Love is in the Air

Hello PHPG community, my name is Ariana Wammer and I am so excited to be the newest part of the PHPG team! I hope to use my love (addiction) with all social media as a way to spread the word about PHPG initiatives and how YOU can get involved. As my first blog post I wanted to write to you all about the wonderful event that PHPG founders, Alex Tuck and Isabel Gamm, recently organized.

This year's Valentine’s Day Jazz Brunch was wonderful in many ways. It was held on Sunday, February 13th at the Holiday Inn in South Burlington, Vermont. As I walked in the banquet hall the sounds from Mr. Ed’s Family Band filled my ears and the smells from the buffet table filled my nose, and soon my belly! This was the second annual brunch and PHPG was fortunate enough to have the talented Mr. Ed’s Family Band return and play for the event again. 

During the brunch a silent auction took place where I signed up in hopes of winning many awesome goodies that were donated for this event. I ended up walking away with a gift certificate to a restaurant/Gastro-pub in downtown Burlington, The Farmhouse Tap & Grill. Some other notable prizes were a 50% discount off the entire bill at Leunig’s Bistro, University Mall gift certificate, two tickets to the Grand Prix ballet at The Flynn…to just name a few of my favorites!

As you can see I was also able to take some photos of the event, please check out PHPG facebook page for the full album. And if you haven't done so yet, LIKE the PHPG page to stay up to date on all PHPG's activity! The proceeds from the event went to benefit economic development projects in Nicaragua.

How to Help PHPG Get a $1,000 Matching Grant from Razoo.com

People Helping People Global has been offered a $1,000 matching grant by Razoo.com. The following post will describe how to create a fundraising page on Razoo and set it up so that every dollar that is contributed via your page will be doubled by Razoo.

Step 1: Go to our group fundraiser page
The page is http://www.razoo.com/p/holiday-21-People-Helping-People/.

Step 2: Sign up for Razoo
In the upper-right hand corner of the page, Click the 'Sign Up' link. Fill in your name, email, and password information, then accept the Terms. Then click 'Create Account.'

Step 3: Create a Page
About halfway down the team fundraising page on the right-hand side, there is a box that says 'Join this Team.' Click the button 'Create a Page.' Fill in the information (feel free to check out my fundraising page to get an idea of what to write). Please make sure to put 'Building New Hope' in 'nonprofit that you are fundraising for' line and 'People Helping People Global' in the 'Designation' line under the 'Customizable Options' section. If you don't do these two steps, then PHPG will not receive the funds. You can pull photos from our website or Facebook page to use on your fundraising page. Once everything is filled out, just click the 'Create Fundraising Page.'

Step 4: Join the Team
And finally, send an email to teams@razoo.com with the URL from your fundraising page and the name of our group fundraiser -- 'Help PHPG get a $1,000 Matching Grant!'

That's it! It should take no more than 5 minutes to set up. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call at (802) 849-2259 or email me at alex@peoplehelpingpeopleglobal.org. Thanks so much for helping us get this grant. That's another $1,000 for our microlending projects in Nicaragua. That will help between 5 and 10 new families start their journeys out of poverty this Spring!

Take care!

Alex

Vermont International Festival

What a wonderful weekend.

I am pleased with how our organization did at the Vermont International Festival. For us, this weekend was not only about raising funds through selling our fair-trade artisan products. It was about letting the Vermont community know who we are, and what we do.

I was fortunate to meet many interested attendees. I was also fortunate enough to meet with the head of the Burlington fair-trade committee, which I hope will stem into further opportunities in the area.

We were happy to have seven amazing volunteers help us out throughout the weekend. Without their energy and support, I would have surely fizzled out.

Thanks to Tenzin, Michelle, Miriam, Paul, Janel, Ani, Katja, and Kelly! You were all a BIG help.

People Helping People Global Holiday Events Guide

With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, the holiday season is upon us. Things have been going amazingly well here in Nicaragua over the past few weeks. The biggest news is that we've secured contracts with seven new artisans/cooperatives. For most of these artisans, we are their only source of sales outside of Nicaragua, and in some cases, we will represent nearly 30% of their annual sales over the next year. Thanks to our Expanding Markets fair trade program, these artisans will be able to enjoy a sense of financial stability that has evaded most of them for their entire lives.

So, how do you get your hands on some of these awesome fair trade items in time to get them wrapped and dished out this holiday season? I'm going to break down our events by location so you only have to sift through the ones in your area. ALSO, you will be able to purchase items from our website starting Monday, November 22nd. There will be a big link on the front page of our website sometime next week so that you can do your holiday shopping from your computer screen.

Without further delay, here are the events that PHPG will be attending and hosting from now until the New Year:

Virginia Events

• The 3rd Annual PVMS Craft Fair - This event is happening on the Southside of Richmond on Saturday, November 20th from 7am to 3pm. There will be lots of local and international vendors, as well as door prizes every half hour and tons of great food.
• Santa's Attic Craft Fair - This event is hosted by the City of Hampton, and it features live music, food, local vendors, and us! It's a two-day ordeal. Festivities run from 11am to 7pm on Thursday, December 2nd and 9am to 3pm on Friday, December 3rd.
• Fair Trade Festival - This two-day event takes place in Norfolk, Virginia from 9am to 10pm on Saturday, December 4th and from 12pm to 6pm on Sunday, December 5th. There will be tons of musical acts and local/fair trade vendors at the event. You can check out an article on last years event here.
• Alternative Christmas Fair - This event is hosted by the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington. It runs from 9:30am to 1pm on Sunday, December 5th. This event will host the likes of Heifer International, Ten Thousand Villages, and many other fair trade vendors. This is our only event in Northern Virginia, so be sure to come check it out if you're in the area!
• 2nd Annual NYE Charity Benefit Bash at Baja Bean - This doesn't really fall under the fair trade category, but it is our biggest fundraiser of the year. At this event alone, we expect to raise over $6,000 for our projects. Last year we were one of the biggest New Years parties in Richmond, and we sold out all 300 spots. Make sure you get your ticket today so you don't miss out on the fun. We have a Facebook event set up so you can easily invite your friends, and you can go to our event page to get your name on the list. The event will last from 9pm to 2am on New Years Eve. 

Vermont Events

• The Holiday Showcase and Craft Fair - This event is hosted by BFA-Fairfax and will take place from 7am to 3pm on Saturday, November 20th. The event will include several local vendors and international organizations.
• The Vermont International Festival - This three-day festival is being hosted at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. It will feature over 100 vendors and performers from around the world. It runs from 5pm to 8pm on Friday, December 3rd, 10am to 6pm on the 4th, and 10am to 5pm on the 5th. Admission covers the entire weekend, and the prices are $6 for adults, $3 for children (6-12) & seniors, Free for 6 & under, and $15 for a family pass.
• Alternative Giving Fair - This event is hosted by Ascension Lutheran in South Burlington. There will be several alternative gift vendors at the event. It's going on Sunday, December 5th, and the time is still to be determined. Make sure to check out our Facebook page sometime next week for the details.

In addition to attending these events and supporting the artisans that we work with, we could also really use a few hands at each of these events. If you're interested in volunteering a few hours of your time to help out, we'd love to have you. You can sign up to say you're coming and/or volunteering at the corresponding event pages on Facebook. Thanks for taking the time to read this holiday guide. If you have any questions, you can always feel free to shoot me an email at alex@peoplehelpingpeopleglobal.org.

We hope to see you out at some of the events! Take care.

Alex

How to Invite Your Friends to Our Facebook Page

One of the quickest and easiest ways you can help People Helping People Global is by “liking” us on Facebook and inviting your friends to “like” us on Facebook too! With over 500 million active users, Facebook is currently the best way to reach the largest online community on the internet.

As a PHPG supporter, Facebook can function as your one-stop-shop for all information pertaining to our organization. Wondering where that last donation went? We post stories about the loan recipients and artisans we work with. Looking for a job? We post all of our new job openings on Facebook. Want to find out about upcoming volunteer opportunities? All of those get posted on our wall, too. Plus we set up events on Facebook so that you can see who’s going to be there!

So, now that you’re convinced that “liking” us on Facebook is a great way for you and your Facebook friends to stay up-to-date about People Helping People Global, here are the steps to get you started (let the red arrows be your guide).

Step 1: You “Like” Us

1) This one is pretty simple. Just go to http://facebook.com/microlending, and click the “Like” button at the top of the page.

Steps 2 - 5: Invite Your Friends

2) This one is pretty easy too. After you’ve “liked” us, you will see a link on the left-hand side of the page, under our organization image, saying “Suggest to Friends.”

3) When you click on that, a box will pop up with all of your Facebook friends. You can hand-pick the individuals that will receive your suggestion to “like” People Helping People Global. If you would like to invite all of your friends to join, there’s a little trick you can do – I know it’s going to seem weird, but give it a try…I promise it will work for most of you. Just copy and paste the following javascript into your address bar (you know, the place where you type in "www.peoplehelpingpeopleglobal.org"):

javascript:elms=document.getElementById('friends').getElementsByTagName('li');for(var fid in elms){if(typeof elms[fid] === 'object'){fs.click(elms[fid]);}}

Magically, all of your friends will be selected, and you can go ahead with the instructions.

4) I always think it’s a good idea to use the personal message option when I suggest a page to my friends on Facebook. There are so many applications, group requests, etc. on Facebook, and providing a personal message lets your friend know why the heck they’re getting this suggestion. I usually write something like:  

“Hey, How’s it going? One of my friends started volunteering with this NGO that does water projects in Africa. I thought you might be interested in what they’re doing. - Alex”

However, you know your friends better than I do. If you think just an invite will work, then go for it!

5) Finally, click the “Invite” button. Your good deed is done for the day!

After all of this is done, feel free to post on our wall and introduce yourself to the PHPG community. We always welcome questions, comments, and suggestions. This organization is just as much yours as it is that of the people who work for and receive benefits from it. Please help us make it better by letting us know how you think we can improve!

Thanks for taking the time to do this, and take care!

Alex