Yesterday, March 31st, there was a boutique held in Brigham City to help raise money for A Home For London. There were tons of great booths including Paprazzi Jewelry, Scentsy, Jamberry Nails, Tupperware, a photo booth, a BBQ booth were people could buy lunch, and many more! Unfortunately there just wasn't a lot of shopper traffic (General Conference may have affected this, something we didn't think of during planning)...
I had a booth of my randomness that I craft- wood crafts, blankets, bow holders... I sold a whopping $15 worth of items! LOL!!
BUT, the other vendors and crafters who set up booths all donated a raffle and we sold tickets for just $1 each... so from the raffle alone we got $183!! We are SO very grateful for the kindness of those who donated and to all the people who purchased raffle tickets!
Also, to help us raise money, Michelle (the woman who organized the whole thing) charged a $30 booth fee and after paying the rent for the facility we used and paying for an ad that was run in the paper, the rest went to London!
There were also a few jars set out for those that simply wanted to make a donation...
All in all, we walked away with $643.62 for A Home For London!! WOW!!
Thank you SO SO SO very much to Michelle! I can't even express how grateful I am to her for her hard work organizing and arranging and getting vendors for the booths!
Thank you to everyone who set up booths! We will more than likely be doing another boutique of sorts and hopefully we'll get much more customers! :)
(If you're interested in getting involved, please contact me!)
Thanks also to Hillary, who let me get her up early and drag her out to Brigham to help me at my booth (ok, ok, I didn't have to DRAG her, she volunteered willingly... and I'm extra appreciative of that). I have known Hillary my entire life and it was so fun to hang out with her!
Thanks to everyone who came out and checked out the booths and bought raffle tickets!!
Even with so few shoppers, I absolutely consider the boutique to have been a great success for our fundraising efforts!
Oh... I have debated on whether or not to include this thought on my blog, but I feel like if I don't, I just am not being true to myself so here goes:
I was disappointed by something that happened during set-up at the boutique. I won't say from which booth this came from but while we were all preparing our tables, a woman quite loudly said something along the lines of, "Hold it up just like that your retard!" to a man who was helping her set up... Now, I am criticized all the time when I point out that there are a TON of far better words to use in the place of 'retard' in a situation such as this but after everything I've learned and been through and everything that my sweet London has been through, I simply can't NOT say anything. I didn't go over to this woman and make any kind of comment about her words, I let it slide. I didn't want to be that crazy woman who scolds people when it is SO not her place, I didn't want to embarrass her, and I certainly didn't want any bad feelings but I was a little hurt. She wasn't trying to put the man down, it was just a sort of playful remark, and I know that people everywhere use the word 'retard' in the same manner as she did, but I was disappointed nonetheless. I just thought it was an inappropriate thing to say (especially so loudly) at a boutique being held to help raise money for a severely handicapped child. Just saying. Take it as you will- you can criticize me, you can back me up, you can remain completely neutral...
Much love,
Danielle and London
I'm sorry I'm just now seeing this and responding. For the record I don't know if my response means you have more class than me or I've just dealt with too many more ignorant people. I can't say I would have handled this the same as you though. I used to be quiet so as to not embarrass those I loved or that were helping me but I can't any longer. This word is used way too flippantly and way too often now. In all honesty the lady didn't mean anything by it and probably didn't even realize the implications of saying it in the context she did. I still probably would have been prompted to GENTLY educate her on why it is inappropriate and how much it hurts us. I don't think people even think about the true meaning behind that word anymore. I'm more lax about it than some parents as I at least still do recognize it as a medical diagnosis and will use it in that sense regarding my son but I know some parents that won't even accept that. It's all a game of semantics when we start talking about diagnoses but the general public needs to be educated about the hurtful implications of that word when used in such a flippant manner as to imply someone is being stupid. I've done it on more than one occasion and much to my daughter's horror I've corrected her friends about it. Doesn't make me an extremely popular person. I just can't help thinking though...what if Michael heard it in relation to a diagnosis for him and then heard someone use it in that context....how would he feel?? I understand how disappointed you must have felt though to hear it in THIS venue especially
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