05.19.14
By Megan Kelly

3!

Today marks Tailored for Education’s THIRD birthday!  Truthfully, it is hard to imagine how quickly a small idea has turned into 15,000 uniforms and over 10,000 children reached.

When I think about the last year all I can think about is change.  Henry David Thoreau once said, “Things do not change; we do.”  This year WE have changed.  Jess and I have changed in a variety of ways.  We found a way to give up control and expanded our team.  We changed our messaging and now are a little better at stating our mission and our goals (even on LIVE TV).  We changed the name of our scarf to Woven in Hope.  While small to others, they were big changes for us.  Because of these changes I know that Tailored for Education is a far more successful organization than we were a year ago.  However, the most important thing we did this year was change the lives of children in eleven different countries by getting them in a uniform and giving them the chance to receive an education.

In the very early stages of Tailored for Education we told a colleague about our idea and asked for advice.  After asking a few questions he sat back and said “start small, grow with the need, but I believe you will not only change these lives of the children you help, but you can change a village, then a country and then the world.”  At the time, with we had only provided 200 children with uniforms and had not raised a single dollar.  I remember thinking he was expecting too much of us, but saying to myself “ok…well…we can try!”  Today I know we have changed because those goals do not seem too far-fetched anymore, they are our reality. This year we will continue changing lives, one uniform at a time.

Thank you to all of our supporters.  Whether you gave 1 uniform or 10, bought a scarf or a bracelet, liked us on Facebook, or told a friend about our mission you have helped us move one step closer to our goal of more children in school.  Each supportive comment, donation, Facebook LIKE, Twitter follow, scarf or bracelet sale has brought a smile to both of our faces! We are so very grateful.

Kristen, Jen and Claire, thank you so much for all you do!  Tailored for Education would not be nearly as successful if it weren’t for each of you! Dave, thank you for keeping us and our math straight.  You get the completely un-glamorous job with not much credit, but we would be lost without you.  You are truly the best sounding board for our thousands of thoughts and ideas (even though I know we are annoying)! Jess, I have said it many times but there is no one else I could have embarked on this journey with but you. Thank for being an amazing business partner and even better friend!  We will start this next year with our longest journey yet, Cambodia here we come!