Updates

I can't believe it is almost a week since I've blogged- I'm not doing well at all lately with my blogging. There have been some personal changes lately and that has affected the time that I usually spent blogging, but I do need to do better. So what's happening? Well, things have been up and down. On the up side, we have a cool event coming up next Tuesday in Boston, it is a singles themed event called a People Scavenger Hunt and we're receiving the $10 ticket price at the event. All we have to do is help promote it and show up, so that is pretty simple. It looks like it will be a really fun event. Boston Event Guide- the company that we partner with to help promote the date auction- is organizing the event and they chose PS to be the charity. Jeff, who owns the company, has been really supportive of our work- he makes an effort to include us on lots of different things that he does. He is hosting the Spring Wine Fest in a few weeks that we are holding a silent auction at.

On a downside, one of the magazines that donates an ad for our date auction will not be able to donate this year. The marketing director was very nice, he said that their budget has been slashed and there wasn't anything he could do. I had been reading lately about the difficulties that the company has been having, so it isn't a major surprise, but it is really disappointing. I need to find another way to make up for that loss of marketing. I don't think we can afford to buy an ad in their magazine.

I've been working on calendar sponsors, but that is going slowly. I do have some commitments, but there is a long way to go. I'm having trouble reaching some people that usually sponsor. It gets frustrating when you spend a lot of time trying to reach people.

Tomorrow, we're donating to Hartford PD, it is our second donation there. Then I'm speaking to an association in the evening. I'm looking forward to speaking, it is always great when I can get the word out about Project Smile.

Last week, Oprah had the brothers from New Jersey that inspired me to start PS on her show. I was so happy to see that they are doing really well, they were adopted by a family and look like they are really flourishing. I did email the Oprah show- I was hoping that there was a way to let the boys know that their tragedy had inspired me to start Project Smile. I didn't get a response, so I don't know if they will ever know, but it would be great to be able to tell them.

Well, I should go back to work. There were a lot of things that I didn't get to today and considering that I'm going to be leaving at 12:30, there is a lot that I won't get to tomorrow either. I had intended to go back to work, but I've been hanging out watching the Yankees (lose again!), Real Housewives of NJ, Jay Leno and the Lakers game and chatting on the phone- not exactly the hours of productivity I had planned for myself. I'm getting tired now though, so I might just eat my grapefruit and head to bed. I promise to blog tomorrow- no more slacking! Until tomorrow friends...

Happenings

So what's new? Well, a date auction sponsorship check and an anniversary celebration check arrived today, so that was good news. This week we also received our first donation check from Capital One- we have a Project Smile credit card and receive an initial donation when a person signs up for the card, then we get 1% of their purchases. Thank you very much to those who have signed up for the PS credit card, I really appreciate it! I need to keep promoting it so we can get more people to participate.

I was back at work on auction items today, mostly for the anniversary event. The TV Diner certificate arrived, that is one of our best items. I had intended to work on certificates for the date auction, but I didn't get a lot accomplished. I did follow up with one restaurant company that usually donates and they are sending something this week.

Quick update- I still haven't heard back from the financial services people that I met with last month about sponsoring the date auction. I don't understand what happened. I left another voicemail today, trying to follow up. They said they wanted to sponsor, told me they would let me know by the following Friday, but haven't responded to messages or emails. It would have been nice to at least be told that they changed their mind or if they needed more time- it gets a little frustrating when you keep reaching out and don't get any response.

There are a lot of other things going on, but I am getting so tired. I have been awfully tired lately. It is only 11:45, but it feels like much later. I had all these plans of things that I was going to do when I got home tonight- including catching up on work, but I've only managed to blog- and it isn't exactly my most fascinating blog post. I am going to eat my grapefruit, then make it a really early night and go to sleep. Until tomorrow friends..

May Already!

Well, here we are, May has started. Can you imagine? I feel like I need 3 more weeks in April to catch up with where I want to be. But then again, I always feel like I'm working from behind. So what's been happening since I last blogged? By the way, I've been dreadful with blogging lately and really need to get back on track. Well, good news- we are on track for recruiting date auction fire fighters and we added another date auction sponsor, which brings us almost 60% towards our sponsorship goal. I am way behind on gift certificates for the couples. I did get another commitment for dance lesson gift certificate, but I still have a long way to go to reach the 40 certificates. We will be getting another donation of sample packets of coffee for the gift bags, which I'm really happy about. It is funny- most of our gift bag donations so far are food related- chips, coffee, vitamin water.

Continuing on the good news band wagon- it looks like we will be involved in a Boston dating event this month. I don't have all the details, but all we have to do is to help promote the event, then show up at the event and we will receive the $10 ticket price donation for Project Smile. I love simple fundraisers like that- help promote and show up and collect the money- perfect! We are also going to be doing a silent auction this month at Boston Event Guide's big wine fest event and we're going to be doing raffles again this summer on their harbor cruises. The cruises were only a small fundraiser last year, but every dollar is important for us.

We also got another sponsor on board for our Anniversary Celebration. It is a large local company. They sponsored 2 years ago, but didn't sponsor last year. We are now 75% towards our sponsorship goal for that event. Miss Massachusetts will also be attending too. She has always done a lovely job as a special guest for our anniversary events. On the downside, I still don't have a special guest speaker. I've been working really hard to find one, but not getting anywhere. I did reach out to someone else today, so keep your fingers crossed for us please!

Well friends, I am awfully tired and need to sleep. It is only 12:30, but it feels like so much later. There is a lot more to write about, but I can't think of much right now. Tomorrow, I need to spend some serious effort on getting calendar sponsors. We are pretty far behind on that task. I'm off to quickly eat a grapefruit, then write my list and bed. Until tomorrow friends...

Latest and Greatest

I haven't blogged in a week! I can't believe it has been that long. So what's new? Well, a lot of things have been going on. First of all, I just wanted to share that I spoke with such a nice person today, it really made my afternoon. We have a luxury car rental company that is donating for the date auction and they wanted to park one of their cars outside Gypsy Bar. I called Gypsy today to find out about that and the manager referred me to the valet company who handles all the parking on that block. I left a message at the company- it was a general mailbox and even though I asked for a specific person, I was a little doubtful that they would actually get the message. Within an hour, I received a phone call from the person I had asked to speak with. He was so easy going and pleasant- it was totally refreshing. He even offered to help get some auction items for us. I wish everyone could be as helpful and friendly as he was. It was also great how he called me back so quickly. I make a lot of phone calls during the day and frequently it takes a long time to hear back from people, so when I do hear back promptly, it is great.

We may have a guest speaker for our Anniversary Celebration! It isn't confirmed yet, but hopefully I will know tomorrow, but it does look good. I'll let you know when I hear back. It would be such a relief to have that taken care of. In other good Anniversary news, we have a returning platinum sponsor. Their support brings us 60% towards our sponsorship goal. I have to get back to work on new auction items though, I haven't contacted as many places recently.

We still need more date auction sponsors and unfortunately, I haven't had any new financial commitments, although there are some good leads. I never heard back from the financial services company that I met with weeks ago. I left voicemails and sent emails and haven't heard anything. I'm not sure what happened.

It looks like we will be participating in a singles event in May and getting the proceeds from the ticket sales. I don't have all the details yet, I just got the email this morning. We also have the silent auction coming up at the end of May at Boston Event Guide's wine fest. I would love to get PS involved with other events going on, but that's all we have planned so far.

I can't believe it is almost May- I feel like I'm really behind on things, but I always have that feeling, even when I'm actually well on track. I am so tired right now, I do have lots more to write about, but my eyes are hurting and totally ready to close. I need to write my list, I've been slipping with my list writing lately and I need to get back on track. Until tomorrow friends...

New Week

Hello, Happy Patriots Day! So it is the start of a new week- what's happening? Well, tonight I spoke with a womens group about Project Smile. They are choosing their state charity to support and we are one of the two charities being considered. I spoke at the state meeting a couple of months ago. Then last week, I met one of the ladies at a networking event who had heard me speak at the state meeting. She asked me to speak to the local group tonight because they were going to vote on which charity they wanted to support tonight. I think it went well, I made the important points and I hope they choose to support it. The seemed really interested in PS. Each chapter has to vote, so I'm not sure what is going to happen. Hopefully, speaking tonight made a difference. Even if it doesn't, at least I got the word out to more people.

I'm still working on getting a speaker for our Anniversary Celebration. I know it took me until July last year to get a speaker, but I really do want to get it nailed down soon. I also need to work on getting more grants. I'm going to apply for a grant that we got turned down from a few years ago. The bank has expanded in our area recently and I think they might be more willing now to support us. I was also recently introduced to a website that lists lots of different grants and makes it a lot easier to apply for them. It costs a couple of hundred dollars to participate, but I think it would really be worthwhile.

I still haven't heard back from the potential date auction sponsors. They were going to get back to me a week ago last Friday. I called and emailed last week, but haven't heard anything, so I'm not sure what is happening. They said they definitely wanted to do something, so maybe they just need more time. I wish I would hear something from them though- even if it is only to say they need more time. There was a good thing that happened today- I had emailed one of the ladies from the date auction a couple of months ago to see if she could help us out again with getting gift certificates donated for the date auction. I never heard back from her- I figured she was busy, but I was also a little worried that maybe she wasn't interested in helping us again. But today, I chatted with her on Facebook and she was so nice and said she would definitely help again. I was really relieved about that.

Well, I think that's it for tonight. I'm really tired and need to sleep. It is barely midnight. I'm going to go have a grapefruit and then make it an early night. I have a lot of work to get through tomorrow. I can't believe I haven't even started with getting calendar sponsors. We're already past the middle of April, so I need to get that moving immediately.
Until tomorrow friends...

New Week

So what's new? Well, it was an interesting day. Things got off to a good start- Michelle, one of our board members, has done a great job recruiting single ladies and guys for the date auction. I opened my email this morning to find quite a few new date auction candidates. I emailed the bachelors/ettes, then I did some following up with other people- then I decided I was going to update my Facebook status to "it's going to be a good day." Within five minutes, I got a really disappointing email from a potential guest speaker who won't be participating, then a few minutes after that, I accidentally walked into a door. I thought of my FB update and figured I jinxed myself. However, things got better. The check from the Saver's Bank arrived and I also got a $300 donation that I wasn't expecting and a bunch of auction items arrived today too. On a personal level, there were some nice things that happened too. I made a coloring book/crayons donation to Millbury Fire today and followed up with some other departments. I have another donation to DCF scheduled for Wednesday.

I am a little worried- I haven't heard back from the potential date auction sponsors that I met with 2 weeks ago. They said they would get back to me by last Friday. I left one of them a message this morning, following up, but I didn't hear back. Hopefully, I will hear back from them soon. Our event would be a great fit for them and it would really mean a lot to us. I will keep you posted when I hear back.

So what else is happening? Well, I'm still not finished with the grant that I was working on last week. I don't know why it is turning into such a production, it's not even particularly difficult. It is almost completed, but there are a couple of small things that I am stuck on and I also want to take more time to keep proofing it. The plan is to have it in the mail on Thursday.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning out lately of both personal items and work related things. Tonight, I was sorting through some old papers and found a little note from my grandfather. I have only a couple of notes that he wrote. It is such strange timing because his birthday is coming up in a couple of days, April 15 and I have been thinking about him quite a bit lately. He would have been 104 years old! He died when I was 14 and I miss him just as much today as I did then. I know they say that time heals and it does heal certain things, but nothing heals the loss of someone you adore. He didn't live long enough to see all his grandchildren grow up- my sister Eve doesn't remember him, but my brother does and Cordelia too. He used to be afraid that we would forget him, I told him that I never would, but I wish there was a way to let him know that now, as a 30 year old woman, he is still a part of my life and I'll never forget him. He was the best grandpa a little girl could have ever wanted.

Anyways friends, that's it for tonight. I'm off to have a grapefruit, then write my list. I want to start working earlier tomorrow morning because the Yankees home opener is on TV tomorrow afternoon and a certain Yankees fan is going to be taking quite a few work breaks to watch the game! I really wish they wouldn't have baseball games in the middle of the work day, but the Yanks are getting their rings and I will be watching! Until tomorrow....

Tuesday Happenings

It's a new week and what's happening? Well, today got off to a rocky start. I had intended to work on a foundation grant, but I just couldn't get into it. I don't even know what the problem was. It isn't even that difficult a grant, but I was struggling tremendously. After almost an hour, I stopped. Sometimes, when things are not happening, it is a good idea to step away and change focus. I have been doing less grant work and sometimes it can be hard to get back to grant writing. I have to do a follow up donation to Sutton PD tomorrow, but I am intending to get some serious grant work done too. I did spend a lot of time working on auction items, particularly for our anniversary event. I hadn't intended to spend some much time, but once I started, I couldn't stop. We did get some great auction items lately- Daily Show with Jon Stewart tickets, whale watching, restaurant certificates, children's activities and a couple of others. I spoke to some people who were really helpful today and hopefully we will be getting some more really nice items soon.

There is a lot of other stuff going on too, but I'm so tired. I came home tonight with glorious plans about what I was going to do- catch up on emails, some grant writing, interesting blog posting- and I haven't done any of it. It is only midnight, but I feel like it is much later. I'm sorry, I wish I was more interesting tonight- there really is a lot to talk about, but I just need to sleep- I think an early night is needed. Until tomorrow friends..