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 Overview - Do you want to feel loved every month? Do you want to let someone else know you are empathetic to their situation? The Secret Sister program allows ABWA members the opportunity to support, encourage, and inspire another fellow member through small, but thoughtful gifts and/or messages. The message we want to send is "Another person knows your situation, is thinking of you, and wishes you health, happiness, and sanity." Join the secret sister program. Each month you do something nice for your secret sister, and your secret sister does something nice for you.
Members who want to participate in the secret sister program need to fill out the two attached secret sister forms, "All About Me" and "Secret Sister Evaluation" by August 20 to participate for the secret sister program. If possible, please email the two completed forms back to Linda Harnishfeger before August 20 or mail to Linda Harnishfeger to be received prior to August 20.
- The secret sister coordinator, Linda Harnishfeger, will match up secret sisters. Each participating member will know the name of the person they give gifts to, but will not know the name of the person giving them gifts.
- Each participating member needs to do at least one nice thing for their secret sister each month. The nice thing could be: giving a gift, sending a card, something homemade, baking cookies, etc.
- At the end of the period there will be a revealing party and participating members will learn who their secret sister is.
- At the revealing party, an extra special gift can be given.
The Secret Sister program is a voluntary program. Please consider the following before joining. This program will cost you time, in that you have to think about what to give your secret sister and then implement your decision. This program will cost some money. Gifts are typically around $5 + a month and perhaps more for the last month. It can be done cheaper, but it will cost some amount of money. If you join, you are expected to participate for the full period. If you join and then quit, or you join and do not participate, it is unfair to your secret sister. Please consider this before joining. If participating members must quit before the end of the period, they need to let the secret sister coordinator, Linda Harnishfeger, know. At that point the secret sister coordinator will, at her discretion, will reassign the quitting member's sisters.
If you are a participating member and you are not getting anything from your secret sister, let the secret sister coordinator know. The secret sister coordinator will call/email your secret sister and find out what is going on. If the coordinator cannot make contact with the ABWA member after a reasonable attempt, then the coordinator will deem that the member has quit and reassign sisters. This is not fair to participating members, so please consider the time and money commitment before joining. We will understand if your have a death in the family, someone loses a job, your dog ate the gift, you get fired, or you want to be a hermit for a few months, and stuff like that. However, let the coordinator know so that no one is left out.
Each month a theme will be suggested for the month. The theme is not a requirement. You can give a gift off the theme. The theme is provided for those of us who need a little help coming up with ideas. The monthly themes are listed below will be in the monthly newsletter.
Gift Suggestions - The following are ideas for gifts in case you are having trouble thinking of something. Keep your Secret Sister's Profile, "All About Me" handy to refer back to so that you can remember her on special occasions, i.e. her birthday, anniversary, etc. Consider her likes and dislikes, hobbies, what she collects, etc. when choosing gifts. Make an effort to get to know your Secret Sister so that you can also send notes/cards of encouragement and praise.
- Something Homemade
- Small votive candle wrapped in pretty fabric
- A card in the snail mail - Everyone feels good about getting mail that's not a bill
- Fresh cut flowers
- A plant
- Nail polish and a file
- Book
- Box of specialty tea or coffee
- Gift certificates: to her favorite restaurant, ice cream stores, .
- Photo album
- Gift certificate to Block Buster with 2 or 3 bags of microwaveable popcorn
- Picture frames
- Relaxing bath things
- Coffee mug of suckers or her favorite candy
- Nice cookie cutter with recipe and ingredients
- Set of placemats
- Box of peppermint or other candy
- Cool pens, note cards, etc.
- Basket with tablecloth, wine, and glasses
- Handbags/totes
- New journal with nice pen
- The dollar store also has nice items
Potential Themes - The following themes are based on odd holidays that happen to occur during that month. You can also refer to http://www.earthcalendar.net/index.php for ideas for other odd holiday gifts
- January - Chinese New Year, New Beginnings, Get Organized, Oats, Bubble Wrap, Trivia
- February - Love, Mardi Gras, Groundhogs, Baking, Birds, Valentine
- March - The Irish, Spring, Music, Bubbles, Nutrition, A Good Night's Sleep, Breakfast
- April - Jokes, Rain, Earth Day, Marathons, Decorating, Stress Relief, Family History, Spring
- May - Streamers and Flowers, Cinco de Mayo, Space Weather Week, Reading, Eggs, Mother Goose, Scrap booking, The Ocean, Princess
- June - Gingerbread, Flag Day, Summer, Rose, Favorite Superhero, Donuts
- July - Red, White, and Blue, Blueberries, Ice Cream, Sun, Bees, Cows, Houseplants
- August - Friendship Day, Eagles, Native Americans, Elvis, Smiles, Relaxation
- September - Grandparents, Talk Like a Pirate, Autumn, Honey, Waffles, Citizenship
- October - Spooky and Scary, Corn, Goodwill, Teddy Bears, Eggs, Favorite Color
- November - Peanut Butter, Our Animal Friends, Sadie Hawkins, Mickey Mouse
- December - Winter Solstice, Christmas, Bingo, Peace
Above all, have fun and enjoy getting to know and surprising your secret sister! You can be that person's encouragement and praise that they need right when they need it.
Please direct any questions, suggestions, ideas, etc. to Linda Harnisfeger, Secret Sister Coordinator |
