Fundraising Stories: Inspiring the fundraiser in you.
Wendy Crowther/Bikram Yoga Sidney, B.C. Canada) website
By involving her students at her yoga studio, Wendy has been helping raise funds for the Dirty Wall Project from the beginning. Her desire to help people realize the health benefits of yoga extends into the spirit of people helping people outside the studio walls. An excerpt from the Bikram Yoga Sidney Facebook page): “Noorsaba from India gets to go to school this year and she is very, very happy about this. Our Yoga Jedi’s Kids class is by donation, and monies collected from April was enough to make one year of education happen for Noorsaba. Our Yoga kids & their parents are AWESOME.”
Nicole Sims/Coley Sims Design website
Nicole is based in Vancouver, B.C. and has been a supporter of the Dirty Wall Project from the beginning. Nicole generously volunteered her time (countless hours, minutes, and days) designing the Dirty Wall Project cookbook “Kerosene Curry” as well as our colourful spice packs. She designed a beautiful book that we have sold across Canada, the U.S. and Europe netting DWP funds that have been put to very good use in India. See here for more info on the book.
Rundle School (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Rundle School has a mandate to pick a charity each year to support through fundraising activities thoughout the year. Dirty Wall Project has been fortunate to be chosen twice and because of the innovative fund-raising activities arranged by the students, with encouragement from their parents and the staff at the school, DWP has been given substantial donations. Kids on both sides of the planet have benefited from funds or the fundraising. A Skype meeting was arranged, allowing the kids from Rundle School a glimpse of the slum in Mumbai enabling them to see for themselves how their fundraising efforts have made a difference in the lives of kids their age. A great experience for everyone.
Shannon Clark
Shannon took on the task of fundraising by rallying her co-workers at Cenovus (Alberta, Canada) for the cause. With tons of initiative and energy she asked her co-workers for donations for silent auction items. They responded and the frenzy was on while co-workers bid against each other for items as small as a souvenir bottle opener from Las Vegas (which, because of their generosity for the cause brought in a few hundred dollars??!) to large items worth fighting over. She also held a creative, fun evening event at a restaurant in her hometown of Victoria B.C. which brought in additional funds.
Luz Gallery website
Owned by Diana Miller and Quinton Gordon, Luz Studios is a photography studio/gallery/workshop for professional and aspiring photographers to inspire and be inspired by each other’s work. Early supporters of the Dirty Wall Project, Diana and Quinton offer their professional print-making services as well as their much sought after professional opinions, enabling us to offer beautiful images to sell providing us with much needed funds. They inspire us to take better photos and they inspire others to give of their time and talents.
Pam and Barry Rinehart and family (Calgary, Alberta)
Throwing open the doors to their beautiful home for an evening fund-raising event with cocktails, food, photography and fun, Barry and Pam invited their friends and family to hear about the Dirty Wall Project with the benefit of a fun evening out. As well as a donation jar, Dirty Wall merchandise (t-shirts, spice packs) were set out and sold by donation. By the end of the evening, the jar was packed with donations and the evening was deemed a huge success by any standard. The Rineharts were also instrumental in getting Rundle School involved through their son, Liam who attends school there.
Bonnie Ryan Fisher blog
Her involvement with the Dirty Wall Project is both spiritual and benevolent. She has sponsored school fees for Sneha and brought attention to DWP in her small Alberta community by asking a gallery to host an exhibition of our photos as well as sell small craft items made by the women in Saki Naka. A practicing Buddhist, her own blog is a great read to remind us all how to achieve ‘mindful moments’ in our busy lives.
The friends of Jolie Wist
Jolie joined us in Mumbai in 2011 for a few weeks and volunteered her time and her light-hearted energy by playing with the kids. She involved herself heart and soul by sitting for hours in slum homes observing women at work, attending celebrations and keeping her eyes open in difficult situations that would test most people. She remained attached to the community by talking about her experience there to friends, who in turn decided to give DWP a donation as a Christmas gift to Jolie. The donation was dedicated to Prem’s family who still have a place in Jolie’s heart long after she departed Mumbai. On her behalf we purchased small toys for the four children in the family (Prem, Suman, Nandini and Radha) and paid down a debt to the rations man relieving the immense burden of financial stress for one grateful family.
Blaise and Sonia
Blaise and Sonia are supporters of the Dirty Wall project through their purchase of photography as well as involving the students at Dwight International School in Shawnigan Lake B.C. where Sonia is a teacher. They offered Kane a chance to give a presentation about the Dirty Wall Project in a two hour event at the school which raised funds and awareness about what we do and how we do it. A win/win event for everyone involved.
Hoyne Brewing website
Shawn and Chantal own Hoyne Brewing, a micro-brewery where Shawn creates the best craft beer in Victoria, B.C. They donate delicious Hoyne beer to events with a standing offer to help when needed. Chantal and her daughter, Emma, visited us in Mumbai where they immersed themselves in the slum community observing the lives of families and came away with a desire to help.
Delaney Tosh website
Carolyne Taylor website
Carolyne Taylor and Delaney Tosh hosted a fundraiser in Victoria B.C. at a coffee bar and invited friends, colleagues, and strangers to partake in an evening of cocktails, canapés and conversation, which raised a substantial amount of money to contribute to women’s issues in the community. We purchased sewing machines for the women to learn to sew and create products for sale. Besides this entertaining event, Carolyne also recently contributed personal funds and Delaney has sponsored Pranali’s school fees.
Keith Williams and his Burlesque Friends
Keith contributed to DWP early on by helping Kane set up the initial blog and trouble shooting for us when technology and its quirks made us crazy. He was also instrumental in helping us with the first fundraising efforts by asking some of his friends, who are professional burlesque performers, to donate their time and talents on behalf of DWP. The shows sold out and the funds raised contributed to the first DWP initiatives in India.
Salomeh Jalali
Salomeh’s charm and persuasive skills were put to the test when she decided to boldly ask her co-workers at Haywood Securities for cash donations before she embarked on her trip to Mumbai to check out how and why DWP works there. Her co-workers responded to her request for donations and Salomeh arrived in Mumbai with the single largest amount in donations in DWP history. She spent three weeks in Mumbai working alongside DWP witnessing the joy donations can bring to an impoverished community.
Marc Pakenham and Mary Koyl website
Every year Marc and Mary bring home a suitcase full of fine cheese from France and then invite friends and acquaintances to their lovely home for an afternoon of congenial wine drinking and cheese tasting. The Dirty Wall Project was the beneficiary of the contents of a donation jar that Marc and Mary put out during one of these tasty events. They also happen to own a barge in France and they generously offered a three day stay on the barge as an auction item at one of our fundraising events which raised lots of rupees for our projects in India.
Kai Li and her parents Nancy and Keeping
Kai-Li, an elementary student from Vancouver B.C and her parents, Nancy and Keeping, turned Kai-Li’s innocent and curious questions about what a slum community is, into action. After buying some items made by the women in the slum at Lost + Found Cafe in Vancouver, her mom, also curious looked up the Dirty Wall Project blog and read about Suman, a girl close to Kai-Li’s age. (See here).
Dirty Wall Project and Kai-Li’s parents were able to arrange a Skype meeting with Suman and Kai-Li after which Kai-Li decided to do something more. She made sample charms and order forms and took orders from her classmates, teachers, parents and friends. Kai-Li raised over $200 for Suman’s family. (See here for the blog post about Kai-Li and Suman)
Individual Donations
We are so grateful for all the kind, insightful, generous individuals who contribute their own personal funds or their artwork or their talents or their time, on an ongoing basis. They know who they are and why they donate and we are eternally grateful that they think of DWP when they consider donating money to worthy causes.