| Dear Friends:
I am delighted to share with you the International Doll & Teddy Bear Auction, to benefit the tsunami victims was a huge success! It was held on August 19, 2005 at the beautiful Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington D.C. in conjunction with the Doll & Teddy Bear Expo, presented by Jones Publishing. The entire event was truly magical! None of my mission would have become a reality without the help of so many dear friends and associates in the teddy bear and doll world. I am honored and forever grateful to Joe Jones, Trina Laube-Oltmann and their staff of Jones Publishing, the parent company Teddy Bear Review and DOLLS magazine for their invaluable help and agreeing to host the International Teddy Bear Relief Fund (ITBRF) auction at Expo, to Kathi Edelson Wolder for her expertise in promoting this event, to our fantastic volunteer auctioneer Richard Opfer and his associate auctioneer, Ronald Evans, to all the other talented artists and manufacturers who so generously made donations, to the wonderful volunteers of Good Bears of the World, and for all my additional volunteers who helped me the night of the auction, to my new dear friends, Dr. Stu Breisch and Dr. Sally Nelson, founders of 4kali.org for their cooperation and commitment to this project, and of course my dear husband Wally. It is because of these wonderful, caring and generous people, our teddy bear and doll world is so special!
I am happy to report I have the following countries from around the world join my ITBRF project. Each country will make its own choice of the specific organization that will receive their donations.
The funds raised from the generous ITBRF donations will make a huge difference in the lives of the tsunami victims, especially the children. This is a time of great tragedies and suffering around the world. However, it is some consolation that enduring the worst frequently frees out the best human qualities. This has definitely been proved to me over the last eight months, since the December 26, 2004, undersea Indian Ocean eIarthquake, unleashed the devastating tsunamis that were among the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. When there is love miraculous things can happen, especial when the Teddy Bear is involved.
Please find below the figures raised to date from our ITBRF project. 100% of proceeds of the auction will to be donated to 4kali.org. 4kali.org is the beneficiary of our American ITBRF project:
Washington D.C. ITBRF Doll & Teddy Bear Auction: $57,931.00
American ITBRF Cash Donations & Presales: $1,882.00
Expo ITBRF Sales from Donated Paw-in-Paw Bears, Artist Bear and related Bear & Doll items: $4,370.05
Japan Teddy Bear Association ITBRF Donation: $9,000
Teddy Bear Total ITBRF Donation: $3,060
Total funds raised from the International Teddy Bear Relief Fund project to date: $76,243.05
For the International Doll & Teddy Bear Auction Results, please click here. For information regarding our beneficiary 4kali.org, please visit their website www.4kali.org.
Each year the teddy bear is becoming more internationally recognized as a silent symbol of love and understanding, so needed in the world today. It has long been my dream for the teddy bear to be an ambassador of love and goodwill and through his magical power bring people around the world closer together. So it is in the spirit of this love that I request your continued support. I truly believe that together with some Teddy Bear magic, all of us will grow closer together making the world a better place to live.
Gratefully yours,
Linda Mullins
ITBRF Coordinator
P.O. Box 2327
Carlsbad, CA 92018 USA
E-mail: ambssdrbr@aol.com
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