January 2020 came in quietly. Riding high on the success of 2019, which was topped off with the very successful bazaar, no one had the faintest idea what was just around the corner.
Our first big event of 2020, the Chair Auction, was scheduled for early April. Fourteen local artists had been asked to each paint a child’s chair, turning it into a piece of art. The chairs had been gathered the previous year from garage sales, thrift stores and donations. Each chair was carefully sanded, tightened, and cleaned by a committed husband!
Our first couple of meetings of 2020 focussed on this event, ironing out details and making sure all parties were ready. We had booked the art gallery as our venue, hired an auctioneer, arranged catering, and were about to begin publicity.
In early March, the world began to shut down with the WHO announcement about the pandemic. Initially we re-scheduled, shifted, and devised a means of carrying on within the health guidelines at the time. As the news went from bad to worse, we realized we had to come up with a whole new plan. In fact, everything we had planned for the year had to be re-thought.
The needs of our sister grandmothers in Africa did not lessen. We knew the pandemic was hitting families in sub-Saharan Africa more significantly than our community in Canada. We could not stop raising funds.
So we didn’t! By the end of 2020, we had raised and submitted $14,680 to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. Very creatively!
Here's how:
>> One of our members began to sew fabric masks, and sold them from her home: $590
>> Our bakers made delicious fruit pies and sold them by word of mouth and our reliable community network: $2200
>> Jam makers worked diligently, making jars and jars of jam which mostly sold through the Prancing Pony Thrift Shop: $1670
>> A member participated in the fitness challenge “Stride to Turn the Tide”: $1130
>> Knitters displayed and sold beautiful hats, sweaters, socks, and other goodies on the local Facebook Buy and Sell: $1320
>> A local craft fair went digital, and we became a vendor offering our handicrafts: $350
>> Individuals throughout the group made additional contributions in their own creative ways. As well, cash donations of $2755 added to our accomplishments.
>> In December the Chair Auction happened! We ran it as an online auction through the "32 auctions website."
The chairs were beautifully displayed in the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, and the event was well publicized. The auction was live for two weeks, and when the final bid was completed, we had raised $3500! This very successful event topped up our year to $14,680.
The grand total that has been raised and submitted by the Sunshine Coast Grandmothers and Grand Others since 2006 is now more than $214,445.00
Our first big event of 2020, the Chair Auction, was scheduled for early April. Fourteen local artists had been asked to each paint a child’s chair, turning it into a piece of art. The chairs had been gathered the previous year from garage sales, thrift stores and donations. Each chair was carefully sanded, tightened, and cleaned by a committed husband!
Our first couple of meetings of 2020 focussed on this event, ironing out details and making sure all parties were ready. We had booked the art gallery as our venue, hired an auctioneer, arranged catering, and were about to begin publicity.
In early March, the world began to shut down with the WHO announcement about the pandemic. Initially we re-scheduled, shifted, and devised a means of carrying on within the health guidelines at the time. As the news went from bad to worse, we realized we had to come up with a whole new plan. In fact, everything we had planned for the year had to be re-thought.
The needs of our sister grandmothers in Africa did not lessen. We knew the pandemic was hitting families in sub-Saharan Africa more significantly than our community in Canada. We could not stop raising funds.
So we didn’t! By the end of 2020, we had raised and submitted $14,680 to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. Very creatively!
Here's how:
>> One of our members began to sew fabric masks, and sold them from her home: $590
>> Our bakers made delicious fruit pies and sold them by word of mouth and our reliable community network: $2200
>> Jam makers worked diligently, making jars and jars of jam which mostly sold through the Prancing Pony Thrift Shop: $1670
>> A member participated in the fitness challenge “Stride to Turn the Tide”: $1130
>> Knitters displayed and sold beautiful hats, sweaters, socks, and other goodies on the local Facebook Buy and Sell: $1320
>> A local craft fair went digital, and we became a vendor offering our handicrafts: $350
>> Individuals throughout the group made additional contributions in their own creative ways. As well, cash donations of $2755 added to our accomplishments.
>> In December the Chair Auction happened! We ran it as an online auction through the "32 auctions website."
The chairs were beautifully displayed in the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, and the event was well publicized. The auction was live for two weeks, and when the final bid was completed, we had raised $3500! This very successful event topped up our year to $14,680.
The grand total that has been raised and submitted by the Sunshine Coast Grandmothers and Grand Others since 2006 is now more than $214,445.00
THE CHECKERS CHAIR — functional art! Artist Manon Staiger said: “I wanted to play with the basic concept of a child’s chair, making it not only a functional seat, and a decorative object, but also an activity centre. These days, a chair is often a seat upon which to sit and play computer games. I decided to go “old school” and add a colourful checker board to the seat to make it a “gaming” chair. The checkers are attached with magnets, adding another decorative element when the game is not in use.”
Our member Christy MacLeod with the chair she purchased through the Children’s Chair Auction. Artist Georgina Brandon painted this sand dollar sea sparkle chair.