Windy City

My CUTEST donor!!!!

Yesterday was Lauren's 4th Birthday party, so I decided to hold a quick fundraiser at the Super Stop-n-Shop in Hudson (closest "Super" store to her house). It was a Tropical themed party, and Lauren is wearing a Flamingo top, and her shorts have tiny Flamingo's on them. Of course, I could help out with that theme thanks to my fundraiser last year! So, Michelle and Lauren stopped by and picked up the flamingo lawn ornaments to decorate her yard, and I gave Lauren a lei w/ a flamingo dangling off it, and of course the glasses. She was very happy with all her loot! Wish I could have kept her there all day because how could someone NOT donate to her?!

The day did not get off to a good start. It was about 85 degrees, sunny with strong winds. Perfect weather to walk 60 miles, but wind for a fundraiser is the enemy. Have you ever tried to get a plastic tablecloth to stay on a table when it's blowing all over the place? Disaster. Literally took me 45 minutes just to get the tablecloth on. UGH!!!!!!!!!!

But, I've learned that the FIRST thing you do in the set-up process is to put up your sign on the building. This way, when you're setting up, people know you're collecting for Breast Cancer. EVERY time I've done one of these fundraisers, I get donations before I'm even set up because people walking in the door know why I'm there thanks to the sign. My routine is: 1. Put up Sign 2. Tablecloth 3. Donation Jar 4. all the other stuff (signs, pictures, giveaways, etc). Because I couldn't get the tablecloth to stay I ended up putting my donation jar and stuff on the table as weights while I worked on securing the tablecloth.

About 30 minutes into this process the GLASS donation jar blew off the table and broke into a million pieces. I was about to cry. I just bent down and started collecting all the pieces of glass. A customer offered to tell someone inside I needed a broom. Once it was all cleaned up, I had to go back to try and finish getting the tablecloth on. But how was I going to collect donations?

A car drove up with a woman who was about 70 in the passenger seat and her daughter driving. She said she wanted to give me a donation. I walked over, pretty dejected, and she stuffed a couple of bills in my hand. I said "Thank You. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. My donation jar just fell and broke." "We heard, sorry" she said. "Thanks for the donation" Then we parted ways and they drove off. Without a donation jar, I went to put the donation inside my fanny pack. OMG!!!!!!!!!! She had just given me $40! I was about to cry again from her generousity.

But I couldn't enjoy it for long because I had to go back to the tablecloth. About 10 minutes later I was in good shape having just conquered securing it to the table using about a roll of tape and literally 15 clothespins. Up drives the 2 women who donated. For a second I thought they realized they gave me too much money. Instead, without a word, the older women just reached her hand out the window and had a white pail in her hand. For me to collect donations. Speechless I walked over and said "Thank you" and they drove off before I could even say more. This time I was about to cry from their kindness. I don't know where they drove to to buy the bucket, although I'm forever grateful!

Once all that got settled, I had a pretty good day! The wind never settled down, so I had to keep my hand on my photo display to make sure it didn't blow away, but I got used to it. I got my fun visit from Michelle and Lauren, and then recognized another shopper as someone who grew up on my street. As my mind was processing her face, I just said "Danielle?" She looked up so I knew I guessed right. I re-introduced myself and then had a quick catch-up session with her and met her beautiful 10-month old daughter. Probably haven't seen each other in 15+ years. I love nice moments like that!