How MBE Raised over $6000 in 17 Days.

If you are a client of Mail Box Etc, as many expats living on Panama's Pacific coast are, you will know the French Canadian, Jeannine Nadeau. She is the wife of Michael Poirier, the operator of Mail Box Etc. You might also know that, Jeannine is known for speaking her mind and while that sometimes lands her in hot water, her honesty comes from a deep intention to follow her intuition and live from her heart. Recently, Jeannine did what she does best. She followed her intuition which called to help children in need. Many Panamanian children who end up in orphanages are victims of abuse, neglect or poverty. Sometimes children are brought to an orphanage, with the just clothes on their back - straight from a court ruling, which will not allow the child to return to their parental home. Orphanages in Panama are privately funded, and depend on the generosity of donors. When Jeannine decided she would raise money for orphanages in the Chame area, she reached out to Mail Box Etc's client list. "WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CLIENT I KNEW THAT SINCE A LONG TIME" says Jeannine, who's native language is French. She did not ask people for money, she simply made people aware of the situation and called on them to participate. To do so, she sent an email to MBE's clients each day. She wrote from her heart, paying no attention to her bad English. "Our client's trust us", says Jeannine. "Our business goal is to help people and to connect people. We tell the truth, even if sometimes it's difficult to hear".

Helping a cause by connecting people is exactly what Jeannine did. She put up a poster in MBE's store outlining the cause. She set a goal of $3000 and each day told people about it. She told people about the orphanage homes, and about 3 Argentinian couples who felt a calling to come to Panama and run the homes. She told people what the homes needed, what they had, and what they had raised so far.

"The response was incredible", says Jeannine. "Clients sent encouraging emails. People donated money and items the homes needed. People gave more than once, and I saw miracles happen. One of the homes told me they needed a bunk bed, and the next day someone donated a bunk bed".

Jeannine was using the law of attraction, "I just asked for something each day and then let it go and went about my day". Jeannine's epiphany is that this was never about the money. "The cause was there, and the people were there wanting to support it. It just needed someone to connect those things. That's where I came in". Jeannine believes she was "tuned-in" to the situation because she lives from her heart and follows her intuition.

After she reached the $3000 goal, Jeannine heard about another orphanage in need. She admits to being afraid to ask for more. "But in my heart I knew it was right", she says. So she reached out and asked once again. Once again, MBE clients came through. Within a short period of time, another $3000 was raised - and people are still giving!

When I told Jeannine that I wanted to write about what happened, she was reluctant. In a community where expats raise money for many different causes, Jeannine's fund raising success is a bit unprecedented. She did very little work, and raised a lot of money in a short time - 17 days. It was a story worth telling, I thought. "This is not about what I did" stresses Jeannine. "I was just being myself, I didn't do anything". After some convincing, Jeannine agreed to let me write the story. I was careful to write a very generic story, which I sent on to her for approval. Jeannine rejected my article and asked me to write the 'real' story about what happened. She challenged me to write from my heart and not my politics. What Jeannine wants people to know, is that what happened here, is not about orphanages, or raising money. It is about taking a risk to be who you are and trusting that your intentions for doing good will meet the cause it is meant to land in. She wants people to know that by being true to herself, she was used by the Universe to manifest good in the community she lives in. She believes we can all do the same.

From Playacommunity to Mail Box Etc.
Well done! And thanks for leading by example.

Happy 12/21/12 everyone.