Book by book, wish by wish, hamper goal doubled

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/12/2021 (1549 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In October, I wrote about Ally Beauchesne, my friend who was holding an online book sale to raise money to make Christmas hampers for families in need this holiday season. This was the second year that she has organized the online sale. This year, Ally had a goal of raising enough money to make 10 hampers for families in need — up from last year’s seven.

Well, I wanted to give a little update on what she accomplished, because it’s nothing short of spectacular.

“I don’t even know how many books I sold,” she told me on a quick phone call last Thursday. “I know that there were 107 buyers and that we made $2,772. But, a lot of people donated more money with their book purchases. I haven’t had a chance to count how many books we actually sold.” 

This year’s book sale not only helped Ally raise money for the hampers she put together, it also helped her form new connections and friendships with people. One person, she told me, reached out to explain they were cleaning out the home of a friend who had just passed away and had collected a bunch of books that they wanted to donate.

“When they showed up they had 12 moving-type boxes full of books,” Ally said.

After the sale she started posting online, asking her followers if they wanted to kick in for some of the items that she needed. She’d scour flyers — something she says she enjoys doing — and when she would find a good deal on something she would post about it on Twitter, asking if anyone wanted to sponsor a part of, or the entire bulk order of that product. 

“Every time I’d post a wish I would be bombarded with messages and etransfers,” she said. “I honestly probably got like 500 etransfers since I started. I found it to be really effective when I would post the specific items, like 25 bags of sugar, and ask people if they wanted to help buy it. That way they knew exactly what their money was being used for.”

Post after post, people would meet her call to action, which meant that Ally could sign up to make another hamper. Her initial goal of 10 hampers turned to 11, then 12, then 13 and so on. The momentum increased at such a rapid pace that before she knew it she had signed up to make her 20th hamper. When that one was done, she decided to try for hampers 21 and 22.

“When I called the (Christmas Cheer Board) they asked if I could do two hampers for families of six or more people,” she said. “I really took a chance when I said that we’ll do it.”

When a grocery store was giving away free turkeys with the purchase of $300 worth of groceries, Ally took advantage of the freebie. One day, with her baby in tow, she did three large shopping hauls — taking breaks in the store’s parking garage to feed her baby.

In the middle of collecting for her Christmas hampers, Ally heard that Manitoba Harvest was in need of baby cereal, so she decided to collect money for that as well. She raised around $1,000, which allowed her to buy 310 boxes in total of baby cereal for the food bank.

She’s humble and excited when she speaks about her hampers and the baby cereal drive. She credits her village of friends and family, including the new connections she’s made through this venture and her local buy nothing group for the success. 

“I mean, this is better than my wildest dreams could have ever imagined,” she said. 

In total, Ally raised between $7,000 to $8,000, not counting the money she raised for the baby cereal. She put together 22 hampers for families of various sizes, and counted 48 kids who this initiative helped. 

Next year, she says, she plans to do this again. She’ll start small, and build with the momentum as it grows. 

“You never know what’s gonna happen,” she said. 

shelley.cook@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @ShelleyACook