Cheque Presentation

After school yesterday, Kelsey met with Mr. Paul Bonneau at the local CCS office. He kindly agreed to pose for a photo (and gave his permission for posting) as he accepted her cheque for $463.07, the full amount raised at her garage sale.

Results of my first event

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day - perfect for the garage sale!

My mom made sure we were up and outside by 7 AM, setting up tables, laying out coffee, putting up CCS posters, balloons and more. She also helped me to understand how to greet people, to be sure that they knew that all money raised was being donated to the CCS. I spoke to so many people and they were all very nice and really encouraging! I spoke french a LOT -- my french teacher will be proud! :) One lady that Mom spoke with started to cry because she was so surprised by what we were doing! We had people at our sale that had cancer themselves and others who had lost a friend or family member. They really made me feel that I was doing something good.



We hadn't planned to do more than one day but, since we had items left at the end of Saturday, we went back out for a half-day on Sunday. We were exhausted but very happy with what we had achieved.

Here's the great news... the garage sale raised a total of $463.07!! I have arranged to meet with Mr. Bonneau at the CCS office this Wednesday to present him with the cheque.

I have many people that I need to thank, so please bear with me:

- To my Auntie Darlene, Uncle Stephen and Kristen: thank you for believing in me, right from the first day. Thank you, also, for the items you donated and for bringing us coffee and donuts to keep us going! I love you very much.

- To my Kentucky family - my Granny, my Uncle Aaron, everyone!! - thank you for telling people about Doris Dollars and for supporting me. I know we're far apart but I feel like you're right here with me. I hope long distance hugs and kisses are just as good!

- To Maureen Cooper: thank you for the items you donated and for your really kind words.

- To Andy and Maria Nebbs: thank you for coming to the sale first thing in the morning and for making such a generous donation! You were right there to encourage me and I really appreciate that.

- To my great friend, Josie: thank you for coming over to volunteer and for standing on the corner with me, holding up signs, dancing and waving, trying to get as many people as we could to the sale.

- To everyone who came to this first event and bought something, made a donation or had kind words, thank you. You have shown me what is possible and made my determination even stronger.

Last but not least, thank you to my parents and my sister, Robyn.



You all worked SO hard. You never let me get discouraged during quiet times and you ran around like crazy during busy times. I love you for being with me every step of the way. I know I have a long way to go but I will succeed. I also know I couldn't do it without you. xoxoxoxo

Now I get to work, coming up with the next idea! You know I will keep you posted! ;)

Love, Kelsey.

PS: Thanks Mom for being my "official photographer" :)

Donation Instructions

Hi everyone! I'm excited to report that the donation link is now in place on the right-hand side of my website (thanks Mom!) for anyone who might be interested or who has already asked about it. It goes to the online donations area for the CCS. There are 4 simple steps to complete to make a donation.

Please write down or print out the following information so you can fill out the required fields. This is the key to making sure that funds donated through my website are able to be tracked by the CCS and reported back to me, to count towards my goal, so it's very important:

- Click on the link in my "Make A Donation" box or go to:
https://secureccs.ca/donations/donations.aspx?div=115〈=en

- Choose "In Honour" (please do not use any other donation type for this purpose)

- On the "Step 1 of 4" page:

In Honour of: Type in Kelsey Powell
Occasion: Use the "Other occasion" box and type in Doris Dollars
From: Type in your name

- For the "Step 2 of 4" page, here is my contact information (I will receive a card confirming your donation -- another way for me to track my progress!):

First name: Kelsey
Last name: Powell
Street number: P.O. Box
Street name: 47005
City/Town: Chateauguay
Province/State: Quebec
Postal code/ZIP: J6K5B7
Country: Canada

Steps 3 and 4 will ask you about your donation. That's all there is to it! We tested it and it's very quick and easy to do. If you have any trouble at all, please let me know by leaving a comment here or by clicking on my email link and writing to me confidentially. I will be sure that you get all the help you need.

Also, if you don't like the idea of doing any of this online, I will gladly accept mail at the post office box instead.

I might not have the right words for this but I'm going to try - I really feel like I am at the start of something big now! Thank you to everybody that has gotten me this far! I love you and I am lucky to have you all behind me. I promise to do my best to make you proud.

Kelsey
xo

My meeting today

After school today, I had a meeting at our local CCS office with a nice man named Mr. Paul Bonneau, Regional Development Agent. He is the person who is helping me to get started, especially for my garage sale.

At our meeting, he asked me what grade I am in, why I want to do this project and what it was all about. I told him that I lost my Grandma to cancer and that I hope someday soon no one else will have to go through that. He gave me LOTS of materials that will be VERY useful as I work on this goal. He gave me cardboard donation boxes, posters, daffodil stickers to put on someone that donates cash to me, videos from CCS events like the "Relay for Life," magnets that I will also use for donations, and more.

I think the best thing he gave me was a letter of Authorization that tells people that I "will organize fundraising activities for the profit of the Canadian Cancer Society", that my mom and I "will solicit individuals or companies to receive donations or sponsorships" etc. That means that I am authorized to use their name for publicity or finding sponsors. This is GREAT! Now I can approach other people or companies to help me in the future and I will be OFFICIAL. My mom already helped me to make business cards and Mr. Bonneau told me that I am allowed to put their logo on my cards at any time, if I choose to do so.

I also got an email today from Mme Caron. The process to get a link for donations on this website is almost ready! When you click on the link, it's going to look just like what you see on the CCS website now. BUT! There will be a couple of special details for people to fill out so that I WILL be able to know how much is being raised through my site. I will be able to keep track towards my overall goal! I'll be giving you more information about it and the steps to do, as soon as it's ready (it should be next week). This is so exciting!

I feel very happy and confident now because I can see that things are getting accomplished. I just finished cleaning and preparing my dollhouse and all its accessories, which I have decided to sell. This weekend, we're working on pricing things. Next weekend, the 16th, will be the "big day." I know I can't raise a TON of money with my first event but it will be fun and I know now that every single cent helps.

I hope you'll keep checking back here to see how I'm doing!

Kelsey
xo