Fundraiser

On November 20th, the Victoria Curling Club played host for my fundraising event. I worked so hard to make it happen, and for the week leading up to the event was like I was living a nightmare. I imagined no one showing up, no one bidding on the silent auction items, and not even raising enough money to cover the cost of the event! I think Jerry Michael saw that stress in me a few days before the event, as he casually reminded me that I was "just trying to be a good host." With those words I was able to calm down a bit and realize that I was just trying to make sure everyone had a good time. My efforts seemed to have payed off!! This was an event that I worked harder on than any event I have run in the past.

The only analogy I can use comes from the quote from Field of Dreams, you know the one, "If you build it they will come." With the help of Daniel Goodfellow, we built it, and more people than I could have imagined came!

Daniel and I managed to keep costs to run the event down as low as possible. My uncle Stan helped with the hall rental, Anna's friend Cris saved us money DJing, Daniel donated on the food order, and Victoria Print Press helped out with a deal on printing the tickets.

The silent auction was a huge success as well. There were 23 gifts to bid on, and every item had at least one bidder. I just want to take some time now to recognize all the sponsors to the event:

Sea Cider

Booster Juice

Cobs Bread

Panago Pizza

Ooh La La Cupcakes

Thats Hot Salon

Pharmasave

Fish Hair Salon

Safeway

Christies Pub

Shine Cafe

Silk Road

Spinnakers - Sips Bistro

Moksha Yoga

Red Robin

Leanne Chamberlain - Mary Kay

Debbie Janes - CPGA Teaching Professional

Highland Pacific Golf Course

Avril Crockatt - RMT

Jack Thame - Donations of Whale Watching Certificates

Thank you, I couldn't have done it without the sponsors. Please read the list and make sure you support the businesses that helped me!

With the night moving along smoothly, Cris Heath took the microphone and welcomed everyone to the evening. He did an amazing job throughout the night as the MC, and because of his efforts, the announcements all went smoothly.

Anna led off the speeches by highlighting her experience in Kenya, and she was able to give the audience some perspective of where their money was going to. She asked everyone to look at the drink they had in front of them. With an average $5 value, she reminded us that 8 children could see a doctor for that amount in Kenya, as children pay only .60 cents for a visit. I was very honored that Anna spoke, as she has been such a huge support and influence for me taking on this trip.

Alright, it was my turn to get on the mic. For what it is worth, I have done speeches before, a fair bit actually, but never anything like this. I wanted to tell everyone how thankful I was for them being there, and upon trying to do just that, I was able to look up and catch so many amazing faces in the crowd. This was the moment I realized how much love and support I have in my life, and it was really difficult for me to hold back the tears. After composing myself for a moment, I was able to explain how special it is for me to have a dream and a goal, and to now be able to share the dream with so many other people. My personal dream became our dream, and I will try my best to share it with everyone along the way!

The silent auction was a success, raising $925 dollars

Tickets were sold at the the door by April, who did an incredible job welcoming people all night!

The tickets were sold by donation with a suggested donation of $5. After tallying the ticket total, guests bought tickets for an average of $8 dollars a ticket! AMAZING!

My dad, Jack, did an outstanding job running a 50/50 draw as well.

He ran the total to $170, and announced for one last push to get the amount up to $100 for the winner and $100 toward the project. He was easily successful, as about 5 minutes later we were drawing for a $100 prize.

Melissa Anderson was the lucky winner of the draw!

The night turned out to be a HUGE success! After costs were covered to host the event, the money was collected and $1225 was collected to take to Africa!

I am looking forward to another post soon, as I just found out my placement in Tanzania!

Tanzania Update

So, as many of you already know, I am going to Tanzania in January of 2011. I am currently studying Social Work at Camosun College in Victoria B.C, and am using the period of time between 2nd and 3rd year to take on this wonderful opportunity.

I am working with an organization called Youth Challenge International - http://www.yci.org/

I have decided I must start blogging about this adventure. There are so many people already on board and I just don't have the opportunity to talk to each supporter along the way, so this is the alternative.

So here are some of the areas I am currently focusing on for this trip to become a success

1. Fundraising

For me, this is the most difficult part of the adventure. I understand how important the development issues are in Sub Saharan Africa are, after all I took a Geography course highlighting these issues and have done countless hours of reading about Tanzania. That is my passion, but it is difficult for me to expect my passion to be yours. With that said, I have been able to jump out of yet another comfort zone and push for donations. I have already received individual donations totalling $1050!!

Although individual support is necessary for the project to move forward, I needed to come up with a major sponsor to help me reach the goal of $3700. This was found within the Union movement. CUPE, on the local, district council, and provincial level were all able to contribute to this cause. The total amount donated from CUPE is $1200 dollars!! This brings the grand total to $2250. Thats 60% of the way there!!

Moving forward, I have $1450 to go! I hope to achieve that with more individual donations, and will be hosting an event at the Victoria Curling Club this November 20th. I will quickly give an overview of the event. I am currently soliciting businesses in the community to donate a wide range of items to put up in a silent auction. The silent auction will be the area where donations will be collected, as the curling club gets the money from hosting the bar. There will be music, games, prizes, 50/50 draws, and a lot of information on the development issues ongoing in Tanzania and Sub Saharan Africa. I don't want to give away all the surprises of the night, but there has been a lot of planning going into it, and all involved hope to run a successful night.

Tickets for the event can be purchased by contacting me directly by email (trevorthame@hotmail.com), facebook, or by phone at 250-857-7146.

We have yet to determine ticket prices, but in the next week or so will have a set price. The money off ticket sales will cover hall rental, food, and entertainment costs.

A link to my fundraising page is found here -

http://yci.tigweb.org/ind/TrevorThame

The next area I am dealing with is the health aspect of going to Africa. I am going to have to get a variety of shots and medications before I am able to go.

The necessary shots include, Yellow Fever, Polio, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid Fever, Measles, Tetanus/Diphtheria, Rabies, as well as taking 1-2 courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics. OUCH!!

Aside form the shots, I will be taking medications to ensure I will not get Malaria when I am there. (Malarial Prophylaxis)

Travel

I have begun looking into how exactly I am going to get there! Nothing is booked yet, but in the next week or so, I will be putting the final touches on travel arrangements. It is looking like I will fly out to Amsterdam on the 18th of January. After a layover of upwards of 20 hours (I requested the longer layover so I can have some fun), I will fly to Nairobi, Kenya. I will not get to explore so much there, and will take the final leg of the journey in the form of an hour and a half flight to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. A full two, if not three days of traveling to arrive, but then I will be greeted by members of Youth Challenge International to take me to my new home!

Visa Requirements

I am working closely with Youth Challenge International, and checking in with the Canadian Government to ensure all Visa applications and requirements are done correctly before leaving!

The Next Step ~

Developing Courage

This is a huge experience for me I am so fortunate to have so many people in my corner, but I am still working on being brave enough to take on this challenge. There are so many unknowns I will experience throughout this adventure, and, well, I guess I will rely on this blog to explain them and work through them as I go.

I am looking forward to the event November 20th, so that I get to see so many supportive faces in one room. The energy will be amazing!!!

Please leave comments on here so that I can make improvements along the way!

Love,

Trevor Thame