In May 2006 two ladies sat down over a cup of coffee to talk about Bono (U2) and how his work with the One Campaign and Global Fund had inspired them both to want to ‘do’ something to help people in Africa.
But what to do? How to make a difference? We came up with a WILD idea!
I had been knitting Comfort Dolls for ICross Canada. They use the dolls instead of packing foam when they send shipments of HIV meds + delicate medical instruments to African clinics. Once the items are unpacked, each child gets their own doll. Many are AIDS orphans and/or HIV positive and it brings a small measure of comfort to them to have something truly their own.
Our idea was to contact actors and have them pose for a photo holding a comfort doll, then auction the photos to their fan club members and send proceeds to World Vision and ICross Canada. (at the time there were many TV programs filmed in our city so contacting actors didn’t seem like that much of a challenge)
We contacted ICross Canada’s founder, William Willabond and asked permission to use the dolls in this manner – a resounding yes! As we struggled to put the plan into action, we quickly changed the idea from actors, to bands and musicians – the mgmt. of bands are easier to contact, and musicians\bands have been much more apt to want to give back.
How has Comfort Doll Project done so far? Come read. If you want to read our story in the right order (chronologically – skipping the auction posts), I’ve added links to each ‘chapter’ in the side bar to the right. —>
Also, look for links (up top) to other ‘pages’ for more info like our charity jewelry and such.
*in 2009 Comfort Doll Project noticed a down turn in our photo auctions and were discouraged about how to continue. A good friend told us “you must find a way” In early 2010 another friend suggested wearable jewelry from used guitar strings and so we tried a batch, and they were a hit! We’ve added guitar string bracelets and bass string necklaces to our fund raising, as well as inspirational saying wood bracelets and fan club bracelets and we have found a way!
