The fundraiser is now over but Action Kivu always needs your help. Please give to them any time.
Time flies and it’s yet again time for the Action Kivu Fundraiser! The 3rd annual! Today is the first eighth and final day of the fundraiser, held here on my blog, through this week. The fundraiser will end, and the giveaways will close, on Monday the 20th at midnight, Pacific time.
For those of you who are new to my blog, here’s the lowdown: there are amazing giveaways involved in this fundraiser and together we do a lot of good.
If you’ve been reading my blog, you know about Action Kivu, but for those of you who don’t know, Action Kivu is a nonprofit that helps women who are victims of the conflict in Eastern Congo by teaching them to sew at a sewing workshop. Action Kivu also pays for children to go to school. The conflict in Congo has taken the lives of over 5.4 million people since 1998. Rape is used as a weapon of war, with estimates putting the number of rapes in the hundreds of thousands. These are horrible statistics but together we can make a difference for some specific women and children.
My twin sister, Cate, runs Action Kivu and she went to Eastern Congo early this year to see the sewing workshop and meet the women there. It was an amazing trip. She saw, with her own eyes, the good that we have done with this fundraiser. For example:
Cate met this woman, Nzigira, who is a graduate of the sewing workshop and is now supporting her family as a seamstress. That pretty sewing machine she’s using?? Our fundraiser last year bought it for her. She is just one example of many women and children who have been directly helped by this fundraiser. Please give this year so that we can help even more! Even just $10 makes a difference!
Last year we raised an amazing $15,000! This year? We’re making our goal even higher. We’re shooting for $20,000 and together we can get there!! The American staff of Action Kivu is 100% volunteer, so all of your donations, minus nominal banking fees, go directly to the work on the ground, empowering and educating the women and children of eastern Congo.
See that thermometer on my side bar? (click through if you’re seeing this in a reader) Let’s get it movin’ up and up and up! The online sewing community that I know, and am so lucky to be a part of, is such a generous place. Let’s pool that generosity and make a real difference in the lives of some women and children who really need our help. Please give.
So here’s how it works:
In order to be entered to win a giveaway, all that you have to do is give the amount assigned to that prize. Can’t decide which giveaway you want to be in the running for? You can enter more than one! Just donate the dollar amount associated with a prize and you’ve got a chance to win it. However, you can only enter each giveaway once.
Added afternoon of 8/13: Anna Maria Horner has added a bundle of 6 fat quarters from her new line, Field Study, to each and every prize!
It doesn’t matter which prize you pick, you’ll also win six fat quarters of these beautiful fabrics! Thank you Anna!
$10 Donation:______________________________________________________
Updated to be an even bigger prize! Give only $10 and be entered to win a signed copy of Modern Log Cabin Quilting, donated by its generous author, Susan Beal, the new Winter issue of Stitch, with a nice feature on wool sewing, donated by Stitch, a brand-new set of 8 wool fat quarters, and a baby quilt kit (which includes 2 FQs and 1 full yard of wool), donated by Pendleton Woolen Mills.
How long are running the fundraiser?
Hi Jan! The fundraiser will be running throughout this whole week. Through the 18th. Thanks!
this is great! i am involved in this field professionally as well (international development but am dreaming of working for/with an org like this…).
I just donated $45 but i went directly to their site instead of donating though yours. Can I still be in the drawing?
Hi Irelle! Yes, you are automatically in for the prizes when you donate through them. I coordinate directly with them when we pick the winners. Thank you so so much for your donation!!
I’m in!
I just donated. This is a great cause!
Alissa: Thank you for doing this. I accidentally clicked the wrong ‘donate’ for the amount that I donated. I hope it automatically sorts out ok. I’d like to be entered…
Hi Di! Not to worry – those donate buttons all lead to the same page. What counts in the dollar amount you input. Thank you so much for your donation and support of Action Kivu!
I donated $45 – such a wonderful thing this is and it really shows how generous the sewing and crafting community can be. Hurray!
I donated and wrote a post about the fundraiser. I used two of your pictures (one of the woman w/sewing machine and one of the prizes). I hope that is alright. I love this organization!
I donated again this year as a birthday present for my sister. She is a nurse midwife and spent a year in East Congo (Walikale and Kivu) with Doctors Without Borders. I am so glad you all are advocating for these women!
Alissa,
I am so glad to know about this amazing, wonderful project. I was happy to contribute and will follow your fundraising efforts with great interest. I would like to mention this project in a blog post and link back to yours if that is okay.
ltj
Hi Leslie,
Of course – it would be wonderful if you’d blog about the fundraiser! Thanks for helping to spread the word.
Hi, I’m in Australia. Is it ok to put this up on the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild page, or is postage too onerous to Australia?
Cheers
Hi Lorraine, please do! Postage isn’t an issue… Thanks!!
Hey Alissa: What a great cause! I’ll be writing a post about this on our guild’s site ASAP.
Just an amazing cause to give to. Whether I win bundles or not, I’m thrilled to have the chance to contribute to something that will really make a difference…Teach a man to fish…Teach a chick to sew….Same wonderful outcome that perpetuates good things into the futre!
Hi Alissa, I’m new to your blog (found you through this fundraiser and Elizabeth Hartman’s blog) and I just wanted to say that I think this is so fabulous! It’s amazing to see how “sacrificing” the cost of a few yards of fabric for my hobby can make such a difference in someone’s livelihood – what a great cause, I am so happy to be able to help. Thanks for organizing this!
(also I love your quilts – very excited to pour over old blog posts when I have a bit of free time!)
OK, I’m in!! Thanks so much for drawing my attention to this charity, it’s ‘right up my street’.
I wish I could afford to donate more, but I’m glad to be able to be involved at all – thanks for your hard work to raise awareness for this cause!
Done, thank you for give us this opportunity. I love giving to NGOs that are helping people become self sufficient and educate the rest of the world on how some very simple things that we take for granted totally transform lives!
I donated at 9:45. I hope I still get enter. It was worth it anyway. I just didn’t find out about it until a few minutes ago.
You’re definitely in! The fundraiser continues through Sunday (at least!).
What a great cause! I donated too. A big shout out to all the fantastic sponsors who donated prizes.
Are there any volunteering needs that I could help fill, here in the U.S.?
And, any desire by the organization to do the same with inner city kids and moms here locally?
I’d love to volunteer to do more. This cause really touches me.
Hi there! I just donated… I don’t know if I have to alert you of same in the comments (looks like not), but am doing it just in case!
Thanks so much Marta! You don’t need to – I coordinate directly with Action Kivu when the winners are drawn but thanks for letting me know! And thank you for your donation – it’s so appreciated!
Just found your blog via AMH’s blog – happy to donate and hope you reach your goal!
Oh, thank you, thank you for extending this a day. So happy to be a part of this! We’re so close to the goal!
Thank you for organizing such a wonderful event.
Oh wow! I can’t believe I missed this fundraiser, and I have to say that I’m sitting here with tears rolling down my face looking at your sister’s picture. Good work, such good work.
This is a cause I really believe in, I’m so pleased to know that others in the online sewing community support Action Kivu.
Ahh! Can I email your sister and pick her brain? stephc@3hourspast.com
Hi Steph! Of course – I’ll email you now with her contact info!