Fundraising for a Compassion Sponsor Trip

Ever since my son and I arrived back home from our first Compassion Sponsor Trip in 2014, my daughter has been dreaming about the day she would have an opportunity to travel to meet the little guy she is sponsoring in Mexico.

A couple of weeks ago, Compassion posted the details for the upcoming sponsor trip to Mexico in January 2017. And I have to tell you...I am really excited about this trip! My daughter wrote out a bit about why she wants to go on this trip:

We recently learned about this trip and we had always planned to go with me and my mom. I have a sponsored child down there in Mexico and his name is Alfredo. He is a young boy living with his parents in lower Mexico. I have been sponsoring him for quite a while now and would love the chance to be able to meet him. The first thing I want to be able to do is pull him into my arms, hug him and tell him how much I love him and how much Jesus loves him. I want to be able to share with him the hope that he has in Jesus Christ and the amazing future he can have.

But I won’t be just meeting Alfredo on this trip. During this trip I will be able to go to other centers in the area, meet with the different children that go to these centers, be able to visit a Compassion child’s home and so much more. We will be able to do some sightseeing while we are there but also see the different things that Compassion is doing in Mexico.

I believe that God is calling me to see that work that Compassion is doing in these countries. Though it may scare me, I am trusting in Him that He knows what He is doing. I feel that I can become a better advocate by going on this trip. I can learn so much more so that I can get more children sponsored and can share my story with other people who may be interested in Compassion International. God is doing amazing things through Compassion and I want to be able to see first hand what they are doing while going to see my sponsored child in the process and see how much God has changed his life.

So...we have quite a bit of fundraising to do to make this trip possible for the two of us! Recently, we worked with Fund the Nations to sell shirts they designed for us:

My daughter wrote out 'thank you' notes to everyone who purchased shirts to help with this fundraiser. As of this post, we still have just a few shirts left to sell.

Before our first Compassion trip, I had started a Facebook page, Gifts from Our Little Corner, to sell some of my handmade projects:

You can find many more items like this one on my Facebook page, Gifts from Our Little Corner

Just a couple of weeks ago, I started a new Facebook group to sell homemade baked goods to people in our local area:

If you live local, join our Compassion Kitchen Facebook group!

As a stay at home mom, I have to get a bit creative in how to earn money to go on these sponsor trips. God provided for our last two trips, and I know that if He wants us to join this next trip, He will provide the funds for us to go. 

If you are wanting to raise funds for a Compassion Sponsor Trip, get creative! God gifts each one of us with different abilities and skills. Tap into those, whether it be jewelry making, canning, photography, calligraphy, art, etc. You are only limited by your own imagination on how you can raise funds for a Compassion Sponsor Trip!

Have you done any fundraising for Compassion trips? What has worked for you?

Fundraising for our next Compassion trip

If you had told me 6 years ago when we first started sponsoring children through Compassion that I would have the opportunity to go visit one of our children, I would have thought you were nuts. There was no way I ever thought it was going to be possible to ever visit any of our sponsored children. But here we are, 6 years after sponsoring our first Compassion child and I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit two of our sponsored children.

This was only possible because God allowed it to happen. He gave me the ability to use some of my gifts to make and sell items to raise money. Sewing, knitting, baking, photography...and so many people stepped up to help me along the way by purchasing these items to help me get to Mexico and Colombia.

So now my daughter wants to go on a trip!! We have been sponsoring little Alfredo in Mexico for about two years now and Kelsey really wants to meet him, give him a hug, and tell him that she loves him. How can I not do whatever I can to make a trip happen for her?

I will still be sewing, knitting, baking and doing photography to earn money to fund this trip, but this time, we need to earn money for two people, which is going to take a bit more money.

This time, we are selling shirts! These shirts were created by Fund the Nations and we will be pre-selling them through April 15th. The shirts are $20 for S-XL (XXL and XXXL and $2 more). If you are not local to us, we will ship the shirt to you for an extra $3. We should be able to get the shirts to you by the end of April. My goal is to sell 100 shirts! Need more info, e-mail me at kymk99 at yahoo dot com.

Will you help us meet our goal?

Bake for Brazil

I love to bake. In middle school, I took a whole year of home ec and learned to bake so many things. And I am thankful to have a kitchen, many tools, and access to lots of ingredients that allow me the pleasure of baking pretty much any time I want to.

My love of baking allowed me to use that talent as one way to raise funds for both of my Compassion sponsor tours. I would bake cupcakes, pies, cream puffs, and people would buy them to help me realize a dream of meeting our sponsored children.

In Brazil, there is a little boy who has a dream of being a pilot. His name is Jesus Gabriel. He lives with his single mother and seven siblings in one small brick home in a community where a large percentage of the population lives on less than $35 per month.

$35 per month.

We spend more than that when all four of us go out for dinner.

I want to help Jesus Gabriel and other children like him be able to realize their dreams.

And I am asking 20 of my friends to partner with me.

Do you like to bake?

Yes?

Here is how you can help...host a bake sale and donate the earnings to my Bake for Brazil fundraising campaign.

I have a goal, and it is a big one.

20 bake sales at $50 each equals $1000 

20 bake sales by March 20th

20 bake sales that will help more children be encouraged to dream

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them." - Lady Bird Johnson

Can I count on you to Bake for Brazil?

Knitting, sewing, and canning my way to Mexico

Wow, a lot has happened since I first announced I will be traveling with Compassion in January to visit Eduardo.

me and Matthew

My son is going to Mexico with me!!!

passport

My very first passport arrived!!

So, those were the two big announcements I wanted to share with you, but I wanted to update you on what I have been doing to raise money for the trip.

jam making

I have been making a lot of jam, like over 20 batches!! Cranberry-Strawberry, Strawberry, Blueberry, and Apricot. Jam making is something I usually do during this time of the year, sometimes just for us, but a lot of times, I will make enough to give jars of jam as gifts during Christmas. I have been able to sell half-pint jars for $5 each. I hope nobody is expecting jam for Christmas this year!

knitting dishcloths

For bridal showers, I love to give the new bride a couple of hand knitted dish cloths along with an apron. When the trip came about, I had about 10 dish cloths already completed and ready for bridal showers in my closet. After checking prices on Etsy, I decided to sell some of these in sets of 3 for $10. I picked up a huge cone of cotton yarn at Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon. So far, I have made 11 dish cloths from this one cone and there is more yarn on the cone!

baby blankets and wash cloths

For baby showers, I love to sew up a flannel blanket and a couple of terry cloth/flannel wash cloths. I had 15 of these in my closet done already because I usually go to JoAnn’s the day after Thanksgiving and purchase flannel for $1.59/yard. I did purchase more flannel last month to make a few more sets, and I have been selling these sets for $15 each.

So, as you can see, I have been knitting, sewing, and canning my way to Mexico! God has allowed me to use things that I enjoy doing to raise money for my trip. I am amazed at how everything is coming together to make it possible for me and my son to go on this trip!

Stay tuned for upcoming posts on how I am preparing for this trip!

Questions for you: Have you ever raised money to go on a Compassion trip or mission trip? What ways have you fundraised that have worked for you?