Reflections of a Scrapbook Royalty/Charity Wings Volunteer

by Karen Poirier-Brode (Ladydoc)

Scrapbook Royalty (AKA Charity Wings, our new umbrella structure) volunteers assembled in our “green room” on the Monday evening before CHA to put together goodie bags for our wonderful sponsors. Elena and Sheila had been at it all day with some great support from Liz! We had dinner together (yummy food, great fellowship) and made plans to meet the next morning. We got our Club Royalty volunteer t-shirts and wore our sparkly tiaras! The volunteers organized and recorded donations of goods for the events and prepared pamphlets for our booth. This was the first time we had a booth on the floor at CHA. Having a home base on the floor was a real treat. The green room is so far from the CHA show floor and does not help with visibility and awareness the way the booth does. Not that we didn’t like our green room, very useful and a good spot to regroup at the end of the day!

At our booth, we greeted folk, told them of our mission, handed out buttons and requested donations for the complete set of buttons. Some volunteers went with Elena to visit the vendors to thank them or request donations. Thanks again to all the volunteers!

We enjoyed meeting the retailers, celebrities and the companies that attended CHA. So many were so very generous!

One job we were happy to do was to take part in the Westcott Scissors benefit party for the Wyland Foundation. Charity Wings was in charge of the silent auction. Beautiful sea themed arts and crafts were available for bids as was a seriograph by Wyland himself titled Dolphin Playground. The sea theme décor, the delicious food and drinks and the delightful company made it a night to remember. Once again, raising money for a worthy charity; what we are all about!

After 3 days of work at CHA you’d think we were ready to slow down. Not a chance! While I did most of my volunteer activity at CHA as did others, there were some fabulous folk who worked both events, many thanks to all, with a special nod to Lisa. Other people joined in to help for the Supershow. Awesome volunteer support, love all of you! Scrapbook Royalty needed to clean up after CHA and get ready for our big event – the crop! While this CHA was a smaller show, the enthusiasm of the volunteers and guests was not diminished and we raised $4000+ at the crop which benefitted 

The silent auction was full of the latest releases, in some cases the entire line of new products. The donors outdid themselves and the bidders were determined! The goody bags were “Wow!” and the Royal extra goody bag even more “Wow”! Prizes continued right to the end of the event, of course. Lots and lots of fun all through! The demonstrations, make and takes, and celebrity guests received rave reviews and the fun gift prizes from these visitors were fantastic! Thanks to all who attended the crop! Great participants, guests, and super volunteer help!

Hmmm, CHA in L.A. in January, I think I’m getting excited about doing this all again.