What impressed me most about the Hearts for Haiti Shop and these ladies is that the idea was first planted by a simple inquiry on the Etsy Discussion Forums. On January 13, 2010, Victoria wrote "I would love to see and potentially help to organize an Etsy shop established to fundraise for relief efforts in Haiti".
Dedicated volunteers came forward immediately (look over to the right side bar). Yes, there was much to do; contacting Etsy, Doctors Without Borders, PayPal, bank, and so much more. And yet the Hearts for Haiti Shop was opened the following day and everything was organized and in place to start listing on January 16, 2010, and the donations poured in!
The generosity of the Etsy community, both sellers and buyers, was overwhelming and only one week later, they had already raised over $10,000.
Yes, I could have just sent in a cheque to a charitable organization, but I wanted to contribute and be a part of what I thought would be something special (and this is). I am proud to be a small part of this wonderful and caring community and the Hearts for Haiti team!
Kathy
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howdy! i gave some of my "love will save the day" posters and i was so excited to see them sell and to ship them off. i'm so proud of your guys's hard work on this.
ReplyDeletei have two ideas - i've always felt etsy could do so much for the cause of craftivism - here's what i'm wondering
1). are you considering keeping hearts for haiti going for a while (it seems like haiti could use our continued help)
2). are there ways we could continue helping other charitable organizations/or for other relief efforts in the future
i'm pretty busy these days so probably wouldn't be able to help volunteer, but i could continue to give my posters to worthwhile causes like this where they would sell!
again thanks for all of your guys's hard work. i really enjoyed being part of this and hope to donate more posters soon :)
Hi Amy, thank you so much for your comments and for participating as well! I am passing on your comments to Victoria (the main shopkeep gal). Kathy
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathy! Do let her know she can feel free to email me amy@handmadeevolution.com - definitely when all the dust has settled, I'm guessing you guys are super super busy right now. I want to consider if I can commit to being more involved with future efforts if possible :)
ReplyDeleteWill do Amy, for sure! Yes, they have been extremely busy today, still lots of donations coming in and they had a lot of sales today. :-) I'm lucky, I'm just working on setting up the blog right now. Kathy
ReplyDeleteA standing ovation for all involved! I am impressed by what you have pulled together (& pulled in so far). Well done!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Kathy! I'm still quite new to Etsy, and I could tell it was my kind of place when I joined. However, the development of Hearts for Haiti, the dedicated work of its amazing volunteers, and the overwhelming response from fellow Etsians have truly touched me. This is all part of what I thought and hoped Etsy would be about, and I'm thrilled!
ReplyDeleteWonderful job, everyone, and congratulations on the success of this shop!
Thank you ArtSnark, I will pass your kind comments on to the ladies.
ReplyDeleteThank you KSK, Etsy really is a unique site, I think that is what attracted me here and the folks and atmosphere here made me stay! This fundraiser has totally amazed me!
THANK YOU to the organizers of the Hearts for Haiti store! What a wonderful idea and it has been so successful. Thank you for your tireless work.
ReplyDeletewww.sknaturals.etsy.com
Thank you kingpen, together we ARE (all) making a difference!
ReplyDelete((hugs)) Kathy!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Angie
Kathy, you're-the-greatest! Really, thanks for helping me and for all of the time that you've devoted to making this blog happen. *A Very Big Hug* -Sunny
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