Before I start talking about the details of our Spread the Love Auction, I wanted to show you a picture. You have probably heard a lot this week about how the target for the auction is to raise enough money to cover the cost of the land to build our children's village on...but you haven't actually seen a picture of the land yet, so here it is!
It looks nice at the moment but just imagine what it will hopefully look like in a few years time: children running around between the trees, several family houses nestled close to each other, each housing a family that the children can return to after they have tired of playing...maybe after the sun has set over this beautiful view!
You are all helping us to raise enough money to start making this image a reality. Our Spread the Love Auction aims to build homes in the form of a children's village, and in doing so, build families for the children at Nkoaranga Orphanage (like Hope, pictured below), and for other orphans in the surrounding community. It will also allow us to expand outreach to keep kids in their homes and provide care for kids with special needs or HIV. The land is 3.5 acres which will give us plenty of room to start small and expand when necessary. This auction is a little different from normal auctions in that all the items available have been generously donated so that all the money raised from winning bids will go straight towards The Small Things (and the land!). You have already helped us to exceed our first major total - $5,000! Thank you!
I have been so impressed with the range of items which are available and the generosity of the donors and those who have already placed bids. There is something available for all budgets, from signed books, to jet-set holidays, to gorgeous carved candlesticks and original paintings from Tanzania as well as many unique experiences, statues, electronics and jewellery. We bought several unique handmade quilts which were made by a local Tanzanian and another gorgeous handmade quilt was donated, all of which are absolutely beautiful. All of the Tanzanian items are doubly effective, since buying them involved pumping money into the local economy, and the proceeds go to the Nkoaranga kids. Several days ago, we lowered the starting price of many items, hopefully allowing even more people to get involved. We would love for you to browse what is available by clicking the link below, even if you just have a few minutes over a cup of tea in the middle of your busy day.
This week has been so good in many ways, a hugely important part being that Hope is still doing well and is smiling again. We are all so relieved and glad to see this. Her progress brings me to another subset of items in our auction which are a little different, items which 'Fund-A-Need'. These items include things like formula milk for premature and young babies, school uniforms for the kids, food, toys, vitamins and field trips as well as several other things. These things are all really important too as the money raised on these items goes directly to the the item purchased, helping us to fund really vital (and fun) things which keep Nkoaranga Orphanage running. Baby Hope is going for a check-up today and we hope that it will be good news - please keep her in your thoughts as you have done so well recently.
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Finally, for those of you who, after browsing, would like to place a bid on an item, please follow these steps:
- Click on 'Register to Bid' at the tab at the top of the auction webpage (you can follow the 'Spread the Love Auction 2014' link above to get there!).
- Fill in the required fields and click 'Register'.
- You can now bid on your chosen item(s) - good luck and thank you so much!
- If you are returning to the site and have already registered, please sign in at the top of the page with your email and password before placing a bid.
- Our auction runs from 1st February to 15th February, 2014 -
I'd like to finish with a huge thank you again to all of those who have generously donated items, browsed our site, placed bids, shared our page, or mentioned it to their friends.
Thank you for being part of the Nkoaranga family!
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