Events

Our Greenville Festival of Trees Tradition

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Since 2019 we have had the joy of decorating a tree for the Festival of Trees. In 2021 we were recognized with First Place in the “Organizations” category. This year we wanted to honor our past Crowdsourcing Kids, while hoping to encourage new children to help us drill a well in India. If that’s how you ended up on this page– welcome!

As of right now, we need 40 more children to each sell 10 handmade elephants so we can drill our next well in India. We’d love for you to join! Each elephant kit contains 10 elephants handmade by young ladies rescued from slavery. When you sell those 10 elephants you will have raised $125 for our non-profit partner Set Free. When 50 kids do that, we have enough money to drill a well in India! Thanks to the power of compassionate kids we have given the gift of clean water to 21,517 people since we started just four short years ago.

Order your kit now and if you’re local, you can pick it up from Set Free’s office on Wade Hampton Blvd. If you’re not, we’re happy to ship it to you! Thank you for thinking of others this Christmas season and for giving the life-changing gift of clean water to those who desperately need it.

AlisonOur Greenville Festival of Trees Tradition
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Here We Go! Help Us Complete Round #8

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Thanks to the efforts of compassionate kids, 21,517 people have clean water since Crowdsourcing Kids launched in 2018. Last year alone we provided clean water to nearly 10,000 people. We’re proving that when we work together, anything is possible! We’ve done it seven times and now we’re doing it again!

Packing Round #8 Elephant Kits

Last month several Crowdsourcing Kids gathered to help pack our elephant kits for Round #8. Check out this video of their hard work!

How Crowdsourcing Kids Works

New to the concept? Here’s how it works! We have 50 kits available for Round #8. When 50 kids each sell a kit, which includes 10 elephants handmade by young ladies rescued from slavery, they’ll raise $125 each for our ministry partner Set Free. With their efforts combined, those 50 kids will raise enough money to drill a well in India!

Ready to Get Started?

Now it’s time to get your kids involved! Order your Crowdsourcing Kids elephant kit now and teach your kids what it means to be a world changer! They’ll see that they’re not too young to make a difference in the world. Help us drill our 8th kid-powered well in India and change the lives of an entire village!

AlisonHere We Go! Help Us Complete Round #8
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We Made Some Changes With Round #7 of Crowdsourcing Kids

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Round #7 of Crowdsourcing Kids launched on World Elephant Day, August 11th, 2021. We currently have less than 20 elephant kits available and we’d love your help to complete this round so we can drill our 7th well in India and bring clean water to another village. Getting a kit is easy! Buy your kit and have it shipped, or pick it up locally at the Set Free office in Greenville, South Carolina. We’ve made a couple of changes with this round that we want to tell you about!

We Switched From Boxes to Bags

You’ll notice that our kits no longer come in boxes. They are packaged in beautiful teal bags instead! We did this with hopes of saving some money on shipping costs. It also significantly reduced the time it took to prep this round during our annual packing party! (Thanks again to our amazing volunteers who pitched in to tag and bag the elephants!)

Each Crowdsourcing Kids Kit Contains 10 Elephants

In the past, each elephant kit contained 12 elephants, 10 smalls and two larges. Now each kit contains just 10 elephants: 5 larges and 5 smalls. When your child sells their elephants they will have raised $125 for Set Free. When 50 kids do this, we will have raised enough money to drill a well in India! So far Crowdsourcing Kids have drilled six wells in India, giving the gift of clean water to 11,955 people since we started in 2018.

We Partnered with Greenville Community Church

For round #7, we partnered with Greenville Community Church. They’re taking this on as a project for their GCC Kids program! They’ve set a goal of selling 100 elephants. Members of the Set Free team will be on hand during a Sunday school service to teach the kids about the water crisis, and what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. They’ll learn who makes the elephants and how selling them helps us share the Gospel! If you’re part of a church that would like to partner with Crowdsourcing Kids, please connect with us! We’d love to work with you!

AlisonWe Made Some Changes With Round #7 of Crowdsourcing Kids
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Next Round of Crowdsourcing Kids Elephants Available Early!

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Surprise! We have released the next round of Crowdsourcing Kids elephant boxes! We had planned to release the elephants on World Water Day 2020, which is coming up on March 22. But with so many kids stuck at home, we decided to launch this class of boxes a couple of days early. We know many parents are looking for fun, educational activities for their kids to do and this is a great, positive project you can work on as a whole family.

Crowdsourcing Kids Elephant box

What Can My Child Learn Selling Elephants?

Selling elephants incorporates a lot of lessons in one activity! They can learn about entrepreneurship by marketing their elephants, selling elephants, and collecting money. They can practice math and learn about money as they sell their 12 elephants and collect $130 to donate to Set Free. Parents can also use this as a social studies lesson when they teach about the world water crisis and what life is like for those who do not have easy access to clean water. Once the well is drilled you’ll get information like this about the village impacted by your work and generosity. Geography can also be taught as you learn more about India and the area where your water well will eventually be drilled.

How Can My Child Sell Elephants?

We know this is a crazy time in history as many of us adapt to “social distancing” and being quarantined. But just because we can’t physically be around many of those in our community doesn’t mean we can’t connect! We think your community is hungrier than ever for POSITIVE news and they want to be a part of making the world a better (and healthier!) place! Expect your elephants to sell FAST! Here are some tips:

  • Stick with social media! People are using social media to stay connected, and they’ll love seeing something positive in their feed.
  • Video your kids sharing what they’ve learned about the world water crisis and why they want to help. Check out this video of sweet Olivia showing off her box of elephants!

Posted by Rod Dawn Efta on Friday, March 29, 2019

        • Have a Wella photo shoot! What better way to lift people’s spirits than with cute kids and elephants.
        • Suggest porch pick-up or add a little extra to the price for shipping.
        • Don’t forget to use #CrowdsourcingKids on your social media posts. On Instagram tag @setfreealliance and @crowdsourcingkids when you post so we can keep up with your uplifting stories while the world feels a little scarier than usual.

How Do I Buy a Box of Elephants?

Ready to be a part of something BIG and make a difference in the world? Buy your box of elephants now. We can organize local pick up for $25 if you are in the Greenville, South Carolina area. Otherwise your box will cost $30 and we’ll make sure it gets right to your door. New this year, every box includes a sweet little gift just for the seller! We can’t wait for you to be part of the team!

AlisonNext Round of Crowdsourcing Kids Elephants Available Early!
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Volunteers Pack Elephants at 2nd Annual Packing Party

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About a dozen volunteers helped tag, prep and pack 100 boxes of handmade elephants for Crowdsourcing Kids 2020. Each box contains 12 elephants, two large and ten small, which will eventually be sold by American kids who want to help fund well-drilling projects in India.

Packing Party Volunteers Holding Elephants

Packing Party volunteers pause for a group photo to celebrate!

 

Who Made the Elephants?

The elephants were made by young ladies, once enslaved in rock quarries in India. They are now supported by Set Free Alliance. The young ladies are learning the trade of sewing and do an amazing job making elephants. Volunteers packed a total of 1200 elephants to fill 100 boxes. There are many new colors and patterns for our 2020 elephants!

Box of Ornament Elephants

New for 2020 is the box of elephant ornaments, launching in August.

What’s the Elephant Packing Party Like?

This is the second year in a row volunteers rallied to help accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. Each volunteer takes on a task and works in an assembly line until all 100 boxes are complete. The process begins with tagging all of the elephants, and ends with sealing and numbering each of the boxes. In between stickers are applied, elephants are carefully grouped and organized, and paperwork is inserted into each box.

How Does the Community Support This Event?

All volunteers received a goodie bag with freebies from local businesses including Methodical Coffee, Organic Tan Face & Body, Flair Fitness and Brio Aesthetics. We also enjoyed freshly baked chocolate chip cookies donated by Baking Sweet Scents. We are blessed by the community support of our event!

Meet Wella the Elephant

Meet Wella! One of the changes for 2020 is the introduction of Wella!

How is Crowdsourcing Kids Different in 2020?

Every year we strive to make Crowdsourcing Kids even better! This year you will notice a couple of changes. We are introducing Wella the Elephant! You’ll learn more about her on the newly designed tag. We hope people who buy Wella will take her along on their journeys and share photos of her on social media. Also, because of the popularity of our elephant Christmas tree in 2019, we created an entire round of Crowdsourcing Kids that features elephant ornaments! Every white box with red tape is filled with 12 elephant ornaments. This round will become available for sale in August 2020. Also new for 2020, is that every box contains a very special gift for the seller of the elephants– just our way to say THANK YOU for bringing awareness to the water crisis and the work of Set Free Alliance.

Volunteers sealing boxes of elephants

Volunteers seal one of the ornament boxes, distinguished by the red tape.

How Can I Buy One of the Elephant Boxes?

Volunteers at the event received a first chance to buy an elephant box for our 5th round of Crowdsourcing Kids. Sales will open up to the public beginning on World Water Day, March 22, 2020. There will be 50 boxes available for $25 each, plus shipping. We will launch our 6th round of elephant boxes on August 12, 2020 which is World Elephant Day.

 

 

AlisonVolunteers Pack Elephants at 2nd Annual Packing Party
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Merry Christmas From Crowdsourcing Kids

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We wish you an elephant-tastic Christmas from Crowdsourcing Kids! We’ve definitely been getting into the Christmas spirit around here! We were honored to decorate a Set Free Alliance Christmas tree for the St. Francis Festival of Trees. Our tree is located in the lobby of the Hyatt in downtown Greenville, South Carolina.

Set Free Alliance Christmas Tree

Set Free Alliance Christmas Tree

Our tree is covered in dozens of small and large elephants, just like the ones in our Crowdsourcing Kids elephant boxes! Young ladies rescued from slavery in India handmade these beautiful elephant ornaments. Pink, yellow and blue– we’ve got elephant ornaments in every color! We also included photos of some of the children impacted by our wells. They bring life to our tree in a very special way. These boys and girls now have access to clean water thanks to Crowdsourcing Kids!

Crowdsourcing Kids Christmas Tree

Crowdsourcing Kids Christmas Tree

Everyone who visits our Set Free tree is welcome to take a free stamped metal bracelet. It’s our gift to you for taking a photo of our Christmas tree and sharing it on your social media. We just ask that you tag Set Free Alliance on Facebook or Instagram! You’ll find them in a small basket under our tree. If the basket is empty, we apologize. They’ve been a popular item!

Some people have also turned their Crowdsourcing Kids elephants into ornaments for their own Christmas trees! We love seeing photos of these colorful little elephants finding a place on Christmas trees. Thank you for making 2019 a successful year for Crowdsourcing Kids, bringing clean water to two more villages in India. We’re excited about all that God has in store for 2020!

AlisonMerry Christmas From Crowdsourcing Kids
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Elephant Packing Party Preps for World Water Day

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In preparation for our next Crowdsourcing Kids launch on World Water Day, we prepared 100 boxes of elephants. Two dozen hardworking, generous ladies, made this event a success!

Elephant Packing Party Volunteers Prepped Boxes for World Water Day

Our wonderful volunteers at the Elephant Packing Party

Everyone gathered at Happy + Hale in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. Happy + Hale is healthy restaurant known for their bright decor and nutritious food. The restaurant generously offered their space for assembling elephant boxes and even served refreshments to the volunteers! The first 15 volunteers received gift bags full of goodies from Methodical Coffee, Swamp Rabbit Cafe, Baking Sweet Scents, Organic Tan Face & Body and HIS Radio.

Volunteer Goodie Bags

Thank you to our generous business partners who donated for the goodie bags!

Our volunteers worked quickly and cheerfully to tag, assemble and pack 100 boxes of elephants. Women formerly enslaved in rock quarries in India made the elephants. The women learned to sew through a vocational program. They earn money making the adorable elephants. In less than two hours the boxes were sealed and ready for World Water Day.

Elephant Packing Party Volunteers prepare for World Water Day

Elephant Packing Party volunteers worked quickly to prepare boxes.

On World Water Day, March 22, the public is invited to buy boxes of elephants for $25 each. Sign up for the waiting list to be notified when boxes are available. The boxes contain 12 elephants and when children sell the elephants they will raise $130 for Water of Life. When their efforts are combined with 49 other children they will raise enough to completely fund a well-drilling project in India. After launching on World Water Day 2018, Crowdsourcing Kids has drilled four wells in India, bringing clean water to thousands of people.

Volunteer Holding Box of Elephants for World Water Day 2019

Packing Party volunteer poses with a completed box of elephants.

Thank you to all of our volunteers for making this event a success and for being a part of this world-changing project!

AlisonElephant Packing Party Preps for World Water Day
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You’re Invited: Celebrate Crowdsourcing Kids August 11th!

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Our first class of Crowdsourcing Kids

Our first class of Crowdsourcing Kids

They did it! The first class of Crowdsourcing Kids fully funded a well-drilling project in India! Join us in celebrating this HUGE accomplishment with a bash at the Greenville Kroc Center on Saturday, August 11 at 10am. Here are some of the highlights of this exciting event:

  • Learn more about the need for clean water in India.
  • Be the first to see the video of the NEW WELL Crowdsourcing Kids funded in India. You’ll see the faces of some of the people whose lives are forever changed because they now have access to clean water.
  • Enter to win amazing door prizes including four tickets to Christian Music Day at Carowinds thanks to HIS Radio!
  • We’ll also have 50 goody bags to hand out that include freebies and deals from our partners at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Big Air Trampoline Park and more!
  • Make-and-take elephant crafts from our creative team of volunteer Girl Scouts!
  • Live music that will leave you inspired to make a difference!

We’ll also be launching our SECOND CLASS of Crowdsourcing Kids. Our next batch of 50 boxes will be available so 50 more kids can join forces and fully fund another well in India, changing the lives of hundreds of people! The boxes will be available for purchase FIRST at our Crowdsourcing Kids event on August 11. Remaining boxes will be available here through our website. Please RSVP now for this free event and get your kids exciting about changing the world!

Want to know more about what each box contains and what being a Crowdsourcing Kid is all about? Check this out!

 

AlisonYou’re Invited: Celebrate Crowdsourcing Kids August 11th!
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