Success… $3,500.00 raised!

Posted on June 17, 2014 by jdurley

It’s been just just over a week now and everyone who bought some perennials from our plant sale during the Concession Street Festival (and there were a lot of you) should now be enjoying the new additions to your garden. We couldn’t have done this without all of the extremely generous plant donations from neighbours, friends and family. Thank you a million times over. We had a few draws to help raise money as well.

And the winners are… (drum roll please)…

Royal Botanical Garden day passes: Michele and Lorraine

Garden Gift Basket (donated by Waterdown Seniors Group)- Kate

Flight over Niagara Falls (donated by Lizzy McFLy): Mike

Congratulations to the four of you. Enjoy your prizes and thank you for helping us Grow a Dream!

We raised $3,500.00 between an indoor plant sale, perennial sale, raffles, and online donations. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to let you all know what we bought for the Juravinski Cancer Centre.

Two Sleeps

Posted on June 6, 2014 by jdurley

Two sleeps until the big day… we have over two trailers full of perennials ready for your garden. Can’t wait to see you at the Concession Street Festival on June 7th from 11:00am until 6:00pm.. Don’t forget, for a minimum $10 donation you can win a flight around Niagara Falls with Lizzy McFly! Click here for details.

The kindness of strangers is a recipe for new friendships

Posted on June 4, 2014 by jdurley

Joan has been out and about collecting perennials from generous gardeners, and we’ve both been helping neighbours with their gardening and being rewarded with perennials for the plant sale. Joan has even been out helping people she happens to meet with their gardening. She has been on the receiving end of: “If you do my gardening, you can take what you want.” So she does, but only takes some, not too much, so that gardens remain pretty and full.

And then there are those that reply to her Kijiji ad which asks for perennial donations. Jane is one such person. She has written a beautiful post about Joan and Grow a Dream on her website. You can read the article by clicking here. Jane is also a Hamiltonian with an Etsy Shop featuring upcycled jewelry. I always love finding new Canadian shop owners on Etsy, don’t you?

Thanks to everyone who donated perennials to the Grow a Dream fundraiser! We have a whole host of plants just waiting for a new garden; maybe yours? We couldn’t do this without your support. Thank you!!! Hopefully we’ll meet some new friends and reconnect with old ones at the Festival this SATURDAY!

Gardening…

Posted on May 22, 2014 by jdurley

I’ve been in the garden. What have you been up to?

We are 16 days away from the fundraiser during the Concession Street Festival on June 7th. If you have been gardening, like me, maybe you’ve split some perennials and you’d like to donate them to the Grow A Dream plant sale. If you are in the Hamilton – Niagara area and you do, drop us a line at growadreamhamilton@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

Birdhouses for sale!

Posted on March 6, 2014 by jdurley

Joan has been busy building birdhouses to sell at the fundraiser during the Concession Street Festival on June 7th. They are pretty fancy pants and decorated with local materials (more or less). She glazes them so they hold up to the elements outside. Want one? Come see us at the festival!

You can learn more about the Grow a Dream fundraiser here.

This post is close to us…

Posted on February 27, 2014 by jdurley

A drug that can help wipe out reservoirs of cancer cells in bone marrow.

News on this study was exciting for our family. Imagine a drug (cyclophosphamide ) that is already created and used, sitting right under our noses, and it can trick the immune system and find hidden tumor cells in bone marrow. Almost seems like a dream come true for patients who don’t qualify for a bone marrow transplant, doesn’t it? I’ll be following the folks at MIT closely on this one.

Although the funds raised by the Grow A Dream fundraiser do not go to research, it is research like this that gives us hope, not just for our family, but for every family that spends any amount of time in a cancer unit. That is why we have chosen to help fund the Juravinski Cancer Centre in patient care. We want to make patients and families more comfortable during treatment. If you feel the same, hop on over and give a donation. All amounts can help us Grow A Dream.

More about the Grow A Dream fundraiser can be found here.

Another donation – from a 6 year old!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by jdurley

Click to enlarge photo.

My daughter was feeling crafty this weekend. Inspired by some designs we saw on Pinterst, she started to make little daisies with perler beads. We took them one step further and made them into earrings for the Grow A Dream fundraiser and plant sale happening on June 7th, 2014 at the Concession Street Festival. She crafted all of the daisies herself, and I helped assemble them into earrings. She worked an entire afternoon on these and she can’t wait to sell them at the festival!

To learn more about the Grow A Dream fundraiser click here.

A new donation!

Posted on January 22, 2014 by jdurley

The kindness of strangers is what takes fundraising to the next level. We’d like to give a giant shout-out to Diane from Ancaster for donating a slew of mugs with the awesome idea to use them as planters, some decorative ceramic pots and a whole host of seeds! We will be planting up the mugs ready for sale at the Concession Street Festival on June 7th, 2014! We’ll post some pictures closer to the festival! Thank you so much for your generosity and great ideas Diane! Your generosity is very much appreciated!

Learn more about the Grow a Dream fundraiser here.

4 months to go!

Posted on January 17, 2014 by jdurley

The Grow a Dream plant sale is taking place at the Consession Street Festival on June 7th, 2014. That’s only 4 months away. How did that happen?

If you live in the Hamilton or Niagara area and will be splitting up any of your garden plants this spring and you’d like to donate some, please email us at growadreamhamilton@gmail.com. Don’t forget you can make an online donation at any time, which also qualifies you to enter a draw for a free flight around Niagara Falls! Details about this amazing opportunity can be found here.

So far the Grow a Dream fundraiser has raised $300. Our goal is $2500. Please donate today and help us achieve our goal. Remember, the money raised is going directly to patient care at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and not to research (which is important too, but not our focus with this specific fundraiser). Click here to make a secure online donation (and receive your tax receipt).

Learn more about Grow a Dream here.

Thank your for your support!

Gifts for Gardeners

Posted on December 4, 2013 by jdurley

Now that Black Friday is over and done (and thank goodness for that – the constant emails were almost harassment), we can now concentrate on finding the perfect gift for the special people in our lives instead of the perfect Black Friday deal. If you have that hard to buy for gardener on your list why not visit one of our gardening sponsors? In addition to plants, they have all sorts of gardening paraphernalia and gift cards.

Still stumped? Why not give a gift that keeps on giving? Support the Grow a Dream fundraiser in the name of a family member or friend. If you donate online, don’t forget to send Lizzy McFly your email address to win a flight around Niagara, including Niagara Falls in her two-seater Cessna 150 Aerobat (yes, she can to loop-d-loops!). More details about this exciting contest can be found here.

If you don’t live in southern Ontario, here are some other gifts for gardeners that may please the gardener on your list: