"Okay..." I said. "What exactly are you going to sell, when, and where are you going to be doing this?"
"I'm going to have an art sale in our garage. I'm going to sell some drawings I made," she replied. "I think I could get $20 for a picture."
Trying to hold back a snicker, I replied, "That might be a bit much for a sketch by a five-year-old, but you can try." I really was trying not to discourage her, but the situation was a bit bleak. When I asked her what she was going to do with her money, she said,
"I don't know. Keep it and put it in my piggy bank, I guess."
I thought it was pretty cool that she wanted to do an art sale in the fashion of your regular lemonade stand, but I was a bit concerned that she would be in our garage, where no one could see her, and no one would come buy her art, and she would be heartbroken. I told her as much, and she just shrugged, and said she was having an art sale.
Needless to say, after we were outside for a while (with Ezra riding his bike like a maniac, me knitting), she came to me, obviously frustrated and said, "WHY is no one coming?"
After explaining that no one knew she was there, nor could anyone see her, I suggested we make some signs and try the sale in a few days after we posted some flyers around the neighborhood. I also suggested that maybe if she were to raise money to buy something meaningful, perhaps people would be more inclined to purchase a drawing. This peaked her giving-oriented little heart, and I asked her what she might want to do with the money. We had recently received a catalog from World Vision, so I suggested that she look through there and pick something out that wasn't too expensive (we want to have a reasonable goal to attain so she could have success), but substantial enough to feel really big for her.
She was excited by this point, and after perusing the magazine chose the animal section. We found a listing for a goat and two chickens for $100. I told her that if she were going to pick this, she would have to make a LOT of drawings. She looked at me like I was crazy and said something about how she could sell a few drawings for a LOT of money and that would be the end. Not wanting to make it seem like her drawings weren't WORTH a lot of money, I told her most people wouldn't want to pay lots of money for a simple, quick drawing that a five-year-old made (excepting family members and grandparents, of course, but none of these people would be AT the said sale). We were able to agree that a drawing could definitely be sold for a dollar and when she realized she needed to make 100 drawings her eyes got big, and she said, "I've got a LOT of work to do!"
Well, SHE got right to work, but you know how life is with young kids. Life happens, something that was a big deal one moment is simply forgotten the next, and time goes on. SO, here we are, almost a year later, and Stella came to me last Monday and announced that she was GOING to have an art sale. The tone suggested RIGHT NOW, which made me realize that if she was coming back to this idea almost a year later, this was very important to her. She unearthed the folder where she had been saving her drawings, and got right to work adding to it.
Our neighborhood was having a flea market-type community garage sale, so we set up shop this Saturday and were able to raise $36!! Combined with a few other donations from this winter, we're right at $56. She is SO EXCITED to see the fruits of her idea, and it is so fun to see her so pleased to help others.
She was a bit frustrated that she didn't get to sell everysinglelastone of her drawings at our sale, and so I said we could ask our friends and family for help, That's where all of you come in!
For a suggested donation of $1.50 (or less or more--the 50¢ is for postage. Make it $2 if you don't want your picture folded and we'll mail it in a large envelope), you will receive one bona-fide Stella Schulte original drawing, painting, sketch, possible sculpture, you never know what this girl will come up with thing-a-ma-jig. All YOU have to do is email us (if you're reading this, I'm assuming you have my-Heather-email and I will not post it publicly here) your snail-mailing address, and then send us your donation via paypal. (Our pp account is Nick's email address. If you need that info, contact me.) We will promptly mail you your artwork.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Also, if we get more money than her goal, we'll choose some other animals, or school supplies or something else from their catalog to send to children in need.
I'm really excited to see how all this plays out, and for Stella to see how one seemingly simple and small idea can effect change for the good and betterment of others in the world around her. Thanks in advance!
