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Sunday, February 26, 2012

OH February Grant Winners!


Who knew your pot of gold could come from Donkey and Sheep and bless so many at the same time??

We thought this would be a smaller grant contest, without as many of you participating...
Let me just say that there were some of you who sold like champs!! You really went above and beyond. You guys have some AMAZING friends and family out there who love and support you and are blessing you and so many others at the same time all through your cause!

Your Ordinary Heroes bought  Donkeys and Sheep and are gonna BLESS the socks off some awesome families on our next trips! Y'all sold 31 and 1/2 SHEEP in 9 days! and you sold 13 and 1/2 Donkeys! AMAZING... and lets not forget all the shoes, bibles, raincoats, blankets and all the COOL OH Gear and Our rocking stuff from our OH Product Partners!!

Oh my goodness!! Thank you all for your MIGHTY efforts in BLESSING so many who have so little!

OK who won?! We are giving 3 $500 grants!! Woo Hoo!!


It was a BLOWOUT for our Top winner....Gerald and  Jill Hiestand from Rolling Hills, IL. They are adopting from Ethiopia and are currently waiting on a referral. They used email, blogger and facebook and were VERY creative with their posts and request during this contest. They started a Top 10 Donkey club and later added a Top 10 Sheep club!  Their blog is where I got the picture of the crazy Donkey I was posting on the OH Fundraising page earlier this week!  Love this! Made me laugh out loud for sure!



Y'all have some AMAZING friends cause they sold $5967 worth of merchandise! They earned $2386 in commissions and of course add on that $500 Grant which brings their 9 day fundriaing earning total to $2886!!!!Congratulations to YOU for winning your FIRST OH Grant! They heard about Ordinary Hero from Lucy Lane's blog! This is the most sales EVER that any of our affialites have ever brought in over 9 days! We can't wait to hand out all those sheep and donkeys!
Check out their blog.....http://babyopia.blogspot.com/


Our SECOND $500 Grant Winner is Paige Alleca from the Buffalo NY area!!!!
She and her husband brought home their 2 Ethiopian Blessings a little over a year ago. It has been her dream ever since to be able to go back. She decided to step out in faith and join a Visiting Orphans trip to Ethiopia in July 2012. 
Paige sent us this a few days ago "Long story short just a few weeks before the grant contest I had decided I was going to have to cancel my trip. We had a huge change in our financial situation which left me with not $1 to spare towards my trip. I was sharing my story with Kara Vassar, last months OH Grant winner, and she encouraged me to give OH grant contest a try!!! "Boy am I glad I did!! The reponse has been HUGE!!!" We shared this Grant contest on FB via 100 posts a day!!! Kara was the main reason I did so well!!! She encouraged me every day and posted like crazy!!! I will totally recommend OH and the grant contest to all of my friends!!! I love the whole concept of how OH works!! Not only are you helping those who need to raise money but you are helping those in Ethiopia!!! Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity!! Whether I win or not it has been a HUGE blessing!!"
Paige -- YOU WON! So Paige sold $1719 in product merchandise and she earned $687 in her OH Commissions! Tack on an extra $500 to that and BAM her fundraising total in 9 days is $1187! Congratualtions Paige!
Our third place winner is no stranger to the OH Grant Contest! She is a multiple Grant winner-- she has placed in several contests in the past when she and her family were fundraising to bring their son home from Ethiopia! Her son arrived home just last month! She and her daughter are now fundraising to go back to Ethiopia to SERVE on an OH Missons trip this summer!
Congratualtions CRYSTAL ARCHIE from Nolensville, TN! You sold over $1516  in product and earned $605 in OH commissions. Tack on another $500 for winning the Grant and BAM--- Girlfriend you raised a total of $1105 in 9 days! Amazing!


We have a couple of HONORABLE MENTIONS! 


KIM ADAMS, with only 5 sales, sold over $1000 and came painfully close to third place. These grant contests get hard to watch sometimes as they run so close. Kim has won a previous grant contest and almost did it again!! Kim, great job getting the word out! We will be emailing you with a $50 gift certificate. 


JESSICA HEESCH, you continue to pull out the sales!! Jessica has won a grant contest in the past and been honorable mention twice!! She came real close to selling $1000 this month. This goes to show that just because you win a grant it doesn't mean you have to stop trying the next month. Great Job, Jessica!! We will be emailing you a $50 gift certificate. 


Congrats to ALL WHO SOLD!! You are ALL WINNERS because you all received 40% in commission off of ALL your sales. BIG THANK YOUS to all who purchased on behalf of our OH Affiliates!! Our affiliates could not reach their goal without your help. It is soooo greatly appreciated to help them reach their fundraising goal!! 


ALSO SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR AWESOME PRODUCT PARTNERS THIS MONTH!! 

Amy Swartz sent us her awesome Adoption car/wall decals that sold like hotcakes! Be sure to check out her shop HERE! THANK YOU AMY!!

Jen Hatmaker sent us her awesome new book, 7, An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, that just hit the shelves!! This is an awesome book that you must read! They are selling like crazy! Check out her site, HERE! Thanks, Jen!!

Kara Vassar sent us some amazing Africa necklaces that are almost gone! Check them out. She is supporting Future Hope Campaign which helps bring support and awareness to Yezelalem Minch, a children and community development ministry in Ethiopia. Thank you, Karen!!

You can find all our monthly product partners listed on our right sidebar. If YOU are interested in becoming an OH Product Partner and/or would like more info, please email Gina@OrdinaryHero.org. Also, CLICK HERE to find out more about our Affiliate Program.

As always, HUGE SHOUT OUT TO GINA, OUR AWESOME FUNDRAISING COACH!! Thanks for keeping everyone rolling during these grant contests and keeping it FUN while they FUNdraise!!


Friday, February 24, 2012

Ordinary Heroes & Blessing Bags!!

Ordinary Heroes come in all sizes! 
I love when the kiddos take their great big hearts and want to bless others! 
I have a few Ordinary Hero BLESSING BAG STORIES FOR YOU....

We have lots of little DAISY SCOUTS FROM OREGON who took part in making Blessing Bags!

Ginny from Oregon emailed me and showed me that her daughter, Madeleine's Girl Scout troop had a fun day of making BLESSING BAGS for one of their projects. 


First she had the girls watch one of our OH Ethiopia videos to show them who their bags are gonna be blessing :-) 

Then they got to work! 


They had all planned ahead and brought items for the bags. 

And they put decorated notes in each one :-)

Thank you Ginny and Madeleine for being examples of Ordinary Heroes in Oregon and bringing your Daisy scout troop in on the fun of BLESSING others. You can read Ginny's blogpost about it here.


I also saw where Christine's daughter chose to make Blessing Bags for her 11th birthday instead of receiving gifts. Wow! This is what her blog post said.
"My daughter chose to make "Blessing Bags" for Ethiopia this year for her 11th birthday. Instead of receiving gifts from us or her friends, she requested items for the Blessing Bags. She was so excited to be able to use what could have been her blessings to bless others. Sorry, lots of use of the word "blessings" but you know what I mean!"
What a little Hero that little girl is!! Thank you guys for helping with such a worthy cause on such a special day!!


Also, we have Danae. I wrote a blog post a while back about Danae hosting a Blessing Bag party for her 30th birthday. It was awesome! 

Well, now she recently contacted me and said that she and her hubby have found their adorable little 
2 1/2 yr old son they are going to adopt from our Waiting Children list. WooHoo!! 
They are so excited!
They are currently the featured family this week on the Give1Save1 site.  
Go check them out and see if you can help them with some fundraising. 
They made this adorable video as they wait to bring their son home. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF YOU ORDINARY HEROES, BIG AND SMALL!
It takes a village to raise a child, especially a child in need. 
A helping hand goes such a long way!!

God Bless!   
 ~ Kelly

Saturday, February 18, 2012

New Indigo Blue Africa shirts....and Mailroom Model?


Ok, so you gotta love a great sport when something is thrown on them all of a sudden! Especially when we are all running in a million different directions and have a million great ideas and trying to bring them all to fruition.

What am I talking about??

Well......We just got in these GREAT LOOKING new Tees!! It is basically our best selling Eco-Black Africa shirt.......in Blue Indigo! I LOVE these tees! They feel awesome.....so soft!! They are a unisex fit.

So we got them in and they were already at the mailroom.

That's all great......except...

I needed a picture of one for the store QUICK so I could get them in this grant contest.

So do I dare ask Nathan, my mailroom guy, to actually put on a shirt, become a model for us, and take a picture of himself and send it to me??  

YOU BETCHA!! :-)

The awesome thing about is....He did it for us!! What a guy! 

So for those of you who order from us regularly, now you can catch a glimpse of Nathan who packages all your items for you.

I said, "Nathan, can you get one of yourself smiling?"
He sent me this.

"What about a serious face?"


"Can you send me a pic of you in the mailroom?"
He sent me this and threw in Zack, a new guy that is helping him :-) Hi Zack!

So there you have it! 
Introducing our brand new Eco-Indigo Africa Tees, brought to you by
Nathan, the Mailroom Model,
and his friend Zack. 

I want to give a huge shout out to Nathan, Russ, and all the Get It Guru mailroom crew for taking the load off of us at OH by handling all our packaging for us, especially during our crazy grant giveaways. 
They are so great to work with....
and they model our product too...who knew? :-) 
Thanks guys!

Now CLICK HERE to head over to the OH store. New grant giveaway just started yesterday and runs through next Saturday. It's never too late to become an OH affiliate and raise some extra funds for your adoption or mission trip. 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

OH GRANT Contest Starts Tomorrow--Friday, Feb 17th!!!

It's that TIME again!

OH GRANT TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!


Who wants this?

Cause 3 of you are gonna WIN some BONUS cash!!!

Why shouldn't it be YOU?

Please pass along this opportunity along to anyone you know who is fundraising for their Adoption or their Mission Trip!!

How does the OH affiliate program work and how do you get the $500 grant? You earn 40% of  EVERYTHING you sell in the OH STORE  and the top 3 sellers win a BONUS $500 bucks! Woo hoo! Everyone earns money!



Click HERE to sign up to be an OH Affilaite! It's FREE!

This contest will start at 12:01 am this Friday and will last until next SATURDAY night, Feb 25th at midnight (Central time!)

Happy OH Selling and find OH Fundraising on FB for helpful selling hints! Good luck!

Gina, our Fundraising Coach will be sending out an email to all of our affiliates with tips... If you don't get her email then contact her at Gina@ordinaryhero.org to let her know! Her email will go out tonight! So be on the lookout! :)


OH is also SUPER Excited about our Feburary Product Partners (PP's) this month! They have shared their AMAZING goodies with us and want to HELP YOU bring your child home and/or fundraise for your mission trip! We will be featuring them in a blog post soon, so stay tuned! They love the orphan and want to help! We heart their GIVING hearts! We were so excited last month when 2 of our 3 Grant winners were past Product Partners! So FUN to watch God bless those who bless others!
**If you would like more information on how to become an OH Product Partner contact Gina at Gina@Ordinaryhero.org    We are currently accepting PP's for April!

Alright...Grant contest starts tomorrow! Are you gonna be "in it to WIN it?" Why NOT?

It's FREE and Easy Cheesie.... we will help you showcase our products via social media/email/etc and BAM!.. You start earning money! What are you waiting for? Sign up today! to become an OH affilaite! Its a super quick contest (9 days short!) and you can yield some quick cash! Our average winners earn well over $1,000 each! that could make a dent in your mission trip deposit or pay for most of your homestudy! (And we have FUN while we fundraise!)

Know someone fundraising for missions or adoptions? Tell them about this contest and help them bless their fundraising efforts! Share this on your FB page if you can! Thank you for being an Ordinary Hero!



Good Luck everyone!!!!!! It's gonna be FUN!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Mud, Muck & Mire....Wow!!! Team Ordinary Hero, Tough Mudder!!!!


This AWESOME group of Ordinary Hero, TOUGH Mudders gave their ALL this weekend in Atlanta!!

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM COMPLETED THIS AWESOME, HARD BEYOND WORDS,  16 MILE, OBSTACLE COURSE.

They beat hypothermia, exhaustion, ran through MUD, FIRE, FREEZING WATER, CLIMBED GREAT HEIGHTS, AND RAN LONG MILES......

WHY, YOU ASK?????

THIS IS WHY!! 

You see, just as they might start to become tired and question whether they could go on.....

THIS COMES TO MIND.....



.....the many children who walk long miles every day, just for water to drink. 

SO THEY PRESS ON.....


Slushing through the mud, losing your shoes, you might ask IS THIS WORTH IT? 

THEN YOU REMEMBER HOW CHILDREN IN AFRICA LIVE EVERY DAY. 



30 DEGREE WEATHER IN THE WATER!!

AS YOU ARE ABOUT TO TAKE THE PLUNGE......
THINKING HOW COLD IT'S GOING TO BE WHEN YOU FALL IN......

IS IT WORTH IT???

THEN YOU REMEMBER......

THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE TO PLUNGE IN COLD, DIRTY WATER EVERY DAY JUST TO HAVE A BATH. 

AND THEN YOU REALIZE, THERE ARE CHILDREN MUCH COLDER THAN YOU. 


SO YOU GRAB THEIR HAND.....


AND YOU PRESS ON!!!

YOU GET TO A POINT WHERE THE MOUNTAIN LOOKS TOO BIG. 

THEN YOU REMEMBER.....

THERE ARE CHILDREN COUNTING ON YOU....


CHILDREN WHO LOOK TO YOU FOR HOPE.....


AND SO YOU PRESS ON!!!

THROUGH THE COLD...

THROUGH THE WET....

 AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT......

YOU FINISHED!!

WAS IT WORTH IT??


 ABSOLUTELY!!!


Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.




SOMETIMES GOD COUNTS ON US TO SHOW HIS GRACE TO THOSE IN NEED. 

THIS LITTLE ONE IS WORTH IT!

 THESE CHILDREN HAVE DREAMS TOO.

SOME ORPHANS FIND THEIR WAY TO A FAMILY AND A FUTURE....



BUT WE CAN'T FORGET THE ONES LEFT BEHIND WHO DON'T. 



THEY COUNT ON ME.....AND THEY COUNT ON YOU. 

THEY GRAB OUR HEARTS....


EACH YEAR AS WE HAVE TO SAY GOODBYE TO THOSE LEFT BEHIND IN THE BEAUTIFUL LAND OF AFRICA.....

WE PROMISE THEM WE WILL FIGHT FOR THEIR CAUSE!

WE WON'T FORGET!!

THANK YOU TEAM OH FOR GOING THE DISTANCE!!!

RICK FLORES, SETH DAVIS, GRACE GRAHAM,
 JOHN MAXSON, MITCH POUSSON, STEVEN MONCIBAIS, DAN BENSON 

CLICK HERE to see all of the photos from the day. Special thanks to Angela Davis for the great photos! 

IF YOU MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE IN SUPPORT OF TEAM OH, ON BEHALF OF THE ORPHANS IN AFRICA THAT WE SERVE...CLICK HERE.

TOUGH MUDDER NASHVILLE!!!  COMING 2013!!!