Twenty three days and I'll be in Haiti! I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. My work schedule has lightened considerably so I can now focus on last minute preparations. I'll have to re-pack my bags as there is a greater need for medical supplies than originally thought, so some items will have to go into storage until my next trip or the next Vancouver team is sent to Haiti.
A few updates. We are now going to be in Haiti from November 2-16th as there were a few scheduling issues so everything was shifted by a day. I will now be leaving on November 1st and flying the red-eye so that I can arrive in time to meet the rest of the team on the 2nd in Montreal. I've never been able to sleep on a plane so I'm not sure what sort of condition I'll be in when I arrive in Montreal.
The pub night fundraiser and silent auction is this Friday. I'm a bit worried, I haven't sold many tickets but I know some of my closest friends are coming so I hope that there will be a great crowd and people will open up their wallets. It will also be open to the general public, so as long as the pub is full I'll be happy. The bar said that if people are coming in to eat, they will encourage people to buy a ticket for my cause rather than ordering off the menu. Jack, the owner has been amazing! I have raised almost $3000 and if I could raise another $2000 on Friday, I would be thrilled! I originally thought this would be a great idea, and it hasn't been a ton of work, just a lot of time going around to businesses asking for donations . So far, I have the following donations.
-Arbonne International basket $50
-Italian food basket $100
-Choices Market basket $100
-Aru pedicure $90
-Babycheeks $50
-Just Jewellery necklace $300
-Yoga basket $100
-Bikram White Rock Yoga $149
-Westjet flight vouchers $3000
-Yapes Paints $290
-Knife gift basket $100
-Luxury blanket $50
-Cookie making basket $70
This totals about $4400... so if I can get half of that less the $300 that I put in to purchase some items then I would be thrilled! There are about 4 or 5 more vendors and 3 baskets coming but I haven't received their items yet. I think it will be a pretty good auction as it covers all price ranges. I'm excited for everyone to be in the same room having a nice evening, I just hope I can enjoy the night and not be too busy running around. I have almost all of the bidding sheets done and all but a few of the baskets wrapped, so I think I'm quite organized. My camera is still at work but I will try to remember to bring it home and take pictures of my office. It's currently quite a sight!! Between two huge hockey bags and all of the fundraiser items, I can barely walk. Honestly, I can't wait to get it cleaned out.
I heard from Karen tonight, and she is trying to coodinate a teleconference this coming Wednesday evening so we can all chat and start preparations. I don't know if we will be talking about the upcoming elections in Haiti and how that might affect where we go to work. Civil upset may occur while we are there depending on how the elections go, so how and where we travel may change considerably. I hope not, I really want to see as much of the country as possible and spend time with the locals.
I puchased my mosquito net yesterday from MEC. I wanted to buy mine from Mountain Magic, a local outdoor store, but they didn't have the right size I needed. I still have to buy a few items, but I'll show you my super tiny suitcase as I start packing so everyone will believe that I am going away for two weeks with only a carry-on bag.
That's all for now, but I'll post again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment