I mentioned in my 'new house' thread that I would make a post about the Snowman Project. Last year, Linda Cunningham (rainyday here on the forum; some of you from the forum have met her) decided that she would show Josh's mom Sue and her friends how to make the snowmen she designed from papercrete. Sue and the Building a Dream crew got busy and made hundreds of the little guys to sell. They dumped a giant chunk into the BADITC house fund last year. This summer, as the fund seemed to be stalling out, Linda wanted to do something to help get the total to the point where the house could be ordered. We talked it over several times, and she decided that she would try to gather a crew and make and sell the snowmen here in Illinois. We organized right after Labor Day, got a local store in Linda's hometown to carry them, and started making them. Linda had recently met a neighbor down the road from her who offered to help, and she brought her friends and family to make and dress the snowmen. The group became known as the Stockton/Willow elves, for the area where they all live. They have been showing up faithfully ever since, at least once and sometimes twice a week. They started taking the finished snowmen to their churches and banks and stores all over the area, along with flyers we printed up telling the Spece family story. The whole thing snowballed.
Yes, I did say that. We have been able to contribute thousands of dollars so far to the fund, with more to come.
Marlys Anderson has been working with her daughter Ruth Ann for months to make and sell crafts to benefit the fund as well. Other donations have started coming in as well, and the house was ordered this fall.
The hosta community has rallied around and held quite a few fundraisers across the country, in which many of you have participated.
For those of you who don't have access to Facebook, where updates are posted often by Kathy Finholt and the Building a Dream In The Country team, there is a website,
http://www.buildingadreaminthecountry.com where you can go and see how things are going. The foundation was dug a week ago Monday, and the footings poured. Concrete work has been held up by the weather for now, but the house is nearly finished and will be ready to go on the foundation as soon as they can get it done.
It's been an honor to help with this event, and all of us are so excited for Josh and the family that the dream is becoming reality.
Here's a pic of the papercrete snowmen that have blanketed NW Illinois the last few months.
