charity

tillievuksich

Number 9 of 2015

My 9th favorite moment of 2015 would be the day in February that I donated the ‘Yarnbombing For Lunches’  auction funds to the Eatonville School District’s business manager, Daniel Lunghofer.

003
Yarnbombing For Lunches raised $400 to donate to the Eatonville School District on behalf of students with negative lunch accounts. Here I am personally delivering the money order to the school business manager Daniel Lunghofer.

It had taken a year of planning and creating to pull off the yarnbomb of downtown Eatonville. It was a large public display of art created with hand knit and crocheted fabric that was then sewn around trees, lamp posts, benches, and rocks. It looked amazing! Thanks to the efforts of talented Eatonville fiber artists who joined forces to put their art to good use; raising money to pay off negative lunch accounts in the Eatonville School District.

We wanted to change the policy of trashing food because of insufficient funds and create better communication from school to home about account balances. Our goal was to raise $500. We got close with $400 raised in all.

Through our donation, we were able to do what we set out to accomplish! Robo-calls were put in place to call home to inform parents about lunch account balances and the policy has been updated to forbid the taking of food from the kids. Success!

Hopefully, I can get our entire group together to do next year’s donation during the January School Board meeting. I’ll keep you posted…

Advertisement
tillievuksich

Only 2 Days Left!

We are down to the last two days for our eBay auction for Yarnbombg for Lunches. If you want to score some great deals on yarn or handmade artful blankets, then go see our listings before it’s too late! There is also a super adorable cat hat and baby items. All made with love for a good cause!

Click here to see auction—>tillies_frillies

Our goal is to raise $1,000 this year. We’ve already raised over $400! So we are almost halfway there.

All the proceeds will go the Eatonville School District to pay off students’ negative lunch accounts. We are putting a stop to the practice of taking food away form kids and trashing it over insufficient funds, and we’re improving communication between school and home. So far it’s working great! Last year we raised $400 to donate and now the school district has updated their policy on taking lunches and they have implemented robo-calls to alert parents of lunch balances that are low. We are still working with the district to allow online payments so parents can quickly and easily refill lunch accounts so students won’t have to go hungry.

If you are looking to support a good cause, then look no further! Not only will you be helping the kids in our small community of Eatonville, but you are helping shape school policy that will encourage all schools, nation-wide, to adopt a better system that works for students and parents. We CAN be the change we want to see in the world.

Here’s a peak at some of the adorable goodies you can find in our auction:

(I mean, how stinking cute is that sweet baby and kitty, right?! They make me smile!)

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you shop and share our auction. But most of all, I hope you have a fabulous day full wonderful surprises. If it’s not, then I hope you make someone else’s day fabulous and full of wonderful surprises, after all, that feels just as good and brings you the same amount of joy.

Namaste~

tillievuksich

Yarnbombing At The Fair

Last Saturday was my first ever Fair demonstration and it was AWESOME! I had a great turn-out of people who came by my yarnbombing demo to knit and crochet with me.

 

fair demo It was so much fun! There were people from all walks of life joining in to yarnbomb a chair. I love the collaborative nature of fiber art!! It truly brings people together.

The chair will be complete at my next demo, this coming Saturday from 4-8pm upstairs on the South Stage in the Home Arts pavilion. Stop by if you can and add a stich to the project. I’ll have needles and hooks and yarn, so bring your imagination and nimble fingers! I can even teach those who don’t know a knit from a purl how it’s done.

fair demo2 Thanks to everyone who showed up last weekend! I was blown away by your talents and had the best time getting to know you all, my fellow fiber artists. It’s a wonderful community to be a part of. I look forward to this coming Saturday. Hope to see you there!!

tillievuksich

Volunteer. It’s Good For You!

Being a stay-at-home-mama has been a great occupation with many rewards, however, the hours are long and contact with the outside world is slim. Some Moms plan a Lady’s Night or Girl’s Getaway, but I’m so nerdy cool that I have my “me time” while I volunteer at places that feed my inner child;Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) and the school district my kids attend.

It’s actually quite selfish on my part. I only give my time to places I think are worthy of my support and I truly get more out of it than they do.

Volunteering gives me the opportunity to get out of my bubble of domestic-bliss and gain work experience while making friends and being a part of something I’m passionate about.

I help with school tours at TAM. It’s really special to me. I get to play host (“Welcome to my museum!”) and I have the honor of being the one to show kids that art isn’t boring. I don’t know much about art concepts or technique(I’m still learning), but what I do know is how to be with kids and share my love of art. So far, it’s worked pretty great.

My son, Rubin, posing with Leroy.
My son, Rubin, posing with Leroy.
TAM selfie. I really enjoy my time there and the people, and of course being surrounded by art!
TAM selfie. I really enjoy my time there and the people, and of course being surrounded by art!
Tacoma Art Museum treats their volunteers to a special volunteer appreciation dinner every year. It's amazing! I took my Mom last year and my friend, Michelle, this year.
Tacoma Art Museum treats their volunteers to a special Volunteer Appreciation Dinner every year. It’s amazing! I took my Mom last year and my friend, Michelle, this year.
I have had Kindergarten groups all the way up to this awesome high school group. Every school group is fun and brings their youthful energy to the museum.
I have had Kindergarten groups all the way up to this awesome high school group. Every school group is fun and brings their youthful energy to the museum.

I can’t stress it enough: get out there and volunteer your time in a field you are passionate about! Whatever it is that tickles your fancy, I can guarantee you they are looking for people to volunteer.

Being a volunteer doesn’t mean you have to commit to a 40-hour week. You get to choose the hours and time that works best for your schedule, but I can tell you that even though there is no money exchanged for your service, you will feel richer for the time you spend supporting a cause or business you believe in.

Don’t worry if you find that the people suck or the work you volunteer doing isn’t something you look forward to doing, you can quit and look for another place to donate your time and efforts to. There is no shame in trying it out and changing your mind. I have volunteered in several places only to find that I can’t handle the personalities or that the work I do doesn’t line up with who I am as a person. I felt like a shit for quitting, but you know what, if I had stayed with it I would have been one of those bitter old ladies who thinks herself a martyr, who hates every minute of it, and then I would have never stumbled upon true “volunteer heaven”, where I absolutely adore everyone I work with and where every time I volunteer it’s fun and rewarding.

tillievuksich

What I’m Working On Now…aka, YARNBOMB 2015

Last summer I helped organize and install a yarnbomb (a large public display of fiber art made of hand knit and crocheted fabric) in my hometown. It was awesome! And I’m doing it again this year.

It started as a fun idea for a community art project then turned into something bigger and better. We ended up using our art to help raise money for local public school students’ negative lunch accounts. It was successful in putting an end to the practice of trashing lunches over insufficient funds and prompted the school district to enable “robo-calls” (automated calls home telling parents about lunch balances that are low).

My own children experienced the lunch lady yanking their lunch and trashing it over their lunch account balance being in the negative. However, I had no idea the what the balance was at the time since I paid up for a couple months and figured they would send home a notice when the accounts needed refilling. They didn’t and what happened left my kids hungry and upset, with good reason. My mama-bear instincts came out and I had words with the principal, lunch staff, and even wrote a letter to the school board. Yet, I was hearing that nothing had changed in the cafeteria.

That’s why we put our art to good use by starting https://www.facebook.com/Eatonvilleyarnbombers?ref=bookmarks to help make a difference for students who find themselves low in lunch funds. Kids have to eat to learn. Period.

Here’s a few snaps of last year’s yarnbomb and the amazing people who helped pull off such a beautiful and heartwarming endeavor:

Crafty men in my life lending a hand with the yarnbomb install. Rubin and dad, Evan.
Crafty men in my life lending a hand with the yarnbomb install. Rubin and dad, Evan.
Yarnbombing for Lunches crew (most of of anyway).
Yarnbombing for Lunches crew (most of us anyway).
Group effort with this tree. Lisa, Rubin, and I tackle it in no time.
Group effort with this tree. Lisa, Rubin, and I tackle it in no time.
Donna, Karen's mama, putting the finishing touches on this tree.
Donna, Karen’s mama, putting the finishing touches on this tree.
My mother-in-law, Tracey, and my son, Rubin, putting up a funky granny square piece.
My mother-in-law, Tracey, and my son, Rubin, putting up a funky granny square piece.
My daughter, Emma, helping with installing a yarnbomb at the park.
My daughter, Emma, helping with installing a yarnbomb at the park.
Jade with her pom-pom string ready to decorate a tree for the instillation.
Jade with her pom-pom string ready to decorate a tree for the instillation.
My daughter, Faith, and hubby, Evan, attaching a yarnbomb to a tree in the park.
My daughter, Faith, and my hubby, Evan, attaching a yarnbomb to a tree in the park.
Gwen and her hubby working on installing another piece on a lamp post.
Gwen and her hubby working on installing another piece on a lamp post.
Sherry helping Lisa install her yarnbomb piece on a lamp post.
Sherry helping Lisa install her yarnbomb piece on a lamp post.

This was a year-long project in the making, but worth every minute! It was a lot of fun to create, especially knowing how meaningful the outcome would be. We received yarn donations form many different states after I put a request in the Ruralite magazine (our utility company’s publication). The response was amazing! The generosity of complete strangers touched my heart and helped make the yarnbomb better than I could have imagined! Even Lion Brand Yarn Company was kind enough to send us a box of cool yarns. Thanks to everyone who had a part in the Eatonville Yarnbomb of 2014!

*We raised $400 to donate to the school district for negative lunch accounts*