Yes, Christmas is just round the corner and even in India there are signs...Not least of which is the OWC annual Christmas bazaar. This is the second big fundraising event of the year, and follows hot on the tail of OWC big gala India Night so a great month for raising funds for our charities but from a treasury angle hard work!!!
The different schools had slots to take to the stage, the littlest wavering and cute and the bigger kids competent and professional.
The OWC has it's moments, as all organizations seem to, when things get a tad political, the personalities don't gel so well and the karma gets out of whack. But the Bazaar was a fest of goodwill, eager and smiling volunteers, happy vendors, enthusiastic shoppers, and the best organizers on the planet.......all the money raised in this spirit will surely go to the good!!!
Tickets, ticket stubs, receipts, payment vouchers.......and lots 'n' lots of filthy, dirty money........all to be counted and reconciled. As this is a charity and as such awarded favorable tax status, we have to be whiter than white, as transparent as a glass of water, our audit trail as easy to follow as a paved road (well not those in Bangers) and every rupee accounted for. It's attention to detail, big time.
We are not talking high tech here, we are talking.........carbon paper...do you remember this?
My kids had no idea!!! Though I did explain that it does have it's legacy in today's world. The "cc" they see on emails does come from "carbon copy"' - again they had no idea!! Trying not to feel old here!!
The day of the bazaar dawned clear and sunny, unlike last year's grey drizzle. Treasury being a floats-out and money-in job, involves an early start and late finish. Very true for the bazaar. Purander and I arrived in the dewey to St Marks. Set up had begun the day before but all was still relatively peaceful and calm.
The OWC volunteers descended like an army of red ants, donned their uniform volunteer shirts and.....
the day was underway.
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It's reminiscent of a church fete English style - including the bake sale. I got in early and bought a Christmas cake and Christmas cup cakes for the boys who stayed home. Goes without out saying the latter did not last long.
Vendor's sold everything from plants to bags, jewelry to christmas wrap and cards.
We had nearly 1800 paying adults through the gates and who knows how many kids. Santa (we had three of the best) smiled and chatted to numerous little ones optimistic about their Christmas night swag, despite a wardrobe malfunction (split his pants).
Purander was put to work to help with traffic control and proudly wore (and has worn since) his OWC red tee-shirt. I swiftly consigned mine to the donate pile but apparently Purander's wife thinks he looks hot in his, so I think I'll be seeing lots more of it!! Anyway he did a great job although seemed as exhausted as I was at the end of the day!
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It's reminiscent of a church fete English style - including the bake sale. I got in early and bought a Christmas cake and Christmas cup cakes for the boys who stayed home. Goes without out saying the latter did not last long.
Vendor's sold everything from plants to bags, jewelry to christmas wrap and cards.
Purander was put to work to help with traffic control and proudly wore (and has worn since) his OWC red tee-shirt. I swiftly consigned mine to the donate pile but apparently Purander's wife thinks he looks hot in his, so I think I'll be seeing lots more of it!! Anyway he did a great job although seemed as exhausted as I was at the end of the day!
The different schools had slots to take to the stage, the littlest wavering and cute and the bigger kids competent and professional.
The OWC has it's moments, as all organizations seem to, when things get a tad political, the personalities don't gel so well and the karma gets out of whack. But the Bazaar was a fest of goodwill, eager and smiling volunteers, happy vendors, enthusiastic shoppers, and the best organizers on the planet.......all the money raised in this spirit will surely go to the good!!!
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