Granny Bulletin

Granny Bulletin
May 24, 2007
The Granny Bulletin is a bi-weekly update on the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, intended to keep grandmother's groups across Canada informed about, and connected to, the grandmothers and grassroots projects in Africa, that are supported through their dedicated fundraising and awareness-raising efforts.
Inside this Bulletin:

1. Introduction
2. Tax Receipting Clarification
3. National Fundraising Initiatives
4. Project Highlights: COTLANDS Grandmothers? Project, South Africa


Introduction
Good afternoon!
This edition of the Granny Bulletin is packed with interesting information on national fundraising initiatives and a moving update from the Granny Project at Cotlands Baby Sanctuary in South Africa.
We are departing from our usual tradition of sending a text-only Granny Bulletin, and including an attachment with this bulletin because we were fortunate enough to receive a wonderfully touching update from Cotlands which includes pictures and letters from grandmothers benefiting from funds sent through the SLF as a result of your dedication and hard work. As you are no doubt aware, the majority of the African grandmothers supported through the SLF cannot read or write in English ?
which is why we thought this particular update from Cotlands was so special. Also, since the grandmothers rarely have the time to write, even when they are able, Cotlands felt especially grateful for this direct testimonial.
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign has now grown to include more than 150 groups across Canada! The media attention and events you hold raise valuable funds for grandmothers in Africa, but also inspire other Canadians to speak out and make a difference as well. Of course, among those inspired Canadians are all of the staff and volunteers at the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We remain in awe of your initiative and commitment to honouring the lives of African grandmothers and the orphans in their care, and we are deeply grateful for your perseverance and support.
A special Granny Bulletin will follow this one in only a few days, with stories and pictures from the recent visit of grandmothers from Kenya, South Africa and Uganda to Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, Saskatoon, and Calgary!
Warmest wishes,
Julie and Ilana

Tax Receipting Clarification
You?re all doing such an incredible and inspiring job raising funds for African grandmothers, and we are especially appreciative of your outstanding efforts to help us to stay within the guidelines and regulations for tax receipting. We wanted to follow-up on the issue of tickets and tax receipts ? as we have received a number of questions on this topic. We hope the following provides some further clarification!
If you would like to sell tickets for your event:
· Set the ticket price at the amount which you will need to cover costs. Payment for tickets is then made out to you as the organizer. None of this can be receipted.
· You may suggest/encourage/invite attendees to make a donation in addition to and separate from the ticket price. This suggested donation should be made payable to the Stephen Lewis Foundation directly and is tax receiptable.
We cannot issue tax receipts where a donation has been made as a condition of attending an event. In order to issue a tax receipt, donations must be entirely voluntary and donors must not receive a product or service (i.e. speeches, entertainment, dinners, etc. ? any kind of "advantage") in return for a donation.
We also cannot issue tax receipts for a portion of the amount paid for a ticket. If we were to try and do this, the Foundation would have a legal obligation to obtain original invoices for all catering and other expenses and to obtain valuations for any "giveaways" occurring at an event from which organizers would like to obtain tax receipts for a portion of ticket sales. As you can imagine, all this involves a tremendous amount of work and our current staffing compliment makes it impossible for us to issue tax receipts for proceeds from ticket sales.

National Fundraising Initiatives
There are so many incredible local events and initiatives underway and we will feature some of those in future Granny Bulletins, however we wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the innovative and exciting national projects underway that all grandmothers? groups can support and take part in. We have included descriptions from the grandmothers organizing each initiative ? in their own words - however this is not an exhaustive list, so if you feel we?ve missed an important national grandmothers? campaign fundraising initiative, please let us know at: campaign@stephenlewisfoundation.org.
GREAT CANADIAN QUILT
For two years the CanGo Grannies of Kamloops have dilgently researched and stitched together The Great Canadian Quilt, a wonderful 7' X 6' piece of Canadiana that is red and white and flag-like in design with more than 200 signatures of Canadians who have made important contributions in many facets of life -- from artists to athletes, from journalists to scientists, from entertainment personalities to politicians. Take a look!
www.greatcanadianquilt.com
It is our ultimate goal to find a buyer for The Quilt but first, between May and November 30, we would like to share it with other Canadian Granny groups to promote greater awareness of our collective work benefiting the African grandmothers and orphans through the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.
If your group (or a coalition of groups in your area) is interested in hosting The Quilt, we would like to hear from you. A 'quilt hosting event' could help promote the work you do as well as draw customers to your products and invite donations to the Foundation. We would need you to identify a location such as a gallery, museum or university to which the
quilt may be shipped and where the staff have the expertise to install and protect the security of this valuable property.
We can help you identify Quilt signers from your area who might help promote your event. We could also provide you with a sample press release, protocols and suggestions to assist you in staging a successful event. The TV, radio and print media in our area have given us considerable time and ink and we think they will do the same in yours. The news media from
Newfoundland to British Columbia are already asking us for more stories.
We hope the buyer will purchase The Quilt (insured for $100,000) for a substantial sum and donate it to a museum or similar venue where many Canadians and visitors will enjoy it for years to come. Regardless of purchase negotiations, The Quilt will complete its itinerary.
The tour will end on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007. Although we may not be able to accommodate all requests to host The Quilt, we hope it will travel from sea to sea to sea and that some groups will collaborate to make this happen. At this point, Granny groups in the Ottawa area are collaborating to host The Quilt at the National Arts Centre on Canada Day.
Please consult your group and let us know if and when The Quilt might work for you. We hope to hear from you before the end of May and we will keep interested groups posted on the quilt's proposed itinerary.
Elyse DeBelser, at elyse@debelser.com
Quilt Marketing Chair, CanGo Grannies, Kamloops

EMBELLISHED QUILT
Quilts are being built all over Canada, and now in the United Kingdom. We are having inquiries from other countries as well! All quilts will be displayed then sold by auction in 2008, in regions across Canada and in countries of origin, to further the Grandmothers To Grandmothers goals : to raise awareness about and funds to feed, house, school, give healthier happier lives to orphans of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Women, men, children of all ages are contributing materials, stitches, funds, time to make the quilts. Some people are making small patches, not squares. They may do some stitches on a patch, or on a square. They may make one square. They may make many squares. Some will make a whole quilt. They are people like you and like me who see this as a worthy, do-able project we want to participate in out of love. We can pass this information on to others, and by all means ask them to continue passing it on. Soon there will be many people, in many places, making bits and pieces for the quilts. This is a pass-it-on project. Remember, a quilt may be that : a quilt. No embellishment. A lovely quilt, plain and simple. Or it may be embellished with special threads, beads, sequins. However, plain or with add-ons, the funds from each quilt will go to embellish and add to the lives of the children and grandmothers who care for them. What a wonderful thing we can do for these worthy people we may never meet. For more information visit: www.gogofriends.org or contact:

Dr. Diana L. Mitchell, Coordinator Go Go Friends Embellished Quilt Project
embellishedquilts@gogofriends.org
John Gardner, UK Coordinator Go Go Friends Embellished Quilt Project
johngardner93@gogofriends.org

MORE THAN AN AFRICAN COOKBOOK
In every culture grandmothers and their grandchildren share a unique bond often nurtured by the warmth and comfort of food. Our favourite recipes carry with them the traditions and memories of our heritage, our families and our intimate personal moments. For the African grandmothers food is also a focus, though a much, much more urgent one - will they have the money to buy enough to quell their grandchildren's hunger today?
We plan to create a collection of recipes, stories and pictures that celebrate and support the grandmothers of Sub-Saharan Africa who are raising their HIV/AIDS affected grandchildren. More-than-an-African-Cookbook (working title only), we believe this will be a small window into the lives of the African grandmothers to whom we are reaching out. We will weave the recipes into stories, photos, sketches, and information in order to help others understand more about these quiet heroines.
The primary goal of this national initiative is to raise awareness and money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation's Grandmothers Campaign, in support of its community-based initiatives addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.
Other objectives of this initiative are to:
Bring together a community of caring grandmothers (Canadian and African) through the creation and distribution of the cookbook;Increase awareness of the plight and incredible courage of African grandmothers;Share stories and photos of intimate moments of both African and Canadian grandmothers;Build on the solidarity already initiated in The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Gathering of 2006Create a memorable document aimed at bringing wisdom to all of us
A national More-than-an-African-Cookbook Steering has been formed to coordinate this project from inception to publication. This advisory team is collaboratively working together, soliciting support and sponsorship and consulting others where necessary in order to achieve the project objectives. An extended network of Grandmother Groups, friends and contacts across Canada and in Africa are supporting this project through the submission of recipes, stories, anecdotes, photos, artwork and/or information as well as the testing of recipes.
For more information, or if you would like to make a donation or submission please contact Liz Rose at erose34@rogers.com
LINKS OF LOVE
The Links of Love concept has caught the attention of many groups that are involved with Grandmothers to Grandmothers, a campaign to raise awareness and mobilize support in Canada for Africa?s grandmothers. With an estimated 13 million orphans, projected to reach 18-20 million by the year 2010 these grandmother groups know they must act quickly.
Impoverished communities simply cannot cope without assistance. Raised funds will provide much needed support such as, food, opportunities to earn a living, school fees, counselling and more. Many Grandmothers to Grandmothers groups will be bringing the Links of Love to the attention of their local clubs, churches, schools and business. The idea is to get their
communities involved in building the longest paper chain in the world to symbolize their linked love and support for such a worthy cause. As of March 2007, there were five Grandmothers to Grandmothers groups across Ontario planning to start Links of Love in their communities. The longest paper chain in the world concept has already attracted media
attention; this has offered Grandmothers groups an opportunity to have their concerns and plea for help heard. Ideally, as long as there is a need the Chain of Love will continue to grow, and more Canadians will take action to make the world a little better place.
For more information or to get involved, contact: Evelyn Gould at egould@bellnet.ca

CARRY THE CAUSE TOTE BAGS
Isn?t the Grandmother to Grandmother phenomenon an amazing way to make a difference in the lives of woman and children with HIV/AIDS in Africa!! As a co leader and member of the Mississippi Grannies in Almonte Ontario I am inspired by our members who find creative ways to raise funds for The Stephen Lewis Foundation. I was compelled to do more on a personal level. I turned 60 in October and decided to designate my Canada Pension cheques to fund the production of tote bags. It took five months to bring this endeavour to fruition but indeed, GRANNY GEAR tote bags are now a reality. If you would like to "Carry the Cause" and join me in raising funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, you may inquire about my tote bags which sell for $20 at: ladylesley60@hotmail.com .

Project Highlights: COTLANDS Grandmothers? Project, South Africa
The following contains excerpts from Cotlands last quarterly report to the SLF, including pictures and letters.
Report
We bought groceries for 60 families and we still have some money left. We shall do a second round of grocery distribution again. We chose a large retail store because we realised that it was more reasonable with prices so we managed to save. In relation to stationery we received a good donation at the beginning of the year so we managed to supply more than 60 children as we care for more than one child in some of the families. We have not yet finished buying uniforms, it is not easy because schools have different uniforms that are sold by different stores and the children are many. It is going to take a long time before we complete this process.
The grannies were very happy with the goods they received. On behalf of Cotlands I would like to thank you very much for this good gesture. You have made a difference in these children?s lives and their families.
New Proposal
In an effort to help the grannies make some money, we initiated income- generating activities that they could participate in. They make a variety of things e.g. pyjamas, tablemats, jewellery, etc. They meet twice a week at the Cotlands venue which is quite a distance from where they live. They need to catch two taxis to get to the place and we provide them with transport money. This exercise is quite expensive to maintain but we are looking for a place which is centrally situated for them so that they can walk or at least catch one taxi. Our proposal is can we use the remaining funds from the stationery budget for this purpose? Can we also buy one sewing machine as they are short of one? All the used funds will be accounted for in the usual manner.
Financial statement
Item
Actual cost
In Canadian dollars?
Groceries
R23 868.60
$3,620
School uniforms
R14 249.52
$2,161
Stationary
R2 888.74
$438