Fundraising Lunch @ St Columba's Church Hall

Fundraising Lunch @ St Columba's Church Hall

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Posted 2014-08-04 by Julia Wakefieldfollow

Sun 10 Aug 2014



Meet Wonderful Wendy! She's a gregarious little lady who will sell you a stained glass angel for a good cause at the drop of a hat! She thrives on doing things for others and has been a major salesperson for Angels for Africa for several years. You can meet her and the other 'angels' at a Fundraising Lunch with Speed Auction that's taking place at St Columba's Church Hall in Hawthorn on August 10 at 1pm.



In spite of what some people would see as a disability (childhood polio left Wendy with mobility problems and she needs callipers and a mobility scooter to get around) Wendy lets nothing get in her way, particularly when it means doing something for people she considers less fortunate than herself. She has travelled solo around Africa, which is one reason why she feels an affinity for this cause.

The Lunch and Auction are raising funds for Rarieda Kaloo Primary School in Kenya that the 'Angels for Africa' group supports. They aim to provide 230 children with mosquito nets plus installation and education by trained local people (school parents) regarding their use and care. Desks and teaching aids are also needed, plus the 'Angels' send about 20 boxes of donated story books to Kenyan schools each year at a total cost of over $2000 postage.



The Angels for Africa project began in 2005, although Sallie Butterfield and her daughter Carol had supported charity work in Africa for many years before that, by raising funds in various ways. But it wasn't until Sallie made a personal visit to Kenya that the 'Angels for Africa' project became a reality.

In 2005 Sallie decided to go to Kenya as an 'independent' volunteer with WORLD YOUTH INTERNATIONAL and was invited to stay at their newly built orphanage outside Kisumu, in one of the poorest areas in Kenya. Friends rallied round to support the cause and raise funds for her trip, and altogether she had an amazing $7000 to spend in Africa.



At the orphanage in Kenya Sallie found no running water and no electricity, but plenty of mosquitoes. While in Kisumu Sallie bought treadle sewing machines and fabric and gave sewing lessons, starting one villager on her own small business making moon pads. She visited the local school which the orphans attended and noted that although the children were taught in English (their third language, after their tribal language and Kiswahili) they had not been provided with any English language story books. At this stage she determined to redress this matter and to provide as many story books as she possibly could.

She designed a much needed classroom and wrote a single page contract which was signed on the spot. The classroom was started immediately! She also negotiated with tradesmen to make bookcases and desks.



Sallie also provided gloves and started a 'clean up' program – not an easy matter in an area where there is no rubbish collection. The local people are very resourceful and were soon transforming plastic bags, already many times reused and finally discarded, into footballs by winding and tying them around each other until they could tie the ball thus formed with string.

On her return to Adelaide Sallie resumed giving stained glass lessons. She also started in earnest making angels and greetings cards to raise money to cover the postage of many boxes of books to send to Kenya. Miraculously the books arrived intact and there has been only one incident of boxes being 'lost' since Sallie started posting them in 2005. Soon talented students who had filled their homes with lovely stained glass offered to help with the projects so instead of attending a weekly class they continued to turn up, forming a small volunteer group destined to make hundreds, and ultimately thousands of angels. At this stage it was decided to call the group 'Angels for Africa'.



Sallie says: "As time went on we started to expand our creative horizons and each year an item is added to the list, eg boats, tulips, hearts, trees, gum leaves and butterflies. These items have enjoyed varying degrees of success but still angels remain the most popular item and sell 3 times as many as the others combined. Renaming the project "Stained Glass for Africa" was considered but it didn't have that zing about it so it was decided to nominate the team as the Angels and keep the name!"





At this luncheon, for a mere $25, you'll be treated to:
**Delicious soups with artisan bread
Glass of wine/homemade lemon squash
Slice yummy home made cake
FREE leadlight angel (value up to $15)**
Also included are a host of prizes, a choose-your-own raffle and a low-cost, quick-fire auction. (all items start at $1 and must be sold at any price.

Tickets can be booked by calling Sallie/Maurice on 8272 2723 or by Email: [email protected]
Check them out on the website .
All in a pleasant pre-warmed hall.

All images courtesy of the website .

#art_and_craft_centres
#auctions
#charity
#child_friendly
#hawthorn
#lunch
#shopping
#august
!date 10/08/2014 -- 10/08/2014
%wnadelaide
114739 - 2023-06-12 17:54:24

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