I’ve left you hanging. Well, probably not really cause you might not really care. Or you might not even remember. Or you might be new to reading my blog and never really knew. So let me tell you a story…
There once was a gal.
She told her sister of a neat-o ministry.
They took a little visit.
They decided to help with what little bit that they could.
The first sister decided to collect toilet paper.
The second sister (never to be outdone) suggested they make it a contest.
The first sister agreed.
The second sister (wanting to make it bigger and better) had an additional proposal. “How about the sister who collects the least has to cut 6 inches off her hair?” she said.
The first sister laughed. And agreed. And made plans to win!
The race was on!
Facebook events created, emails went flying, flyers were soaring’.
One company came matchin’.
A U-Haul was donated.
The Omaha World Herald even came callin!
The first sister held the early lead.
But like younger sisters do, the second sister soon surpassed her older sis.
But in the end, slow-and-steady wins the race. The first sister held a commanding lead until 11:58 pm.
Then, the younger brother (up until the point, silent on the matter) made a phone call.
And gave just enough money to make it a TIE! (Younger brothers do that you know – and what an opportunity to vex both sisters at once!)
Since the contest couldn’t end with no hairs lost, both sisters cut off a big ponytail.
When all was said-and-done, over 25,000 rolls (or cash equivalents) made their way to the ministry!
The beginning of the story
In the beginning of September, I announced that my sister and I were seeking to collect toilet paper for Restored Hope, a ministry to single moms that are coming out homelessness, addiction and/or prison here in Omaha. It wasn’t the most glamourous need in the world, but it was a need that they had and a need that we thought we could help meet. My sister and I had the month of October to collect toilet paper and the sister who collected the fewest rolls had to cut off 6 inches of her hair.
The middle of the story
Then part way through the month, I gave an update. We were written about in our local paper. Pretty cool, eh? In that article, I mentioned that I would’ve love to have to rent a U-Haul to get them all the toilet paper.
The rest of the story
Yes, we tied. And since you can’t very well end such a contest and have both heads of hair intact, we both cut our hair. Literally, we put our hair into pony tails and we cut each other’s hair in my sister’s kitchen. I had enough to cut off that I could’ve donated to Locks of Love (you need 10 inches), but … ummm…my hair color ain’t exactly natural and they can’t accept bleached hair. So I did probably about 8 inches instead.
How much did we collect?
ALOT! Probably 9,000 physical rolls and over $2,000 in cash. Restored Hope couldn’t store it all, so we took the last 2,000 rolls to a homeless shelter (Sienna House). I don’t know the entire plans that Restored Hope has for the money, but they at least bought a vacuum, bunk beds, and a crib. If we would’ve bought toilet paper with all the money, we would’ve had 25,000 rolls! My goodness!
Our local paper also did a follow-up article, which you can read here. Now some fun pictures!
