Over $16,700 Raised At 2nd Annual Gems & Java

Monday, 15 April 2013 10:55

"Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia" are celebrating the success of their 2nd Annual Gems and Java event. With over $16,700 raised on Saturday, the organization has raised over $24,000 in the past two years. Shelley Green is one of the group's founders that was created in August 2010. "The organization was founded by three adoptive moms of children from Ethiopia, and while we were in the country to bring our children home back to Canada, we were forever impacted by the abject poverty that we saw around us and we just came home knowing that we wanted to make a difference in that country and that this was going to be our lives work". The organization is 100% volunteer driven and led with 85 volunteers currently. They have no overhead costs which means all of the funds raised at this year's event will go directly towards four projects that eight volunteers will carry out in Ethiopia in June. According to the Green, the four projects are: 1. Visit three orphanages to provide programming for the children as well as donate needed food supplies, clothing, toys and shoes. 2. Donate 650 school kits to students at a very poor rural school containing school supplies, personal hygiene supplies, a skipping rope and a pair of shoes. 3. Donate supplies for the "Merit Based Store" for women working at Mission Ethiopia 4. Provide meals, clothing, shoes, blankets and tarps to children living on the streets and in the trash dump in the capital city. Green says they raised $7,700 in their first year with a sold out crowd of 85 people at St David's United Church. This year, they had 241 guests attend at Innerkip Presbyterian Church. Guests purchased a ticket for the event which gives them one complimentary piece of jewellery or a purse. They then have the opportunity to purchase the extra jewellery and handbags for a donation per piece, which are all gently used items that were donated. The event included a silent auction, desserts, and Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Guests could also purchase necklaces and scarves that were handmade by Ethiopian women. Those proceeds go directly to support programming that provides for those women and their children. Green thanked the community "for supporting our work so generously. Being a very new organization we are just absolutely blessed to live here and I feel incredibly blessed to work with a group of people that have chosen to get involved in this work".