Veteran Spotlight -- Rebecca Scott

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."

Support Moina Michael Poppy Project with Kroger Community Rewards!

Hey everyone!  We have some pretty exciting news!  This week we were approved for the Kroger Community Rewards Program!

What is the Kroger Community Rewards Program?  I'm glad you asked:

Did you know you can support nonprofit organizations in your community just by shopping at Kroger? It's easy when you enroll in Kroger Community Rewards®! To get started, sign up with your Plus Card, and select a local organization you wish to support. Once you're enrolled, you'll earn rewards for your chosen organization every time you shop and use your Plus Card!

Kroger is committed to helping our communities grow and prosper. Year after year, local schools, churches and other nonprofit organizations will earn millions of dollars through Kroger Community Rewards®. This program was designed to make fund-raising the easiest in town…all you have to do is shop at Kroger and swipe your Plus Card!

Enroll now for the Kroger Community Rewards Program. And remember…all participants must re-enroll each year to continue earning rewards for their chosen organization.

We would love it if you would take a few moments and add us.  This costs you nothing extra and all it takes is a swipe of your card!  Instructions are included below and it only takes a few moments to make a difference:

The Moina Michael Poppy Project NPO Number is:  66418.

• Register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
• Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
• If a member does not yet have a Kroger Plus card, please let them know that they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
• Click on Sign In/Register
• Most participants are new online customers, so they must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.
• Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
• You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
• Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
• Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
• Update or confirm your information.
• Enter NPO number or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm.
• To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
• REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).
• Do you use your phone number at the register?  Call 800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
• Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.

Donor Spotlight -- Ellie Lanier

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

Moina Michael Birthday Bash Update!

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

Crafter Spotlight -- Shawn Lanphere!

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

Happy Birthday, Moina!

It's here, folks!  Moina's day!  I will be spending the day making poppies in her honor, in order to meet my goal of making 146 poppies.  So, saying, don't forget about our Birthday Bash next Saturday at Revival Yarns!  We will be there from 10-6, with cake at 1pm!  Revival Yarns will be having a sale on poppy-colored yarns so come by and have some cake and check out this super cool shop.

We have had a lot of exciting things happening here at the Moina Michael Poppy Project and today, for Moina's birthday, we are unveiling our new logo, courtesy of the amazingly talented Laura DeGlopper at Digital Teahouse! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. MOINA!

Moina Michael Birthday Bash

Our crafters are busy making poppies in preparation for the Moina Michael Birthday Bash.  Moina Michael was born on August 15, 1869 in Good Hope, GA.  We will be celebrating her birthday on August 22nd at Revival Yarns from 10:00am – 6:00pm. 

At 1pm there will be cake (what's a party without cake?) and while you are there you can peruse some of the amazing yarns and crafting supplies that Revival Yarns has to offer!

If you would like to become involved in the Moina Michael Poppy Project we’d love to have you join us.  There are many ways to participate.  If you are a crafter you could make something with a poppy theme.  So far we have crochet poppy pins, hats, headbands;  ribbon hair clips; felt pins and headbands; earrings, and rings.  You could also donate craft supplies.  We could use everything from skeins of yarn to glue sticks for our glue guns.  You could donate money both on our site and at the Birthday Bash.  You can find out more on our "Take Action" page.

You could also like and share our Facebook page.  We are looking forward to celebrating Ms. Moina’s birthday with you.

Don’t forget:

Moina Michael Birthday Bash

Saturday, August 22nd 10 am – 6 pm

Revival Yarns, 297 Prince Avenue, Suite 19 | Athens, GA 30601 | phone: 706.850.1354

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Moina Michael Poppy Project website! 

This new website is a place where you will find everything you need to know about the Poppy Project and how to get involved. For those those that are new to our project,  we are a group of crafters and volunteers with a passion for helping veterans and educating our community on Moina Michael's legacy. We crochet, felt, knit, create poppies from canvas and just about any other way you can think of and sell these poppies and give the profits to veterans in need.  We believe in 100% transparency and will be posting our income tax papers after they are filed early next year so you can see for yourself that your money is going directly to veterans.

We are currently partnered with The Independence Fund, a charity devoted to mobilizing paralyzed veterans.  All money that we raise through our Project Independence Fundraiser will go to buy a specialized all terrain wheelchair for a veteran that has lost their mobility.  Considering that they are around $15,000, we have a long way to go but we can reach our goal with your help.  

Are you a crafter with a passion for helping veterans?  Join us!

We currently have a small group of crafters that donates the time and the materials it takes to make poppies so that all funds we raise go to the veterans we support.  Contact us for more information on how you can start crafting with us and check out our Patterns link for some ideas.  

If you’d rather buy a poppy, check out our Etsy page.  We also take orders so let us know us know if you need something specific.  (Please note that we need at least 3 weeks notice since our crafters produce these poppies on their own time and most of full time jobs!)

My biggest hope of all is that you will be as inspired as I have been by Moina Michael’s life and will support us as we help America’s service members.

Peace, Love, and Poppies

Emily