Progress!

Man, I was up at 5am because I couldn't sleep. No real reason, was just up. Which figures since I didn't go to bed until almost 1am because I was just very engrossed in my planning for the fundraisers.

Once business started today, I was out and about with Archie and Jack tagging along. We picked up bottles for the "Bottles of Love" fundraiser, as well as tickets for the 50/50 and other raffles, and while we were at Office Depot I thought, "Well, I'll ask about who I would talk to regarding donations". I got referred to corporate. When we left there we thought, "Why not stop at Lockett's (our mechanic) and see if he might donate services for a silent auction." The answer was yes, and so began the spiral where we spent the whole day with Archie driving and me calling just about every business in the Catonsville area that popped into my head. No doubt Archie was wishing he hadn't opened his mouth, you see, he had yet to take a nap when he got home from work this morning. I think we left the house at 9am and we got home at 2:15pm.

At 3:15, I left to go pick up my mom from work, only to continue running around looking for baskets to display the silent auction items, grab a bite, and keep on going. I think I got home at 8:30 tonight and since then I've been working on letters for the businesses. I had emailed ideas for flyers and labels for the bottles last night, and she came home from work with samples for me! She's a huge help, and lucky for me, just as type A where these things are concerned, LOL.

So, to announce our donor list thus far:

Lockett's Auto Care where we (my mom included) take our cars, will be donating services for our silent auction and displaying our flyer for his clients to hopefully see. We trust and highly recommend them! Thanks Mr. Mike!! His auto shop is located on Rt. 40 in Catonsville right behind Next Day Blinds.

D. Na Nails where my mom gets her nails done donated a $20 gift certificate, will display our flyer, and is allowing us to have a basket of the "Bottles of Love" in her shop. Thanks Ms. Emily!! Her nail salon is located on Sulphur Spring Road in Arbutus right next to Ambrose Funeral Home.

Bill's Music House donated a $20 gift certificate for a 30 minute music lesson. Thank you to Nancy. They are located on Frederick Road in downtown Catonsville across from the fire station.

Salon 1612 in Mt. Washington is putting together some items for our auction, I will elaborate more in a later post when I know more. Thanks for helping us get that set up Tracy!! They are located on Sulgrave Avenue near the Whole Foods.

Jack's preschool, is allowing us to display the baby bottles as well. I didn't think to ask about placing the flyers in the kid's cubbies, but will do so on Tuesday.

Thank you so much to those who were able to help us today. That's it so far, but a good start. All in all today I called 34 businesses, 2 said they couldn't help us, 1 did (the other 3 listed here we visited), and the rest of the people either require additional documentation, weren't available, or referred us to corporate.

Tomorrow is another day, and we're all getting together to cover Main Street in Ellicott City in our search for more contributions!

It is now midnight exactly, and I'm exhausted. My mom commented that I didn't have to rush and obsess over this right this second, but my feeling is that as it gets closer to the car wash/yard sale/raffle/silent auction, I will be gathering items to sell, putting together auction baskets, making signs, and organizing help, so the time to look for business contributions is NOW!

Thank you again for the supportive emails and phone calls, prayers and help!