Etsy Maine Team Supports Fundraiser

Jennifer Collins, the owner of Allsey on Etsy, orchestrated the Etsy Maine Team’s and Etsy.com’s sponsorship involvement in Ronald McDonald House (RMH) of Portland’s fourth annual “fun-raiser”, Purses with Purpose, etc.

Jennifer’s teammates rallied to help her with this off-line community effort to raise financial support, increase local community awareness and recruit volunteers for RMH. Shannon Hanley of The Clever Kitty, Jennifer Lisa of Quench Metalworks, and Kellie Smith of Wordysmith, worked together with Jennifer to create the Etsy Maine Team (EMT) promotional materials.
Heather Desimone, of Leetie Lovendale and The Beadin’ Path stuffed "eco friendly tote bags" that were donated by Etsy and given away to attendees.

An amazing number of EMT artists, fifty (50) to be exact, donated items they created for the silent auction. The list includes:
Allsey Apple Tree Jewelry Askey Illustration Ava-Loo's Backwoods Creations Beadin' PathBeads On Hand Beantree Pottery Blue Moose BunnyBeads Calobee / Six Hours Clever Kitty Coco & Milkweed Cozink Deb Donnelly Designs Dirt Girl Pottery DooDadSmith Earthly Girl Designs Fitz-U Folk Art TreeGood Quill Hunting Jamie Ribisi Art Judy B Junque Revival Karhu Moon Kari Herer Photography Kreatus Krista Sharp Pottery Lauren Kennedy Photography
Linda Layden Scrimshaw Louisiana1966 Lynne Forrest Pottery Oceanhouse One Woman Studio Paige's Beaded Designs Phoenix Farm Posy Studio Ps and Qs Purplebean Bindery Quench Metalworks Scire4 Silverdust Is… Suzee's Jublileez The Knitted Brow / Moebius Three Bridges Sewing Tuizui Veldie's Remakes Woodshed Designs Wordysmith Yummilicious

Angela Clark, a RMH staff member, designed the "Purses with Purpose, etc." Logo. Shannon Heckethorn, Community Manager of RMH, along with many other RMH volunteers also played key roles. The fundraiser was advertised in several publications and numerous radio spots, and formal invitations were sent to past guests and RDH donors.

Both the EMT and Etsy.com produced 5x7 sponsorship ads for the program, which were distributed to the 200 attendees. Those who came to the event had the chance to bid on a wide variety of one-of-a-kind handmade items crafted by Maine artists and artisans. The participating Etsy Artists enjoyed working together and having an impact on the community while sharing their artistic talents with a local audience.

Jennifer was impressed and grateful for the response of her teammates. She said, “I would like to thank all the Etsy artisans that participated in this year’s fundraiser especially during the current economic climate. I am speechless at the sheer generosity demonstrated by our team members. I’m already looking forward to 'Purses with Purpose, etc. 2010'.”

No grass is growing under Jennifer’s feet. Planning for the "2010 Purses with Purpose, etc." is already in the works. For more information about next years event, contact Jennifer by going to her Etsy Shop, Allsey, and clicking on her contact link. RMH is accepting donations and sponsorships now. If interested, please click on this link to email Shannon, the Ronald McDonald House Community Manager.
If your group is holding a promotion on or off line, email Coco the "scoop" at mailto:coco@handmadenews.org?subject=Here.