Year in Review

Happy 2012! I know that we are now 4 days into the new year, so I'm pretty late on my annual year in review, but here it goes:

The biggest highlights of 2011 were the Date Auction and our Anniversary Celebration. The Date Auction raised a record amount of money and had fabulous attendance and great feedback- bonus: we got a ton of great photos and even a little video from the event. The Anniversary Celebration was also a success. I worked really hard on both of those events, it is so exhilarating when they turn out well.

Another big highlight was taking over the Shoe Club and rebranding it to Smiling Stiletto and having it help raise funds and awareness for Project Smile. The Fall into Fashion show was a great event- Christine, a shoe club member, did most of the work and everyone loved it. I'm really looking forward to our spring and fall shows this year.

Working with our police and fire departments, along with shelters and DCF is always a highlight. It is the whole point of why Project Smile exists and it always makes me happy when we do our donations. Thanks to the support from the Milford National Bank, we were able to do some special donations of stuffed animals to local nursing homes right before Christmas. That was definitely a highlight for me.

The grants that we received from the TJX Foundation, DCU, Brown Foundation and 200 Foundation were all highlights.

One of my goals at the start of 2011 was to do more networking. In January, I joined the Women's Success Network and the fall, I became their ambassador coordinator. It has been a very positive experience and a great networking opportunity. I particularly like being on the board, it's always a good thing to be more involved.

One of the biggest highlights came just last week with the $10,000 surprise grant! It ended the year on the best possible note and has really made me excited for all the good things to come this year.  My last highlight of the year is the people that help us. We wouldn't be here for the generous people that support our work and help us grow.

Of course there were low lights- the year itself started off on a personal low light, but in the end it was another great year, so there's not much point in remembering the low light. There will always be difficult people, rude people and unresponsive/unhelpful people- but those aren't the ones that there is any reason to remember. They fade into the black hole of the forgotten. Instead, when I look back at 2011, I remember all the good things and great people that kept our upswing going and propelled us into a positive start for 2012. Thank you!

On that note, I'm off to eat my grapefruit, write my list for tomorrow and head to bed. Until tomorrow friends...