City of Good Neighbors/ Family of a Vet Project: Ends Dec. 1st

Help a local Vet with PTSD and his family by December 1st! City of Good Neighbors Project curated by Buffalove on Etsy

Gifts under $25 from the Buffalo Etsy Team

Gifts Under $25 curated by Buffalove on Etsy

City of Good Neighbors: FAMILY OF A VET

The Buffalo Etsy Team launched their inaugural "City of Good Neighbors" project on Nov. 10. Our goal is to raise money through sales of selected items from team members' Etsy shops for a family "adopted" through the organization Family Of a Vet. The money will be used to fulfill the needs and wants of an injured Buffalo veteran, his wife, and four young daughters. Their wishlists include everything from bedding to bicycles.  

Participating Buffalo Etsy Team members are donating 100% of the money from the sale of their items.

"Lately it seems if we didn't have bad luck, 
we would have no luck."

Our war hero joined the Army when he was 17 years old. He served two tours in Afghanistan. He returned home in April of 2004 after his last tour, and suffers from
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as a result of his service to our country.
 
He loved his job as a staff sergeant and had planned to stay in the Army for at least 20 years. He wishes he could still be in Afghanistan fighting with his brothers and feels like less of a person because he can't. He attempted college a couple of times. Because of the extent of his PTSD and TBI, he was unable to earn a degree. He did, however, earn a CDL (Commercial Driver's License) and worked for the first couple of years he was out. With blackouts and disorientation, he was unable to continue in this line of work.

His wife has a bachelor's degree in psychology and would love to be able to use and continue her education, but as the primary caregiver for her family, she can't. She likes to volunteer and believes in "paying it forward" whenever possible.

Their 9-year-old has had many health issues since birth. She has had two surgeries and is facing two more in the near future, requiring travel over 70 miles each way.

From the family: "Lately it seems if we didn't have bad luck, we would have no luck."  In addition to our vet's and his daughter's ongoing health issues, the family is also dealing with a grandparent's illness.


HOW YOU CAN HELP

PURCHASE ITEMS FROM BUFFALO ETSY TEAM MEMBERS' SHOPS 
Click https://www.etsy.com/search?q=FOV%20bflo
Participating Buffalo Etsy Team members are donating 100% of the money from the sale of their items.

MAKE A DONATION TO THE BUFFALO ETSY TEAM'S FOV FUND
All money will be used to purchase items from the family's wishlists. Donations are accepted via PayPal. Please email buffaloetsyteam@gmail.com for details, and include FOV in the subject line.

MAKE A DONATION DIRECTLY TO FAMILY OF A VET
Click www.familyofavet.com/support.html 
Family Of a Vet, Inc., is a federally recognized 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. All donations to Family Of a Vet are tax deductible. Please visit their website for more information.

 

Family Of a Vet, Inc., is a federally recognized 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. - See more at: http://www.familyofavet.com/support.html#sthash.uIQIDeS4.dpuf

 

Holiday Entertaining gifts from the Buffalo Etsy Team

Holiday Entertaining curated by Buffalove on Etsy

City of Good Neighbors Project: FAMILY OF A VET

Please follow the blog to see how we're progressing!

Visit www.etsy.com while you're shopping this holiday season. Enter FOV bflo into the search bar to find participating Buffalo Etsy Team shops.

The Buffalo Etsy Team members offer all kinds of delights in their shops, both handmade and vintage!

Thanks for supporting our inaugural "City of Good Neighbors" team project!

Did I really just quit my job?

It’s been 4 months now.

I’m 1/3 of the way through my first year.  

It’s been 127 days since I started.

 I can package it many different ways, but no matter how I state it, the clock is ticking, the days are flying by and my savings are shrinking.

It’s hard to believe actually that this much time has passed since I started working for myself.

 A lot of things have changed and uncertainty and surprise seem to be my constant companions. 

I am not where I had hoped to be, at least not as I had originally pictured it, but I have made some positive strides - none bigger than starting to think beyond my original plan.

July and August were very good months for sales and got me started with a lot of momentum. After that though, things began to drag. I had this idea that if I had time to make more diploma frames and kept adding them to my shop the sales would continue to grow.

That hasn't really happened.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about my approach to this and what my goal actually is (was). I've come to realize that my goal is not to sell diploma frames. My goal is to earn a living, working for myself, doing something I enjoy.

Coming to that realization has opened me up to a much larger pool of options.

While I will continue to sell diploma frames, I plan to add a large selection of picture frames and will soon begin to use pre-cut molding in addition to milling my own.  I've signed on with a wholesale picture frame molding company that provides me hundreds of choices and opportunities to increase revenue, while becoming more efficient.

Not only will that help me increase what I offer in the way of frames I make, I will soon start to “retail” the pre-cut molding through my DIY picture framing web site, so  DIYers can buy nice molding at a reasonable price to make their own frames.

I have just taken on a large project with a local chapel to make hymn book holders for their pews. Working for the Lord has to help, right?

And of course, I've been gearing up for the holiday crafts shows. I have a table at the St. Greg's show November 28-29 and the Heim Middle School show December 6-7.

Whether these things help or not, we'll see, but I know the odds increase as more things are tried.

One thing I said at the beginning is that faith has to play a big part in this. I truly believed that one way or another, things would happen and opportunities would present themselves.  I wasn't sure how, and until I was forced to think beyond my original plan, I didn't realize just how many opportunities are missed if you don’t open your mind.  

So, until the next installment, I will continue to keep my eyes and ears open for the opportunities that are hiding, in plain sight, all around us every day. I hope you do as well.

Al

harvestwoods.com

Teacher Gifts: Thank a Teacher this Holiday Season

Teacher Gifts: They're the best! curated by Buffalove on Etsy