Some photograph prints, a few postcards and a favorite things party are things three women with connections to Utah are using to raise thousands of dollars to help refugees.
Shannon Ashton, Emily Waltman and Michelle Christensen are each working with Go Jane Give, a Utah-based nonprofit that encourages women to turn their talents into fundraising opportunities.
“We want to make it easy for everyday women to get involved in causes around the world,” Lindsey Phillips, Go Jane Give co-founder, said in a interview with the Deseret News.
Brigham Young University alumna and photographer Shannon Ashton used her skills as a professional photographer to help raise money through Go Jane Give. Individuals who donated $50 or more to Ashton’s chosen charity, Lifting Hands International, were sent a photograph print of their choice from Ashton’s personal website at shannonashtonphotography.com. Her initial goal was to raise $1,000, but she ultimately was able to raise more than $8,000.
“The concept was simple,” Ashton wrote in an email interview to the Deseret News. “People donated to my favorite refugee charity, Lifting Hands International, and they'd get a piece of art, a print of their choice from my existing fine art collection as a thank you.”
Ashton, who currently lives in London, said that traveling and living abroad has really opened her eyes to the needs of refugees.
“I could just as easily be a refugee as any of them,” she said. “These people need our help, our love and our support. It is really as simple as that. Hate and fear cannot be the captain of our love and goodness.”
Michelle Christensen is also using her artistic talents to raise money. Christensen, who is also a BYU graduate, attended the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21. As a professional illustrator and designer, she decided to make a sign to show her support for immigrants and refugees. The sign shows a group of women from various nations and cultures framed inside of a heart and bearing the message, “I Stand With You.”
“A lot of people at the march stopped me to say that they loved the sign,” Christensen said.
That’s when Christensen had the idea to use her design to raise money through Go Jane Give. On her page, individuals are encouraged to donate to the charity RefugePoint in return for postcards, stickers or prints of her design. Through the last day of her campaign, Christensen had raised more than $1,400.
Emily Waltman, a resident of Sugar House, was able to raise money by putting on a favorite things party with her friends. According to Waltman, the party usually involves the attendees bringing three of their favorite items, such as a certain brand of lip gloss, a gardening tool or a unique cooking ingredient. Then they all come together and exchange their favorite things and go home with someone else’s.
This time though, Waltman said that she told her guests to bring just one favorite thing and encouraged them to donate the difference to her Go Jane Give campaign, the proceeds of which would be donated to the International Rescue Committee.
“I know an Iraqi family who was able to settle here in Utah thanks to the IRC,” Waltman said. “It’s always different when you know real people who have been helped by causes like this, so that’s why I chose to raise money for the IRC.”
This isn’t the first time that Waltman has raised money through Go Jane Give. Last summer, she organized a neighborhood “Chores for Charity” campaign that encouraged children to do extra chores to raise money. Everyone who participated was invited to a doughnut party, and the children who raised the most money won some rock climbing lessons. Through the efforts of the children (and some donations by their parents), Waltman was able to raise $2,300.
“That’s what is so great about Go Jane Give,” Waltman said. “It allows you to take the things you would normally do anyways, and with just a little more effort, turn it into an opportunity to do some good.”
For more about Go Jane Give, visit gojanegive.org.