Kenya and Uganda back in February, I came home with a heavy heart for the people of those countries. We take for granted the luxuries and conveniences we have around us, especially when it comes to sanitary/hygiene supplies. It makes me sick knowing there are others in the world who have so much less, even with their basic needs like food, water and hygiene.

I was thrilled when my friend James, in Kenya, told me that his project “Sanitary Supplies for Poor Girls and Widows in Kenya” had been approved to be a part of Global Giving’s ‘Global Open Challenge’ for the month of April. Organizations around the world have to raise $5,000 in 30 days to earn a permanent spot on Global Giving’s site in order to continue fundraising for their specific projects.  James’ project was geared towards helping ensure that poor girls in Kenya have continued supply of monthly sanitary supplies so that they do not drop out of school when they get their period or even worse, sell themselves so they can buy supplies. The goal was to gain permanent placement so he could then work hard to continue trying to raise $7000 for the remainder of the project. If he didn’t reach the $5000 that Global Giving required for permanent placement his project challenge would be over and he would have to start all over again.

I really wanted to be a part of helping James reach this goal of $5000 so his project could gain the permanent placement on the site. A number of my amazing photographer friends and some wonderful vendors came together and planned the donation challenge + giveaway to help raise money for the project. Our challenge was this: With every $25 or more donation that came in towards Jame’s project those donors would be entered into a giveaway for a mothers day gift basket or 1 of 2 photo sessions with the participating photographers. Pretty sweet to make a donation to help Kenyan girls and win a little something for your mom or yourself eh?

So, the Donation Challenge started and the monies started coming in but in the end just wasn’t enough to reach the $5000 goal for James’ project to gain permanent placement on the site. To be honest, I was pretty bummed even though I knew that the $1385 we did raise for the project would still go a long way for the girls that James helps each month. But God is bigger than money and numbers. Bigger than the desires of our hearts and a few days after the challenge was over I got the best email ever from James. It read like this:

Hi Nicola,

This is a quick one, just been notified that because of our persistence we have been selected as few organizations that did not make it though the threshold but exhibited push and Global Giving uniquely gave us the opportunity to stay on permanently!! I attribute this to your devoted support and innovative fundraising means. Thank you and thanks to your team and donors!

James

James also forwarded the email that the program coordinator of his ministry Fountain of Hope Life Center sent to global giving after she heard of the good news:

Hi Friends,

I feel like exclaiming and asking ‘whhhhaaattt’??!?!? This is unbelievable news. It is night here, but when the rest of the FOHLC team gets to hear this news they will be sooo happy. We thank Global Giving for this opportunity and we also eagerly embrace it as we never thought we would get permanent placement because we did not make it to the $5000 threshold. Thank you!

Eunice

Ahhhhh!!!! I was soooo excited I could hardly contain myself. Even though we were not able to help raise that $5000, James’ project was STILL able to gain permanent placement on Global Giving’s site and that was our original goal! I immediately went to the project page and low and behold his project was still visible and live. I cannot express enough words of gratitude and thanks to all who participated in the donation challenge to help us reach this fantastic goal. So thank you so much to those who participated in the donation challenge!

I was so pumped and couldn’t wait for Monday to come so I could announce the fabulous news of the results AND the giveaway winners! So now I’m sure you area all eager to find out who the winners of the giveaway are?

 

The 3 winners of the gift baskets are:

Jolene Zimmerman

Katelin Flecken

Karen McGrady

 

The winners of the photo sessions are:

Family Session: Kara Sawyer

Portrait Session: Kelly Wieand

 

Winners, please use the contact form on my website to connect with me to arrange picking up your prizes or scheduling your session! We appreciate your generosity and can’t thank you enough for your support of this project.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU to everyone who was a part of this challenge. Your generosity is very much appreciated.

Happy Spring!

The 3 Gift Baskets include these awesome items which were generously donated from these fabulous vendors:

• Fine Truffles and Rooibos Tea from Cafe Chocolate
• Calligraphy Inspirational Framed Print from Aperçu
• Inspirational Quote print from Raw Art Letterpress
• Bubble Necklace from Green Eyed Lady
• Handmade Flower Accessory from Simply Amber Co
• A handmade wristlet from JAlmodovar
• Hairspray and teasing brush from Rachel Kuc Studio
• Ethiopian Coffee Beans from Lonely Monk Coffee
• Handmade bag made in Africa from Neema Project

 

The two photo sessions + a gift basket include:

#1: One collaborative stylized Portrait session with Marci and Char for a teen or woman with 1 hr session + 10 digital files from each photographer. Lancaster/Lebanon County location.

#2: One collaborative stylized Family session with Nicola, Andrea and Amanda. 1 hr session + 7 digital files from each photographer. Lancaster/Chester County location.