OM home in Silent Auction

It's that time of year again and I'm happy to announce that OM home has once again donated some of our product line to help a wonderful school located in New York, the East Harlem School.

Located in East Harlem, a poverty stricken area of New York where many talented youth are unable to receive the education they deserve, EHS provides a unique program for students.

This is the second year OM home has donated items to their annual benefit and silent auction, last year we had multiple bids and the winning bid was over $300.

We're so thrilled to be a part of this and we hope this year will be even better!

Rachna

Every once in a while, you meet a person and immediately feel as though you've known that person for years. That's how I felt when I met Rachna.

Last year, we both attended the Yes Montreal business seminars aimed at budding entrepreneurs like us. While the seminar was helpful at the time, I admittedly don't remember much from the series. I was probably excited to have made my first friend in Montreal more than anything else.

Rachna Vohra is a dreamer and she dreams big. Fortunately, her tenacity and talent are a winning combination and she will surely realize whatever dream she sets her sights on, no matter how big.

Already on the road to living her dreams, Rachna spends her days as a technical writer for a large clothing company (which explains why she's always so well dressed) while building her ever growing editorial and translating business, S'apostrophe. All of this ties into one amazing thing: Her writing. Holy smack, this chick can write!

Rachna says, "I started writing when I could hold a pencil, and I started editing people's papers and projects when I was in grade school! I officially started my company in 2006 because I realized that proper grammar and spelling are lost in today's world. I can't read anything without editing it (even friends' emails!) and I am a writer at heart, so I thought to put it together and start up in this business. (and holding that red pen makes me feel so powerful - but that's a secret!)"

When she's not marking up other people's work (surely, this blog will need to be edited), she finds the time for her writing. Some of her work includes, The Distance Within and The Acorn and the Caterpillar and next month, Rachna will be a speaker the Kriti Festival, an event for South Asian Writers.

She's also got a huge heart. A few years back, she spent several months with the Parikrma Humanity Foundation teaching English to street, slum and orphaned children in India. Since then, she's joined the Make A Wish Foundation, donated proceeds of her book, The Acorn and the Caterpillar in memory of a friend as well as contributing to a book aimed at raising Breast Health Awareness. It's no wonder the United Divas website named her Diva of the Month!

She credits her parents for her unwavering drive to success and all creative dream seekers (and realizers) for her source of inspiration. She recalls an inspirational meeting with author and animator Jessi Thind, "It was wonderful to see a local writer stepping over boundaries and obstacles as if they were pebbles in the road. He encouraged me to start taking my writing to the next level...It was a wonderful feeling to become friends with a successful writer because it gave me the motivation I needed to believe that I could actually go somewhere with my passion."

And she has!

OM home Gets to Make a Wish Come True!

The lovely and talented Rachna Vohra joined Make a Wish Foundation recently and helped a child in need fulfill a wish.

Sweetly, the child's one wish was to have her parent's bedroom redecorated because they couldn't afford furniture and were sleeping on the floor. The foundation was kind enough to decorate the child's room (see picture).

I feel very lucky to have been asked to donate a C.C.F.C. Bolster to the cause and frankly, would have done whatever they asked of me for such a sweet and inspiring little girl! Thanks Rachna for including me in such a wonderful cause.

While being a part of the design community is wonderful, being a part of the volunteer community is even more wonderful (and addicting). Last October, I was lucky enough to be a part of a silent auction for the East Harlem School Annual Benefit and OM home products raised $300 for the school. I hope they ask me again for this year's benefit! Speaking of EHS, if you're free tomorrow night and in the New York area, EHS is holding their annual Poetry Slam to raise money for their school, should be fun!