THE IMPACT OF FUNDRAISING

In 2008, Dragonfly was blessed to have wonderful Friends who create and host incredible events to benefit The Forest. Event fundraising currently accounts for 55% of our annual operating budget, making it enormously important to us. Obviously, we cherish our now ‘traditional’ events and we welcome, encourage, cheer on, and hope that new Friends will add to our support by championing new events. Here are highlights of our 2008 fundraisers.

CAMPtail PARTY

Once again, Anne and Matt Hamilton offered their beautiful home, Hazy Hill, and hosted our CAMPtail Party 2008. Co-hosts Marsha and Jeffrey Perelman and Shelly and Larry Brown invited guests to wear their finest camp attire as they entered our night of festivities through a welcoming arch of balloons.

A large bonfire, a chance to tie dye Dragonfly Forest “Happy Camper” T-Shirts with a professional tie dyer, and a scavenger hunt throughout Hazy Hill were some highlights. In addition, a live auction contributed greatly to the success of the evening.

And, BIG NEWS – Save The Date! Shelly and Larry Brown have agreed to host our 2009 CAMPtail Party at their home on Saturday, June 6, 2009. Plan to join us for what is Dragonfly’s premier fundraising event. It’s not your traditional cocktail party … it’s CAMPtails!

THE SATURDAY CLUB

If you have a little girl in your life, then you surely know about American Girl Dolls. Recognizing the powerful pull of the dolls, The Saturday Club in Wayne began a fashion show with the girls and their dolls wearing identical outfits. This fashion show has become the most successful of its kind in the country. Dragonfly Forest was lucky enough to be chosen by The Saturday Club to be the 2008 beneficiary of the very significant proceeds. Thank you to all of the members of The Saturday Club for honoring Dragonfly with the proceeds from your fantastic event.

And, The Saturday Club chose us to be the recipient of their 2009 show proceeds for a record third year! The shows have sold out each year, so mark your calendar for March 13-15, 2009 and get your tickets early!

DRAGONFLY CUP

On Monday, April 28th, we were rained out for the fourth annual Dragonfly Cup. However, the sun was out and the weather magnificent for our October 13th make up day. It was a wonderful afternoon of great people, great golf, and lots of laughter at St. Davids Golf Club. Thank you to John Colburn and Doug Schroer for going ‘above and beyond’ putting it all together not once, but twice this year.

The Dragonfly Cup 2009 is currently being scheduled for Spring, 2009 and the location and date will be announced as soon as we have it available.

YOUNG FRIENDS OF THE FOREST

One of our newest fundraising programs is where kids get to help kids. The Young Friends of the Forest program is designed for school age kids (elementary through college) to adopt a Dragonfly Camper and help raise the money necessary to send them to camp. This program is designed to teach children of all ages about philanthropy and help send a child to camp. This year we had enterprising middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students creating and running their own fundraisers for Dragonfly Forest. Each of these groups set up a goal they tried to achieve by holding various fundraising activities from dances to car washes until they met their goals. You go kids!

If you would like more information about the Young Friends of the Forest program, please contact the Dragonfly Forest office.

OTHER EVENTS

This year many Friends of the Forest helped us in our Fundraising goals. Many of these friends choose to adopt Dragonfly Forest for an existing event they were planning and gave all or a portion of the proceeds to help Dragonfly kids. From Art Sales, to commissioned pottery pieces, to the sale of cards to mark various occasions, our Friends made very welcome contributions to our camp program.

UNITED WAY

Don’t forget that you can designate Dragonfly Forest for your United Way contribution. Our Donor’s Choice Number is 45639. To those of you who have designated Dragonfly Forest for their United Way contribution, we thank you.

COMMUNITY CLOTHES CHARITY

Once a year in October, the Community Clothes Charity
(www.communityclothescharity.org) organizes a brief not-for-profit sale of new and lightly worn designer and quality women’s clothing. In the past ten years, the group has donated over $1,300,000 to local beneficiaries. In 2007, $175,000 was raised from the sale.

Donated couture fashions in all sizes are resold at a fraction of their original cost. Held at The Village Hall in Strafford, PA, the sale also includes a popular “Boutique”, which features jewelry, belts, handbags, shoes and accessories, as well as gifts and a selection of fine children’s wear.

Every year the Community Clothes Charity chooses a different beneficiary from the Philadelphia area for their sale. Proceeds of the 2009 sale will be directed to Dragonfly Forest! If you would like to join our Women’s Committee, and help collect clothes and/or volunteer during the sale, then please contact Lorraine Brescia at the Dragonfly Forest office (610-298-1820).