11 Dec You Keep Asking and Deserve to Know the Answer
More Than $5000 Raised in One Day – Thanks to Our Village and Friends
It took a Village – more than 50 Fearrington Village volunteers – a lot of planning and forethought, donations, leg work, and hard work while having fun, to raise more than $5,000 in one day at the Dress It Up! Accessory Sale to benefit the Women of Fearrington Grants Fund. Kudos and special thanks to Nancy Wilson and Sharon Laner, who chaired this event and tirelessly worked many hours to ensure its success. Thanks also to the team of leaders and individuals who contributed time and effort. In addition to the generosity of those who donated items and worked on the event, the Publicity Team, headed by Janet Keefer with Daphne Rhodes and Dale Colson in support roles, was key to the success of the event.
Well before the doors opened, people lined up outside The Gathering Place ready to find great bargains among the jewelry, scarves and handbags donated to the cause – and they found them.
Using her creativity, layout expertise and organizational skills, Beryl Sherman and her teammate, Kay Tarr displayed the merchandise in a fall theme and made everything look beautiful. WoF opened the doors 15 minutes early, and the shopping began.
Delicious homemade baked goods were packaged and displayed enticingly under the leadership of Melanie Jackson, veteran of many WoF BBB events (Books, Baked Goods and Boutique) of days passed, and her team of seven workers. Donna Fehrenbach smiled throughout the entire day while baking 52 loaves of bread. For those who were there, the aroma of freshly baked bread was irresistible. All 52 loaves and then some were sold!
Richard and Kay Tarr made sure all the scarves were cleaned, freshened, ironed and priced. Eileen Linz and her crew of two workers priced and boxed all handbags and volunteered as sales people. The six-member Jewelry team, under the able leadership of Judy Abrams and Sherry Miller, organized, cleaned and priced hundreds of pieces of jewelry ranging in style from whimsical to elegant, from fun to priceless.
Jane Welsch, with the approval of the Fundraising team, successfully re-introduced the Beltie watch – large and small faced. These items will be for sale throughout the year at $40 each.
Twelve sales people helped buyers select items and sent them off to the six cashiers. WoF Treasurer Lee Wilson oversaw the money and made deposit runs throughout the afternoon.
Credit for the idea goes to Betsy Anderson, who suggested it to the Fundraising Team. And, of course, none of it would have been possible without the residents of Fearrington Village who generously donated items, helped to prepare for the sale day, worked on the day and then became customers on the day of the sale, purchasing wonderful treasures. The four-member Gentlemen’s Auxiliary Team who always volunteer and always generously donate their muscles and time, helped with loading and unloading and packing and moving items to and from the Gathering Place.
Was it a success? You betcha! And there’s more.
In addition to the money raised on the date of the sale, WoF donated head scarves to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Patient and Family Resource Center, and to Second Bloom in Pittsboro, a second-time-round store that supports the Family Violence and Rape Crisis Services center remaining handbags, scarves and jewelry were donated.
For your REALLY last-minute shopping, drop by Jane Welsch’s, 848 Langdon, on Monday, Dec. 15 from 9:30 a.m. until noon. Jane will host an open-house sale on items remaining from the Dress It Up! event. Get great prices on great goodies.
The sale of raffle tickets on items left over from the spring auction, handled by Laraine Munci and Christine Hutchinson, brought in an additional $123. These funds and the money raised from the Cooking Classes, the License Plate sales, the Beltie Watches and the more than $5,000 raised by the Accessory Sale to ensure our grants to benefit women and children in Chatham County will be generous. It will be a very good year.
Watch this website for more information about the Chatham County organizations that received grants last spring and what they did with the funds.