Rick Bolt's Blog Random Musings from a Random Bloke

I have borrowed a lot of the information below from Cates blog, but feel I also need provide this information to “get the message” out to as many people as possible.

Cate is working extreemly hard and long hours trying to get the charity off the ground. So far things gave gone very slow. With confusing and conflicting information form Solicitors about how to set up the charity correctly not helping at all.

There are so many things that need to happen that we can not do on our own for various reasons. Any assistance that you may be able to offer would be greatly appreciated.

So what can you do to help? LOTS – but firstly, We have to be frank and tell you that you’ll be donating from the kindness of your hearts because we aren’t going to qualify for gift/donation tax deduction for .. wait for it… two years. This is one of the joys apparently of being a foreign aid charity. So even once we are registered, we aren’t going to be able to qualify GDR status for 2 years – so we may as well start begging now and hope people will offer their time/services/donations knowing there is no tax benefit. Bless your beautiful souls As much as it pains us, Cate is not willing to take cash donations until we are registered as a NFP company, cause I just don’t think this is cool – even though it would apprently be legal.

The list below is things we are going to need real soon, or are in need of now:

• A solicitor (preferably pro bono) that specialises in charity set ups – even more specifically foreign aid.
• A tax accountant on the Sunshine Coast (preferably pro bono), that is clued up in charity matters. We will travel to Brisbane if necessary, but putting fuel in our car is starting to become an issue.
• Graphic Design – we have chosen a name for the charity. We would like a fresh, funky and compassionate soul to design a logo for us.
• Business cards, flyers & letterhead – and I know beggers can’t be choosers but we’re going to be ridiculous here and insist that whomever we go with for this can offer us recycled/eco paper/stock.
• Web Design & Maintenance for the charity’s official website. If we have no offers I know I can do this myself but it will take me away from sewing, which will mean less money coming in.
• Web Graphics – we’re going to need some banners designed in a few sizes
• Back Links - from your website, blog, online community, Facebook page… anywhere really. Preferably nowhere that’s not wholesome or family friendly though, please (I know… fussy!)
• Publicity – write an article on your blog? Build a billboard? Umm… I’m willing to do whatever press I have to do to get the word out, so feel free to contact Oprah LOL
• Recycled Fabric Items - I need as much fabric as I can possibly get my hands on. I’m aiming to have a 90% recycled content to everything I make to support our conservation message. I desperately need donations of anything you don’t need anymore – clothing, bedding, tablecloths. Obviously the fabric needs to be in pretty good condition, but if you have something with a big stain on it, or a hole in it but 80% of the fabric is fine, for example, then I can still use it. If you have kids clothes that you think might be too small to be useful, I’m still happy to take them. I need to be able to cut a square of 10-12cm out of it to use for patchworking. Any clothes that can’t be used for sewing will be stored and kept to use in the orphanage when we get there.
• NON-Recycled Items – Fabric, zippers, buttons, ribbons, trims, interfacing, bag closures. The biggest need is probably interfacing at the moment – I’ve spent a small fortune on this even though it is cheap, I’m going through a lot. Things are getting very tight here now, so I can’t spend too much more of my own money or mouths won’t be fed. Second to that would be bag closures. Whilst I’m not willing to accept cash, I will accept Spotlight or Lincrafts gift vouchers.
• Make me an offer – if you have something or you can do something that you think might benefit us and I haven’t listed it here PLEASE get in touch with me, I’m really not good at this asking for help & handouts, so I didn’t want to make this list too long – yet. Just fill out the form below and send me an email.
• Volunteers on the Sunshine Coast - the plan is to start a stall at the Eumundi Markets probably starting in October. We will probably need some help with setting up Saturday & Wednesday mornings, staffing the stall & handing out flyers – even if you can only help for an hour. We would love to meet you.

Ok, so that’s the list for now. If you can help with ANY of these items, or another item not listed, please use the contact form to send me an email.

SPONSORSHIP – Any business or individual who donates goods or services to a value of $100 or greater will be listed on Cate’s new sponsorship page, including a link back to your website. We’ll also plug you to death on Twitter! And I’m sure you have seen RICKADS plugging away day in and day out. You can also send us a bunch of business cards or flyers and we’ll include them with our sewing project items for sale. I know it’s not much but it’s the best we can do.

Address for Donations:

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