Hello Friends and Family!!!
Hiya! How is your summer going? We think this summer will go down in history as the fastest yet for us…as well as the toasty-est! As we savor the moments, we’ve already enjoyed many adventures, as well as lots of lazy days. A win-win! We had to skip our summer children’s walk-a-thon this June due to family circumstances, but we’ve been working hard on our crayon fundraising project, My Green Crayon….which is why we’re sharing this email with you!
You are receiving this email because you’ve supported our Walk4Water fundraisers, come to our Open Houses in November, shopped at Three Below to help raise funds for clean water projects, or just because we really, really like you and wanted to say HI! 🙂 Thank you for being our best cheerleaders, encouragers, and like-minded crazy friends. We couldn’t do a single thing without YOU!
Ok, so is anyone out there bored a bit, are you finding yourself with some down time in the car on the way to vacation, or at the pool, or are the kids bored and you’d welcome an idea to give ’em a little something to do? Introducing, our Peeling Partner Service Shoutout!
We would like to offer an exchange…..a quart-sized bag of crayons for you and/or your children to peel, in exchange for cool prizes, free molded crayons, or credit toward your November 2010 Open House shopping fun! Each bag comes with helpful tips and tricks on how to quickly & most easily peel the crayons, a brief recap of why clean water is so important, and a blurb about the My Green Crayon project (might come in handy when the other folks at the pool ask you what on earth you are doing?!)……..
Average time to peel one quart-sized bag is 2-3 hours.
Prizes for returned bags of peeled crayons include: bracelets, keychains, necklaces, notebooks, molded crayons (any crayon of your choice!), and more fun stuff being added all the time…..or if nothing catches your eye, a coupon for $2.00 credit at this fall’s Kerwin Open House (currently planned for Fri – Sat, November 12-13, 2010). No limit to how many bags you can peel, and all ages of peelers are welcome! And as a bonus…..friends and family (and many a teacher / student / Girl Scout…….thank you!) that have helped me peel in the past have all said how relaxing it is to peel crayons – no thinking required, just calming / portable / simple peeling……. I agree! (and now you know why I peel crayons so often…..for stress relief!!!!!!!) 🙂 Peeling the crayons is the most time-consuming part of this recycled-crayon fundraising project……and we would love your help!
This past Spring, we were invited to share our project with several local preschools & elementary schools, and several Girl Scout venues. What a FUN and AMAZING first year we’ve had! Our project began in April 2009, with the idea of doing a small Earth Day family service project….and it has grown and morphed (happily!) since then! Crayon sales this year (2010) have already generated nearly $500 for clean water projects! Woohoo!!! We are currently raising funds for an amazing non-profit called charity: water (
www.charitywater.org);
50% of each crayon sale supports their clean water initiatives around the world. I’ve been stretched and humbled by what I’ve learned about the overwhelming lack of clean water and sanitation in large areas of the world, leaving so many children sick from diseased water….. the crayons help me to share their story and do something about it!
In preparation for fall sales and educational opportunities, we’ve been doing a TON of peeling around here (I think that we’ll save the baking part for when it’s a lot cooler!)…..and we’d welcome any /all help! Whether you’d like to help peel……. or you sense you should pray for my wax-soaked brain, 
or simply wonder if maybe I should get out (a lot!) more…… :-). PLEASE KNOW THAT THERE’S NO OBLIGATION WHATSOEVER! I am just thankful for friends who would read such a long email 
(no really, you’re amazing!), and that God has given me a way to mix my passions and skills, something fun that I can do with our kiddos…..something that gives me an opportunity to share what I’m learning and what God’s doing……with friends old and new!
Please shoot me an email (kristenkerwin@gmail.com) if you’re interested, and we’ll have a peeling kit ready for ya! (For friends attending VBS at Fairview Village Church this week, I will have some with me…..) Of course, if you just have some ‘well-loved’ crayons still kicking around the bottom of your child’s backpack….or if you’d like to donate any new crayons to help us expand the color palette of donated crayons, we’d love that, too! THANK YOU!
Stay cool, and many blessings to y’all!
Luv,
Kristen & family
Note: If you’d like to see some photos of the molded crayons, please check under the “October 2099” blog entry, then scroll down to find the slideshow of pix. (Please note: the captions on each photo reflect accurate content regarding the world water crisis – and the inspiration for these fundraising efforts! – but the recipient of the funds raised has changed from “PlayPumps International” to “charity: water” (www.charitywater.org). Thank you!
Crayon Peeling Tips and Tricks
Three Basic Approaches to Peeling
1) Fingernails rule! This is how we Kerwins peel all of our crayons, as it’s the safest and simplest, and very portable! Not for those who love their thumb nail, perhaps….but very effective!
2) X-acto knife – Preparation done by ADULTS ONLY PLEASE! Friends who have used this method find it easiest to use a sharp, thin knife to cut the crayon paper from top to bottom, and many of the papers then ‘pop’ right off. Parents can make a first pass, cutting the crayon papers for their children…then giving the crayons to the children for the final step.
3) Super soaker! By a fun ‘accident’, some very resourceful Girl Scouts found that if your crayons get left out in the rain (or are soaked in a tub, or in the sink) 🙂 they often peel a bit more easily. For the crayons that don’t peel after soaking, allow them to dry on a towel and then try a different method!
LAST RESORT RECOMMENDATION: ADULTS ONLY PLEASE!
*When your crayon is just giving you major attitude, or the glue seems extra sticky, or the paper came mostly off but not totally…we just scrape it off with a knife (or fingernail, if that’s what’s available!) Not as satisfying, but thankfully it’s a rarely-needed tactic!
Other notes and tidbits:
*The blue lunch sack in your “peeling kit” is for the crayon papers. Please place your peeled crayon papers inside the sack, then simply recycle the bag! Nothing wasted! 🙂
*If you find anything besides crayons in your bag, feel free to keep or toss it or return it to us…occasionally, an eraser or button or pencil sneaks into the donations that we get from the schools…it’s like a treasure hunt in a bag!
*SPECIAL FAVOR: If you get frustrated, bored, or just plum run out of time, please just return the crayons to us! A lot of leg work goes into collecting donations, and it means bunches to us to get the crayons back. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!
Email or call if you need help! Luv, Kristen 🙂
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