** Special Announcement **

Clay County Fair

April 4 - 13, 2013

Ten Fun-Filled days of:

And

And of course, this - 

And you have to win a couple of these:

They are still alive by the way - and boy have they grown!!!

And then you have to go back and do this one more time:

And also this:

BUT - This year - you have to stop by the vendor area and see.......

And this:

And all the other wonderful stuff we will bring back from Haiti for the Apparent Project booth!!!

So very excited!  Ten full days of sales and exposure for AP.  The Fair is just four days after our team returns from visiting AP in Haiti so we will have all kinds of new styles and designs!

Spread the word!  Stop by and check us out!  I will be there, along with other volunteers from our church.  This is going to be awesome!!!!

Haitian Artisans Creating Jobs in the U.S.

Apparent Project Office - U.S.A.

In the Fall of 2009,  Shelley and Corrigan launched their job creation initiative in Haiti - what we know as The Apparent Project.  Four women were selected who were at risk for giving their children up.  Shelley taught them how to roll beads from recycled cereal boxes/paper and then string them into jewelry. 

Dec. 2009

She knew that they needed a platform for selling the jewelry in order to make this successful so she came up with the brilliant idea of jewelry parties here in the U.S.  Run similarly to a Pampered Chef or a Sentsy Party, only it's done by volunteers so that the Haitian artisans can benefit the most from the sales.

In the beginning Shelley was handling all the shipping herself.  I actually received my very first box of jewelry directly from Haiti.  I sent Shelley an email, she packed up a box and had to find someone who was flying out of Port Au Prince who would be willing to bring it with them and then mail it to me once they got back to the states.  My box went to California and then to me here in Florida.

Originally she asked her mom (Marilyn) if she would be willing to deposit a few checks now and then from the party sales.  That way the funds could just be transferred electronically to Haiti and she could then pay the artisans.  Little did they know that Marilyn's involvement would be MUCH more than just depositing a few checks!

Jewelry is everywhere!  Love this!

During the Fall of 2010, Marilyn's 1700 square foot home became the Apparent Project Warehouse.  They needed to create a space here in the U.S. that housed all the jewelry so that it could get to people faster.  Now when you email Apparent Project looking for a party box or the fundraiser bracelets or you order something off of MarketHaiti.com - it's coming directly from Lacey, Washington.

It didn't take long before Marilyn needed help!  Jewelry had taken over the house and she was putting in 70 - 80 hours a week as the orders just kept coming.  Soon she had some volunteers and within the last year or so, those precious volunteers have become employees.  How cool is that?  They were working so hard to create jobs for the Haitians and now it has come full circle, creating jobs for these lovely women here in the U.S. at a time when it was really needed.  God is good.

Love this too!  How cute is that?

So - let me take you on a photographic journey of AP Stateside.  I will introduce you to the lovely ladies who work so hard behind the scenes, give you some interesting info and show you what it takes to help keep all of this running here in the states.  And the next time you send an email and don't hear back right away - you can understand why.  These ladies are BUSY!!!!

This is Kelly (and Marilyn).  Kelly is in charge of data entry.  After you have a party, she takes all the paperwork that you fill out - you know, the one that asks you to list all the artisans, what you sold and how much - and she enters each line into her program.  That way, they can easily figure out how much money each artisans earns and that info can be emailed to Shelley in Haiti.  I was told that it took her 8 hours to go through my recent packet of info - Sorry Kelly!  :-)  But - hey!  That's what $13,000 in sales will do!  That's awesome!!!!

The biggest request that Kelly has is to "PLEASE WRITE LEGIBLY"  That way the proper artisan gets the credit.  If she can't read your writing, then someone could be missing out.

This is Vera - she handles all the accounts and has been a huge help to Marilyn.  Especially in the last few months.

She came up with these great end of the year printouts and graffs for our Board Meeting and they were a big hit!  Everything made sense to people like me who's mind goes numb when seeing a paper with nothing but a list of numbers on it!

Way to go Vera!!!!

Of course, this is Marilyn (and me!)  Absolutely LOVE this lady!  The most joyful woman I have ever met.  I don't think there could be a more perfect calling for her right now.  She LOVES what she does, she LOVES the Haitian artisans and she takes everything in stride.

She never dreamed that she would have a task like AP but she does it well.  When you email AP for a box or purchase from MarketHaiti.com - this is who you hear back from.  She sits for hours (often LATE in the night) and answers all the emails, organizes them and gets them to the people who need them so that your order can get out as quickly as possible. Plus - she has her hands in EVERYTHING else as well.  Including building and keeping up with the MarketHaiti web site.  She is one busy lady!

She has sacrificed her time, her home and sometimes her sanity (LOL!) to make it run smoothly.  There will be special rewards in heaven for sure!

 

This is Sandy.  Sandy is in charge of packing party boxes.  Marilyn prints out the emails and gives them to her and she goes to work.  During the Christmas Season this year, they were shipping up to 20 boxes of jewelry PER DAY!  That is NOT MarketHaiti.com orders.  Each box has at least 150 pieces of jewelry in it.  Sandy makes sure that everything is counted, tagged, priced and ready to go.  

During this past Oct, Nov, and Dec  -  a total of 541 boxes of jewelry and fundraiser bracelets were shipped all over the U.S.  That is a total of 69,431 items!!!!  Bracelets, earrings, necklaces - plus Christmas ornaments, purses, etc.  And I thought I had a lot of stuff! Ha! That's a lot of product!!!!

This is Karen.  Karen does a little of everything!  She helps with the warehouse, helps with the fundraiser bracelets and helps Sandy pack all those boxes.  She is an extra pair of hands that is greatly appreciated! 

The day that I spent with them, they were unpacking all of the returns from Christmas.  After you have a party, you send back the left over jewelry and everyone was helping to unpack so they could be restocked and then sent out again for the next party order request.

It's very important that you send everything back after you have your party.  The artisans do not get paid if there is jewelry sitting in your closet somewhere.

 Still unpacking.....

This is Keri (and Sandy).  Keri is the warehouse and the fundraiser bracelet girl.  If you have ordered a box of fundraiser bracelets - she has put it together.  She makes sure everything is tagged and counted and you have all the proper paperwork.  She is also in charge of the warehouse.  She helps keep it organized.  She used work in a large warehouse and I'm told she enjoys driving the Forklifts.  AP isn't there yet - but when it is - Keri will be able to help!

Speaking of warehouses .........

 

To give you some perspective.  All of this is in half of Marilyn's 2 car garage.  In this photo Marilyn was so excited because she had discovered a new place to stack things!  Space is tight!!!!

So tight that it spills over into the rest of her house.......

 

 

 

 One more introduction.....

This is Daisy!  She is the official encourager!  I don't know which goes faster - her tongue or her tail.  Having a bad day?  Don't worry - she's right there to give you lots of love and can't help but lift your spirits!  Seriously - I have never met a more friendly dog - she's awesome!

So - that's it!  These 6 women - Oh!  And Shelley's dad, Craig - and a few other volunteers.  That's who make up AP Stateside!  Last year, AP did over $775,000 in sales!  That's a lot of product for this group of people to keep up with but they make it run as smoothly as possible.

I wrote a similar blog about this back in March.  I used Marilyn's pics and expanded some on their shipping info.  If you are interested in that - you can check it out here.  It was really great seeing all of this in person and getting a better perspective of all that goes on.  I got to help unpack and organize things with these lovely ladies.  It was so much fun!

A few ways you can help:

1.  Be patient if you send a request and don't hear back immediately.  Know that you are one of hundreds of emails they receive each day.  Only one person handles the emails to keep confusion to a minimum.  Marilyn WILL get back to you.

2.  Please DO NOT send empty cereal boxes/magazines to this location!  There is just no room for them and NO time to pack them up and get them to Shelley in Haiti.  If you want to send cereal boxes to Haiti - follow these instructions.

3.  Send all of your money and your unsold jewelry back ASAP so the artisans can get paid!

4.  Pray for Marilyn and her team!  It's a lot to keep all of this organized and flowing out across the entire U.S. 

5.  Host a jewelry party!  Sell fundraiser bracelets!  Tell everyone you know about Apparent Project and all that it is doing to alleviate poverty in Haiti!

Until next time........

My First Apparent Project Board Meeting

Wondering where I have been?  I tease you with upcoming posts about Apparent Project and my trip to Washington and then......Silence.

Sorry about that.  I found my trip to AP Stateside to be the icing on the cake and I think I came home in some sort of a coma.  I have run hard the past few months.

I was lucky to get everything finished for Christmas.  Between the 18 different events where I was selling/speaking, etc in 12 weeks. Add the normal school activities for the kids - extra church activities and a VERY busy Calligraphy season and I didn't know if I was coming or going. We took off for NC the week between Christmas and New Years and just relaxed. (I will blog about that eventually.)  I was home for two days in which I managed to take down all the Christmas decorations, repack my suitcase and I was off to Seattle for 5 days for the AP board meeting.

 

Once I returned home - and recovered from the jet lag - I have continued to just 'be'. Every time I would sit down on the couch, I would fall asleep. I've spent a lot of time catching up on organization, getting ready for our trip to Haiti in March, packing up the crazy amount of cereal boxes that came in over the holidays (thanks to all who helped with that - will blog about that soon too) and basically just processing and praying over everything God has shown me in the last few months.  

With all the time and events that have past - I hardly know where to begin.  I have so many things I want to talk about - I guess they will just have to be random, so bear with me.

Let's start with the Apparent Project Board Meeting - 

I arrived in Seattle on Jan. 4 and met Marilyn (Shelley's mom) at the airport.  It was so nice to finally meet her face to face.  We have spent many hours on the phone in the last two years so meeting in person and getting to chat late into the night was a huge bonus!  She is probably the most joyful person I have ever met.  She truly loves the Lord and it shows.  

We drove the 45 minutes or so to her home (also AP Stateside Headquarters/Warehouse) and I was reunited with Shelley, Corrigan and their delightful children.  It was fun catching up and spending time together.

Shelley and Pene on the phone with Joed and Dawn

The Board Meeting was set for the following day at 1:00.  All were in attendance except two members but they joined us via conference call. 

The phone was passed around to whoever was talking at the time so that everything could be heard clearly - it became quite comical.

I spent the majority of the time just listening and soaking it all in.  It is fascinating to learn all that goes on behind the scenes to make this company run like it does and what is even more amazing that it is only 3 years old.

When I started volunteering and selling AP two years ago, Shelley only had 50 artisans on payroll - now she has over 200!  

 

Last year, AP sold over $775,000 in jewelry, purses, etc. and nearly 75% of that went to artisan payroll!  

Did you catch that?  Nearly 75% back to the Haitian community!  That is crazy!  Apparent Project is definitely making a difference.  Artisans are buying their own land and building houses.  They are sending their children to school.  They are feeding, clothing and sheltering their families.

Marilyn and Daisy

I'm so excited to be a part of something that is making such a difference.  The cycle of poverty is ending for these precious people.  What an awesome thing!

It is not without it's struggles for Shelley and Corrigan.  They have many uphill battles daily.  Unfortunately, it often times comes from the Christians here in the U.S.

We talked a lot about this while I was there and Shelley took the time to put it into a blog this week.  It has proven to be very discouraging for them.  Please, take a few moments and read it. 

 

If there is one thing I have learned it is that I have a lot to learn about my idea of "missions."  Our callings are not all the same but it doesn't make one less/more important than the other.  We here in the U.S. really don't have a clue and spending a week or two every year or so in a foreign country does not make us the experts.  It's the people who are living there full time, have given up things most of us would never dream of and are willing to really KNOW the people they are with every day.  Getting to KNOW the culture.  What works - what doesn't work.  It's not just "telling them about Jesus" and walking away.  It's living with them - among them - working with them - helping them to better themselves.  Teaching them things beyond Christianity and learning from them as well.  It's thinking outside the box of our own culture - knowing that what works in the states will not always work in a foreign country.  It's realizing that they are people - real people - not just "projects." What a huge step of faith that is.

Corrigan giving us an update

So - what's new for AP for 2013?  Some pretty exciting stuff!!!!

As they plunge ahead in obedience to God's call - he has provided two potters wheels!  How cool is that?  They will begin training the artisans to make pottery!  Most of this will not make it to the states due to shipping logistics - but it you ever visit Haiti, you can stop by the boutique and pick up some AP Pottery!

Also - this will be the year for the "Don't Eat Dirt" jewelry.  The artisans are perfecting the clay beads and they are gorgeous!  I had a few pieces right before Christmas and sold out of them.  The colors and styles are beautiful.

They are beginning to train them in the art of glass blowing - so that they can make their own glass beads to incorporate into the jewelry as well.

 

And they have a Scroll Saw!  Oh - the possibilities with that are endless!

Shelley has begun to expand the market into Europe so that will open up entirely new sales opportunities.  You can like that page on Facebook here. 

Chatting after the meeting (missing from pics are Margie and Jim - sorry guys!)

So lots of new things coming around the corner.  Our trip is in March - only about 8 weeks away.  I have a team of 10, including myself, Jarod and Russell.  We have begun meeting on Sundays and are going through the book "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  It is already providing much discussion and lots of contemplative prayer.  It's definitely a must read as it applies to both foreign and domestic aid.  I know it has opened my eyes to so much!

I guess I should mention that a motion was made while I was in attendance and I was officially and unanimously voted onto the Board.  I am still in awe over it all - but excited at the same time.

 

Thanks again for your patience while I have been leveling back out to "normal" - whatever that is.  I'm still processing and praying - but look forward to bringing you along.....

Next time - the AP Warehouse........

 

My Continuing Journey with Apparent Project

Back in September, Shelley was here in the U.S. with her two youngest – Jackson and Ember.  They came to stay with her mom in Washington State, while working on the next phase of the adoption for these precious Haitian children.

It was exciting for me as I could actually chat with Shelley on the phone.  It was during this time that we worked out some the logistics for our upcoming trip to Apparent Project this March.  I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to be returning and to be taking Jarod, Russell and a group from our church with me.  It will be here before we know it!

Something else was talked about during our conversation and I have held back on sharing because, well, I didn’t really know what to say.  I was humbled, honored, extremely overwhelmed and still had to wait for certain things to fall into place.  The last few months have been full of excitement and anticipation and I feel like I can finally make it “public”.  Well – as public as my little blog world is.

Shelley invited me to be a member of the Apparent Project Board.

Eeeeeeekkkkk!!!!!!

Can you stand it????

Ya  - me neither!

One of the reasons that I have not shared a whole lot about it is because there is still so much that is unknown to me.  Having never been on a Board before – I really am unsure of all that is expected of me but I KNOW that I’m supposed to step forward and be a part of it.

I simply can’t get over how just about the time that I think that God has taken me as far as I can go with Apparent Project; He flings open another door for me to walk through.  One that I didn’t even know existed!  Oh the joys of walking with our Father and allowing Him to lead.  It’s simply amazing!!!!

I had to be introduced to the current Board Members (via email) and then I had to be voted on.

So – on November 19, I received this email from Shelley –

“From the responses I got, it seemed to be unanimous that we would like to have Cami on board, so without further ado....

Welcome CAMI FRANKLIN to the AP board. I know that you will be an asset and come with a new and fresh perspective based on the experiences that you bring to the table.”

Wow!  At this point I was told that my participation would be done via conference calls and our first meeting was to be on Dec. 1.  I can handle that – no problem!

It was shortly after this that everything became finalized for Jackson and Ember’s adoptions and Shelley and Corrigan were going to get to come home for Christmas.  The first time traveling all together as a family since 2008!  Shelley decided to move the Dec. 1 Board meeting to Jan. 5 since she would be there and because I am the “newbie” – and her mom has some influence (Thanks Marilyn!) – everyone wants to meet me.   I was asked to join them in person for the meeting.

Details were all worked out and this Friday I will board a plane bound for Seattle with the final destination being Lacey, WA.

Eeeeeeekkkkkkk!

I cannot wait!  I will be there for the meeting on the 5^th and then stay until late Tuesday night – flying all night and arriving home early the 9^th.  I’m so excited! 

And I am still apprehensive.   I know that God has called me to this task but once again I am walking into the unknown.  I pray fervently that I will be an asset to them and that God will use me.  I am His vessel and ready to be used.

I am excited about visiting with Shelley and Corrigan.  About meeting the other Board Members.  I look forward to finally meeting Marilyn (Shelley’s mom) as we have spent lots of time on the phone together in the last two years.  And I am thrilled about meeting the Apparent Project Stateside staff.  Those wonderful ladies who take care of all of the sorting and packing of jewelry.  I will be able to see how everything is run and I plan on taking lots of photos and blogging about it so stay tuned!

I honestly do not think I would be where I am today without our church!  Hickory Grove Baptist Church has embraced Apparent Project in a way that I can only express as a “God thing.”  They have spread the word, collected boxes, and invited me to sell in their homes and work places.  They get excited about the thousands – literally – of boxes that come and go through our doors from dozens of places in the community and they have worked the cost of shipping all of them into the church budget.  To them, this is not just “the thing that the Preacher’s wife does” – but it is truly “our church ministry.” 

Thanks to all of you who have purchased jewelry and collected boxes and have helped to spread the word about Apparent Project.  You have helped open up the many opportunities that I have had to let people know about this amazing ministry.  I must also mention how thankful I am for Russell, Jarod and Anne.  They have been very willing to allow me to be sooooo involved in all of this.  I have always been a wife and a mom first and now that my children are older, it is much easier for me to devote myself to a ministry beyond my home and my church. Obviously it is one that I believe in wholeheartedly and I am privileged, honored and humbled to be a part of it.

Stay tuned – lots of fun stuff ahead!!!!

Until next time……..