Soldier Socks "Friendraiser"

Well, my hubby and I held our third annual "Friendraiser" on Saturday night in honor of Soldier Socks.   A few years back, we held a huge party in our backyard and gratefully received about 80 bottles of wine as 'host gifts'.  The following year, we decided to turn that generosity into a fundraising event. Instead of having our guest feel they had to bring a host gift, we asked them to bring a donation for the charity of our choice.  It is NOT required to attend, but it's suggested instead of a gift for us. 

Our first year we raised $8,300.00 for Pet Rescue - a local rescue organization,where we adopted our first dog Lily.  Last year we raised over $11,000.00 for our local food pantry (which we later learned was down to their last $200.00 when we brought over the donations) and this year....I'm pleased to report, our guests raised approximately $10,800.00 for Soldier Socks!!!

Soldier Socks is an organization that collects tube socks, sunscreen and baby wipes and sends them over to our troops serving in Afghanistan.  These basic necessities really help them while they are out in the desert!

Here are a few shots from last night!

The three doggy mascots:  Lily, Nolie and Layla

The donation box I quickly crafted up along with some Soldier Socks car magnets.

The gift table.

Guests received this mason jar filled with red/white/blue jellybeans and a Soldier Socks flashlight.
(our street is pretty dark at night, so we give out flashlights each year!!)

Here's one shot of our backyard

Here's the other side with the YUMMY appetizer display

My hubby surprised Chris, the founder of Soldier Socks, with a custom cake

Here's a close up with the baby wipes, sunscreen and socks!!!  And - the cake was D-lish!!

Here is Chris Meek, the founder on left, along with the LT Governor of Connecticut, Mike Fedele, and our City's mayor, Michael Pavia

And just another picture of Chris, with our friend, Jill in front of the banner we hung in our backyard.

We had a spectacular fall night - I think it was 60 degrees and clear.  Our last guests left about 1:30am and our caterer and her staff did a tremendous job!! It was a terrific party and we are so fortunate that we are able to throw a party like this and that we have generous friends and family that come together to make a difference in our local organizations!!!

Thanks for stopping by today and reading through this!!!

Maria

Fall Friendraiser Thank You

Hello and Happy Tuesday! Today I'm posting a Thank You card I made for friends who donated money for our Fall "Friendraiser". This past weekend, my husband and I hosted about 165 people at our house for what we call our Fall "Friendraiser". We invite our friends and family over for a night of drinks and hor'dourves and ask them to bring a donation to a charity of our choice instead of a host/hostess gift. (Three years ago when we hosted a regular party - we received over 60 bottles of wine as host/hostess gifts - so we changed our party to a fundraiser)

This year we chose a local food pantry and through our party, we raised OVER $10,000.00 !!!! Some of our invited guests could not attend the party - but sent donations anyway, so we wanted to Thank them with a card.
The leaf paper is from Provocraft and the stamp is Friskars. I colored with markers and punched out with scallop punch. I finished it off with a Papertrey Ink sentiment and orange ribbon.

Here are two pictures of our yard with the tables set up. Our caterer does an amazing job. We also ordered food from three of our favorite local restaurants (Indian, Greek and Mexican) to serve to guests.

This is a picture of the gifts we gave to each guest who attended. They are flashlights with Thank You notes. We live on a street with no street lights - so for those who had to park far away - we wanted them to have some help getting back to their cars!!!

It was a GREAT night and we are so happy that we were able to raise so much money for the food pantry. (Our last Friendraiser raised $8,300.00 for Pet Rescue). If you're hosting a party in the future - give this idea a chance - it's an easy way to re-direct generosity from yourself to an organization that may need some help!

Thanks for visiting today!

Maria