The Brackett Foundation
enote 12 September 30, 2004
Greetings
As I write, Liz and I have just completed our annual mailing campaign to
some 3500 families. As most of you know, nearly all of our support comes
from individual donations solicited in this campaign. Katheryne Gall who
helps us with the design of our brochure, seems to do better every year. We
received many comments on this year's effort: the colors, the information,
and the presentation were all appreciated. Even the printer, who must see
hundreds of brochures a year, was moved to
comment
on it. A very big thank you to Katheryne for her superior effort. We also
assembled some local Hamiltonians as a focus group to help us evaluate
different possible themes and presentations. If some of you did not
receive the brochure this year —the picture on the left was on the front
page— just send us you post address and we'll be happy to send you one. We
have a few hundred left.
The initial response to this mailing has been excellent. Last year, which was our best year overall for fund-raising, we had received $74,742 by September 30, this year we have received $79,632 by that same date, in spite of the fact that we got started later this year. We are very optimistic.
One of the very best decisions Liz and I made was to reach out to our local community for help. They responded generously with advice, work, and encouragement, especially John Novak, Ed and Marcia Sitts with the mailing, and Carolyn Dearnaley, Shirley Reynolds and Paula Phillips on the Focus Group. We think of them and all who have contributed to our work as partners.
We
first met Eh Hser several years ago when she applied for funds to help her
go to school. In our conversation with her, Liz asked what she really
wanted to do with her life when she finished school. Her dream was to run a
boarding house for Karen children. She wanted specifically to include
children from both sides of the Thai Burmese border. She wanted Thai and
Burmese to get to know one another, and to help erase the differences that
an arbitrary border, drawn through the middle of their homeland, had placed
on the Karen people. Soon the conversation began to focus on details: how
much space would be required, would she need another adult helper, how much
money for food. Within a year Eh Hser had not only started school, but had
established a boarding house for Thai and Burmese Karen children with our
help.