1. Place an Order. Remember that our lanyards are hand made from beautiful or whimsical glass beads. Each one is unique and crafted by the friends or families of children with neuroblastoma. On the order form, you can specify your favorite colors, your personal style, your preferred length, and many other options. Your generous donation goes to the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation to fund a cure for this cruel disease.
2. Spread the word. Wear your beautiful lanyard often. Tell your friends and co-workers about your lanyard and the cause it supports. Add a link to your blog, facebook page, or website and send your friends, co-workers, and readers to The Lanyard Project (http://lanyardlink.blogspot.com).
Building awareness is one of the biggest ways you can help.
3. Let us Honor Your Loved One. If your life has been touched by neuroblastoma, we would like to honor that connection. With your help, we will design a special lanyard line featuring your child's favorite color or special theme to honor or memorialize them.
4. You might never need to wear a lanyard or feel up to making one, but you can always Donate Beads. Craft stores like Michael's or Hobby Lobby have frequent and often dramatic sales. You would be surprised at how many beads you can fit in a flat-rate shipping box from the U.S. Postal Service. You can also shop on line at sites like Fire Mountain Gems and Beads and have them ship directly to us. We are always thrilled to receive a string of accent beads to add variety to our inventory. We use all sorts of beads, but prefer glass, metal, wood, stone, and crystal over plastic. If you send seed beads stick to the larger sizes (6/0 is best).
You may not even have to spend a dime. Some of you may have Leftover Beads from completed craft projects. Send them on, we will put them to good use. While you are moving along your old beads, look through your jewelry box. We love to Re-Purpose Your Jewelry. You may have old, even broken beaded jewelry that you no longer wear. It makes us feel good to give those beads a new life while helping a terrific cause.
If you have friends or an organization that is looking for a service project, consider sponsoring a Bead Drive. Bead drives allow a lot of people to get involved in a small way, and we have noticed that when a variety of people choose beads, our selection grows exponentially and adds to the diversity and appeal of our lanyards. Contact us if you would like to plan a bead drive. You can find some useful handouts to help you get started on the Resources page.
You can ship beads to:
The Lanyard Project
4138 Cypress Road
Bryan, TX 77807
5. Make Lanyards. Most of our workshops are held in northwest Houston or the Brazos Valley areas in Texas, but we have partners who occasionally hold workshops in a variety of other places, including New York City, Southern California, Indiana, Washington, and Arizona. You are welcome to join us at any of these events. Check the schedule of upcoming workshops on the Calender page. If you can't make one of our workshops, you can find easy-to-follow instructions on these powerpoint slides and get started making lanyards on your own.
We actually think beading with friends is one of the best parts of the Lanyard Project. It's relaxing and feels good to do something that helps other people. If that appeals to you, consider holding your own Lanyard Workshop. If you are nearby, we'll come to you and bring our beads and supplies. If you are too far away, we will help you plan, supply, and hold your own workshop. We have had plenty of experience with neighborhood groups, teams, church youth groups, scout troops, school groups, and service organizations (from six people to over a hundred at a session). If this interests you, let's work together to make it happen. Click here to
Email Vickie and get started!6. If you work in a school, hospital, or office where lanyards are common, consider becoming a Marketing Partner. When you say the word "lanyard," many people envision a stubby keychain made of woven plastic. When they see our lanyards, they fall in love. We can send you a small inventory of lanyards for you to show around to your friends and co-workers. If they like what they see, you can collect donations and place the lanyards in their new homes. If not, you can direct them to the website where they can order their own colors and style. We also enjoy displaying our lanyards at conferences and fairs where lanyard-wearing people congregate or in giftshops and galleries. Let us know if you have any ideas!
