~Upcoming Events~

Greetings!

We are very happy to advise you of the first
Love, Olivia golf tournament!!

The Love, Olivia golf tournament!! will be held at 7:30am, Saturday, September 25th at the Teal Bend Golf Club. The event will include 18 holes of golf, a luncheon, and a raffle. The proceeds of the golf tournament will benefit special needs families through the *Love, Olivia non-profit organization.

Don't golf??? Come join us for lunch!! If you don't golf, but enjoy great food and company, Teal Bend will offer a catered lunch following golf (11:30am). Additionally, there will be an opportunity for you to participate in the Love, Olivia raffle. (Details of the raffle prizes will be sent out separately).

Attached is the registration form with all the pertinent details of the golf tournament. Please note the following:

The form can be used for golf and/or luncheon registration.

The form and the donations can be submitted electronically or through the mail (see form for further details).

If you know a company, colleague, friend, etc. who wants to sponsor a hole, the form contains the applicable information. All sponsors will have their name acknowledged at the golf tournament and be added to Love, Olivia "Sponsors" page of the web site.
Deadline to register is August 31, 2010.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO FRIENDS, FAMILY, CO-WORKERS, ETC.

As always, thank you for your continued support with our efforts to make a difference!!

Sincerely,

Karen Pabst Thernka

~Past Events~

Our First Fundraiser...SUCCESS!!

On Saturday, August 29th, we launched our first ever fundraiser with the help of several close friends. The fundraiser exceeded our expectations!! Between the tremendous efforts of the raffle ticket sales and extremely generous donations, we raised $2300!! Additionally, we received 3 BIG bags of clothing for special needs families. We were just absolutely blown away with the amount of donations received at the first fundraiser. Every time that I think about it, like now, tears of JOY AND APPRECIATION stream down my face. We are very grateful for all of the support, generous donations, and the extremely kind words of encouragement. We are so very blessed to be connected to great friends, family, and the wonderful community!

Following the fundraiser, gifts of clothing, toys, and donation checks were distributed to 2 families. The families stories are posted on the Families Page of this web site.

Denio’s Farmers Market…Not Quite the Venue to Sell Children’s Apparel

At 5:15am on Saturday, September 12, 2009, we left our house with 2 truck loads of children’s apparel, toys, and books. After the trucks were unloaded, we set-up our booth and prepared for “business”.

It was a LONG MORNING until about 9ish - and then we sold a pair of shoes! “Woo-hoo” we shouted!! Throughout the day, we sold various clothing and toys. It wasn’t a significant impact, but every little bit helps especially given the fact that for each item sold, we are donating an item to a special needs family.

As I was sitting there, I was watching people purchase tools, antiques, and fruit. It dawned on me that folks really don’t go to Denio’s seeking out children’s apparel. It may have not been a great selling outcome, but we handed out several Love, Olivia flyers that explained the mission and vision of the company. I feel we made connections with several visitors. I am hopeful that they will further explore the web site and this blog.

Perfect Day for a Yard Sale!!

On Saturday, October 10th, “rise and shine” came at 4:30am. We all agreed that we needed to get an early start in preparation for the 7:00am yard sale. The air was VERY crisp, but with hot Starbucks coffees in hand we were able to stay warm and be somewhat functional. With TREMENDOUS EFFORTS of our friends, we were ready for business right at 7am.

Sharply at 7am, we had our first customer! A quick looker on a mission for certain books. Unfortunately, we didn’t have it in stock at this sale. Rats! Then, minutes of silence – I think we could hear the crickets. I had a flashback to the silence at Denio’s and I started to panic. “Would this be a total flop? Would people stop by?” It must have been the “calm before the storm”, as minutes after these thoughts swirled through my head…

The crowds appeared!! We had a steady stream of people for almost 3 hours. Even people driving a moving van came to the yard sale, snatching up “big ticket items” left and right. By 11:00am, we were completed depleted of strollers, exersaucers, and many toys. By the time we wrapped up (2:00ish), we were blown away…

to realize that we raised $706.00!! We had a target of $350 - $400. We completely exceeded the expectations of the yard sale!! We were absolutely thrilled with the outcome!!

Not only was the yard sale a success, but we met several amazing special needs parents. These parents shared very sensitive, personal, and emotional stories with us. We felt a very special connection to each of these parents and hope to have future correspondence with them.

Additionally, we made a concerted effort to further raise awareness in our community. We provided flyers, web site details, and shared our own personal experiences and inspirations. We were encouraged to hear that many people were interested in making a difference including supporting Love, Olivia efforts during the holidays.

We are happy to advise that half of the yard sale proceeds will go directly to Malaysia Miller’s family (Malaysia’s inspirational story and picture are located on the Family Page). The other half will go directly into the Love, Olivia charity to support other special needs families.

November 2009

The month of November was extremely busy for Love, Olivia. We held fundraising events at 3 different venues as well as continued to campaign for the Christmas Ornaments and Holiday Cheer Baskets. The following is a summary of November’s activity

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 – Rocklin MOM’S Christmas Boutique - The boutique was hopping!! There was lots of foot traffic and huge hearts!! We sold clothing and accessories to further benefit special needs families. However, our efforts were focused on distributing the ornaments on the Christmas tree.

The boutique Christmas tree contained 60 ornaments representing the Christmas wishes of children with cancer and other severe illnesses and disabilities. Love, Olivia coordinated obtaining the children’s wishes with Easter Seals, Placer County of Ed, an Alta Regional Occupational Therapist, and Michelle Chunn heading up the “Adopt a Cancer Child for Christmas Program”. We are happy to say all the ornaments were taken either at the boutique or soon thereafter!! Meaning that all 60 children will receive their Christmas wish!! The Christmas presents are currently being received and distributed to these children.

Friday, November 13, 2009 – WarmLine Family Resource Center – We held a holiday sale for special needs families at WarmLine in Roseville. It wasn’t a big selling day for Love, Olivia, but we made a connection with a special parent who was very supportive of the Love, Olivia efforts. We hope that we can provide further services and support to families through WarmLine.

Saturday, November 21, 2009 – Easter Seals – Easter Seals was extremely accommodating by offering Love, Olivia to utilize its training facility for a Saturday sale. We arrived bright and early. It was a spacious facility - lots of room to display Love, Olivia clothing, toys, shoes, books, etc.

We sold mostly clothes, but we made further connections in our community. Additionally, we received donations from very gracious individuals. The highlight of the day came towards the end of the sale - when a very kind and astute woman gently grabbed my hand and with her teary eyes said to me…

“You are blessing many. You too will be blessed”. Her words touched my soul and left me speechless. I graciously thanked her.

Cheesecake Sales Supporting Love, Olivia Efforts!!
In addition to the above events, we were very surprised to receive donation checks from Columbus, Ohio for our Holiday Cheer Basket campaign.

One of our family members works at a Flying J restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. In early November, this particular Flying J’s had an over abundant amount of Cheesecakes. The waiters and waitresses were told that the cheesecakes must sell within a couple of days. The sales were not going well until our family member came up with an idea…

She rallied up the waiters and waitresses to ask if they would be willing to donate their tips to Love, Olivia if their table bought a cheesecake. They loved the idea and began to advise customers of the arrangement. The cheesecakes began selling! Some customers bought whole cheesecakes verses a slice. Within a day, all of the cheesecakes were sold! The manager was so impressed with their efforts that he gave a donation to Love, Olivia from the restaurant. We were so surprised when we received the donation checks!!

We are very, very grateful to the community, our family, friends, neighbors, and many others who have supported our efforts thus far. Thank you for your gracious donations of clothing, toys, books, accessories, cash donations, and gift cards. Your thoughtfulness will benefit many special needs children and their families.

WE ARE HAPPY TO REPORT THAT 60+ SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN WILL RECEIVE THEIR CHRISTMAS WISHES THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. ADDITIONALLY, 5 SPECIAL NEEDS FAMILIES ARE RECEIVING LOVE, OLIVIA HOLIDAY CHEER BASKETS!!

We wish everyone very HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!