Do you want to start a Dry Tears chapter in your area?  Well, we have had a couple of people contact us about doing just that.  We are so encouraged that these brave souls have taken on the challenge, and do everything we can to help them.  So if you would like to do something like this, please contact us! We have promotional material as well as many fundraiser ideas and want to help in any way that we can.

Our friends over at Compassion International do a fantastic job in helping to alleviate extreme poverty, and they have this super cool little water purification tool! Check out this video: http://vimeo.com/m/29343329

What happened to the original Dry Tears?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’ve been scrounging around the web trying to find the original Dry Tears website, you’re not going to find it.  Several years ago, Dry Tears was started by Conner Cress and 4 of his buddies in GA.  Their story was told in “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris (a great book by the way)  My brother and I both read the book and it wasn’t long after that my brother and I started the MI branch.  Well, years go by and we all get older, and soon Conner and the guys were headed to college.  They quickly realized that they couldn’t effectively run the organization from all over the country, so they made the hard decision to put the GA branch of Dry Tears on hold while they were in college.  My brother and I are continuing to uphold and promote the mission and passion of Dry Tears here in MI, and look forward to having the GA branch up and running within the next few years.

Dry Tears is sponsoring a well!

Hey everyone! We wanted to let you know that Dry Tears is sponsoring a well in Uganda! Here’s the situation: the source is shared by three villages and because it’s a poor source, the three villages are affected by water related diseases like typhoid, bilharzia, trachoma etc. Evaline Ocen (pictured above) says her children fall sick quite often and its expensive treating them. “All I pray for is a well to be drilled in this village for my children and others in this village to be healthy. The well is always swallowed up by swamp during heavy rain and taste and color of the well changes bad.”
The only relief to this community is a well. The well costs $5,500, so you will see that the thermometer has been updated to reflect that cost. Thanks for all your support and we look forward to what will happen this year in Uganda!

a new fundraising goal!

Maybe you are wondering how much Dry Tears has raised this year.  I know, it’s only January 12th (at the time of writing this), but we have a thermometer in the right sidebar that will be up-to-date on how much we have raised in 2011.  Also, you may notice that at the top of the thermometer is $1,000. That’s because that is how much we want to raise in 2011.

Update

I am excited to announce that with your help, Dry Tears has raised close to $600 in the last 3 months to continue providing water in Africa! Thank you for your support, and we look forward to another wonderful year of helping the less fortunate in Africa in 2011!

Applebee’s pancake breakfast!

If you live in the Detroit Metro area, you now have the chance to enjoy a good breakfast, and help Dry Tears at the same time!  Some Oakland University students will be hosting a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s (2105 N. Squirrel Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326) on Saturday, November 20 from 8-10 am. Tickets can be bought at the door for $5/person.  You get pancakes, eggs and bacon as well as lemonade.  The $5 price does not include menu items.  60% of the proceeds go to Dry Tears, so come on out and enjoy breakfast!

Coin drive and new online store!

We are starting our second annual coin drive this week! All the businesses that have a donation jar are listed below as well as their addresses, so stop in and give them your business.  Also, if you feel like doing some cleaning and want to donate all that cash to Dry Tears, email us at drytearsocmi@gmail.com

Kerby’s coney island
4131 Baldwin Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326

Baldwin barbershop
4391 S Baldwin Rd, Lake Orion, MI 48359

Pete’s coney island
4083 S Baldwin Rd, Lake Orion, MI 48359

Pontiac eye clinic
4151 Baldwin Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326

 

Finally: we are pleased to announce our new online store! Visit http://www.drytears.bigcartel.com/ and order your Dry Tears merchandise online!

And so the fundraising continues!

Every year, we sell Hungry Howies Fundraiser cards to raise money, and this year is no exception! They cost $10, but the deals are well worth the money. To see what you get on these cards, visit http://www.hungryhowiesproperties.com/index.html and feast your eyes! Now that you really want (at least) one of these, email us your name and address (at DryTearsOCMI@Gmail.com) Please also mail a $10 check to: Dry Tears, 324 Lake Angelus Rd, Auburn Hills, MI 48326. Gracias!

Summer flier contest winner and new survey

Congratulations to Elisa Zachert, our summer flier contest winner!  We encourage you to print some fliers out and put them up and hand them out.

Also, we have a new SurveyMonkey survey (less than 10 questions) that we encourage you to fill out to help us make future fundraising plans.  The survey can be filled out at: <a href=”http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GHPKKW8″>Click here to take survey</a>