Monday, May 30, 2011

You all donated $3,496.00 to the American Red Cross





$3,496.00.

That is a bunch of money.

Going directly to American Red Cross for tornado victims.



Dear You,
As I contemplated a quilt giveaway for a donation to American Red Cross, I never imagined the response would be so great.  So generous.  So heart felt.  Having gone to high school and college in Missouri I figured that I'd get some donations from fellow school alumni that, much like myself, have since moved away and felt sickened and helpless in light of the destruction in Joplin and elsewhere.  And of course I knew that my family members would step up considering that they know and love my husband and his family and would want to do anything they could do to help as well.  What I didn't bank on was the out pouring of words, stories and generous donations from across our country and to distant shores.

A little less than a week ago I pushed a button on my computer keyboard that published my idea to the world. And within ten minutes I had tears streaming down my cheeks as my computer dinged an alert over and over again letting me know that I had a new email.  A new email notifying me of a donation.  A new email with words saying things like, "I've wanted to help and didn't know how until now."

Your generosity has left me quiet.  And filled up inside.

I'd like to say thank you for supporting my idea but I know that what you've done is far bigger than that. You've seen people hurting and you've helped.  You've thought about what it means for their lives and you've helped.  You've imagined what it would be like if it had happened in your town.  And you've helped.

Thank you for the bottom of my heart.

-dana



Now onto some business.

First of all, after several calls to American Red Cross, I'm getting the donation money transferred so that I can write a check directly to the organization and send to the local chapter that serves Joplin.  That way I can post the receipt here and give you peace of mind that your donation went exactly where I said it would.  It may be a week or more before I get written acknowledgment to show you but I will be patient and hope that you will be too.  Rest assured that I'll post evidence here soon.


Secondly, I asked random number generator to pick one number between 1 and 3,496 to determine the winner of the quilt.



Number 1320 belongs to Jennifer from Morris Plains, NJ.  I'll be emailing you and letting you know it is you.

Again, thank you.

Blog readers ROCK!

-dana

22 comments:

Sarah @ Fabric Seeds said...

Thank you for being the host to so many who wanted to help. Thank you for being such a wonderful person to set up a donation fund. Thank you for being you. You are truly one of God's many angels on Earth.

amylouwhosews said...

ditto what Sarah said. It's seeing miracles like this brought about by ordinary people that showcase the inherent good in human nature. xo

Kristie said...

Congratulations, Dana! So glad to see all the good that came from this :-)

vintage girl at heart said...

awesome! thanks for doing this Dana!

Amber said...

Yeah :-) and I knew you were going to surpass your goal :-) Thanks for giving us all a way to help out!!

Kristy said...

How amazing! And exciting! Thanks for making a way for us to play a small part. That total ROCKS! :)

tara said...

Congratulations on such heartwarming success and congratulations to all the people who came out and donated! What a success for everyone.

Kim said...

Nice job Dana.
I don't need any proof, I know you will always do the right thing.
I do love our blogging community though don't you?

Happy sewing to us all as we give thanks to such a proud and strong country due to our soldiers and veterans.

Jen said...

Congratulations Dana! Awesome job! what a neat thing for you to do!!

Mandalin said...

Well done girl. You are a fabulous human being.

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

You put it out there and we did it!!

Unknown said...

so amazing :)

Jodi Nelson said...

That is AWESOME!!!!!

D said...

EVERYone's little bit sure added up to a pretty penny for the folks of Joplin.Thanks for your great idea!

Corinnea said...

It always feels good to be a part of such a nice group of people who want to help! I am not surprised at all that so many responded to you.

DebbyMc said...

Thank YOU! Such a good idea. Yep, bloggers DO rock!! =-)

grendelskin said...

Thank you Dana! You did Genuine Good, you should be riding high.

~The Bargain Babe from *Zucchini Summer Blog* said...

I'm so thrilled that you were able to get over $3,000 for Joplin! I've only been blogging since January, but I can see what a generous community this is.
Gives me faith and pride in people.

Susannah::Art Nest said...

Congrats Jennifer! Dana, you do an amazing job! My husband and I drove through some parts of Arkansas that were hit by less destructive tornadoes several weeks ago and I thought of Joplin and just couldn't imagine the magnitude of destruction there. Thanks for the information and opportunity to donate!

Sue said...

I didn't see your generous giveaway until tonight.
What a wonderful response. Others who may have missed it can got to patchworktimes.com or blog.maryquilts.com to see quilts that two other wonderful quilters are using to raise funds.
It seems to me that the quilters of the world are fabulously generous to those who have lost so much. Well done!!

Dianne said...

Well done, Dana! Congratulations on a heartfelt, beautiful thing to do...

Kristen said...

Yeah!!