I'll be donating 10% of all Etsy sales to Friends of Maddie through the end of March

(photo courtesy of www.friendsofmaddie.org)

Some of you may be familiar with Friends of Maddie. You may have even seen the button on this blog (down the page on the left). I've been a follower of Heather Spohrs' blog, The Spohrs are Multiplying, for about a year now. It's where I learned about little Maddie Spohr, whose spirit and light touched so many, and the heart-wrenching news that her life was cut short at just 17 months of age.

Heather and Mike Spohr have made it their mission to provide support to the families of critically ill babies in an effort to help ease the transition into NICU life and to be an ally until the end of their child’s hospital stay. You can learn more about Maddie and the wonderful work of Friends of Maddie at here at http://friendsofmaddie.org/

I will be donating 10% of all sales from now until the end of March to Friends of Maddie. If you've been thinking about purchasing a toy box, contact me (or make a purchase on www.modmomfurniture.etsy.com in the next month and a half and you'll not only get a handcrafted storage piece, but your donation will help many families with babies in the NICU.

And the Winner Is......

.....RACHEL DONIGER from Chicago, IL!!!

Congratulations, Rachel! Check out the raffle drawing video below. My assistants, Noah and Grace, helped make it happen.



Just wanted to say thank you again for playing my little raffle game! I'll be sending the $907.90 donation to the Red Cross today via their website on behalf of all of us.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Mod Mom Raffle for Haiti Relief -- Total Amount Raised!!

OK. I know you've been up all night stressing about the raffle and whether or not you've won (Russel) so I'll just get to the point. You won't know if you've won til after my son gets home from school and picks the winner out of the jar. I need to cut all the paper and do a the organizing of it so look for an announcement around 4pm PST. Also, I'll take photos and video tape it so you know I'm not just randomly pulling Oonagh Delaney (who has been so vocal about wanting the box on Facebook) out of the jar. Although, I think I should build her one just for her incredible enthusiasm. That, and the fact that she's family. :)

So in a nutshell, check back later today. Also, I'll contact the winner directly via email or phone or with the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes people so you'll DEFINITELY know you've won.



Now for the drum roll..........the total amount raised for the Red Cross......is....................................

$907.90!

It's really amazing what you've done!! When I put it up on the blog last week, I was seriously hoping for $200. But to sell $10 tickets and raise close to $1000 is really so unbelievable to me. Thank you so much for participating in the raffle!! I'll be making the donation later tonight via www.redcross.org. Here's a link to a recent article on the Red Cross website called Snapshots from Haiti .

(Photos courtesy of Red Cross.org)

Mod Mom Keepsake Box Raffle -- All Proceeds go to Red Cross for Haiti

Raffle Update as of 8:30am PST, January 26th:

HOLY COW we're up to $774.09 with a total of 81 tickets sold! The raffle ends tonight at midnight PST so if you haven't bought a ticket yet, look below for the Paypal link! And do it QUICK. :)

Just a reminder that the keepsake box is not just intended for kids. I designed it with adults and kids in mind and came up with a few ideas for what you big kids can store in it: leftover antibiotics that you forgot to take, old mixed tapes, photos/letters from past loves, all one thousand TV remote controls, your rock collection, your Twilight Edward Cullen action figure, and the list goes on!






I, like everyone else, is just crushed by the news coming out of Haiti. It's heart breaking. And like everyone else, we gave what we could to charity to help. Even though we can't squeeze more out of our budget to donate personally, I figured I could do something with what I know best. I've got wood and I know how to use it.

Inspired by Bamboletta dolls who raffled two dolls and raised close to $10,000 (insanely big number, huh?!?) that will go Doctors Without Borders and their relief efforts in Haiti, I figured I'd give it a try. So, last night, I designed a bird keepsake box for the raffle winner.

The keepsake box is made from eco-friendly Russian Baltic Birch. The bird and veneer cut-outs are were hand-drawn. I use Miller dowels to ensure strong joints. The paint/stain (your choice- see below) are non-toxic. The finish is low-VOC, water-based polyurethane from Deft. Dimensions: 15" x 12 1/2" x 5 1/4".

RAFFLE DETAILS:

THE WINNER GETS TO CHOOSE THE COLOR! The lucky raffle winner will get to choose the paint or stain color for the bird. I wanted it to make it work in almost any home and let you have some say in what your handmade keepsake box looks like!

HOW TO BUY A TICKET - Each ticket is only $10!: Donations will be accepted via Paypal by clicking the ADD TO CART button below. If you want to buy more than one ticket, you can choose adjust the number of tickets you'd like. Now since I'm not a non-profit organization, I'm sorry to say I cannot give receipts for tax write-offs. I'll be donating all proceeds to the American Red Cross

WHEN IS THE WINNER ANNOUNCED? The raffle will run until next Tuesday, January 26, at midnight. The winner will be chosen on Wednesday, January 27th . I'll be sure to keep you updated throughout the raffle. I'll take care of the shipping/packing costs of getting the keepsake box to the winner.

Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!



(Thank you Robert for making my photos at the top look amazing! And for sharing the news on http://www.mahardrygoods.com/blog.php and http://www.juniorsociety.com/)