Sophie commented this post on our official blog, follow our daily news

Our truffles sold for a whopping £67! I’m thrilled to have made such a nice sum - and to have bet last year’s £50.

My choice of nice and expensive ingredients made people comment on the retail price, but I’m glad to be able to donate this amount to the gorillas.

I’ll send this across as soon as possible, thanks to all the contributors and mostly to Caroline for her invaluable contribution.

If you need inspiration for your own similar marketing email, here’s what I sent my colleagues - note the photos were borrowed from the Murry Foundation’s website… and got me back a “awww they’re so cute!” email.

Chocolate truffles. Melt-in-your mouth, high cocoa content, just sweet enough yet flavourful chunks of decadence. Because we know the lovely people here at [company name] have both a sweet tooth and a kind heart, Caroline and Sophie have spent time in our kitchens preparing a batch of the best truffles ever; for you and for the gorillas of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Organic and/or Fairtrade chocolate and cocoa, the best crème fraîche, a pinch of secret ingredients (no nuts or gluten)… we know you will be asking us for more.

Come to the canteen today between 1.30 and 2.30pm,
buy some truffles and help us raise money for the gorillas (and spread the word!)

Virunga NP, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a spectacular place in the heart of Africa, unfortunately located in a region prone to wars and ethnic cleansing (the Rwanda border is very close). Home to a third of the world’s remaining wild mountain gorillas as well as to many other species of endangered animals and plants, it is under constant threat from local warlords, poachers and charcoal-makers who regard gorillas and wildlife as a source of either food, income or nuisance. The park is aiming to protect the wildlife but also bring stability to the local population, educating them in alternatives to coal (briquettes project), the importance of wildlife and hopefully soon by bringing tourism again to this devastated area.

The latest gorilla protection project has been to relocate two orphan gorillas, whose family was savagely killed by poachers in July 2007. Ndeze and Ndakasi (pictured above) miraculously survived and have since been raised in the town of Goma. They have now been released into the Senkwekwe sanctuary where they will be hopefully reacclimated to the wild.

Read more about Virunga at http://www.gorilla.cd

It’s been more than a year since my last post, but I have neither forgotten the gorillas or been inactive, I just didn’t make much noise about it. But now I think is time to spread the word again, and raise awareness amongst some people. So I went back to my kitchen last week-end, and prepared the yummiest, chocolatiest truffles you can imagine. I got first class ingredients, including fairtrade and/or organic cocoa and chocolate, got inventive with the tastes and came up with 3 batches: chocolate, choco-kirsch and white chocolate. I also enrolled my colleague and friend Caroline for the preparation and most importantly for the sale, as this year I won’t be able to do it myself due to work commitments.

Now this year I also got pretty little bags to give the truffles a more festive air. I’ve also updated the labels and prepared it all for Caroline to sell in the Cafeteria tomorrow.

Unfortunately I forgot again to photograph the making of the truffles, but I’ll ask Caroline to photograph the sale!

Crossing my fingers to raise more money than last year… let’s see how it goes!

Sophie commented this post on our official blog, follow our daily news

Sophie commented this post on our official blog, follow our daily news

After a bit of anxiety when I saw the Cafeteria mostly empty, sales started with my team-mates then work buddies and eventually perfect strangers.

The truffles were quick to go then the cookies found their ways to people’s hands and mouths.

Because to me it’s not just about a one-off collection but about raising awareness and creating a long-lasting impact, the most important element of the goodies were the labels, which gave plenty of details about the Park and hopefully will create a lasting impact. (you can view the labels in more detail, right-click on them and select “view image”)

The feedback from the customers and from the business have been excellent, and my initiative as much as my baking praised. One of the founders even described tVNP as “thought provoking” which is no small feat when coming from a man who’s lead unnumerable award-winning marketing campaigns for the agency on behalf of worldwide known consummer brands.

I’ll be making the transaction tonight, all £50 of it.

I’ll also continue to advocate on behalf of the park through digital medias.

And last but not least, I might bake a bit more and have a taste of my own goodies this time!

It took me a chunk of Saturday, most of Sunday and Monday evening to bake and prepare the biscuits and chocolate I will sell tomorrow. On the menu: honey spice, pinwheel or choco-vanilla cookies, and chocolate truffles. The truffles are the most time consumming but they are easier than the cookies. I forgot my cookbook in France and had to scrounge the internet for recipes which I’m not very happy with. The cookies are ultra-buttery which makes them melt in the mouth but also renders them extremely brittle. I hope they’ll withstand the journey to work tomorrow.

On the marketing front, I’ve posted twice to people, on the weekly in-house newsletter and on the internal email thread. I have about 30 packets of cookies and 17 of truffles so with 400 young adults in the business I should do a nice sale.

I forgot to photograph the whole baking process - it’s a shame - the pinwheel cookies came out well. But what I’m most happy with are the large paper labels I’ve printed - they inform on Virunga. I intend to not only raise money but also awareness.

I’m also continuing to monitor Facebook for groups I can join from which I’ll herald the cause of the gorillas.

The situation continues to deteriorate in the Congo, I know. Interviews with Nkunda finally get to the core of the issue: he’s power-hungry. I don’t see Kabila giving in, Nkunda would be the worst vice-president there could be, only interested in pillaging. The interviews he gives are such a weave of lies it’s disheartening.

My thoughts are whispering amongst the mist, words of fear to Nkunda and anyone who’s committed atrocities, and words of hope to those who’re suffering from him and from any other abuser.

Spreading the word about Virunga, the actions of the rangers, the projects being run on the ground and other activities taking place in and around the Park is where I’m starting. A huge advocate of the power of social networks and digital information, I’ve already begun to act through Facebook, my email friends and other digital media at my disposal. It is both a blessing and a disaster that the situation in the Congo makes the headline at the same time - almost anything is good to raise awareness, but not quite the dreadful events unravelling now.

Andfurther than just talking, I’ve decided to appeal to people’s pockets through their taste buds and conduct a charity bake sale at work for the benefit of Virunga. Gorilla biscuits and chocolates will be prepared lovingly this week-end at home, and be sold on Tuesday. I’ve booked the canteen, got my hands on Liz’s great presentation of the park and am ready to sell hard and educate my co-workers. I love baking and the weather forecast predicts rain, so that’s a week-end well organised. I’ve also steadily built a reputation as a cook and baker at work, so hopefully it will play in my favour. The internal email newsletter will feature an announcement and I’ll email the 400 employees on Monday so they come armed with change. I’m looking forward to doing all this!

Coming up soon: The making-of the goodies