#ATD2016 The Plan

There are several aspects which have developed as part of an ATD.  Fundraising, theme, and location.

Every year, I try to think of different ways to collect money.  This year, I had two ideas. 

First, I created a poster with sticky notes that numbered from 1 to 45.  I asked my friends to pick a number and donate that amount.  $45 isn’t too much to ask anyone one person.  People picked numbers that represented different things.  One lady pick 13 because it was her favorite number.  I reminded her that 2013 was also the first year that she started attending the ATD which made that number special to me for her.  Another young lady picked 14 because that is how old she is.  Another lady said she wanted to give $200, so she picked numbers that added up to the amount she wanted to give.  Another lady picked a number based on her favorite Scripture. 

Second, a friend at a local t-shirt company worked with me to create a design for the event.  The design begins with a cross of three nails representing the price that Jesus paid for us when he died.  Because of this price that is already paid in full for our sins, we can be accepted in the royal family of the king.  Romans 6:23 tells us that we have the gift of eternal life because of what Christ did for us.  Ephesians 1:5 says that God wants to adopt us into His family.  Romans 8:17 says, “If children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” That’s why the tiara is part of the picture.  The nails and the crown go together.  They must. The crown cannot exist without the nails. To go with the camo theme, the shirts were army green with silver print.  I was amazed how many shirts were ordered.  Last year there were only about 20 people that came to the dinner.  This year, 35 people wanted shirts.  I ordered a few extra and am distributing them also. 

The sticky notes were more successful in raising more money even if not all of the sticky notes were selected.  The t-shirts were certainly fun to do and did raise a portion of the goal, but not as much as just pure donations.  The pictures of the event were certainly awesome with everyone matching. 

The theme always develops out of a personal struggle or desire that I have toward issues in my own life or related to the ministry to which we donate.  Last year’s Super Hero Princess was certainly a desire that I had to help rescue the ladies out of trafficking.  This year, I have been personally soaking in Scripture about spiritual warfare.  A camo themed party seemed only appropriate.  I need to be more diligent in sharing where my ideas originate. 

Finally, the location was based on and related to the theme.  Because it was camo which could be interpreted as army or hunting, we went to a local hunting sports mega store to play at the kids shooting arcade.  You could say that we were either hunting down the bad guys or gathering the troops to fight the enemy.  Both would be correct.  And what do soldiers and hunters want for dinner?  Home cooking!  And we loaded up and headed to the quintessential home cooking restaurant next door for just such a thing.