Category: Charity

Purge 2017: The Wrap-Up

Erin1 Comment

Hey! It’s everyone’s favorite time: accounting time!

So a couple months ago I decided to purge a bunch of me-made dresses that I just don’t wear anymore, and give half of the net proceeds to Chicago Books to Women in Prison. (Dress buyers could also request a “MADE IN A HURRY BY ERIN MCKEAN” label for their dresses for $2, and all label money would go straight to Chicago BWP.)

So, for the curious, here is how the accounting worked out:

  • of 43 listed dresses, 39 sold
  • 15 labels were sold at $2 each, so $30
  • shipping costs were $340.55 (with the single largest shipping cost being $95.95, to send five dresses to the UK). Dresses were also sent to Australia and Canada.
  • Paypal fees were $47.28

So:

Screen Shot 2017-08-27 at 9.24.56 AM

And, so, rounding up:Screen Shot 2017-08-27 at 9.17.56 AM

Thanks so much to everyone who bought a dress! (And special thanks to those of you who sent me pictures of you wearing your new dresses, they made me incandescently happy!)

The last few dresses will be on their way to Goodwill shortly. If I have time I will put labels in them—if you find one at your local Goodwill, please let me know!

 

It's That Time Again …

Erin4 Comments

Time to do a charity donation drive! 

Women-for-women-logo-share

This year’s charity is Women for Women International. Why give to a women-focused charity? I strongly recommend you check out that link — but here’s the short version, from their web site:

  • [Women] bear a disproportionate burden of the world’s poverty (They represent 70 percent of the world’s poor)
  • Their ability to have a decent life is limited (they perform 66 percent of the world’s work and produce 50 percent of the food but they only earn 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent of the property)
  • Investment in women is inadequate (recent data shows that only 3.6% of overseas development assistance was earmarked for gender equality (UNIFEM). And for every dollar of development assistance, two cents goes to girls (Girl Effect).
  •  During and after conflict, women are particularly vulnerable to violence and exploitation (About 70% of casualties in recent conflicts are women and children (UNIFEM) and the forms of violence they experience include torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution and mutilation (UN)

Women for Women does great work in trying to change all of the above.

And to encourage you to give if you can, here’s the deal: the first 15 people to donate this year will get a galley copy of The Secret Lives of Dresses. (Just email me [erin at dressaday dot com] your receipt and your mailing address).

http://www.networkforgood.org/PCA/Badge.swf?BadgeId=114975

If we reach $1200 in donations by December 25, I will write a new “secret lives” story, that will include the top-two vote-getters below:

http://modpoll.com/poll.js?pid=agdwb2xsMmdvcg0LEgRQb2xsGLvHlwYM&theme=&width=200
Sound good? Let’s go!