Welcome...

Happy Valentine's Day! ---- and what a great day to share our love with others!

It's an exciting day as we kick off the Stamp to Build Initiative! We can't wait to tell you how just 1,000 Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrators can change a life!

As Leadership 2012 arrived this year, I personally couldn't have guessed how much God would bless my life.  Having coffee one morning, I met Meredith Iler - the chairman of Helping AHero.org. Meredith was fastidiously working to ensure all planned events for the day would be perfect.  You see, it was the day that Extreme Makeover - Home Edition had partnered with the Helping a Hero organization to film a very special episode where together they would award 10 homes to extremely wounded warriors - right there in San Antonio - right on the Riverwalk - moments from where we were attending Leadership.

As Meredith and I began to visit, she asked me if I might be able to invite 10 friends to attend the event that evening on the Riverwalk and a private event to be held in the hotel earlier in the afternoon. One thing led to another and before it was all said and done -  the word had passed to our Stampin' Up!® friends and over 100 Stampin' Up!® demonstrators were on hand to be part of the awards ceremony that evening. What a moving evening that was! These are truly extraordinary men and women!

Walking back to the hotel after the filming of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition session, I began to think of how we, as women, could gather and stamp with our friends to raise money for this very worthy cause....and "Stamp to Build" began to come to life!

I then gathered a couple of my new friends and fellow Rising Stars - Marti Kast and Becky Evans and asked if we could join our efforts to form this initiative.  Both of these gals eagerly agreed and here we are...inviting you - as a fellow Independent Stampin' Up!® demonstrator to join us -  Becky Evans, Marti Kast and me (Dee Yates) to give back to these courageous men and women as we STAMP TO BUILD!

Here's the very simple plan -

1)   Contact a Stamp to Build Team Member for your welcome packet by emailing us at StampToBuild@yahoo.com. Each Welcome Packet will include information for you to share with others about Helping a Hero, Donation Tracking forms and Donation Envelopes.

2)   Follow us on this blog and check back weekly to see where we are in meeting our goal.

3)   Host one or more stamping events between now and May 15, 2012

4)   Let your stamping friends, family and customers (old and new) know about our initiative and ask them to help with a small donation. (Example: $5)

5)   Send donations to Helping a Hero - in a special envelope received from one of the coordinators.

6)   Watch the gift of giving grow!

Our Goal:  1,000 Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrators donating $100 each!  AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT??  We (as Independent Stampin' Up!® Demonstrators partnered with Helping a Hero) can build a home for one of these well-deserving extremely wounded warriors!

How easy can that be?!  Hold and event, do what you love and let that love begin to flow into another's life!

What an unbelievable opportunity to make a difference in the life of heroic men and women that have served our country and secured our freedoms with their lives!  Through their unselfish acts of heroism as they fulfilled their military duties, each of these amazing individuals made enormous personal sacrifices for each of us - in order that we will continue to live in the land of the FREE because of the BRAVE!

Thanks for choosing to Make a Difference today!

Dee Yates (Becky Evans &  Marti Kast)