Wow!
Here we are after an epic crowd funding campaign. Can you believe we reached over $40,000??
I can't!!
It was so much fun to spend the last 6 weeks shouting from the roof tops about what these incredible women in Cambodia are achieving. I was determined to do whatever I could to get the word out, no matter how awkward or embarrassing. (sorry kids!) Standing in a dusty village in early January and accepting that no matter how talented & motivated our knitters, weavers and seamstresses are...they just can't get their treasures sold unless someone advocates on their behalf...and thanks to my weird life...that advocate is me!
Apparently not everyone knew about our crowdfunding.
It definitely felt as if we were pestering EVERYONE with endless posts and updates...however, I have had soooo many people (and even friends) message me in the couple of days since the campaign finished and say to me that they didn't realise it was happening or that they forgot to pledge. So with that in mind I have now set up this smaller version that will hopefully give everyone an opportunity to get involved.
Thanks to some serendipitous timing, my book is being published and I can FINALLY sell it. So I've added that as one of the rewards.
What will the funds be used for?
Well, obviously most of it will go to pay for your new treasures! It's been so wonderful to know in advance which products will need to be made and this way we can plan ahead with supplies needed and how many to make of each.
Incredibly this will be the first time that we have money available to pay for those extra bits that are needed to sell our treasures in shops , zoos and hospitals. Things like tags & gift bags are so important to generate interest (I'm only learning these things a bit late in the game) and the costs are hard to cover on a mini budget.
Another really important cost is the safety testing needed to have our products available as wholesale. It's a frustrating and expensive process that involves sending 5 products for EACH colour option. So with our sloths for example, we need to send 20 sloths!
We try really hard to not think about what happens to our beautiful sloths during the testing :(
The Impact
What does all this mean long term?
In a nutshell: jobs & education!
Yes, we will be able to train more women so they can make an income from home....as well as increase our scholarship fund so that our weaving ladies children can have educational opportunities. For those of you who don't know: school is technically free for the poorest children in Cambodia. However, they still need to pay for their uniforms, school books & English tuition. These extra costs mean that a lot of parents don't send their children to school or sadly go into debt. We know that the biggest impact we can have long term is education for the children and that is why our scholarship fund is so important to us.
Other Ways You Can Help
Your support doesn't need to include any money.
Here are some budget friendly things you can do to support us:
- Share our Indiegogo link on social media and write a blurb about why you love what we do.
- If someone has a special event coming up like a baby shower, wedding or birthday - suggest that they choose a gift that gives back and show them our gorgeous range of handmade treasures.
- Suggest to your school, community groups or workplace to have Veronica (that's me!) come and share her story and talk about the ongoing work in Cambodia.
- Ask your local library or Book Club to order the Happily Made book and suggest Veronica is invited for a book reading.
- Book a "Scarf Party" - this is a fun opportunity to invite a group of friends over for an afternoon or evening and hear Veronica share her story and have the opportunity to buy the Happily Made Artisan Textiles range at wholesale price.
- Take fun photos of your Happily Made treasures and share them on social media.
Most of all....become a Happily Made AMBASSADOR and find your own creative ways to support the women in Cambodia!
