Gift Baskets For the Angel Ball Auction

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

hey everyone! We have been coming up with ideas for the Angel Ball silent Auction and one thing that we thought would be nice is gift baskets. Dawn has so many wonderful ideas....I just do not know where she gets her energy or time!

Here is what we are thinking.....Members could donate a themed basket in honor/memory of thier CHERUB including a CHERUBS brochure and story about the Cherub. Here are a few ideas for themes that Dawn has come up with"
"An Evening In" - candles, wine, recipe for a great dinner with some of the (non-perishable) food and gift certificate to a grocery for the rest, with a great romantic movie, chocolate

"An Evening Out" - gift certificate to a restaurant, movie tickets, hmmmm... can't think of what else...

"Picnic" - picnic basket with wine, cheeses and crackers and sausages (the kind that last for a while without being refrigerated), blanket, book of poetry

"Weekend Away" - the beach idea, or Bed & Breakfasts... with gift certificates from local restaurants, gas cards, etc.

The ideas are endless!! We would like the baskets to have a value of a $100. To help with this you could include friends and family to help "sponsor" your basket.

What do you all think?

Barb

[StephanieOlivarez]

I love the idea of making a basket in memory/honor of Your CHERUB.
Getting Friends/family to help. What fun!!!!!!
I would like to do a basket with candles, a bottle of wine and 2 wine glasses.

This is a great idea for families that can't come to the Angel Ball, but want to help CHERUBS!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!!

You are so right Barb--the ideas are endless!!!!!!!
If you posted to "What would you put in your basket." Now you can put it in a basket for CHERUBS!!!!

[TaraHall]

I think this is a great idea. I do think we should have some sort of list ahead of time stating who is doing what so that we don't have 20 wine baskets and nothing else. Need a variety or I don't think there will be much interest in voting. Could also do some kid type baskets, some with toys, or even a pet basket with dog or cat stuff. Just so there is an assortment of things.

Tara

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Good point, Tara! There probably should be just one basket for each "theme".

And we want to include a CHERUBS brochure and story of your cherub as well in each basket. Oh and you have to post photos here of your baskets! :)

I might do one in memory of Shane and one in memory of my sister, Debra, who passed away from cancer. Not sure on the themes yet, will have to talk that over with my family and friends and see what they want to do.

Ok, who's in and what types of baskets are we doing?

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

I am! I am! I am thinking of a few different type of baskets.......oh which one to choose! LOL I really like the scrapbooking idea and I would love to do one of these.....Shane says that I could start a large store....LOL

So to start I will do a scrapbooking one and will think about another one.

Dawn would u like me to keep track of who is doing what theme?

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

That would be great, Barb, thank you!!! :)

[TaraHall]

Ok I want to do a pet one (dog) LOL but I will most likely have to do it when I get there. Dawn if I send you the money can you get me a basket? I can buy stuff to put in it here and pack it but if we end up flying I don't think I can pack a basket LOL. I might end up doing two, I am thinking of a movie one too with popcorn and such. I'll let you know.

Tara

[AmyMiles]

The school that I work at recently had a spring carnival and each classroom did a themed basket for a raffle. I can get more ideas from them if you would like. I think this is a great Idea! A coffee basket, hot cocoa, pasta basket you are right the possibilities are endless!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

ohhhhh! Those are great ideas Amy!! More ideas would be wonderful! Keep posting them on here!

Ok everyone.....who is doing what themes??

[Corin Nava]

I have been thinking about trying to do a basket... but if I do I want it to have a meaningful connection to Gabe, was thinking about doing a Red Sox basket, but I doubt there are many Red Sox fans down there. Let me think for a bit and I will try to figure something out and get back to you.

[StephanieOlivarez]

I am in too!!
I would like to do a wine basket, with 2 wine glasses, and candles.

I just have to say that these ideas are FANTASTIC!!!!
I can't wait to hear of more!!!

Corin-I love the idea for the Red Sox basket--you never know who down there will be a Red Sox fan!!!!! But, if you are thinking--I can't wait to hear your idea!!

[KateC]

One of our local churches has a gift basket auction every year with atleast 50 baskets! Just some ideas: golf basket, grilling basket, baby basket, spa basket, italian basket, kitchen basket . . . all kinds just off the top of my head that I could remember.

Now, I am just wondering but since I cannot make the conference, any chance that members could still participate in this and maybe mail our baskets to someone that is going?

I would like to do maybe do a candle basket, but I can't promise anything since I will be busy, but I was thinking it would be nice since I cannot be there . . .

[Corin Nava]

Kate- I think that it would be great for any members who can't make it to still do one in memory/honor of your CHERUB and mail it! You could probably mail it directly to Dawn.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Kate - Absolutely you can send a basket for the auction!!! We would love to incude as many baskets as possible in honor / memory of cherubs!!! :)

Tara - Yes, I can find out where some good baskets are down here, Tara. LOL.

Corin - There are so many transplants here from everywhere (Raleigh-Durham area has over a dozen universities and colleges, Research Triangle Park which is a huge science district with companies like Glaxo and IBM... probably half the people here are from different areas. I know of at least one Boston Red Sox fan who is coming to the Angel Ball and his wife was a sportscaster in Florida so between the 2 of them - it will get bought! And many of the guys who are playing / sponsoring the Golf Tournament will also be at the Angel Ball so they will appreciate some sports stuff.

Amy - LOVE the coffee and pasta ideas!!!

I have no idea what baskets I'm going to do. I think for the one in memory of my sister, Debra, another sister, Christie (who you may see popping around here once she figures out the forums better) might do an Appomattox / history basket. That's where my family is, where Debra was. There's a great B&B there who may donate a weekend, plus some tickets to the museum, a few books about the Civil War or something like that. 2 of Debra's children are biracial and her sense of humor would really get a kick out a doing a basket like that in memory of her. I know that probably sounds horrible - but Debra was silly like that, plus she lived most of her short life there outside of Appomattox. It's that or do a basket of Jerry Springer and Ricki Lake DVDs and trashy gossip magazines (she loved those shows). No way are we doing that. lol. I really want to include her memory too... my mom and other sisters with be at the Ball, along with cousins and some aunts and uncles... this is the first big event for CHERUBS that my huge, extended family can be at to see what we do, so it just feels right to have Debra here as well in spirit.

Basket in memory of Shane... I'm really having a hard time with this one!!!! Shane's memory is wrapped up in Sesame Street and matchbox cars and books and Precious Moments stuff. Sesame Street stuff would be out of place there. Not sure what I could do with matchbox cars and kids books. I might do a basket of Precious Moments statues or something like that. But it would seem so babyish and he was 6 and a half years old. I have no idea what to do here.

Ideas for some of you maybe....

Your cherub's nursery theme:

Disney - find a bunch of antique Disney pieces, gift certificate to the Disney Store, or even tickets to Disney if you can afford it.

Noah's Ark - tickets to the Asheboro zoo (incredible zoo 2 hrs from here), books on animals, "adopt" a zoo animal

Stars & Moons - buy a star, books on constellations, telescope, gift certificate to the UNC Planetarium

Butterflies - there is a butterfly house here you purchase tickets to. Also books on butterflies, maybe jewelry or ornaments of butterflies.

Dragonflies - books, photos, jewelry, ornaments, the movie Dragonfly on DVD

Other ideas....

Duke, NC State and UNC baskets would sell very easily down here! So would a Carolina Hurricanes basket for hockey fans or Durham Bulls or Carolina Mudcats basket for baseball.

Garden basket - seeds, gloves, small tools, bulbs, plant vitamins, book on gardening

Electronics - cell phone, ipod, chargers, etc... lots of electronics stores are franchises with local owners who will be more likely to donate

Video game baskets - I'm not a gamer, so I don't know what to add here

Games - big basket full of the traditional board games.. Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, etc

When in doubt of what to add to fill the basket - buy a book! ;)

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Forgot one....

Back to School Basket (this is when everyone will be shopping for school!)... .backpack, pencils, pens, paper, folders, erasers, ruler, calculator, etc

[Corin Nava]

Dawn-I love the precious moments basket idea! That sounds beautiful (something I might have to bid on :) )

OK, if you think the Red Sox one would get bids than thats what I will do!

[AmyMiles]

I was thinking about doing a book basket with DR. Seuss books, Jodi Piccoult books and some type of book that men like to read. Or maybe a Dr. Seuss theme with stuffed animals, books, and movies. Not sure though. Do we just bring the baskets with us to the conference and angel ball?

Kate- Where do you live in PA? Steve and I are driving to the conference from MI and maybe you are on the way. Just a thought!

[KateC]

Oh Amy that would be wonderful!! I live 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. I don't know how long your drive will be, if need to spend the night, eat dinner, whatever you are very welcome at my home :) Even if you want to meet up somewhere, let me know your route!

Okay then, I will start working on a PartyLight Candle basket. My mom sells and she would love to help me out. This seems very doable after I talked it over with her.

[AmyMiles]

Oh I don't know if you would want to attempt making dinner for my husband and I :) We are incredibly picky!! Our parents make fun of us all the time. I don't eat anything from pigs (I collected them when I was young and visited my friends piglets, so thats why I think I can't eat them) and Steve doesn't eat vegetables (only corn, green beans and potatoes!). We would love a stopping point. I will check our route and see.

[Damon andSharonknott]

I would love to see a basket from Australia!
Dawn, could I get it sent to your address???

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Definitely, Sharon! That would be great!!!! :)

[KateC]

LOL Amy, I am picky, too! My Steve is, augh, he's a pig, he eats anything!! Just let me know where the route takes you, We can travel even if it may be a little ways away from home.

[Corin Nava]

Oooo-I just had another idea for a basket. I am thinking about an Angel basket filled with the Willow Tree Angel figurines! (Of course I might have the temptation to keep it myself-lol). So know I'm not sure which one I want to do-the angel theme or red sox theme. I would love to do both if I can afford to, but I'll have to see how it goes.

[LynneB]

Hey Guys. I am the Facility Nurse for Caterpillar. I am going to find out if I can do a Caterpillar basket. Maybe they will donate some things and I can buy some things. I will see if they need anything from Cherubs as far as verifying. Corin, I would defintley bid on Red Sox basket!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Oh Lynne! What a great idea!!

and I love BOTH ideas of yours Corin! I would not be able to choose either!!

[LynneB]

I will start working on it tomorrow.

[StephanieOlivarez]

All these basket ideas ROCK!!!

Shaz--I can't wait to see your basket--all the way from Australia!!!!That is SO cool!!!!

Were all going to be trying to outbid each other on many of these baskets at the Angel Ball!!!! lol

[Bobbi Steiner]

I work for Family Video, which is a movie rental store chain, some of you may of heard of it, we are not in every state yet. Anyway, they have given me some movies for a basket. I am going to get a gift cert. for pizza or something of that sort , popcorn, candy, etc. and create a "Dinner and a Movie at Home" basket.

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Wonderful Bobbi!! U read my mind! LOL I thought that a movie basket would be a GREAT idea!!

[KateC]

What great ideas!!! That willow tree basket sounds beautiful Corin. Wish I was going :( I just ask that everyone take a lot of pictures for me!!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Oh Kate you are going to be swamped with photos! I promise!! But you have to do the same in June......I am so jealous! I wanna go camping too! LOL

[KateC]

I loveee taking pictures :)

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Me too! and I tend to get very camera happy! LOL My hubby got me the Canon Rebel XTI 400D with a few different lens for x-mas........you would NOT believe how many pics I have of my dogs and fish tanks.......the boys run when they see the camera as they say that I have too many pics of them.....sigh........at least the dogs and fish do not complain! LOL

[KateC]

LOL That was me yesterday with my puppy!! I took so many pictures! I feel bad for the twins!

[karahess]

Lynne, what's Caterpillar?

[LynneB]

We make the big contruction equipment. You know, the big yellow back hoes ect. We make engines for those and big marine engines at my facility.

[LynneB]

I mean construction equipment. I can't spell!

[karahess]

Awww yes, I have a few too many of those in my living room and driveway to trip over - SPLAT!

[LynneB]

All boys, big and small, love vehicles that dig in the dirt!

[Corin Nava]

I sent out letters to all the Red Sox players asking them to autograph and send back a baseball card I had enclosed, for the red sox basket I am putting together. I got my first card back today in the mail! I'm so excited, just thought I would share!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Oh how exciting Corin!! woohoo!! That is awesome!

[KateC]

What a great idea Corin!! Glad to hear you got one back yeaa!!

[StephanieOlivarez]

Corin-I do think that is AWESOME!!!
YEAH YEAH!!!!!

[AmyMiles]

Steve and I are doing a Dr. Seuss basket, we started scoping things out today! He wants to do a Star Wars basket so that he can bid on it! LOL

[Damon andSharonknott]

Amy,
I wish I was going so I could bid on the Dr. Suess basket!
Would love to know what you find to put in it?
The Star Wars one sounds rally good too!

[StephanieOlivarez]

Dr. Seuss basket!!!I will be bidding on that one! I'll be thinking of you when I do Shaz!!! Infact if I win the basket--I will send you something from it Shaz!!
I think that is funny about Steve wanting to do a Star Wars basket and wanting to bid on it!!!GO STEVE!!!!
I can't wait to see all these baskets.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Just posted this to MySpace and Facebook... please feel free to copy and paste to send to family and friends and other CDH parents!

-------------------------------------

You can donate a basket in honor or in memory of your child (or any other family member - they do not have to be a cherub) at our auctions at our Angel Ball and our Golf Tournament in July in North Carolina. This is a great way to be a part of these events if you can't attend or to remember your cherub's birthday or to just help out a great cause!

To participate all you have to do is put together a basket with a theme... any theme (rated PG and under of course). The only requirement is that it is nice, new items and valued at over $100. We prefer them all wrapped up with a bow, ready for auction and ask that you include a list of what's included (so we don't have to unwrap the basket).

You can get family and friends and local businesses (especially tourist bureaus and chambers of commerce) to donate items for the basket.

Examples for baskets...

- Hawaiin Theme (a travel agency is donating a trip to Hawaii, the basket includes the trip tickets, info, sunscreen, sunglasses, maps, etc)

- Disney Theme (you could include gift cards to the Disney Store or tickets to one of the parks, Mickey Mouse ears hats, figurines, framed cartoons, etc)

- Car Theme (you could include gas cards, keychain, car cleaning kit, tools, maps, etc)

- Photography Theme (you could include a digital camera, memory card, gift certificate to have prints made, picture frames, photo album, etc)

- Sports Team Theme (hat and jersey of your team, tickets to a game, autographed photos of some of the players, sports equipment, game pennant, etc)

Our members are throwing around lots of ideas of our site at http://cdhsupport.org/members/viewtopic.php?t=1597

You can include a short story about your child, their photo, a letter on why you're supporting CHERUBS. You can make the theme about your child (nursery theme or where you're from, etc). Photos of the baskets, along with a paragraph about your cherub will be posted to the site. Make sure to e-mail us that paragraph and a photo.

Donations are tax-deductible (make sure to include donor info with the basket). And please make sure to include your info so we know who the basket is in honor or in memory of!

Please mail these with SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION DELIVERY (because the mailman will leave them exposed otherwise) to:

CHERUBS
Event Auctions
270 Coley Rd
Henderson, NC 27537

We need to start getting baskets in. These events are to raise money for next year's conference for families of children born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. For a lot of families this will be the first time they will get to meet other CDH parents and to learn about CDH. We do not charge members to attend, instead we hold fundraisers to cover the cost. Don't forget that we also have a conference this July in NC for CHERUBS Members. Info on everything can be found at http://www.cdhsupport.org

Thanks!
Dawn

[AmyMiles]

We found several DVD's, two books that are collections of Dr. Seuss, at Kohl's they usually have Dr. Seuss books/stuffed animals that raise money for children's charities and maybe some stickers.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

If you have your basket ready please post a photo! I'm working on the Angel Ball site and want to post photos of the items up for auction. We also need a photo of your cherub and a short paragraph about him/her or why you're donating a basket. And I need a list of what's in the basket.

If your baskets isn't ready for a photo yet but you have / know all that you will include, please post that too.

If you're ready to send your basket in, please mail these with SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION DELIVERY (because the mailman will leave them exposed otherwise) to:

CHERUBS
Event Auctions
270 Coley Rd
Henderson, NC 27537

[PennyCampsey]

Dawn, did you get our note/check ???

[PennyCampsey]

somehow I missed this basket deal ......

[LynneB]

Corin, I just saw that you are getting some of the Red Sox to autograph some cards for your basket. I guess this means I HAVE to bid on you yours! My 12 year old has decided that he is another Big Poppy! He plays 1st base and bat 3rd. He even does that spitting thing that David Ortiz does! EEWWW!

[Corin Nava]

lol-Lynne. So far I've only gotten one card back, I was hoping to get at least one more for the basket, but its been three weeks so I'm starting to think he might be the only one. It's Javier Lopez, he's a pitcher. Not a big name guy, but I was still really happy to get something back. Now I've got to go shopping for other stuff to fill the basket with.

[LynneB]

Hey we know who he is! Sounds great!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Oh you guys I am soooo excited about the baskets! You all are coming up with wonderful ideas!!

I am involved with a group online that are all consultants for in home parties. We all take turns ordering from each other and we are split into small groups of 6-8 people.....so I think that there is over 45 people. I sent them an e-mail today asking for donations from each of them so we can make a whole basket from them.....Well i asm so excited because within a few minutes I had 2 responses. I asked if each would donate one item.....one of the ladies asked if she could donate several items AND gift certificates!! WOOHOO!

So here is an idea also......if I get alot of items from them we can also use some of the items for other baskets as fillers. So please please keep me posted on here what theme you are doing and how you are filling your basket. If you think that your basket needs more in it LET ME KNOW on here! 8-)

So as of right now I am doing a Scrapbooking basket (this could turn into 2 as I have a scrapbook store in my basement!LOL and it is all Tara's fault!) and the theme of the other basket is up in the air at this point. I also am going to do a "photo" themed basket.

I am going to update soon on the themes we already have! 8-)

Barb

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

ok here is an update on the baskets.....Let me know If I missed anyone:

Steph--Wine & Candle Basket
Tara--Dog basket
Corin-- Red Sox basket
AmyM-- Dr Suess Basket
LynneB-- Caterpillar Basket
BobbiS-- Dinner & Movie at home Basket
JudiT-- Baby Phat watch basket (oohhhh!!!) and a Gourmet Pasta & Sauce Basket plus one more (theme unknown--will know in a while!!)
Me-- Scrapbooking basket....and a few more with unknown themes (darn it I will decide soon! LOL)

wow!! I am already wanting to start the bidding on these! LOL

Ok did I miss any?? Anyone else know the theme they are going to do?

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Here is another update on the baskets!! I just got off the phone with Judi and she has soooo many ideas in her head......and soooo much stuff going into baskets! LOL

Steph--Wine & Candle Basket
Tara--Dog basket
Corin-- Red Sox basket
AmyM-- Dr Suess Basket
LynneB-- Caterpillar Basket
BobbiS-- Dinner & Movie at home Basket
JudiT-- Baby Phat watch basket (oohhhh!!!) and a Gourmet Pasta & Sauce Basket, Victorian Romance Basket, Spa/Relaxation Basket and a VERY cool Chesapeake Bay Basket filled with some AWESOME goodies!!
Me-- Scrapbooking basket....and a few more with unknown themes (darn it I will decide soon! LOL)

OK now Judi you HAVE to stop THINKING woman or we will have to BUY you a UPS truck to get all of this to Dawn!! LOLOLOL

I can see it all now....a bunch of "marshmellows" fighting over the baskets....doh!! LOL

[Corin Nava]

Wow, Judi you are going crazy!

All those baskets sound wonderful!

[Corin Nava]

I am possibly going to do a Willow Tree basket too, if I can get some donations.

[PennyCampsey]

when are the baskets going to be auctioned?
corin , are you coming ?

[Corin Nava]

i think they are going to be auctioned at the angel ball. Yup I will be there :)

[PennyCampsey]

I'm not coming to the ANGEL ball :( I hate I'll miss them ....
GLAD YOU are COMING !!!!

[PennyCampsey]

I'm going to bring BRAIN AGE FOR YOU LOL!!!

[Corin Nava]

I get addicted to those types of things, you might not get it back-lol

[PennyCampsey]

UHOH .. well, i played my friends and then went out and bought one for me the next day LOL

[AmyMiles]

Corin I have an extra Angel of Hope Willow Tree Angel. There's a start for you!

[Corin Nava]

Thank you Amy! I really appreciate that!

I emailed the company that produces them today and got a response that they were considering my request.... so hopefully they will donate one or two!

[JudiToth]

Ok - I am now TOTALLY LOST on these boards/threads!

I submitted a post (that I even read earlier this morning on another topic about the Ball) about my baskets and I thought I posted it here.

Wish I could find it so that I could find it so I could cut & paste it here.

Tons of news on it if you can find it. xxoo Moi

[Corin Nava]

Judi-you made that post on the conference committee forum. If you want to find posts that you have made:

1.click on your name '
2.look under where it says All About JudiToth it gives you all the info like Joined, Last visit, etc...
3. Find where it says Total Posts-right next to it you should see a number, thats how many posts you have made.
4. Click on Find All Posts By JudiToth

That will bring you to a list of all the posts you have made. It helps to figure out where you posted things.

Hope that helps :)

[KateC]

Hey Corin, can I give you my basket to take to the ball with you? I was gonna give it to Steph. If not no bigige!. I read a magazine article today that made me think of you. Your complete guide to travel with baby, it was in the July issue of Pregnancy! It might come in handy for you the upcoimg months!!

It's great that you e-mailed them too and they said they were considering your request!!

[KateC]

Barb, you missed me! I am doing a PartyLite basket (Candles & Accessories)

[Corin Nava]

Kate-I will take the basket-it shouldn't be a problem. It's funny you mention traveling, we are packing up right now for a weekend in New Hampshire! This is going to be the summer of mini vacations :)

[StephanieOlivarez]

Corin--Have a safe trip and have a GREAT TIME!!!!!!

I think all the baskets are going to be WONDERFUL!!!!!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

I still want to do 2 baskets but no idea what themes yet.

[JudiToth]

Corin - thanks for all your assistance in guiding me what to do on this board! You're the greatest!

Same with you Barb! I'll have to find that post and cut and paste it here somehow so everyone can see what I've got so far.

Dawn, don't worry, it'll come to you. One suggestion for one basket - a Seseame Street basket in memory of Shane. It doesn't matter what age he would be now - I'm sure he's still giving Jim Hansen holy headaches about Big Bird only having 2 feathers instead of 3! Or maybe if you think it would be more age appropriate, you could always do a "car" themed basket since Shane used to love rolling those little cars all over the place and especially under the TV big case.

As far as for doing a basket iho Debra, you had mentioned several things that she liked to do/hobbies.

Then again, you can do something totally unrelated. I mean there's no real tie with my baskets to Christopher, unless I do end up doing a fishing/tackle box basket. I doubt Christopher would have anything to do with a Romantic Victorian or Spa basket! NOT! LOL Now maybe he would've loved pasta, but who knows? Now the Chesapeake Bay basket and the fishing basket, I'm sure he would have related to.

The thing I'm trying to point out is that although I know you want to do something connected to both Shane and Debra, that it doesn't necessarily have to do anything with them, but something that YOU like. You'd still have their cards in the baskets stating it was donated in memory of them. Know what I mean? Don't stress about it too much, you've got so many other things that you're stressing over that if you stress too much over the baskets on top of everything else, you'll end up a basket case (no pun intended). Let us know if we can help you in any way!

Everyone is doing great! Love ya'll and have a safe Holiday weekend! xxoo Moi

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

I'm going to see if Christie can take over doing a basket in memory of Debra. I thought about Sesame Street for a basket but how many adults will bid on that? I need to see if I can get tickets to Sesame Place or something extremely neat for a basket like that.... rather than just SS toys. I don't know... maybe I'll just do a CHERUBS basket full of stuff from cafepress. You're right about not stressing over it! LOL on the basket case.

[JudiToth]

Dawn,

That's a good idea about Christie taking over doing a basket imo Debra. Maybe your Mom might even put in a small item, since I know it would mean a lot to her for many reasons.

There might be parents out there who's kids like SS. But I just had a second thought about the "car" themed basket. There are a lot of guys out there who collect the "match box" cars - some are even collectable ones and they are only $3-4 each at Wal-Mart. I get some of them every year for Christmas for Christopher's gravesite. And you can possibly add in one or two different types of remote control cars. Even the big "boys" like their toys! And they are also reasonably priced at Wal-Mart. Just a thought. I'm trying to come up with some ideas. If I think of any more, I'll let you know! xxoo Moi

[JudiToth]

Okay, here is my post that got lost and now found. lol I am making some changes to the original post to give updates.

I have been in several conversations with Dawn and Barb about what I can do.

My mom won't be able to make it after all and she wanted to donate her costs to us. Dawn came up with a wonderful idea that I can use Mom's donated money (and some of my own, if needed) to have napkins for the Ball printed up with the Logo & event info on it. Mom loved the idea, so I am now in search of a local napking printer.

I'm also doing I don't even know how many baskets! LOL

So far here is my list of baskets that I've already purchased items for:

"baby phat" gold "bling" watch worth $125

Romantic Victorian Basket (including wine & Godiva chocolates!)

Holistic Stress Management Basket

Gourmet Pasta & Sauce Basket

Chesapeake Bay Seafood/Items Basket (w/donated $50 gift certificate from our local Seafood Store that will ship; donated CB Jewelry from a local Jewelry store; donated CB non-perishable foods from our local Gourmet store; and a lot of other items I purchased from the Navy Exchange that you can't find anywhere else that are CB themed items. Have a couple of lighthouse dish towels, 4 different lighthouse cloth table settings, a wood Pelican bird, a couple of small lighthouses, a couple of coffee mugs & freezer mugs that say, "Don't Bother Me, I'm Crabby" with the crab on it, key chains, and several magnets that have crab recipes on it.

And a fishing tackle box loaded with tons of fishing stuff.

I haven't even hit the stores on the Island yet - every store owner I approached said that they always donate CB stuff to charity! So I'll hit the Island portion next!

I also went into an Embroidary store that was next door to the Jewelry store to ask about possibly printing napkins. They don't do printing only embroidary - and the owner is willing to donate something, possibly a tablecloth with the Angel Ball Logo & Info embroidered on it. He took a printed logo sheet from me and said he'd check it out with the person who does the embroidary and see if she could do it. Gave me his card to email the logo to him besides the printed one I gave him. He said he'd let me know soon. That would be awesome if we had that as the tablecloth for the cake table! Wish me luck on that! (Update: the lady who runs the embroidery machine said she couldn't do the Angel Logo. But they did give me 2 gift certificates to their store.)

My car is loaded with stuff and am waiting for a friend of mine to come help me sort out everything into the baskets and then will send them individually to Dawn in a box for final assembly at the venue since I'm terrible with anything that requires imagination/artistry/craftiness and also as a precaution just in case for some horrible reason I was unable to attend. (Prayers please that health holds up, PLEASE! Thanks!) Barb told me she'd print off the cards to insert into the baskets. Thanks Barb!

Oh, I also received 2 booklets of coupons from David's bridal, and while most of it is for use in their store, there are a couple of gift certificates that can be used for spa.com and vacations. I'm going to mail those certificates to Barb to see where she can use them as "fillers" for other baskets.

BTW - I'm going to have to mail down the individual baskets in seperate boxes to you Dawn and Barb & I will assemble them there. I remember you stating somewhere how we should address them, along with the directions for the shipping. Otherwise, I'll need a U-Haul to bring everything with me! Plus, want to make sure that if by some unforeseen reason I can't make it, that at least the baskets make it.

All of you Ladies have done such a wonderful job with all of your "missions!"

Ok - out for now. Wrote a novel again! LOL xxoo

[Corin Nava]

Dawn-thats a wonderful idea about doing a CHERUBS basket! I know I would bid on it-I can't get enough CHERUBS and CDH awareness stuff!

[AmyMiles]

Are you just asking all different types of businesses for donations? I need to get some guts and ask for donations!

[AmyMiles]

Has anyone ever requested donations from large companies, like Disney or Universal. I know that Universal Studios has a Cat in the Hat area and would love to have tickets or something in the basket, but that would be a little costly on my own.

[Corin Nava]

Amy-I have tried to get donations from all sorts of companies, big and small, for different things. Some respond, some don't. The trick is finding the right person/department. It can't hurt to try-the worst that can happen is you get a rejection, but a lot of companies are more than happy to donate.

OK- I just checked out the disney website and found this:

Due to the large volume of solicitations we receive, we ask that you take note of the following guidelines in order for us to consider your request:

* We can only make donations to a federally licensed (501(c)(3)) nonprofit, charitable agency.
* A solicitation letter must be submitted via U.S. mail on the official organization letterhead and must include the date of the event, if applicable, contact name and number, and any other pertinent information.
* If you are requesting a donation for a specific event, we must receive the letter in our office at least 4-6 weeks prior to the date of the event.
* The event must be strictly for fundraising purposes. We do not support incentive or reward programs.


Please find the geographical location your organization falls under: For organizations based in the California counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside:

The Walt Disney Company- Corporate Relations
Attn: Charitable Requests
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-3609

For organizations based in California (other then Los Angeles, Venture, San Bernardino and Riverside counties), Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Montana, Hawaii or Alaska:

www.disneyland.com/publicaffairs
(Note: mailed, faxed or emailed requests are no longer accepted)

For organizations based in Orange, Osceola, Polk, Lake, Brevard and Seminole Counties in Central Florida:

Community Relations
Walt Disney World Co.
P. O. Box 10000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000

For organizations based in the greater New York area:

The Walt Disney Company
77 West 66th Street, 9th Fl.
New York, NY 10023
(212) 456-7498

For organizations based in North America:

Disney Worldwide Outreach
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-3613

For organizations based in Europe, Middle East and Africa:

The Walt Disney Company Europe S.A.S.
1 rue de la Galmy, Chessy
77776 Marne-la-Vallée Cedex 9
France
phone: 33 (0)1 64 17 53 23
fax: 33 (0)1 64 17 54 46


I found this on the Universal Orlando Website:
http://cr.ucdp.net/charitable_contributions.html

UNIVERSAL ORLANDO
COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Universal Orlando’s Community Relations efforts, along with the Universal Orlando Foundation grant-making program, focus on the areas of education, children, and families. Specifically, Universal focuses on the following areas:

* Child Abuse, Neglect, and Prevention of Both
* Foster Care - Meeting the Needs of our Young People
* Children with Life Threatening/Serious Illnesses or with Disabilities
* Early and Post Secondary Education
CHARITABLE GIVING PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES

All donation requests must be made online and only those submitted by approved non-profit organizations that fall under Universal Orlando's guidelines will be considered:

* Requests must be received 6-8 weeks prior to the event date to be considered.

* Please provide a description of your organization and your fundraising event (when, where, type, and name of event). Include organization contact information. Provide only the organization or legal address – we will not send donations to home addresses. We do not consider donating auction items for online bidding.

* Donations are considered for charitable, non-profit organizations only. We are unable to consider donations that would benefit an individual or family and/or support events which are raising funds to benefit other organizations (businesses, service / civic groups, or other third parties).

* We do not support incentive programs, reward programs, volunteer appreciation, or staff recognition events.

* Sponsorships or donations for teams, contests, school graduation parties, tournaments, fairs, walk-a-thons, raffles/door prizes, holiday parties, award or recognition events, etc., are examples of requests that will not be considered.

* For out-of-state consideration, please attach copies of confirmation that airfare and/or hotel accommodations have already been donated to your organization. This does not guarantee a donation, but it will provide documentation that passes will be part of an Orlando vacation package. We are unable to donate hotel accommodations or air fare. If your organization does receive a Universal Orlando donation, the package must be advertised as a Central Florida vacation package unless specific to Universal Orlando.

* Requests for donation of passes for Universal Orlando special events, concerts, or any other special event will not be considered (i.e. Halloween Horror Nights, Rock the Universe).

* If the data received online is complete and falls under our guidelines, we will review your request and provide a response in approximately 4-6 weeks. Due to the large amount of requests we receive, we are unable to provide a status of your request. Unfortunately, we cannot process late requests or accept requests via fax. You will receive notification as to your status via email or by letter. Please note that we receive far more requests than we are able to accommodate.

* Requests that are approved will receive tickets 1-2 weeks prior to the event but are not guaranteed beyond that timeframe. Tickets are subject to expiration dates, are non-transferable, and may not be re-sold. Organizations which receive donations are responsible for any tax implications and all gift reporting.

* Please note the above charitable giving procedures are subject to change.



Hope that helps!

[AmyMiles]

Wow you are absolutely amazing! I guess I just didn't know where to look, thanks a bunch! I better get on it!

[AmyMiles]

I went to check it out and need the tax ID number. Hmm...guess my basket can do with out tickets!

[KateC]

Amy, I have a coupon for Dr. Suess books, were you still going to do that? I can send it to you if you would like?

[AmyMiles]

ohh sounds great! I almost bought some today, but thought I would hold off.

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Any updates on baskets?

[AmyMiles]

Kate I got the coupons you sent me for the books Thank you! We are still doing a Dr. Seuss basket and bought a couple things from Universal while in FL. Corin and I are doing a willow tree angel basket together.

[PennyCampsey]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i love willow tree !!!

[KateC]

My basket is almost done, just trying to figure out a good way to keep it all in there, thinking maybe floral foam should hold the heavy candle accessories??

[Corin Nava]

My red sox basket is almost done-just need to get a basket and a few small items. So far for that we have a hat, t-shirt, picture frame, signed baseball card by Javier Lopez, 2 wall plaques, and a little bear thingy.

I am going tomorrow to pick up some of the Willow Tree stuff for the basket Amy and I are doing together.

[PennyCampsey]

hmmmm that's a tough one ..

[AmyMiles]

I never thought about how we are going to make the stuff stay in there.

COrin and I were wondering if we should take the willow tree angels out of the box or leave them in. What do you all think?>

[PennyCampsey]

i SAY leave em in the box just safer, some people like the boxes, plus the ones with wings or flowers, etc they are fragile arenty theY ? i had one break wayyyyyy to easy.
You could maybe make a nice printout to demonstrate what one's you have included.
I LOVE so many of them !
The boy holding the golden heart and the boy holding HOPE balloon are 2 of my favs!

[PennyCampsey]

WHAT would be awesome is if WILLOW TREE would make one for CHERUBS! That would be amazing !!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Oh yes leave them in the box! All of the baskets need a detailed list of contents also that will be with the baskets.....so anyone that wants to know which ones are there will look at the list anyway 8-)

I have never seen Willow Tree and now am very curious.....8-)

Barb

[AmyMiles]

What do you think about us taking them out of the box, arrangign them taking a picture and then putting them back in the boxes? That is if we have time! We will be putting it together at the conference.

[AmyMiles]

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn170/faithmilescdh/DSC00992.jpg

This is the willow tree figure I bought Steve to tell him we were expecting last year. I already have it on my computer, I will try to upload pictures of others.

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Oh that is AWESOME Amy!! I think that if u had time to take pics out of the box that would be great!

Thanks for sharing that pic! Now I am going to have to look for them! LOL

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

If some of you are mailing them then just pack them up however you need to to get everything here safely and I can put it together. Or.... lots and lots of peanuts.

They all sound amazing!!!

[AmyMiles]

Corin- I have been meaning to call you. I bought Cherish, Courage, and Thinking of You angels for the basket. I looked for a basket at Goodwill today but nothing big enough, I will keep my eye out. I bought our basket for Dr. Seuss there and it was $3.00!

[AmyMiles]

Oh I just remembered the extra angel I have is the angel of Hope.

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Michaels has some great basket on sales right now for 40-60% off.....they also have the oval shaped (almost like a laundry I guess) wicker baskets for $3.99. They fit a ton of stuff in them!

[Corin Nava]

OK- Thanks Amy! I promise I will get mine by the end of this weekend!

Barb-Thanks I will have to check that out!

[AmyMiles]

Corin I'm not worried! You have until the day before you leave for NC to get them! You have lots on your plate right now, I am in no hurry. Did I mention that we should get some cotton balls or pillow filling to put in the bottom of the basket to make it seem like they are floating on the clouds!

[Corin Nava]

Amy-thats a cute idea! Soooo.... have we decided to keep them in the box, but we will take a nice picture of them arranged outside the boxes when we get down there, right?

Hey-whats in your Dr Suess basket? I might have to bid on that one :)

[AmyMiles]

Sigh...the Dr. Seuss basket was going to be SWEET! We had found the Dr. Seuss cartoons that used to be shown on TV at Meijer (a grocer in the midwest), but they were all gone when we went to buy them yesterday! UGH! So mad for not buying them earlier, I was waiting for them to go on sale. I must have missed it or they clearanced them out. Anyway we bought 3 other Dr. S movies that are commonly found around, 2 huge anthology like books (5-10 stories in heach), 2 small board books, a pin from universal, and a small towel from universal studios. We are also going to include 6 of the Faith Grace Miles (butterfly) CDH Awareness bracelets. Still thinking about her story.

Corin-I am super excited about our basket, its going to be HUGE!

[Corin Nava]

Amy-I know, I am sooo excited about our basket it is going to be awesome! It's bad-I'm going to want to bid on it-lol.
BTW-Thanks Barb for helping us with the basket, you rock!

I can't write up his story, I'm just not ready-as odd as that is since it has been over 1 1/2 years.... I'm going to go with Kara's suggestion and print off a nice copy of my graphic I made to include.

I think thats a wonderful idea to include some of the bracelets! Your basket sounds like it is going to be great! I can understand your disappointment about the videos :( but it still will be a great basket-I LOVE Dr. Suess!!

[AmyMiles]

Corin there is nothing wrong with having trouble writing up his story. I think that your picture speaks volumes! It will look great in the basket.

[KateC]

Finally all done!! Just have to mail it out now. I even made the bow, it took me a couple hours to figure it out, I surprised myself!! I even painted a little star and wrote "Faith" with "CHERUBS '08 on the back. Shannon's info pamphlet is on the side. I had a lot of fun doing this!!

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u273/shannonsmommy/pic.jpg

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u273/shannonsmommy/pic2.jpg

[StephanieOlivarez]

Looks GREAT Kate!!!

[Corin Nava]

Kate they look great! I still need to get baskets for mine :) I LOVE the pamphlet idea-it looks wonderful!

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

wow I finally got my baskets ready to send out.....YIKES!! UPS is gonna LOVE me this week! LOL


Here are a few pics.......

The first pics are what is in the baskets then the next pic is the basket put together.

The first basket is an AVON basket:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1903.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1904.jpg

Arbonne skin care gift basket that was donated!!
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1905.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1906.jpg

Now for all the scrapbooking fans......this is a great one!! 16 lbs of scrapbooking! WOW! The first 3 pics are all DIFFERENT stuff as I could not fit it all on the table at once!! Amazing that it all fit into the new wheeled (with pull out handle) tote!! I was sweating thinking that it wasn't gonna..........now where to find a box big enough!
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1907.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1909.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1910.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/PURPHAZE19/IMG_1911.jpg

Shew!! That one is AWESOME! If u want a list of what all is in it let me know.....I am typing it up now! I am hoping that we have a few scrapbookers at the Angel Ball as this is a GREAT bag o stuff! lol

[MaryanneReid]

Your baskets all look so great. Pity I can't bid on any of them. Oh well maybe next year!

[KateC]

Ew la la Barb!! I wish I was going to bid on those!!!! The scrap book one is soo cute!

[AmyMiles]

Wow ladies! Those are absolutely amazing!! Beautiful! I am excited to bid! Steve and I will be fighting over who gets to bid on what!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Wow, you ladies have outdone yourselves!!!!! I'm going to have to bid on them too!!!

I never did get to do baskets for Shane and Debra. I might still do them. I already have most of the stuff for Debra's, but Shane's would be hard - I have no idea what to do. Maybe just an angel basket - amazingly, we don't have one of those.

You all have done such a wonderful job!!!

[LynneB]

Corin,how is that Red Sox basket coming? I already told Jeff this am that we were bidding on it!

[KateC]

Dawn I just sent my basket out! It should be there by weeks end. T

The UPS lady was so mean! First she showed up like 10 minutes late to open. I was the second customer with like 5 people behind me. Then she kept telling me everything was going to break and she wouldn't let me package it myself. She really frustrated me - if everything breaks - I'll cry then call UPS and complain LOL

Please let me know when you get it!! (hopefully in one piece)

[LynneB]

Kate UPS is on my list this week too. I ordered 10 CPr books for my next class and they delivered them to the wrong addy and the people kept them! Now the National Safety Council has to send me more and pray they get here before before class! But the NSC people are pretty good. I amsure in your line of work you have dealt with them alot! My SIL is still putting together a basket from Trade Secret but i am not holding my breath. Her boss is a little funny about it! I will let you know asap. Caterpillar would not come through either.

[KateC]

Let's boycott LOL!

I can't believe the people kept them! CPR class is very tough for me anymore. I usually leave during the infant video and practical, I cannot handle that. Good thing is everyone's understands and no one says anything to me. I actually have never dealt personally with the NSC. That is nice they are sending you more books, is UPS going to pay for the others since they were not returned??

What is Trade Secret?

[LynneB]

They are a salon/ high end beauty products, tanning lotions, make up. They are a national chain. I cannot hardly make it through teaching the respiratory part of anatomy for my first responders when i have to teach about the diaphaphragm! That is odd i know!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

I'll let you know, Kate!

I think it's nasty postal people week... I tried to send 2 cookbooks out in a priority envelope the other day and because it weighs over 13 or 16 ounces (cant remember which), they sent it back - saying I had to come in and mail it in person. I live 30 minutes from the post office. I work. It's not easy to just run to the post office and spend more on gas than the books are worth. As if a terrorist can't make a bomb smaller than 2 cookbooks or anthrax powder weighs so much. Makes no sense to me why the USPS is making it so hard to mail things when they need the business so badly.

[KateC]

As if a terrorist can't make a bomb smaller than 2 cookbooks or anthrax powder weighs so much.

LOL ain't that the truth. Maybe they think you were going to make some sort of recipe that would poison us all?

One thing that truley bothers me is people (with good paying jobs) who B*t*h, B*t*h, B*t*h about everything their job entales. Just be happy you have a job!

[Corin Nava]

Lynne- I have everything I need for it except the actual basket-lol. I have to do that this week! It's going to have the baseball card signed by Javier Lopez, a red sox T-shirt, hat, picture frame, plaque, and a little bear nicknack. I might see if I can find 1 or 2 more things....

[LynneB]

I just asked my son if he knew who he was and does. He said to bid a bunch of money on the Sox basket!

[Corin Nava]

:) There are so many baskets I want to bid on....I'm really hoping I have some extra $ to be able to! Maybe I should try and pick up some extra hours this week at work-lol!

[AmyMiles]

Here's the Dr. Seuss basket!

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn170/faithmilescdh/DSC01416.jpg

This basket includes:
The Cat in the Hat DVD
Deluxe Edition of Horton Hears A Who DVD
Jim Henson's: The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss DVD
Six By Seuss A Treasury of Dr. Seuss Classics
A Hatful of Seuss: Five Favorite Dr. Seuss Stories
I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words, a small board book
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, a small board book
Cat in the Hat washcloth (compressed in a circle)
Cat in the Hat Pin, flips open and shows Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Universal Studios Orlando.

[AmyMiles]

Oh and it also includes 6 bracelets that say (CDH AWARENESS (pic of butterfly) FAITH GRACE MILES)

[StephanieOlivarez]

ALL the baskets LOOK GREAT!!!
I want them ALL!!!!!!!!

Here is the Olivarez Clan basket..........http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh257/gracebutterfly/100_0905.jpg

[AmyMiles]

Oh that looks great! Someone should bid on it and take it to the beach!

[LynneB]

Is it too late to submit a basket?

[KateC]

Stephanie I LOVEEE those candles!! I love the beach, I am in withdrawl b/c we can't go there this summer - really, I can't go anywhere!

[Corin Nava]

Lynne-Check with Dawn but I think you can submit a list and a picture of the basket up until the 15th.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Nope, not too late, but we do need a photo, a list of what's included and the size of the basket. I'm handing over everything already sent in to the auction people tomorrow so anything else that's coming last minute absolutely needs to be documented so we know how much table space will be needed. And if you're mailing it in, you have to mail it to a different address than our regular address so make sure to ask for that! :)

[PennyCampsey]

YOU hang in there KATE ... i'm coming to you in AUGUST ! LOL!!! what's your due date

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

I'm going through everything to give to the auction guy tomorrow (if you haven't submitted what's in your basket yet, please e-mail me ASAP at events@cherubs-cdh.org).

Judi, yours are all wrapped up with a Christopher CDH ribbon on them (idea stolen from Barb! lol).

Ok, I think I'm submitting baskets. I was going through the autographed celebrity stuff and remembered that Shane had an autographed photo of Garth Brooks that his uncle got him at fanfare one year and I also have an autographed Jeff Foxworthy book that I bought from a CHERUBS auction years ago for the ex-husband. He divorced me before I could give it to him for his birthday, so I kept it. ;) So, I'm thinking - redneck basket? What can I find this week to put in there? Nothing trashy - some type of classy redneck theme (I know, major oxymoron there!). I also have some Atlanta Olympics Ray Ban sunglasses... would they go?

[AmyMiles]

Is my post on here okay or do you want it mailed to you?

Also Steve wrote up Faith's story and it is absolutely amazing!!! It's not totally done yet, but he wrote it in the rhyme and rhythm of Dr. Seuss! I will post when it is done/

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Oh that sounds great, Amy!

Here is fine.

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Dawn I am bring my last 2 baskets.......the scrapbooking one is 24Lx26Hx14W.......the avon basket is under 12x12. I will e-mail u the list of contents here in a minute. 8-)

Barb

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Ok, thanks, Barb!

I decided against a basket, I'm just too swamped so just donating the items.

Kate... we have a teeny issue with UPS. They delivered to the house/office and right now I'm not there during the day and it's signature confirmation. I'm trying to figure out what to do.... any suggestions?

Also, Kate, what's your basket theme? I tried to look through this post but am tired and can't find it. Did find the photos though!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Basket List that I have:

Holistic Stress Management Basket - In memory of Christopher Toth
Gourmet Pasta & Sauce Basket - In memory of Christopher Toth
Baby Phat Watch Basket - In memory of Christopher Toth
PGA Hat & Ball set - In honor of Sammy

Waiting on arrival of:

Dr. Seuss Basket - In memory of Faith Grace Miles
Redneck Basket - In memory of Shane Torrence
Avon Basket - In honor of Logan Wagner
Scrapbooking Basket - In honor of Logan Wagner
Beach Basket - In honor of Shelby Olivarez
? Theme Basket - In memory of Shannon Crawford
Red Sox Basket In memory of Gabriel Nava
Willow Tree Angel Basket - In memory of Faith Miles and Gabriel Nava
Romantic Victorian Basket - In memory of Christopher Toth
Chesapeake Bay Seafood/Items Basket - In memory of Christopher Toth

Am I missing any?

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Tara's dog Basket
Bobby Steiner was doing a Family Video/Movie night basket

Also I shipped an Arbonne Basket to u.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Thanks, Barb!

Ok, I need details for the following ASAP so that the auction people can get the bid sheets done!

Arbonne Basket In honor of Logan Wagner
Basket In memory of Shannon Crawford
Romantic Victorian Basket In memory of Christopher Toth
Chesapeake Bay Seafood/Items Basket In memory of Christopher Toth
Dog Basket In honor of Brandon Hall
Movie Basket Bobbi Steiner

I need to know what exactly is in the baskets. We have over 50 items up for auction so we have to be very organized. I really need these lists by Monday at the latest! That means if you haven't finished shopping for your basket you need to do so ASAP.

Thank you everyone!!!!!

[KateC]

I sent it to the adress that you posted in this thread? You said you wanted signature confirmation? I have no idea what to do. You think there is a way I can call them and just tell them to leave it? I e-mailed you the list of items to the event e-mail, did you get that one? If not I can re-send it. It is a Party-Lite themed basket.

Maybe you can add a CD or two. Like Kenny Chesney? That may be good for a "red-necked" themed basket.

[AmyMiles]

I think that UPS will attempt to deliver twice and then you will have to pick it up at the UPS warehouse. Or they will check a box that asks you to call and set up a delivery time. I am not positive on this but I think that's what I remember.

Barb- I got the angels in the mail the other day! Beautiful!!!

[LynneB]

Dawn you can add some hunting stuff like Moss Oak from Wal Mart to the Red neck Basket. Can I send you my list and pic tonight? Is that too late Dawn?

[Damon andSharonknott]

Ok - I have got mine on the way: In Memory/Honor of all Aussie CHERUBS

I dont have a pick but the G'day Mate... has:

Contains all the following items from the Essentials Pack above:

Aussie Postcard, Cling-on Plush Koala, Shot Glass,Metal Souvenir Keyring, Souvenir Pen, Vegemite Snackabout, Playing Cards Pack, Souvenir Fridge Magnet, Roadsigns Fridge Magnet, Australian Flag Temporary Tattoos, ‘Good Luck’ Small Souvenir Boomerang, Novelty Australian Passport, Roadsign Souvenir Sticker, 2 Sheets of 2 Souvenir Stickers, Chocolate Caramello Koala, Chocolate Freddo Frog
PLUS
Aussie Cap, Souvenir Drink Holder, 145gm Vegemite Travel Pack (Tube), Small Plush Kangaroo or Koala, Two-Up Game, Small Plastic Aussie Roadsign, Medium Plastic Aussie Roadsign, Small Returning Boomerang, Small Australian Flag and Set of 6 Aussie Animal Roadsign Coasters.

[PennyCampsey]

WOW SHAZ
what an awesome BASKET !! I WANT IT
i wish i could bid on these even though i'm not going to be at the ball .. hmm who can i bribe to bid for me ? LOL
come on dawn, let us have some of them to bid on at the conference !!
PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Damon andSharonknott]

Hey Pen,
Just abit of fun from OZ...
xx

[PennyCampsey]

HEY SHAZ
i want it !
you ever sell stuff on ebay ?
i dont know where that come from LOL just curious
i have sold alot of stuff to AU

[PennyCampsey]

OHHHHHHHHHHHH SHAZ .. what did that GUY that was sellling his life on ebay sell it for .. do you know ?
that's so weird he lived near you LOL

[Damon andSharonknott]

Pen - He sold his whole life for $384,000 aus a real bargain. He is really disappointed with the price he got...

I buy stuff on ebay - ed hardy stuff... have never sold anything as yet..

[StephanieOlivarez]

Shaz-you sending a basket from OZ--totally ROCKS!!! You go girl!!!

Dawn-will there be a starting bid on all these baskets? Is it going to be a Silent Auction or a live auction?

[Corin Nava]

What??!! A guy sold his life on Ebay? Someone please explain that to me??!!

Hey Shaz-what exactly is Vegemite (sp?)

[Damon andSharonknott]

Hey Corin,
A guy who lives about 40 mins from me sold his entire life (house, everything in his house) jetski, car, job on ebay! His wife left him and he just wanted a fresh start...

Vegemite is a thick paste made of concentracted yeast extract. Most lived on the stuff as kids! I like to spread it on fresh bread or toast thick - where Damon likes it thinly spread. Not sure if you lot would like it... it is yum on rice crackers etc... YUM!!!

[LynneB]

My basket is done! Our theme is "The Best of South Carolina". Contents:
-1 -x lg Clemson tshirt
1 xx lg USC t shirt
1 lr pair Clemson flip flops
1 xl pair USC flip flops
1 Clemson hat
1 USC hat
1 orange tote bag
1 garnet tote bag

I will post the photo tomorrow.

[PennyCampsey]

great basket lynne
shaz. did you hear if he actually did sell his life?
that is just so totally weird

[PennyCampsey]

VEGEMITE sounds GREAT to me!

[LynneB]

Here is the picture of the Brogdon's basket contents in honor of Baer

http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm473/lynnebrogdon/basket.jpg

[AmyMiles]

Shaz I love the sound of the Aussie basket what a great idea!

[LynneB]

I really hope someone bids on ours since no body is from SC!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Lots of people in Raleigh and Durham are transplants from everywhere else, I'm sure there will be some SC fans!

LOVE all the baskets!!! Shaz, I can't believe you're sending one from Australia, that is so awesome!!! I'm going to have take out a loan to bid on all this stuff. lol.

Silent auction, starts at 7:00, ends at 9:30 (to give people a few hours to check their items out and pay for them, etc). I think it's a bit early but the event planners and auction people say that's the norm. Not sure on the starting bids yet, have to get that straight with the auction guy this week. I don't want to start baskets off on different prices, I think 1 starting bid for all of them (because they are all equally appreciated!) and then the bids can go up from there. But I'm not sure what we're doing.

We did get a Tiger Woods autographed something (I couldn't make out what Craig said on the phone, his cell phone was breaking up) that the radio DJ is going to start bids on on the air next week and carry through to the auction at the golf tournament.

[Corin Nava]

Dawn-thats awesome! The whole weekend is going to be great!

[Damon andSharonknott]

Lynne - the basket look great! I'm sure Kara will want the thongs (aussie word for flip flops)

Thanks guys - My aussie stuff is on its way... they have promised me it will get to you before the conference (fingers crossed)

You guys are going to have a brilliant time!!! :)

Pen - That bloke did go ahead with the sale on ebay... He wanted more $'s but he had committed to ebay..

[LynneB]

Here is Baer's brochure to go with the basket


PAge 1
Picture
Baer B.
12-04-07
Born with an undiagnosed Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
Survived
7 days on a Ventilator
Surgical Repair at 3 days old
Given a 30% chance to live
Now living life 100% to the fullest.
PAge 2

The Best of South Carolina


In the Palmetto State, we wear flip flops, ball caps, and our favorite college tees year round. Clemson and the University of South Carolina may be rivals on the field, but it is every South Carolinian’s dream that their child attend one of these fine universities. Thanks to research that made Baer’s CDH surgical repair possible, he may one day be a Tiger or a Gamecock. Thank you for your donation to CHERUBS. You are helping other children like Baer make it to the collegiate years.

Love,

The Brogdon's

[StephanieOlivarez]

The baskets for the Angel Ball were without a doubt....BEAUTIFUL.
They all looked So wonderful and I think all that did baskets really outdid themselves.

I won four....can you guess which one's they are? lol

[KateC]

Great Steph!

I can't believe Kara won a trip to Hawaii!! (I think I read that post right, if not I guess wishful thinking for you Kara ;) )

What all did you win Steph?

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Judi won a trip to Hawaii too!

Steph outbid me on EVERYTHING almost!!!! Wench. LOL. ;) I did win your basket, Kate!!! And I won the Dean Koontz book, but Tara let me know she wasn't happy I outbid her. LOL

Whatever wasn't bought at the Angel Ball went to the Golf Tournament. Wasn't much! Everything donated was bought except for 1 cherub painting - so I bought that too. It's just a teeny bit creepy but the artist is a sweetheart!!!

[KateC]

Judi, too! Oh my! Lucky lucky!!!

Glad to hear it all went so well! Hope you like the basket Dawn!

[Corin Nava]

I was outbid on almost everything I wanted too! I tried bidding on the Aussie basket, the scrapbooking basket, the Willow Tree (yes I bid on my own-lol), and a bunch of the others. I didn't get any baskets :( O well. I did get a great piece of artwork and Nate won an autographed mini football helmet.

[Damon andSharonknott]

So who go our Aussie basket??? Steph?

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Yes, I think it was Stephanie who won that. I bid on it, kept seeing her name on the bid sheet.

Kate, I love the basket!! It matches my bedroom perfectly! :)

[karahess]

I totally wanted the black pearl necklace and earrings and was going to bid and bid and outbid on that but I was having such a good time that I forgot to bid. Chuck reminded me to go bid and when I walked in the door to do it the MC announced that bidding was closed. DRAT!

Always next year! Hey, I happen to have this beautiful dress that I need to reuse and I happen to have relatives in Raleigh so this is not out of the question.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

You and Chuck have to be here next year, Kara! :)

I agree, I have this dress and 3 others (my mom's and sisters) that I can wear and Craig bought his tux so he now owns it. Plan to get lots of use out of these clothes! :)

[karahess]

We've also already purchased another weeks vacation to Myrtle Beach that we're taking sometime next summer. Makes sense to me take the vacation and then hit up the ball or vice versa! I'm planning on it!!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Kara, I hate to say this if you've booked it already but the Angel Ball will be in the fall next year. :( And the Golf Tournament in the Spring, Conference in the summer. I need at least 3 months between each event, never, ever doing all these events close together again! ;)

[PennyCampsey]

dont blame you at all dawn !!

[karahess]

That works, too!!! We bought the package and haven't picked a time yet. It has to be between January 2009 and January 2010. We can't actually call and reserve until this January. You just let me know when the ball is by that time, if possible and I'm gonna try my diddly darndest to make this happen!

[LynneB]

I am still upset that the auctioneer guy outbid me on the Red Sox basket. AFTER the bidding was over and the sheets were pulled. No fair, my bid was last on the list. I willl get over it though.

[PennyCampsey]

WELL that does suck LYNNE !! i'm surprised you didnt fling a hissy fit and open a can of ----- --- on him LOL!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Lynne, I'll talk to Mike and see what's going on. You're right, that's not fair and I'll get to the bottom of it.

[Corin Nava]

well it's nice to know that my basket was wanted. Sorry Lynne :(

[KateC]

LOL Corin

[PennyCampsey]

[B] that really is questionable ... thank you dawn for checking into that for Lynne

[LynneB]

Thanks guys. I was upset at the time and Steph and Tara's Jeff did offer to take him to the woodshed for me, but he did give me the baseball cards out of the basket. I am ok with it, but it did seem unfair. It is all for a good cause so I am not going to make a big deal out of it, but I would have gone up alot more in bidding if he had bid fair, so he better have paid more than my last bid. It is ok though, Jake was happy with the cards.

[Bobbi Steiner]

Dawn--
Are you going to list what the baskets went for?

[StephanieOlivarez]

You know it Shaz!!! I got your basket!!!! I told everyone that I was going to take it home!!!! lol
I LOVE my baskets I won. I got Amy's Dr. Seuss basket, Barb's scrapbook basket(bag) and Judi's CB basket. I can tell you all they ROCK!

I kept watching Dawn. She would sign her name and I would go up and sign our name.
At the end...I made Shane stand by teo baskets and I stood by two.
No one was taking my baskets!!!!! lol
Especially the basket from Shaz!!! lol

That was a crappy thing for the auction guy to do Lynne. You know I got your back girl. Always.

When will the next Angel Ball be? What month? Maybe I can get my mil to come to the house and we can fly out for a quick trip.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Sept or October, Stephanie. I am already talking to Duke Gardens about next year's Angel Ball and we'll have a date in the next few weeks.

I'm not too sure about listing baskets and the prices they went for... I don't want anyone disappointed if theirs didn't sell for as much as they think they should have. I will say that every single basket was bought and there was more than 1 bidder on each one. :)

[Damon andSharonknott]

Steph, You make me LOL!!

That was a crappy thing the auction guy did!

[StephanieOlivarez]

How exciting to have a date for the Angel Ball so soon!!!
We can start planning NOW!!YEAH!!!

Can you just list how much the baskets made? I agree with not stating what each basket made. It makes perfect sense.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

Ok, when I get the total, I'll post it. Should have it by Monday at the latest.

[StephanieOlivarez]

Thanks Dawn!

[LynneB]

Dawn , since there was sooooo much at the auction, I may just write a check next time. Even though my basket probably did not get what i paid for it, i still had a good time putting it together and sharing info on CDH and Baer.

[Damon andSharonknott]

Amy - would you mind if I had a copy of Faith's story!
I would love to keep it with my Dr Seuss books.

Thanks so much

[Damon andSharonknott]

Steph,
Us Aussie's would love to see a pic of the Olivarez Clan and the Aussie stuff!
hint hint...

[StephanieOlivarez]

Shaz-
I am so on that picture as soon as we STOP traveling!!!
I have looked in all the baskets before we left yet again and I can't wsit to go home and get everything out of them!!!

Picture will be here as soon as I can get home!!!!!lol

[AmyMiles]

I just wanted to post a suggestion and it is not meant to offend anyone. We love our basket that we won. A suggestion is that if you or someone in your household smokes and you are donating a basket or item to a charity, to please not smoke around the items that you will be donating. Our basket items smelled of smoke and filled the car with that smell on the way home. Just a thought, please don't be offended.

[Damon andSharonknott]

Amy,
Good point!

Did you see my post about Faith's story?

[karahess]

Very, very excellent point!

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

I agree, Amy, very good point. The same with pets. I had to fabreeze several baskets and still couldn't get the smell out of a couple of them.

(Go ahead, let me have it for admitting this)..... I smoked for 15 years. I am the last person to judge anyone on smoking as I know how incredibly hard it is to quit, especially going through all we all have gone through - I do draw the line at smoking around the kids though. I quit years ago and it's amazing the difference in smells. When you smoke or have pets, you really don't notice the smell because you're used to it. But to someone who doesn't smoke or have pets, it's overwhelming. My family smokes and riding around my mom's car with her during the events last weekend... headaches all weekend. Nothing like no sleep, stressed over 3 events and headaches too! LOL. First thing I did when she left and I got my car back (I left it at home that weekend) was wash my hair and clothes - I reeked of smoke just from being in the car. Craig wouldn't come near me either (don't blame him!). I had to put smoker's baskets in the garage, fabreezed a dozen times trying to get the smell out and the whole garage smelled like smoke. Heat and smoking smell don't mix well together. I never realized how bad it smelled when I smoked. One of my sisters (the only non-smoker) would complain and complain and I thought she was just being a nagging PITB, but now I see what she meant!

So I agree with Amy and hope no one is offended - I do realize it's very unnoticeable to smokers themselves. Our first basket auction, we didn't know - we're learning as we go. Now we know what to do for next year! :)

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

Dawn, do we have a total yet on how much the baskets made for CHERUBS? Come on come on We wanna know! LOL

There were SOOOO MANY awesome baskets! I wanted to bid on alot of them......BUT no way was I getting involved with some of the brutual bidders we have here.....huh Steph?!! ROFL

So who won what?! We know what ALL Steph got (LOL).....and Dawn got Kate's......so what about the willow tree basket (that was so awesome!!)....and some of the others?? anyone else gonna share what they won? 8-)

Barb

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

The total auctions (both events, baskets and other items) was over $4000. I'm waiting on the auction guy to send the exact list, then I can tell you the totals for baskets, other items and items he got for us for auction.

Between auctions, ticket sales and players for the tourney, and sponsorships it looks like we broke about even with maybe some profit. The Angel Ball made most of the profit, with the golf tournament putting us in the hole majorly (that cost us almost $10,000 as that was not sponsored other than in-kind gifts and we had to pay for 100 players even though we didn't have half that). I was pretty upset about that but then I found that no charity golf tournaments around here have made money all year due to the economy. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and several other organizations canceled their events and went into the hole. So we can be proud that we didn't cancel! :) In fact, we were the ONLY charity to not cancel at that golf course for the entire month of July - the rest gave up and took the hit without trying. So we can be proud that we aren't quitters. :) And it's an investment. For our first year, we did AMAZING with both events - the amount of media attention and awareness has been great!!! There are still press releases being sent out about it 2 weeks after the event. And everyone at both events said they had fun and would be back next year and every single vendor for both events has already signed on to volunteer for next year. That's pretty darn cool. :) We are already working on securing the venues for next year and setting those dates. Sponsors are already being sent letters for next year. We expect to raise $5,000 to $10,000 per event next year. That's a lot of member packets and newsletters and conference costs that will be covered! Plus, we've got several grants working too and a lot of other things going up my sleeve that I won't post here yet.

But the baskets.... kept us from losing money on these events. They were such a hit at both events!!!!! Thank you all so very, very much!!!

I think we may have to schedule an early December huge Ebay auction of baskets as a holiday fundraiser. What do you all think? Then we can all bid on-line, all of us from around the world!!! :) And we can pay Shane to turn off Steph's internet so she can't outbid us! LOL

I'll have exact figures once the I get the auction paperwork and final golf bills - next week.

[Corin Nava]

Dawn-Thats wonderful that we broke even!!!! You're right-it's an investment and if nothing else, we spread awareness (and had a good time doing it :) )

Barb-I believe Laura's mom (I can't remember her name...I'm horrible at names!!!) won the Willow Tree basket.

[Barbara and KevinWagner]

I think that a holiday basket auction would be great! I would be in for that! And I will talk to Shane at the Ohio picnic about the internet thing....great idea! ROFL

I am so glad that we hopefully broke even! Like you said even breaking even or making one dollar is spectacular for our first year! That was the goal and hopeully we made it! Next years event will be HUGE!! 8-) I can not wait!

[LynneB]

Dawn I think that is awsome in the words of us southerners "you done good". I think you should be very proud. Everyone worked hard and we took so much more out of this than we gave on my part. I am looking forward to next year. Is it July '09 yet?

[StephanieOlivarez]

This all sounds GREAT!!!!

EXCEPT----Shane knows better than to mess with me while I am playing with my computer!!!!! I love to play on EBAY!!!!!! I can't wait!!! lol

Ellen did win the willow tree basket.

I think with all the CDH Awareness we spread with these events--Dawn--it was AMAZING!!!!!
If we continue to work together--ANY events for the future--will do nothing but ROCK!!!!
TOGETHER WE CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING!!!!
(one of my favorite sayings).

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

It looks like we may have to cancel this year's Angel Ball. :(

Unless we can come up with the initial cost of $10,000 through sponsorships, then we're canceling on Friday. :( So far, after over 6000 e-mails, calling and begging more companies than I can count.... sponsorship is $0.

We were hoping to raise $25000 this year for a lot of different services (next year's conference, research database, $5000 to research, totebags, info packets and so, so much more).

Please say a prayer for a miracle!!!!! We need one!

BUT we're still collecting baskets - we'll just auction them on Ebay or figure something else out.

[KarlaHolt]

Oh no...I have most of the things for my basket.

[Dawn Torrence Ireland]

We'll still use the baskets, Karla!!!!! Either an Ebay auction near Christmas (get lots of members to join in) or we'll use them for something. I started on mine too so I really want to use them too!

[NicolleColvin]

I wish I could help get sponsors...I am making a basket though. I am glad that you will still use them!

[deAnnStrotherMcGilberry]

Hi all...Dawn I talked with you through FB about the Jewelry I make an donating some pieces..I would love to do a basket as well in memory of Cluade, with jewelry and other things..
can you please let me know where to send the basket, when it needs to be there by, and if its ok if I send some other pieces of jewelry ( adults and childrens) not for the basket but, for ya'll to auction off when you need extra items?
I also maybe able to do a basket with a piece of diamond jewelry if you think it would bring decent money..I have some beautiful antique pieces and some antique reproduction pieces. That I think are beautiful. Could you put a reserve on it for the ebay auction?

Ooohh..I'm on a roll now, I also have some great antique gold baby pins, and baby pearl necklaces with 14k clasp..I may have to do a couple of baskets...
I just need to think of things to put in there with the pieces of jewerly..

Ohhh..I could even do a fund raiser fom my website and give a good percentage of the sales to cherubs (people could put CDH as a code when they order) what are ya'lls thopughts on that ? if anyone wants to go check my website out and see if you think its something that would work as a online fundraiser...www.lillybeckoriginals.com....

cant wait to get started on the baskets..help me with ideas and if ya'll think a basket with diamond piece of jewerly in it would work?? and the online fundraiser, Dawn is that something that is doable?

Sorry I tend to ramble...LOL deAnn