Update: Letter from Art In Action

Candice Te Brugge · 03:08 PM Dec 11 · Comment

30th May 2010

Hi  Lara,

We used some of the money from Everyone Counts to buy a tshirt printing machine and start a business. The business is mostly supporting Sabelo (the teacher) as he has no other income and volunteers his time to teach the group. He is now printing tshirts and selling them, they are being sold as far as Australia as I am promoting them and selling them here. The Everyone Counts money really helped by funding the start up costs of the business, we would not have been able to buy all the equipment we needed without the money.

We also used some of the money to take the kids on an excursion to the Bat Centre. At the Bat Centre they saw different types of artwork and met artists who told them more about life as an artist and the different techniques they use. There was also a poetry session happening at the Bat Centre on the same day so they got to see the poetry as well.

Some of the money was used to buy paints. Recently the group have been painting on walls instead of canvases. The reason for this is so that the community can see the group and to promote art in the community.

Some of the money is still in the bank and we will use it as needed to buy art materials for the group.

I have attached a letter acknowledging receipt of the money and outlining how it has been spent.

I’m in Australia at the moment but I have been in touch with Sabelo and it sounds like the group is going really well.

Regards,

Katie
Posted 30th May by

 

Update: Starting to Blog - 2nd May 2011

Candice Te Brugge · 03:05 PM Dec 11 · Comment

With the frustrations of firewalls and server protocols, many of our mails no longer reach the recipients on our mailing list. So, from now we'll be blogging, tweeting and face-booking ... and hoping that you'll be able to keep up with news this way.

As always, should you ever need to be in contact, feel free to mail us ... you can find us either our facebook group  everyONEcounts  or through our website everyonecounts.co.za or by mailing me

Update: everyONEcounts - 31st January 2011

Candice Te Brugge · 03:03 PM Dec 11 · Comment

FINALLY … a note from me:


My apologies for only writing now. 


everyONEcounts was, well continues to be, a resounding success.  


Pressing through most evenings and every weekend for fourteen months, we were all pretty much dead-on-our-feet by the opening, let alone the close, of the exhibition.  Our fantastic team of twenty plus members are all otherwise employed and my goodness … if we’d known how well everyONEcounts was to be received and hence the amount of work, we might have run in the opposite direction … of course we’re pleased we didn’t but this did mean that there were unavoidable ‘balls dropped’ occasionally.  For the most part, you were all fantastically understanding and patient and even still … so encouraging.  We live in a world that is demanding in many respects, and I’ve come to realise that the imperfections are often opportunities for humanity, humility and for kindness.  


Technology also proved challenging and as it turned out, you don’t all seem to have received all our mails. Please remember to check your ‘junk’ folders and/or to set your servers or firewalls to receive mails from us.


We have all been enormously encouraged by the many mails of encouragement and support – a very sincere thank you for these.


By the close of the exhibition, approximately 300 works were sold, with as many still available. We’re still finalizing this figure in the process of collecting monies from buyers.


The website has now been re-activated to continue to sell the works on-line … or else you can be in contact with me and I’ll assist you.  We’ll monitor the overall activity before bringing the sale of the works to a final close.  A consideration for unsold works would be to arrange the works into panels or groups and then to donate these to charitable associations where the works will no doubt speak to and bless patients and visitors.  I have ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT that ALL of these special works will end up EXACTLY where they’re meant to be.


With your wonderful support we have successfully achieved our intention to CAMPAIGN and to bring about awareness, beyond ‘simply’ fundraising. Many of you will have heard me say frequently that “whilst monies are needed – much needed – hearts need to be changed first … and then miracles will happen, and probably not as we always envision, but usually far better than we could have imagined. Far greater …


Amongst many mails of stories shared with us from all over the world, some include:
-          requests to visit Shepherd’s Keep to volunteer their time (we have a visitor from Germany as I write)
-          offers to donate monies both to everyONEcounts and to Shepherd’s Keep as well as individuals sharing that they’ve been moved to donate to other organisations
-          other artists taking up the practice to donate a percentage of sales to a chosen charity
-          artist groups working towards similar projects … where the ethos of everyONEcounts is shared
-          many artists have since been commissioned to do more works as a result of their participation


AND THEN … that requests to adopt babies have been received. Can this not be the most wonderful of all? That works can be sold, and monies raised … surely does not compare to even just ONE LIFE benefiting by the love and joy of being received into a family.


Surprisingly too, our branded mugs and t-shirts seem to be a continued hit. Who’d have thought J !!


We’ll be taking just a few more weeks to ‘catch our breath’ and to get back up to pace and on track with a couple of administrative tasks before we’ll be full-steaming-ahead with the everyONEcounts @ schools initiative.  But more of this later …


To end then, THANK YOU! Thank you to the artists, the buyers, the donors, the partners-on-our-webpage, the silent partners, the encourages and anyone who has contributed in anyway … to spreading the word that everyONEcounts.


With gratitude,
With joy,
And sincerely,
Lara and the entire e1c team


Lara Mellon
Direct: +27 (0)31 563 4349
Mobile:  +27 (0)82 694 9444lara@everyonecounts.co.za
laramellon@iafrica.com
www.everyonecounts.co.za
 ... and find us on Facebook


“I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.  And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
Helen Keller