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This is the theme running to and for in my head lately and I keep hearing others say the same thing, “Never Give Up.”
For those of you who know me, I am not one to give up easily. Maybe I fell on my head as a young child, but I stick with something until there’s just no more glue. I admit my tenacity is to a fault at times, some call it stubbornness, others call it persistence…some even dare call it foolish! Call it what you will, today I am digging in my heals.
I’m referring to the Angel of Mercy Home in Cameroon. We have been disappointed in having our grant for the well declined. After three long years and what appeared a funding success for the well, I was left scratching my head. BUT, as you would suspect, I’m not giving up. The orphans have been waiting for three long years to have a safe place to call home, they’re fighting bad health and poverty beyond our imagination.. and they aren’t giving up, why should I? The good thing about the delays is that water has become accessible to the orphan home from the road and will c
ost less to pipe it in. So, we’ve sent funds raised from donors, sponsors and participants from the Sartell Rotary Golf 4 Orphans. I’m told the work will take about a month. So thank you for your support… the project is lovely and one we can be proud to support.
Even though the work we do is such a small part for the orphans, but it’s a good work and it makes a difference in the lives of orphans. When I think about the orphans in Rwanda, Tanzania, Haiti, Uganda, India and Cameroon, and the devastation of their loss… give up? Never.
When obstacles get in the way, I dig in my heels and begin to look for ways to get around, through, over. We’ve made things happen to help orphans have safe shelter and sustainable lives. We can’t stop now.
Every orphan deserves a safe place to call home.
Do you have room in your heart for one more?
Think about the people in your life and if you have room or want to make room, there are lots of things you can do.You can mentor a child with groups like Big Brothers Big Sisters, you can adopt a child as your own, you can sponsor a child’s education or living expenses, you can help us raise awareness and funds to provide safety, shelter and sustenance for orphans. You can help us help them.
There may be ways to move things around in our lives, in our hearts even and make room for just one more. If we ACT, SHARE OR GIVE, if we all just made room for one more, what a different world this would be! I know many of you have already made room, but if not you can join our Giving Hearts Club! You can help us help them, and participate in building an orphan home, click on the photo and get started!
We can’t do it all, but we can all do something!
1st Blog for January 2024…. no, that’s not a typo. Even though 2024 sounds light years away, it’s only 10 short years into the future. The goal setter, the visionary, the strategist in me likes to wonder out and just look around a bit.
And, so… in 2024, I’ll be 10 years older. It’s not as horrible as it sounds if I am still healthy and strong. By 2024, 200 Orphanages will be 16 years old, providing safe shelter for more orphans. Setting a course to 2024, my goal is to make the minutes count, all 5,256,000 of them.
To that end, a few weeks ago, I created “My Life in Pie Charts” as a tool to manage my tim
e and priorities. I have to say the Pie Charts took on a life of their own and my daughter was not impressed. She marveled (out loud) that I had time to create them in the first place. She has four small children, is starting her own business and still finds time to mock me. How does she do it! She’s always been an over achiever. Be that as it may, my life in pie charts is one way I organize and prioritize my time and efforts.
Today, my pie charts are on a white board in front of me as I work. I admit, it adds a bit of stress, like an unrelenting boss, but I always remind myself they are just a guide. As you can see, when optimizing my personal time, 10% is spent on mental and physical health (I’ll be breaking here in a few to go for a walk). Also, if I follow my Pie Charts, I participate (30%) in our 12+ grandkids’ lives as they travel through teens and into early adulthood. (Later today, I’
m going to a soccer game featuring a grandson.) I give 30% of my time to the orphan work. (I just prepared this blog, but also sent out an email blast for our Spring Fever 5K this morning and need to make a phone call or two) So, by 2024, my vision is that 200 Orphanages will have more than 20 orphan homes built along with 30 infrastructure projects. So, I say who has time NOT to have a pie chart?
Granted, I only have a blurry glimpse of 2024, but I know it’s out there and it’s gaining on me! So, I have a plan. In saying that, I fully expect the present to be filled with achievement and celebrations. In 2014, we will have two orphan homes built and are taking on new partners. In my personal life we’ll celebrate life as my parents’ turn 80, my husband and sister turn 60, and my marriage turns 40…. You’d think that the present would be enough to fill my mind, but no, I’m off making pie charts and looking into the future!
Where would Santa be without his helpers? Well, I think we all know that answer to that! Please consider donating to help us meet our goals. We’re far behind our goals, but even still, we keep moving forward hoping for the best! It’s uphill all the way my friend!
As you read further, please take a minute to watch a video from one of our partners JBFC-Tanzania. Your support this past year just helped them increase their livestock, enabling them to become sustainable as an orphan home for girls!
As an all volunteer organization, all of your support goes to the project, so be generous.
As you know, 200 Orphanages Worldwide depends on dedicated and talented volunteers and supporters. Without you, we would not be able to help the orphans the way we do. We are meeting more and more people who just want to help an orphan in some way, so here are just a few who came to help us recently in amazing ways:
Meet Diana Ricketson: Diana answered the call on Volunteer Match for a social media manager. Her heart for the children is what motivates her. She’ll be directing our online communications as Social Networking Coordinator. Diana is great and has amazing qualifications.. She’s brilliant! You’ll be hearing from her soon in numerous ways. Thank you Diana for having a heart for the children.
Meet Chuck Gooley: Chuck came to us also through Volunteer Match. We called out for web developers/designers to help us retool our web site. Chuck decided to use his skills to help nonprofits like ours rebrand or retool their websites. Thank you Chuck for what you do! He’s been patient as we work through details of building and rebuilding a better website, it’s a long process, but we will by the first quarter of next year have a new look!
Meet Cory Scheer: Cory is running 12 marathons a month for a year to call attention to causes dear to his heart. We are gratefully on his list and he’s organizing his first Virtual 5K. Participants register online with a donation to one of 5 basic needs charities he’s selected.
200 Orphanages provides the basic need of shelter and safety. We’re benefiting by participants donating at varying amounts and selecting 200 Orphanages. All participants run their own 5K on April 13, 2014… We are able to keep the participants updated on our project progress… thank you Cory! Thank you Virtual 5K participants! Learn more about Cory’s story and his own personal marathon challenge progress and the Virtual 5K at www.basicneedsmarathon.com
Meet Lori Fuchs and Kevin Hardy with EnduRUNce Shop and Snap Fitness. These two hearty souls are organizing 
our Spring Fever 5K for February 23 2014. This is Lori’s 5th year and Kevin’s 2nd. I can’t help but delight in their generous hearts… it takes time and energy out of their busy days to make something happen on behalf of the orphans.
These just a few examples of how a volunteer organzation is able to provide safe shelter for orphans who have so litte. We’ve met the most amazing people in this work… thank you!
We can’t do it all, but we can all do something!
One of my favorite poems is “Up Hill” By Christina Rossetti. It starts this way:
“Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.”
This describes many of our lives, so we better be enjoying what we do! My work on behalf of the orphans is a daily climb, sometimes up, sometimes down… but I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else with my time, talent and energy.
I love what I do, because I know that it matters. I also know that I can’t do it all, but I can do something. So, today, I am climbing another hill! Many of you know that Dec. 3 is set aside as a national day of giving…how perfect… right? Right before Christmas…Yes I know.
I am so blessed to know so many generous people, so many who labor and give. I know it’s not always about giving money, but often it’s time and talents that are as valuable. So, with that, my heart is filled with gratitude knowing we can’t do it all, but we can all do something. As I hear reports from our partners across the globe, their something is providing brighter futures for the orphans with loving, daily care.. As donors and supporters, your something is helping finance our partner projects in some way.
It’s important for you to know that your donated funds are sent directly to our partners for the project. You and your gifts are making a direct impact in the lives of orphans in need. My part is to continue our mission of helping our partners raise awareness and funds for building projects to better serve orphans in their care. When you donate, you become my partner in this work. It warms my heart to know that children we may never meet will have a home to call their own and for the first time in their young lives they have a sense of well being and hope for a brighter future. Here’s how you can help today. Go to this link and donate at any level. Then please share this link http://goto.gg/15248 on your friend network.
We’ll have matching opportunities through this campaign so give when you can! Tuesday Dec. 3 is one of those days. I’m reaching out to as many individuals as I can to personally for a donation of any kind. Our goal is 40 donors and $4,000. So, I’m going to at the very least be contacting 40 of you! Up Hill all the way my friend! The close of that poem reads:
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
Thank you in advance for helping complete the orphan home in India. Beds for all who come!
Thank you for joining me Up Hill!
Could there be a better time of year to share a gift with a child in need? Thanksgiving is the perfect time to remember those who have so little. Our Global Giving Campaign is now live and we’re encouraging our friends to donate at any level toward the Mercy Home project in Kerala India.
Click on the button, or go to our Project Page and consider making a monthly gift at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/provide-10-orphans-a-home-of-their-own/?show=recurring.
You can be a part of helping the kids in Kerala India be home for the holidays.
I’ll be sharing a video that gives you a glimpse of just a few of the lovely children cared for by Mercy Homes. It touches my heart each time I see the kids smile as I am sure it touches yours. I am so blessed to be a part of their lives. You can donate at any level. It takes so little to make a child smile! We know we can’t do it all, but we can all do something.
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Many have received a letter from us in the mail, adding to the thousands of nonprofits around the country asking for donations. Believe me, I resisted sending snail mail… we have email and Facebook, right? Even so, it seems this time of year presents you with a smorgasbord of opportunities to give. Ok, I know many in the social media generation don’t even know what a smorgasbord is…(think glorified buffet). It means you get to choose from a variety of options… and that’s a good thing. Everyone has a favorite…we are hoping helping an orphan have safe shelter is yours!
So, with that as a backdrop, I must apologize in advance for all the email and social media chatter coming your way from us. You are going to hear a lot about our ongoing projects and the kids at Mercy Home in India. We want to raise $13,000 by the end of the year and we can’t do it without you, your friends and their friends… even perfect strangers. We’re going to use these tools to make that happen, all the while spreading the word about our partners and the wonderful work they’re doing on behalf of the orphans in their care.
So, here’s what’s at the smorgasbord…
NOVEMBER 14-April 2014: Basic Needs Marathon Challenge:
This exciting campaign is the brainchild of our Board member Cory Scheer, assistant professor of nonprofit and business leadership at William Jewell College in Liberty Missouri. Cory joined the board in June 2012 and wanted to help raise funds for shelter, knowing he couldn’t do it all, but he could do something. His something is athletics…and today, after a serious injury, he’s organizing a fund raising marathon campaign around his Virtual 5K. Learn more at www.basicneedsmarathon.com
Cory will be running 12 Marathons in 12 months to draw attention to the causes he supports. We’re proud to be one of them and we’re already hearing from runners from Pennsyvania to California! We will stay with Cory’s campaign through our own Minnesota Spring Fever 5K in February until the culmination of his campaign in April. If you’re a runner, know a runner or are a wanna be runner…let’s do this thing!
NOVEMBER 14: Give to the MAX: We are participating and will post social media.
COMING SOON! November 25: Global Giving Campaign November 25-Dec. 25: Thanksgiving Week Till Christmas. In just a few weeks, starting November 25, you can help 10 orphans in India have a home of their own by Christmas. Give any amount. I’m seeking at least 50 people in my network… and your network to donate at any level. By raising $4,000 with 50 or more donors, we’ll be eligible for matching grants in future campaigns wiht Global Giving. This is a lot in just a few short weeks to get the word out, so I will try really hard not to inundate or be redundant…but sometimes it just happens. Please forgive… and just give! Any amount helps us reach our goal. Your gift changes lives and builds a foundation for a brighter future. As a volunteer organization, 100% of your gift goes to the project. So, think of my zealous communications as making the life of an orphan just a bit brighter.
Just so you know, 100% of the proceeds from these campaigns will go to the Mercy Home project. Your donation of $30 buys items like door posts; window frames are $50 each. These are the tangibles your funds are buying. $3,000 provides the flooring or a roof. Concrete for the home is about $500. What is intangible is the sense of security and belonging that comes to an orphan with a place to call home. So you see, you really can make a difference.
Help an orphan be home for Christmas! Thank you in advance for giving to make the life of an orphan just a bit brighter.
You can also donate directly from our site and choose a project that you’re passionate about.
I’m touched by the giving hearts of family, friends, and colleagues, even perfect strangers who have caught the vision and helped provide safe shelter for orphans. So many have supported our cause from the beginning and more are coming alongside every week. One of our supporters and board members Cory Scheer is taking the challenge with a Basic Needs Marathon well…marathon… http://www.basicneedsmarathon.com/. He’s running 12 Marathons in 12 Months to raise funds for our cause.
Check out his site and what he’s doing to make a difference…Thanks Cory!
Others have also mobilized to fund raise for partner projects serving orphans. We’re soon going to kick off a FUNDRAISING FLASH toward a $5,000 end of the year goal for phase one of the Mercy Homes in Kerala India. Please consider joining our Giving Hearts Club with a fund raiser of your own or an online donation… Simply select Mercy Homes in the drop down menu from our online donation page. As always, 100% of your funds go toward the building project.
I’m also touched by the vision, dedication and perseverance of our partners who provide love and care for the orphans day by day. Both Angel of Mercy and Nibakure Children’s Village have a fund raiser within the next month to help them fund
their operations.
Your partnership with us in building safe shelter for orphans has resulted in security walls in Rwanda, Haiti and Uganda; an outdoor kitchen, an outdoor latrine in Kenya and Rwanda; you’ve helped fund an HIV/AIDS home for orphans in Cameroon and a loving family style home in Kerala India. Since our first project in 2009, we’ve raised more than $150,000 and distributed more than half of that since we started raising funds a few short years ago.
In the next few months, we’ll fund phase one of Mercy Homes in Kerala, India, we’ll repair a roof at Ashirvad Home for orphans in India through Halo Foundation, participate in funding a chicken coop to feed orphans in Rwanda and Tanzania. We’ll also send funds toward the boys’ latrine for Ngatha International in Kenya.
There are lots of ways to support building projects so orphans can live securely and well… do what children do! Here are a few more events to help the cause:
Angel of Mercy Annual Fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/#!/angelof.mercy.773
Nibakure Children’s Village: https://www.facebook.com/#!/Nibakure?hc_location=timeline
It’s always important to remember why we do what we do…It’s for the children…Here are a few of the children your support. We can’t do it all, but we can all do something! And, just think, our work together has just begun.
Emanuel, 14, lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. Fortunately he was introduced to Angel of Mercy and is now in their daily care. He will be one of the first residents of the home in Cameroon your investment helped build. He’s so excited to move into the new home you’ve provided. Imagine for the first time feeling like you belong somewhere! These are the intangibles your gifts provide.
Yvette UWAMAHORO is 10. Yvette and her three siblings lost their parents five years ago. Before coming to Nibakure Children’s Village, Yvette lived in the Kageyo Refugee Camp in Northern Rwanda with her aunt. Life in the camp was difficult, as after school she had to walk long distances to fetch water, look after her little brother, and sometimes cook for the whole family. Today, in NCV, her vision for her life has completely changed and she hopes to one day be a doctor.
Subha was born into a poor family in India. Each day was a struggle for the family to find food to eat. She lived in a slum and was neglected both in health and hygiene. She was not sent to school until she came to Mercy Homes in India. Now, she is studying in 6th grade and is receiving a foundation for a bright future.
Today, I am filled with thanksgiving as I move toward… well Thanksgiving.
I know it’s not quite October, but I am getting an early start on my giving of thanks for November. First of all, I am so grateful to my family, friends and colleagues, even many of the perfect strangers who have caught the vision and have become partners on behalf of the orphans in the world.
Since we started, your Giving Hearts have provided funds for safe shelter for orphans. You’ve helped our partners build security walls and fences, dining halls, latrines and outdoor kitchens. You’re support has built a home for HIV/AIDS orphans in Cameroon and have almost completed raising funds for the first floor of the Mercy Home in Kerala India. Next year, we hope to complete the fundraising for the Mercy Home, along with the Ngatha International boy’s dormitory and outdoor latrine in Kenya. We’ll be moving toward helping another project in India sponsored by Halo Foundation in India. There will be other requests and we’ll review them and do what we can. That being said, I am so grateful for every dollar you send to build these projects. Every dime is used with care and thanksgiving.
This year, we’re committed to helping our partners again by the end of the year. Many orphans now have safe shelter… and it’s because of you. Your donations and support help make dreams come true for children left without hope.
Orphans like Emanuel, thank you too. These once voiceless children, who would be a sad statistic without the hope and help from our partners. The orphan girls in Kerala India thank you because without you helping provide safety and shelter, their future would be much different. Because of your support, the young girls and boys in Rwanda have a home of their own, with a future and a hope. The children in Haiti still reeling from the devastating earthquake have housing and temporary classrooms to continue their education.You are doing a good work in the world.
So, thank you for investing in brick and mortar; you’re support is doing so much more… you’re changing futures and building hope. Jh
Now everyone can help an orphan! I received an email one Sunday afternoon from one of the founders of an organization called Charitysub. They are a subscription based donation site where you are able to donate as little as $5 monthly to a cause that moves your heart. They feature different causes each month and July their cause is orphans. We were contacted to participate, they video taped our message while I was in NY attending the Building Hope Together event. Their mission is much like ours, they partner with worthy organizations to help them complete their vision. They are on my list of some of the most wonderful people I’ve met on earth… check them out and maybe consider donating to directly to a project or to our cause on their site… You really can make a difference in the life of an orphan. We can’t do it all, but we can all do something! Click www.Charitysub.org and join our journey to make a difference.
For The Children 