This morning I got a call from one of the members of the Board, announcing that we've received a donation of 10 gallons of primer and 10 gallons of white paint, and that if we needed more, it would also be donated. This was great news, since the sale we had this afternoon was meant to raise money to buy the paint. Only about 15 minutes later I got another call from her saying that one of the mining companies up here is donating a brand new fridge and dishwasher (and paying for shipping, which would have been REALLY expensive for us). This is SO exciting because the dishwasher we have now is not functional and we don't have an in-house cook, so the caregivers are responsible for washing all dishes. When it's tricky to meet ratios, the least amount of time spent on dishes is exactly what we need.
Then this afternoon we had our sale! Within the first half-hour, almost half of everything was sold! We ended up raising almost $500, which will be used to pay for the paint tint and any of the materials we need for painting, like the rollers, painter's tape, etc. Another company is donating the mud we need to fill the pin holes in the walls, so this weekend we are getting started on that in order to get painting!
Here are some pictures of the time just before and just after the sale:
Before:
Woohoo!! A really terrible photo of the paint and primer donated to us today!!
The room where we are storing what we're keeping:
After!
It's almost a blank canvas! Just a few more books and outdoor toys to sell (and some pretty old and dusty construction paper..) and we'll be well on our way!
This weekend we are starting to get ready for painting, which is so so so exciting for us!
If you have any ideas about how to set up the space, colours to paint the walls (I'm thinking 2, and maybe painting a mural at some point), things to put up on the walls, etc., please share them!
P.S. if you read my sister's and BIL's blog, you could check out my guest post! (theirs is an invite-only blog)
Where did all these donations come from? Did you contact the board to get them? That is so awesome! Also, how is your new staff member? Is it just the two of you still? Or is some of the old staff still around?
ReplyDeleteAlso I think murals are a great idea! It's a focal point but if it's just one wall, it doesn't overpower the room. I think that you should have one mural in one room that you painted. I think it would be cool because 1) you are an amazing painter 2) you are the manager. I also think that you should prime one and paint it white, and then leave it until you have some children, and one day, dedicate the whole day to them painting the wall! (Or since they are short, you could tint the paint, and paint the top half of all the walls in the room, and put like a border about half way and they can paint the bottom half!
One of the board members wrote letters to the various companies in the community and the region, so they donated some of the things that we need. She is great! So far it's just us.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if the mural thing will pan out because it'll take a lot of time that I don't really have. I actually had the idea of having a wall for the kids to paint because we have some half walls. I think it would be awesome, so I'm glad I'm not the only one to have the idea!
I did pick 2 colours already, and I will show the internet soon :)
Hahah "show the internet". Nice. What about the mural that was there before? I feel like I saw one once of like a native person fishing in a big furry hood. Is that still there? You could just keep that one, could you not?
ReplyDeleteThe mural is still there, and we plan to keep it :)
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