So….as luck would always have it as far as the dolls go…we found out that there was a Haiti convention being held in Miami the week we were planning on being in Haiti!!! We had been put in contact with Alison Thompson one of the founders of a charity called We Advance www.weadvance.org who had expressed an interest in the dolls so we flew to Miami and met with her and the other founders. While there we also connected with several other charities that are interested in our dolls. (It’s looking like Haiti will become a regular stop on our delivery schedule.)

Ed and I went to the convention center on Tuesday and presented 70 dolls to We Advance. They (among other things) run a clinic and counsel women and children that have been assaulted in the camps. They wanted the dolls for their youngest patients, girls of as young as 2 years old, that have been sexually assaulted. I can’t believe we live in a world where this happens to children and I hope the dolls you have lovingly created will be of comfort to them.

Anyway, Alison has promised that she will get photos for us once the dolls have been delivered. Delivery will of course happen over time as the young girls and children come into the clinic and the dolls are handed out. 

A huge thanks to all of you that helped decorate and/or organized parties. A special thanks to my friend Kris Springer! Every doll was wearing a handmade necklace from Kris. The necklaces become perfect bracelets for the girls. AND…we still have some necklaces leftover for our next trip to Haiti (possibly this summer).

xoxo,
Tracy

If you’d like to join us we’ll be at the charming Bella Notte Unique Gifts in downtown Golden, Colorado.

April 2nd from 5-8pm

May 15th from 10am-4pm

A donation of $20 helps with the cost of dolls, supplies for decorating and soccer balls for the boys. Thanks! See you there!

Bella Notte Unique Gifts is hosting 3 doll parties!  If you are in need of a unique gift for a friend or are looking for children’s toys or clothes this is the place to shop. They have items available from local artists as well. They are located in the heart of cute downtown Golden, Colorado and will be hosting gatherings on the next two ”First Friday’s“  from 5-8pm and  all day on Saturday, May 15th!

We’ll have decorating supplies and ragdolls available so bring your creativity! The cost is $20 per doll, the money will go to cover dolls, decorating supplies and soccer balls for the boys. After the party your doll will be traveling around the world to children living in poverty. The next destination is Egypt and Jordan and some of the dolls will be traveling to Haiti in the fall.

If you’d like to see photos of some of our happy decorators or recipients please visit our Flickr site.

We have a flyer available for download. If you’d like to post one for us we’d appreciate it.

Hope to see you there!

We held a doll decorating party on Jan 31st. Here’s a photo of the dolls we made. We’ll be delivering them to schools and orphanages in April. Our destinations are: Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.  If you have any connections or info on the area we’d love to talk to you!

To host your own doll decorating party please visit our website One Doll.

So far we have about 38 rag dolls decorated or being decorated. Here are a couple we’ve gotten back already from my friend Allyn and her mom, Jo.

Allyn and Jo with their dolls

We’ll be making rag dolls for Haiti and delivering them once things settle down. If you’d like to be included in our next event please contact me and I’ll make sure you get invited. If you’d like to make a donation to the Haitian orphanage we’ll be going to please visit Mercy and Sharing. You can also visit our website if you’d like to host your own gathering. I’ve just added supplies to our inventory to make it easier to pull a doll making party together.

The Ubuntu Hair Studio just keeps on giving!

Early in December the staff and clients of Ubuntu (meaning: I am because we are) hosted a doll decorating party to benefit children in Mexico and Southern California. By looking at the photos of smiling faces I’d say the event was a success! The dolls not only were lovingly created and decorated but were pampered and given beautiful new hair styles.

The Ubuntu Hair Studio strives to make social and environmental change through the small things that they do. Here are a few ways that your visit changes the world for the better:

*Pay it forward : gratuities, or as we like to call them – gestures of thanks for great service- are passed on to good causes. We donate 100% of gratuities received to diverse charities such as Hope For Hossana Project, Aspire, Kiva, Girls on the Run and Grossman Burn Foundation. A simple “thank you” goes a long way. 

*Waste not, want not : after serving you well for a few seasons, your hair goes on to do more good. After a cut, the clippings are collected and later reincarnated into oil-spill clean- up mats thanks to our participation in the Matter Of Trust Program.

*Nature’s elixirs: we stock retail products made from essential oils and plant extracts because just like a plant in fertile soil, beautiful hair grows from a healthy scalp.

We hope to be the change we want to see in the world and ask you to join us. We do not live alone, but are connected in something much greater. Together we can make a difference.

We’ll let you know when their dolls are delivered. In the mean time if you’d like more information about the Ubuntu Hair Studio in Solana Beach, California go to http://ubuntuhairstudio.com/

These dolls were decorated by the McClay family in Canada. We delivered them to children living in Bolivia.