Tag Archives: fundraising

The Fred Hollows Foundation

Eye of the Beholder (photo credit Bianca de la Torre – Gisel Photography)

I chose The Fred Hollows Foundation as The Silver Forge’s worthy cause for January. The Foundation is inspired by the work of the late Professor Fred Hollows (1929–1993).  Fred was an eye doctor, a skilled surgeon of international renown and a social justice activist. He was committed to improving the health of Indigenous Australians and to reducing the cost of eye health care and treatment in developing countries.

An estimated 32.4 million people around the world today are blind – four out of five don’t have to be. Simple interventions, such as inexpensive medication and surgery, can restore people’s sight, productivity and livelihoods, giving lasting benefits for individuals, their families and whole communities.

Half of global blindness is caused by cataracts – a clouding of the lens of the eye that can be treated by a simple surgical procedure – and the World Bank has identified cataract surgery as one of the most cost-effective of all public health interventions. Cataracts affect both the young and old. The Foundation focuses on the comprehensive treatment of cataract blindness, but they also tackle other causes of blindness, including trachoma and refractive error. Since its formation in 1992 The Foundation has helped restore sight to well over 1 million people. What a marvellous gift!

You can donate directly to The Fred Hollows Foundation here – or make a purchase from The Silver Forge shop and 10% of everything you buy during January will be donated to The Fred Hollows Foundation on your behalf. Thank you, and happy shopping!

Meals on Wheels

‘Eat’ (photo credit birdseyephotography)

Since its inception over 60 years ago, Meals on Wheels has been a household name here in Australia. While age and disability may reduce some people’s capacity to get out and about, Meals on Wheels helps make it possible for them to stay in their homes (where most people are happiest), and maintain some independence.

Delivery of nutritious meals, social interaction and regular visits ensure a clients’ wellbeing and can help people live the lives they choose.

Each year, over 14.8 million meals are delivered by more than 78,700 ‘Meals on Wheels’ volunteers to about 53,000 recipients Australia wide in cities, regional and rural areas.

This month, I will be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge sales to Meals on Wheels. So pop over to The Silver Forge shop now, treat yourself, AND do your bit to help this worthy cause!

Rural Fire Brigades Association

Bush Fire Silhouette (art by Wendy Sinclair)

I recently picked up a copy of Ian Mannix’s ‘Great Australian Bushfire Stories’, and I found myself unable to put it down until I had read it cover to cover. The real and moving stories of everyday people’s experiences with bushfire that are contained within it affected me more deeply than any book I’ve read for a long time. In particular, it was a bizzare experience to read about the 2003 Canberra bushfires. I lived in one of the suburbs on the outskirts of Canberra at the time, and vividly remember the blackened skies and billowing smoke, and the preparations I was directed to make to my home in case the fire swung around and headed our way. I was lucky, unlike so many others, but it brought home to me what a dangerous and unpredictable country we live in, and how circumstances can change in an instant, uncontrollable flames spreading (literally) like wildfire, threatening (and taking) lives and property mindlessly. Reading Ian’s book brought a new dimension to the madness and terror that being caught up in a bushfire must be filled with.

We are extremely lucky that we have a valiant and heroic team of volunteers, who risk their own lives to protect those of others. Here in Queensland, our rural fire brigades are made up of more than 1,400 volunteer brigades, and more than 34,000 volunteers (both firefighters and support members). The Rural Fire Brigade Association of Queensland also support the 2,600 rural fire wardens who are an integral and highly valued part of the rural fire fighting movement – many of them volunteer firefighters as well.

These volunteers protect their local and wider communities: not only by fighting bushfires, but also attending house fires, assisting with flood preparation and clean up; providing support in cyclone preparation and clean up; and helping the community through hazard reduction burning, and delivering the ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ message. Brigades work closely with other agencies such as local councils, SES, Department of Main Roads and Forestry and this close working relationship helps local brigades meet local community needs.

This month, while contemplating which worthy cause I could support, I was fortuitously inspired by my friend from the lovely MadeIt shops ‘i made this for you‘ and ‘..and then some‘, who has had her own experiences with bushfire, and I’m glad to say The Silver Forge will be donating 10% of all sales to the Rural Fire Brigade Association of Queensland. Please help support this worthy cause, either directly or by purchasing something from The Silver Forge shop, won’t you!

Endeavour Foundation

( African Daisy – photo credit to c. creativity)

The Endeavour Foundation is one of Queensland’s oldest charities, founded in 1951. It is one of the largest non-government disability service providers in Australia. They support more than 3,400 people with a disability, from 230 locations in Queensland and New South Wales.

This year, the Endeavour Foundation are holding a Melbourne Cup Luncheon on 5th November, and I was recently contacted by them to see if I could assist with a donation for this fundraising effort.

In a serendipitous twist, I had just that day been at the park with my younger son, and had made friends with a woman who was out walking with her disability support worker and a friend. My new friend and I chatted for ages about the knitting she was doing, her love of ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’, and what else she’d been up to. I could see that the support worker was a very encouraging and understanding of the two women she was caring for, and she was able to translate for us when I had a couple of moments difficulty understanding what my new friend was saying.

It is good to know that in our wide and varied community, those who face the challenges in their daily lives that living with a disability presents are able to be supported and nurtured; advocated for and given opportunities to learn and grow and have their varying needs met. I have donated a raffle prize to assist the with Endeavour’s fundraising effort, and I look forward to seeing what the prize winner chooses from The Silver Forge shop!

Australian Marine Conservation Society

This month’s worthy cause is the Australian Marine Conservation Society. AMCS is an independent charity. It is staffed by a committed group of professional and passionate scientists, educators and advocates. It has defended Australia’s oceans for over 45 years. AMCS work tirelessly to create sustainable fisheries, protect threatened species, tackle threats to our oceans and to create marine sanctuaries.

I love the sea, and it is such a source of inspiration to me, so I like to help protect and save our beautiful ocean habitat! Therefore, I will be giving 10% of all sales for the month to the Australian Marine Conservation Society to support their good works. Head over to The Silver Forge Shop now and do your bit. The threat to our environment is getting worse by the day. Without clean healthy oceans, we are nothing!

The Thin Green Line

Passionflower Vine Curl (photo credit to Simone Carter)

Many of the world’s park rangers work in extreme conditions while protecting our endangered species and ecosystems. Low pay, lack of equipment, poor living conditions and the threat of severe violence is the daily reality for many of these frontline conservationists.

The Thin Green Line Foundation provide protection for wildlife rangers around the world. Over a thousand rangers have been killed in action in the last ten years. The Foundation provide vital equipment, training and resources to rangers in the field, predominantly in high value conservation and conflict zones. The also remember the widows and children of our fallen conservation heroes, and provide meaningful and effective social support.

Supported by such diverse people as Jane Goodall, Gotye and Tex Perkins, The Thin Green Line Foundation are partnered with the International Ranger Federation, and these are the only organisations around which are dedicated to protecting wildlife rangers.100% of donations to The Thin Green Line go to supporting projects on the ground. Donations are fully tax deductable.

The Silver Forge will be donating 10% of all sales this month to The Thin Green Line Foundation, so pop over to the shop and see if there’s anything you can help with!

EDIT: If anyone would like to own the divine photo at the top of this post, Simone the photographer has very kindly offered to donate the proceeds to The Thin Green Line. Simone’s shop, Kudos2uPhotos, is full of wonderful things – pop over and have a look!

Heart and Lung Transplant Trust Raffle

I saw a request from Camille, my fellow MadeIt seller from the gorgeous CurlyPops, asking for donations for a raffle and trivia night being held for the Heart and Lung Transplant Trust. Camille has recently undergone a double lung transplant, and I was happy to do something, however small to help by donating a pair of earrings.

Almost $2500 was raised, which is enough to cover the accommodation costs for one transplant recipient and their carer (from country Victoria or interstate) who are required to live close to the hospital for 3 months post transplant. Well done, Camille and the team! Do consider giving support if you can, and I strongly urge everyone who is not already signed up to get yourselves on the Organ Donor Register.Talk to your loved ones today. Maybe your legacy could be that you save some lives.

Knitting for a cause – Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital Ethiopia

I don’t quite recall how I came across the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital (on Facebook I think) but the more I read, the more the story of the Hamlins and their fine work touched me. In our western world, we take it for granted that we have access to medical facilities, in particular obstetric facilities should something go not quite right while we are giving birth. (Both my children were delivered by emergency caesarean section, so I know how that can be!)

It wasn’t until I read ‘Hospital By The River‘ and ‘Catherine’s Gift’, written about Catherine and Reg Hamlin’s life in Ethiopia, that I started to really understand what life might be like if I had not been able to have those caesareans. For thousands of Ethiopian women, their lives are torn apart when they have difficulty in birthing their babies. First, their baby dies. As if that wasn’t more than anyone should have to bear, as a result of days of labour with the baby pressing down into the pelvis, blood supply is cut off to the walls of the vagina, and tissue dies, resulting in holes that are known as obstetric fistulae. The contents of the bladder and bowel leak uncontrollably through these holes. The woman is usually ostracised by her village because of the leakage and the smell; often her husband leaves her, and sometimes, there is nerve damage to the legs and feet, making walking difficult. Also, from lying still over many weeks in an attempt to stop the leaking, she can suffer atrophy and tightening of the tendons making it impossible to walk.

Catherine Hamlin and her late husband, Reg, have dedicated their lives to assisting these long-suffering women, not just by providing life-changing surgery to repair the fistulae, but by helping these women to make a dignified return to their lives; and also by providing them with ongoing support to ensure that they are able to give birth safely next time.

One of the items that the women are provided with during their stay at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital is a new shawl. My mother, sister and I are in the process of knitting one to send. Acrylic yarn is required so that the women may wash their shawls in the river and have them dry quickly. Information about sizing, a basic pattern, and when and where to send your blanket can be found here.

I highly recommend you read either the books I mentioned above or have a look at the website to see the story of these wonderful people, and of some of the courageous women who suffer so much and sometimes travel hundreds of miles in order to have the operation which will make them whole again. Donate if you can, knit or crochet if you can. Every little bit helps!

This month, 10% of all Silver Forge sales will be donated to this very worthy cause. Head to The Silver Forge shop now, and see if you can help out, and get yourself something lovely at the same time!

The Daniel Morcombe Foundation

(photo credit to Renee Summers, CandyMountainPhotos)

The Daniel Morcombe Foundation needs no introduction. My heart went out to the Morcombes when Daniel first disappeared, and has stayed with them ever since. Their courage and dedication in the face of such tragedy is moving and inspiring.

The Foundation’s belief and vision is one that incorporates a future where all children are provided with protection, education and support in their lives. The objectives of the foundation include educating children regarding their personal safety (including abduction); assisting victims of crime, particularly where crime involves children; and honouring the memory of Daniel by appropriate public awareness.

10% of the proceeds from all June sales will be donated to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to help with their ongoing excellent work. Pop to The Silver Forge Shop and see if you can help.

My friend Kylie from Raw Toys also donates 10% of her sales each month to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. Kylie makes the most divine wooden toys. I highly recommend you check them out and see if there’s a little something you might like – and you’ll be helping this wonderful worthy cause at the same time.

Motor Neurone Disease Association Week

One of my fellow MadeIt sellers, Belinda from Studio Astratta, recently lost her Dad to Motor Neurone Disease (MND). She is raising funds this month to assist the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Queensland to provide essential equipment, care and support to people and their carers living with MND. These support services are crucial to enable people with MND to remain active for the longest possible time.

MND is a group of related diseases affecting the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. These nerves are known as motor neurones. As the nerves become damaged the muscles they control weaken and waste.

The muscles first affected tend to be those in the hands, feet or mouth and throat, depending on what type of disease it is. MND does not generally affect the senses, so sight, smell, touch and hearing remain intact, as do the sphincter muscles that control the bladder and bowel. Other areas that are not usually affected are sexual function and intellect. MND is not contagious.

Motor neurone disease is a progressive, life limiting disease and the rate of progression varies greatly from one person to another. There is currently no cure for this disease.

For the rest of May, The Silver Forge will donate 10% of all sales to the Motor Neurone Disease Association of Queensland via Belinda’s fundraising page at Everyday Hero. Do what you can to help this worthy cause by purchasing yourself a little something from The Silver Forge shop, or by going to the Everyday Hero page and making a donation directly.

the silver forge

jewellery handcrafted by ruthie gray