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On January 3rs, 2002 Mayor Randy Garrett was awarded a Quilt of Valor. “A Quilt of Valor® (QOV) is a quality, handmade quilt that is machine or hand quilted. It is awarded to a Service Member or Veteran who has been touched by war. The Quilt says unequivocally, “Thank you for your service and sacrifice in serving our nation.” Learn more about Quilts of Valor and how you can nominate a service member or veteran by clicking on this link. https://www.qovf.org/
Join us in Monroe, Georgia for the Monroe Blooms Flower Festival. The festival will be held in Downtown Monroe from 8:30am to 4:00pm. There will be creatives classes, workshops, vendors and special decorations. Also, there will be a wonderful celebration of Moina Michael and poppies at the Davis Edwards House (238 N Broad Street. Enjoy a beautiful Saturday filled with flowers. and stop by the Davis-Edwards house!
Thanks to each and every one of you we have achieved our goal of raising $16,000 to purchase an all-terrain wheelchair for a deserving veteran. We are partnering with the Independence Fund to present the chair. We have sent the money to the Independence Fund.
As you know we have been working toward this goal for over four years. We greatly appreciate your support and encouragement.
Thanks to everyone who came out to our interest meeting on Saturday, November 12th! We had a great time crafting poppies and talking about the future of our organization. I wanted to give all who could not make it a synopsis of what we talked about and invite your input.
In the new year, we want to start with monthly volunteer opportunities so we can grow as a group and help the veterans in our community. We are looking for any ideas that you may have on ways we can volunteer, but do ask that they be free or nearly free as all our funds are currently going to purchase the all terrain wheelchair.
As you may know, we are currently partnered with the Georgia World War I Centennial Commission, a group sanctioned by the Governor to organize commemoration ceremonies, etc. to remember Georgia’s involvement in World War I. They will be including Moina Michael in their celebrations and want our involvement. As of right now, the Department of Transportation will be planting poppies from Athens to Monroe in 2018! This is a great opportunity for us to help help educate our community on Ms. Michael’s legacy and how the Moina Michael Poppy Project is continuing her work. We welcome any ideas on how we can participate in this exciting moment in time.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Emily
Hello everyone and Happy Summer!
As you probably noticed, the Moina Michael Poppy Project took a hiatus during Spring as many of our members were busy with life obligations. It’s summer now and we are back in full swing and look forward to many new and exciting opportunities coming our way.
The biggest thing we have coming up is the 2nd Annual Moina Michael Birthday Bash on August 20 from 11am to 2pm at VFW Post 2872 (835 Sunset Drive, Athens, GA 30606). We have lots planned for this event: cake, storytime and crafts for the kids, information booths from our supporters and fellow Moina Michael enthusiast and the list just goes on. Did I mention there will be cake?!
We encourage all that are willing to donate to our Moina Michael Birthday Bash 2016 Crowdrise. All funds donated through this link will go directly towards our purchase of an all-terrain wheelchair for a Georgia veteran. Over the last three years, we have been working closely with The Independence Fund through whom we will purchase this wheel chair. These all terrain wheelchairs will give a paralyzed veteran a chance to be independent again, enabling them to traverse the type of terrain a regular wheelchair would would not withstand.
Please help us honor Ms. Michael on what would have been her 147th birthday by attending our party and by donating to the Moina Michael Birthday Bash 2016 Crowdrise. We look forward to seeing you on August 20th!
Emily
This month we are focusing a very important part of our supporter base: Partners!
We have forged a very meaningful partnership with a local business, Revival Yarns.
Revival Yarns is a welcoming place in Athens, Georgia where knitters and crocheters can gather, be creative, hone their crafts, and buy their favorite yarns. Revival Yarns was founded in 2014 by co-owners Lindsay and Cara. Lindsay and Cara met in their neighborhood knitting group. It was during these knit nights that the need for an in-town Athens yarn shop became clear, and the idea for Revival Yarns was born.
"Here at Revival Yarns we offer quality products and services at reasonable prices, but customer service is what’s most important to us. We strive to make Revival Yarns a comfortable, welcoming space for fiber artists of all genders, ages, and skill levels.
The whole reason we are here is because we love this stuff, and we want you to too!
Revival Yarns is honored to partner with the Moina Michael Poppy Project (MMPP)! The MMPP is run by women with huge hearts, who not only want to preserve the memory of a local hero, but to continue her legacy. Helping disabled veterans via the Independence Fund is just one of the ways the MMPP hopes to help veterans. We can’t wait to see how this group grows as the love and generosity they spread becomes contagious. We are honored to support them in any way we can… plus we love those knit and crochet poppies! ;)"
If you are out and about and get a chance, stop by and see them! The shop is so cozy and the Lindsay and Cara will take good care of you!
A very warm THANK YOU goes out to Revival Yarns for their support!
Info: 297 Prince Avenue, Suite 17 | Athens, GA 30601 | phone: 706.850.1354 | email: info@revivalyarnsathens.com
This month, in honor of Veteran's Day, we are turning the spotlight on a very important aspect of our supporter base -- Veterans.
Allow me to introduce you to Rebecca Scott. Becca is an all-around amazing person and is always there to lend a smile or a helping hand. Please take a moment to read a few of her words below:
"I joined the military at age 25, later than most. I am the fifth generation of my family to join and I still recall the pride on my father's face at my graduation. I have been asked before why I signed up. Was it a sense of duty? Was it for benefits? Was it patriotism? I think the answer is all of the above and more. My grandfather served in WWII. He taught me to fold a flag, to respect it, and not just the one for our own country because it wasn't the only one we should respect. I did not join the military to hurt anyone. I joined to protect people, to protect ideals worth fighting for when the cause is right. If the cause isn't right, then I was there to protect the boys and girls sent out to fight anyway. I served my country for 10 years total. Afterward, I found joy and purpose in helping civilians instead and I spend my time these days volunteering around my neighborhood, being involved in community building, and doing small acts of kindness for perfect strangers. I think we all could use a reminder sometimes that there is as much light in the world as there is dark; it's just that we all need to take turns holding up the candle."
This month our spotlight is shining brightly on another element of our support group that is very important to us: Donors.
We are very thankful to our donors for all of their very important financial support! This month's honoree is Miss Ellie Lanier. Ellie is a part of the UGA Law family and is the managing attorney of Georgia Law's Mediation Practicum.
Not only do we appreciate her assistance but also her enthusiasm. Please take a moment to read a few of her words below:
"I am delighted to support the work of my colleagues who founded and are working to grow the Moina Michael Poppy Project. I am awed by the fact that they were inspired by Moina Michael's efforts and decided to continue her work on behalf of veterans and their families. Turning inspiration into concrete action is not only laudable, but sorely needed in and by this world.
These strong, determined and creative women personify Margaret Mead's famous quote: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.'
I am honored to play a role in furthering their cause by giving financially and proudly wearing my Moina Michael Poppy pin."
Thanks Ellie, from all of us at the Moina Michael Poppy Project!
All the best,
Emily, Marie & Tina
Hello everyone! I'd like to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone for their support and generosity!
As you know, last month was Miss Moina's birthday and in her honor, we decided to host a Birthday Bash and to also challenge ourselves in crafting poppies. This campaign was a huge success and we are very excited to share our results with you.
Several of our crafters pulled together and challenged themselves to make poppies. With our efforts combined, we added around 400 poppies to our inventory!
Most exciting of all is -- we are getting closer to getting our Project Independence goal of purchasing an All-Terrain Wheelchair for a veteran! This campaign alone brought in $935.39. Adding that to our prior donations, that brings us to a grand total of $1,574.00. We still have quite a way to go before we reach our goal but we are optimistic that in spreading this mission and teaching people about Miss Moina, we will gather more support as we go!
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful local partner, Revival Yarns! This amazing local yarn store not only hosted the party but they also had all red yarn on sale that day in honor of Moina's birthday. We are looking forward to all of our future opportunities of working with them and we hope you take some time to check them out if you are in Bottleworks.
Check out some of the pics from our celebration below and once again, thank you so much for your continued support!
Emily, Marie and Tina
Here at the Moina Michael Poppy Project, we know just how important it is to have our supporters. Supporters come in many forms. There are those who have important words of encouragement or inspiration when we need them. There are those who help us by promoting our cause and helping us to spread the word. There are those who donate supplies, funds, ideas, time and talent.
We have many talented crafters here at MMPP (and we are always looking for more, so don't be shy if you would like to help us make poppies!). In fact, that's a large part of our origin story. A group of us who worked together all did one sort of crafting or another and we thought, "If we already love crafting, why don't we band together and use our powers for good?" So, Miss Emily bound us together in this wonderful cause and here we are, growing every day.
In honor of our supporters, each month we will be highlighting a different kind of supporter to show our gratitude and to share with the world the wonderful people we are crossing paths with thanks to this organization. This month, we are focusing on one of our crafters: Shawn Lanphere.
Click here to read more about Shawn.
Shawn has supported us from the beginning and we hope you will enjoy reading about her and her wonderful contributions, as well as checking out some of her creative works! We love her poppies (I have an adorable pair of earrings she made and I just love them) and her dedication to the cause.
Thanks for reading and check back with us for more updates and who knows, maybe you might find yourself spotlighted here in the future!
As Emily would say:
Peace, love and poppies,
Tina
