Decorate & Donate. Origins. Gratitude.
Giving Back.
I have always believed in volunteering and giving a little something back to the community, and the “Decorate & Donate Program” has enabled me to do just that!
Over the years Decorate-Donate has operated as a very tiny community-based program, link or liaison assisting at times with decor for fundraisers, auction items, holiday gifts, door-prize giveaways, and within my long-term care settings, providing creative support for fundraisers, resident individual projects, community special projects, displays, and exhibitions.
Some of the Decorate and Donate donations and projects can be seen on Instagram Here.
Origin Story.
The origins of Decorate and Donate came during my work life as a creative in event decor. I noted the potential of giving back even then, whether through offerings of loaned decor items for fundraising, or around the giving out of post-event flowers and treats, and re-purposing left-over items for those in need.
I wondered... Why discard and be wasteful when so many organizations would appreciate and could benefit from receiving these various and wonderful creative re-use possibilities.
For a brief moment (and not sure what I was thinking), I also entertained the idea of partnering with a colleague to build a small specialty decor company (with giving back as a foundational element of our business plan to align with our mutual values).
The Decorate and Donate program came into being first. Through our creative brainstorming my colleague suggested incorporating a vase and sunshine, and with those verbal prompts and the april-doodling-process, our logo emerged.
However, creating a decor company, although it sounded appealing at the time (as I loved the creative brainstorming and design piece), and was excited about collaborating, was not a successful endeavour for a multitude of reasons - and the two of us did not have enough resources for a specialty start-up company. Many, many, MANY lessons learned.
I ended up with a ton of non-returnable decor items when our first and only really paid event (Dem Canadian Bones Gala) got cancelled 12 hours before it began due to the SARS Outbreak. I delivered the perishable florals to hospitals in lock-down, and seniors in the community.
Twelves hours before I had EVERYTHING prepped and purchased for 40 tables for two different gala event dinners. Hours upon hours of sourcing, purchasing and preparation had gone into our start-up/pilot event showcase (ie over 300 fabric maple leaves had been painted red, accented with glitter gloss and silver tassles to be attached to each attendee’s chair cover band shown above). After the extensive time and personal financial hit, I paused, re-calibrated, shifted my attention and immersed myself entirely into my art therapy studies. Art therapy had always been my main passion - so an easy pivot. Doing both was not realistic nor sustainable!
My colleague and I continued for a spell, volunteering and donating centrepieces and loaning decor items for some charity fundraisers through Decorate and Donate, and then began our differing professional pursuits. I held onto some of this decor inventory when we divided it up, and held on even more to my interest in developing a giving-back program. I thought… there is just more to this path of possibility - however at the time, I had no idea what that might be... I also felt that the Decorate and Donate program would be a very separate entity from my art therapy practice, not knowing how interwoven my event experience would become with my long-term care art therapy connections and in with a couple particular LTC settings...
Story(s) to be continued….
I have such gratitude for the friends and colleagues that have supported the program at different times over the past 10 years, and as a result some pretty cool projects came into being that I feel very blessed to have been part of. It is a great to have an idea, as I am an idea-girl, but without a community of support, it is challenging to put things into action!
♡ It is a new year and Thank yous go out to Armen, Grant, Meghan and Susan for their 2023 donations. I will share soon more soon about a special long-term care project in the works.
Thanks for the Support Over the Years.
♡ Jean & Joseph Penny • Linda Marabini • Meghan Scott • Jenny McSpadden • Sandra Ruhl • Kellie Anderson • Grant Whichelo • Armen Kazazian • Susan Beniston • Erminia Diamantopoulos • Jason Hoult • Elmira Tomic • Heather Johnston • Jim & Ruth Dunlop • Deanna Storey • MacDonald Family • Retired Teachers of Ontario • Mikah Stewart • Katrina Lee • Betty Shin • Karishma Kuruvilla • Lana Odinok • Tracey Penny • Nizar Hooda
