Our Story
With: 187.5 cups of Sugar, 187.5 cups of Brown Sugar, 500 Sticks of Butter, 500 Eggs, 250 tsp of Vanilla, 562.5 cups Flour (that is 100 lbs of flour), 250 tsp of Salt, 250 tsp of Baking soda, and 500 cups of Chocolate chips we sold 250 batches of chocolate chip cookies and raised more than $5000 dollars to build a water well in Africa.
Here’s how:
I’m Sherri. My friend, Abby, and I embarked on an adventure a couple years ago. We both had the desire to “do something”. Abby was a bit ahead of me in discerning her “something” to be building water well for a community with no clean water. At the beginning the idea of building the well seemed cost-prohibitive; I mean it would cost $5000 after all!
After a few ironic, well-timed, conversations and a trip to an Amish community in Shawano, WI, we had time to talk over pizza and a car ride back to Green Bay. Abby began dreaming about her well, and I said I’d do anything to help. I asked what she could do to raise money and she spewed ideas and landed on best talent: baking. Not only was she good at it she also really enjoyed it. In my mind, a no-brainer, raise money by selling cookies and network for other resources; my best talent is planning for large events and networking resources. Within 20 minutes we were on the phone with my cousin, Ben, who had told me about a matching grant a week earlier.
After Abby and Ben talked the following week, it was on! They discussed funding and matching, the costs and the needs of the project and then the baking began. It became obvious that it was supposed to happen. Within a couple weeks Abby worked her magic and leveraged her super-friendly personality to “sell” 80 dozen cookies, 40 batches.
It was a simple yet charming idea. Cookies for water—she called it “Cookies for a Cause!” Within 3 months we were done. It was done! 250 people got a Water Well and we got an amazing story. Since that time we have done a few other smaller scale projects.
The theme of our story: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
The eMail
I wanted to share with you the contents of the first eMail to people about the project, it follows:
Hello Friends and Family!
I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well in 2010! I wanted to share with you an opportunity to be part of a great project. Read on and consider buying some cookies to build a well the neediest of places. A small batch of cookies can make a huge, global, impact. I would love your help!
Here are some facts that you might want to know before we jump into the project:
1. 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water. That is 1 in 8 people are not able to drink the same water you and I drink every day!
2. 80% of all sickness in the world is attributed to unsafe water and sanitation. 80% can you believe it?
3. The water is brown, full of dirt, and FULL of so many harmful diseases and illnesses that people are dying because of the water they drink. This can't be right, can it?
4. More than 4,500 children died TODAY from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation facilities. Yes, that means EVERY 15 seconds a child dies from not having good water and sanitation.
5. More people die each year from unsafe water than all forms of violence INCLUDING war.
These statistics can’t be right, but they are! It was after hearing these facts that I decided I had to do something! I quickly realized that I don't have money to build a well by myself. But, what I do have is an AMAZING group of people in my life. I also have the ability to make some great tasting chocolate chip cookies. As a matter of fact, I LOVE making cookies. But what do cookies and water have to do with each other? Good thing you asked...
I decided I would make cookies, personally donate the supplies, and then give any donations from the cookies to Charity : Water. Make sense? So this is where you come into the picture. Would you be willing to eat some cookies and make a donation to help save lives?
At Charity : Water 100% of the donations go DIRECTLY to fund water projects. No overhead.
So what is my goal? My goal is to raise $5,000, which is the cost of one well. Would you be willing to partner with me and see what a little clean water can do? Want some more great news? Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has awarded us a grant for $1,600! What a way to start! That means we only have $3,400 to go!
So, how many batches of cookies can I send your way?
Here are the suggested minimum donation amounts:
· $10 for One Batch of Cookies(2 1/2 to 3 doz.)
· $5 for One Dozen Cookies
· $3 for Six Cookies
Please e-mail me, call me, or flag me down on the highway …I’ll get baking and coordinate a time to get you your order. Consider bringing some to work or to share with other friends and family. I so look forward to partnering with you on this journey to get clean water to deserving people!
Thanks so much for your help! Can’t wait to send you an update that we have the $5000! Yay!
Blessings,
Abby
(Contact Information/Facebook Link)
Reminiscing and some things I wish I had known before we began
First of all, $5000 isn’t that much. Believe it or not, that is one of the big things I learned. A little bit of donation a lot of times adds up fast … I also learned how invaluable it is to have a friend with a similar heart but different gifting that is willing to do something others may think is crazy. It is important to be realistic about a project of a great magnitude. A big decision to make is how things will be paid for, is it a donation or is it out of the cost? And be open about your choice.
I also realized that matching your best skills with your biggest talents is crucial to having fun, living a dream and serving God fully. As someone who has been disillusioned by nay-sayers and been disappointed by church knowing doing something big is “do-able” is life-changing. All you have to do is be creative about matching your skills and passions, start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.
I learned that finding a friend with an openness to serve is invaluable. Not only were our talents different and complimentary but we both had the desire to serve and help people by loving them. It would not have happened if either of us tried this alone. I would only recommend it if you are extremely passionate about your cause, clear and realistic about the costs of the endeavor, and have unlimited time or a very long time-frame to accomplish your goal.
When I asked Abby what she’d like to share on this topic, she said:
“… we were shameless in who we talked to about cookies and wells. My favorite story was the Verizon ladies. I shamelessly sold about 7 batches to the ladies from Verizon.
“Another fun point was how generous people are. I appreciated your point about 1 batch at a time, because that is true, but it was also encouraging to get $250 for 3 batches or the anonymous giver or $250.”
We discovered that the formula was really a recipe
What are your best skills? What are those things that you know you do well, the ones others ask you to do, the ones you really enjoy? What do you feel accomplished at, what do others compliment you on?
For Abby it was her baking. For me it was planning and organizing events.
What are your passions? What affects you emotionally, what stories do you repeat, what stirs your heart? What do you think about, what do you wish you could change?
For me it was/is serving people, coaching or teaching. For Abby it became the need for clean water around the world.
I have felt confused for most of my life about what my passions and strengths are. If you don’t know ask God to begin revealing it to you. I am still on the journey but it becomes clearer and clearer.
Be prepared, though, matching your best skills with biggest talents may lead toward life-changing results for you and for others.
Practicalities
Some things to keep in mind if you decide to do a project:
1. It is always easier with a companion--especially one that is talented in complimentary ways
2. Be realistic about cost and time—plan for twice as much time as you need and twice as much cost, just to be safe, unless you are really good at budgeting)
3. Networking your resources is a huge time saver, don’t be afraid to ask for help—this allowed us the opportunity to use a house with two ovens and an industrial stand mixer
4. Always seek out options for more cost-effective options—we talked to the local grocery store and they gave us buckets for cookie dough at cost
5. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify—we stuck with only chocolate chip, after much discussion, and it was a blessing in the long run, packaging became simply bagging and printing mailing labels; effort was lessened and people could help with little direction
6. Take feedback seriously—people asked Abby for dough, it was an unexpected, much welcomed change of plans that eliminated the need to bake
7. Networking and reaching through your contacts to get in touch with others is very critical—an important relationship in Abby’s life allowed her to reach a lot more people
8. Say yes—after this project people have asked how this was done in order to do it themselves, it has been as encouraging seeing that happen as it was seeing the well money raised
9. Use social media to get the word out
The role of Social media
Although I would not recommend it unless you were doing something like this project, Abby and I were all but obnoxious about updating our Facebook and Twitter status’ with the latest about cookies and sales and the project during the course of the three months. Updating people daily about the progress of orders became a bit addicting. Especially when we realized that even if friends and family were not writing anything about the posts they were reading them and asking us about them.
Abby had a ton of success with this and other people selling cookies for her … they wanted to share the story and to be a part of this crazy thing that was happening. People still talk about it and ask about it.
Although social media is an untradeable help in this endeavor, it is not a fail-safe. If you want to use it accurately there are a ton of statistics out there these days about best times to post and how to get the word out the best.
With all the information available, nothing can take the place of patience and prayer.
Abby’s Speech at the Northeast Wisconsin Thrivent Regional Gathering
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
Almost a billion people struggle every day to collect water that’s likely to make them sick. Dirty water kills more people every year than all forms of violence including war … but it doesn’t have to. Clean water alone can reduce water related deaths by 21%. And 90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. 4500 children will die today from water related diseases.
It takes 12-18 months to complete and report on water projects. During this time, the project is physically constructed; the community receives hygiene and sanitation training and learns how to maintain their new water point.
Did you know that almost a billion people struggle every day to collect water? That water is likely to make them sick, water that comes from a hand dug well, and it is water that is full of diseases that can kill. Did you know that there are 4500 children that will die today from water related diseases?
Did you know that there are 1.1 billion people on the planet that don't have access to clean drinking water? These people are not able to drink the same clean water you and I drink every day! Their water is brown, full of dirt and FULL of so many harmful diseases and illnesses that people are dying because of the water they drink. More than 4,500 children will die TODAY from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation. That means EVERY 15 seconds a child dies from not having good water and sanitation.
My friends, these facts are haunting. Overwhelming. When I first heard them I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t do dishes. Turn the faucet on. Or even give water to my dog without thinking of those that didn’t have water drink. Water that I routinely drink 8 cups of every day . I didn’t have to walk MILES for my water. I have 5 faucets in my house!
I was so overwhelmed by these facts that it consumed a lot of my conversations. My friends challenged me to do something. Do something? There was too much to do. How could I do something? They knew I could do something but I wasn’t sure I knew I could.
It wasn’t that long after that my good friend Sherri told me about the Thrivent Care and Communities Fund. Before I knew it, Sherri was calling Ben and we were looking at the possibility of digging a well through Charity Water. Anticipation was building.
A few weeks later Ben arrived at my house with the great news! Our grant had been approved through the Thrivent Care and Communities Fund! What great news!
My plan was to sell chocolate chip cookies. I love to bake. I would personally donate all of the supplies for the cookies and the money raised would all to go an organization called Charity Water. The awesome thing about Charity Water is that 100% of their donations go DIRECTLY to building wells!
This is when the baking started ... And boy did it start! Sherri, Nicole and I went up to my parents cottage to kick off the festivities with a 10 hour session of dough making and baking leading us to a total of 40-2 dozen batch bags of the good old fashion chocolate chip cookies! That was 100 cookies an hour!
My initial orders came from a simple post on Facebook and word of mouth. A week later I sent out an e-mail to everyone I knew and even snagged a few e-mail addresses from my dad. I can’t even begin to tell you how generous people were. I had one person who gave me $350 for 4 batches. Another person gave me $100 for 1 batch. We even had an anonymous $500 donor.
But really, my motto was one batch at a time. My baking sessions continued. We would go Sherri’s aunt and uncle’s house to make and bake those delicious chocolate chip cookies. Using their industrial size kitchen aid was much better than my little one. I could make 3 batches of dough at a time in my kitchen aid and 6 batches (12 dozen) in their industrial one. We would bake, laugh, and package the cookies so fast it would make your head spin. We sure had a good system! Most days after work I would come home, make a lot of dough, (3 gallons worth), and the next night I would start baking.
My friends and family were so supportive and encouraging. I had friends that would come over and sit with me while I baked. They would help package and before I knew it the 3 gallons of dough would be gone. Finally, the home stretch was coming. One weekend I was looking to sell a few extra batches I had so I went and sold some cookies at the Art Garage. Everywhere I went I was talking about cookies. It was fun!
Soon, I realized I really could do this. We really would make a difference. The day came to turn in all of the donations. In 3 short months we raised $5219! And that was more than enough money to build one well. One well that would give life giving water to 250 people for many years to come!
Want to know the really cool thing?
With: 187.5 cups of Sugar, 187.5 cups of Brown Sugar, 500 Sticks of Butter, 500 Eggs, 250 tsp of Vanilla, 562.5 cups Flour (that is 100 lbs of flour), 250 tsp of Salt, 250 tsp of Baking soda, and 500 cups of Chocolate chips we sold 250 batches of chocolate chip cookies.
The ironic thing is the well gives water to 250 people. Did you get that? 250 batches of cookies and 250 people getting water from the well! Isn’t God great!
So thank you Thrivent for believing in me when I wasn’t sure I could believe in myself. I now know that I can do anything! Thank you for helping me change the world one well at a time.
So I would encourage you to: Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Because you really can!
God bless all of you and thank you so much!
