Outreach Centre for Child-Headed Households Uganda

Thank you Wings of Courage Supporters!

Last year just in time for Halloween, we decided to host a family friendly Magic Show fundraiser for our projects in Uganda. We had a team of volunteers in Vancouver working on this event. We found a prestigious downtown venue for a VERY low price, we hired a magician to take the stage that had a lot of experience doing fundraisers for charities, and everyone we spoke to seemed quite excited about the idea. A team of four organized the event complete with a silent auction, raffle, costume competition, colouring competition, and a table of Ugandan items for sale. We could seat a maximum of 1000 people but thought if we had half that amount we would make a good amount of money. This was the first time we had ever attempted a public fundraising event.   

We posted on every social media site we could, we drove around putting up posters and spent days upon days on the streets handing out fliers trying to attract people to the event. We found some fabulous corporate sponsors to cover some of our event costs. On the day of, we had 5 people from the venue setting up, 4 people with the magician setting up, and 12 volunteers from Wings of Courage. An hour before the magician was scheduled to start, we were all set up and waiting….. we had some online sales but were expecting that the majority of the people would buy a ticket at the door. Half an hour before, people started arriving…. All but a few had pre-purchased their tickets…. It wasn’t until 5 minutes before it finally set in that we would have less than 100 people attend. We tried to pull chairs and make the venue room smaller, but no matter what we did- it was evident that we did not attract the crowd we would have liked…. And the funds we made just barely covered our costs…. It was a disappointment.

However, as tough as this experience was, it taught us a great deal as a small organization. It pulled together a solid group of volunteers that truly care about the cause, who put their time and energy out there until the bitter end, and are still connected to us to this day. We also started having more of a presence in the community as all the people we advertised to were asking more about the organization and showing an interest. We have more of a presence now on social media, we have a WOC banner (we’ve been waiting so long for this!), and learned how to do an online store. We also connected with some new people through our corporate sponsorship program who we can turn to for support in the future. Most importantly, we gathered a team of people in Vancouver for the first time working towards bringing the WOC mission to life. This experience has helped us in planning for other events as now we are aware of some of the barriers we faced and are also aware of our strengths as an organization. In the end it pushed us to try something completely different for our next fundraising venture… which was to turn more towards social media to raise funds through online means – and this new venture was how we successfully completed the charity challenge and became a partner of GlobalGiving!

This year, after having learned from our experience, we have decided to plan another public event. This time we are doing it on a smaller scale, with targeted invited attendees and very minimal outward costs. For our volunteer team, it will mean less time managing/ planning small little details where efforts can be put towards other things. We are excited about our learning outcomes and continue to move forward. After the fail in 2013, we went on to raise our most funds yet this past year. Through the support of our donors and volunteers, we are caring for 11 children, bought a plot of land, are growing crops, and are getting ready to set up on the land to begin our outreach programs with child-headed households. Our learning was to never give up and to always be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Even though no financial gain, our learning from the experience proved to be more valuable!

We thank you for all of your support as we continue to reach out to orphans and child headed households in Uganda. We hope to build on the land by the end of this year, and your continued support can make this happen. Wednesday October 15^th is the next 30% match day on GlobalGiving. Please reach out to your friends and family and donate online that day. Together we can achieve our project goal.

Many thanks!!

Grace, Lena, Alex, Ryan, Karen and Kristina  

Thank you Wings of Courage Supporters!

Because of you and your support to our cause, we have just purchased land in Gulu! The land is 12 km outside of Gulu town, and Auntie thought this was a good place because the community is VERY excited to join forces with us to be able to provide assistance to their most vulnerable child headed households and children who are orphaned. There are no other services in the area and the community has already been discussing with us many of the challenges they face. One of the biggest barriers is that the children that attend school have to walk 5km to and from school every day. This makes education difficult for so many reasons. But the community has so many strengths and we plan to help draw out those strengths and work in collaboration with them. It has been a good start!

Auntie is getting the land prepped right now to start some crops for food as it is prime growing season. She and the children will continue to stay in the rented house in Gulu town until we have the funds to be able to build a house on the land. That is why we are reaching out to you as valued supporters! Help us to reach our project target to be able to build on the land. We would love to have the children move to their new home for Christmas time this year!

Another bonus day is coming up on Global Giving. This Wednesday-July 16^th, every donation is matched by 30%, and every little bit helps us get closer and closer to our goal! Please donate online to our project and please send out the word to your networks of family and friends to do the same!

Mark, one of our little guys, who has been so excited to move back to the North, has written a letter to you- his supporters. Please read the attached document. 

Please continue to join with us as we fight for these young people that have such strength and talent to share. With so many things to always be thinking about in this world, thank you for thinking about these young people and continuing to show your much needed support. We appreciate everything you have already given, and your continued support!

Many thanks,

Lena Gilbert and the WCO crew

Links:

• WOC website

• A letter from Mark (PDF)