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Volunteers Packing Bracelets |
Since we began this program, we have
been able to send out over 3.6
million bracelets worldwide. For a
small church, we are quite proud of
what we have accomplished with only
volunteers and donations. The money
received goes to pay for bracelets,
postage and supplies and none of the
money donated goes to this church or
any person involved in this program.
When we began, it was our goal to
give Complaint Free purple bracelets
to anyone, anywhere, and not limit
the number of bracelets we would
send. However, because of the
enormity of the requests, and
because of some challenges which
have arisen, we have to make some
changes to our program.
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Why
are things changing?
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Postage Increase -
In May 2007, changes in the US
Postal system rates led to a near
doubling of our postage costs--the
largest single cost we bear.
:: Redundant requests –
Because it has taken longer for us
to send the bracelets than we would
like, some people have assumed we
did not receive their initial
request and have sent in multiple
orders. As a result, our database
has a number of redundant requests.
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Bracelets
Being Mailed |
:: Very large requests without any
donation -
We have had thousands of people
request as many as 10,000, 25,000
and even 200,000 bracelets without
providing a donation to offset the
costs.
:: Bogus Requests -
We have had several people order
large quantities of bracelets as a
“joke” to, as one requestor said,
“See if you are stupid enough to
send them.” As a result, we are
getting some large shipments
returned. Even though we now have
the bracelets back and can repackage
and send them, we have lost the
money spent on postage.
:: Our Naïveté -
Several requests for bracelets,
which we have sent out for free,
have ended up being sold on Ebay or
by groups and individuals to raise
money for their own purposes.
::
What are the changes?
:: 1- 3 Free Bracelets -
We will still provide bracelets at
no cost to those who can’t afford
them but are going to limit the
number of free bracelets to a
maximum of 3 per person. These
will be sent out as fast as we can
but we make no promises as to how
quickly that might be.
:: Purchase Option, More than 3
Bracelets –
We
have contracted with an outside firm
to help us process, pack, and ship
the bracelets. We now require
that requests of more than 3
bracelets be purchased in advance of
shipping in multiples of 5 (e.g.: 5,
10, 15, 20, etc). We should be
able to turn these around in 3-5
weeks or less.
::
Schools, Hospitals, Prisons,
Churches, Drug Rehabs and other
non-profits – We will
continue to provide a reasonable
number of bracelets to these groups
at no charge although donations are
appreciated to offset costs.
:: What if I
made a donation already?
We appreciate your donation and are
willing to ship you a reasonable
number of purple bracelets. If you
have made a donation, click >>here<<
and send us an email to confirm you
still want the bracelets you
requested.
