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The Ripple Effect…We are always amazed by the way one act of generosity ripples out to inspire other generous acts… so we thought we’d tell you some recent ways that Family-to-Family has directly and indirectly inspired other wonderful acts of generosity…
A woman in California who heard about Family-to-Family is now starting an “adopt a family” program of her own in her local community, with families with more helping nearby families with less…
A woman named Michele from Geneva, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) e-mailed us saying she had read about our “Birthday Buddies” program, but she had too many toys to fit in a shoe box, and could she send them some other way? So we asked Jessie Mae Walker (our Pembroke, Illinois Community Coordinator) if she could use a box of unwrapped toys to give out to parents who are unable to afford birthday gifts for their children… and Jessie Mae was happy to get them. Michele, who says she “loves to shop,” generously sent all of the following brand new items to Pembroke:
Two dolls, 1 purple princess nightgown with magic wand, 1 gold/w glitter tutu style skirt, 1 shark playdoh set, playdoh, 1 glamorous stationery chest set, 1 Pucci Pups Yorkshire dog w/ gold and pink travel bag and accessories, 1 "Super Girl" pink and white bed canopy, letter L stationery pack, letter C stationery pack, scented markers, abc flashcards, hair accessories, 1 white blouse, 1 pink blouse and skirt to match, bag of little goodies (pencils, coin purse, memo book, wooden spinning top, etc.), several stuffed teddy bears, 1 Cadoo Cranium game!!!
UPDATE!! We just received another e-mail from Michele, telling us she has sent another box of goodies – this time to Manna From Heaven in Myra, Kentucky! Lois Tackett, our community coordinator in Myra says she will look at her lists of children’s birthdays, and ask the parents to come in to “shop” (for free) for birthday gifts!
Also in California, Julia Holladay (F-to-F’s chapter chair in La Mesa, Ca.) is now reaching out in another way… to help refugees from war-torn Sudan. She writes, “I am involved in helping refugees from southern Sudan, who have been here since 2001. The (Sudanese) authors of the memoir, "They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan", (www.theypouredfire.com) live here in San Diego and the co-author, Judy Bernstein, and I have become acquainted. My work involves helping these young men with ways to improve their quality of life (setting up tutoring to help prepare for the GED to allow one to go to college; getting another one an acting coach so he can pursue his dream of acting; selling books at speaking engagements, etc.). I will also be working with one of the author's roommates, who is blind and needs some assistance to enhance his education opportunities. I have a to-do list that I tackle each week; nothing major yet, but still helpful nonetheless. My biggest dream is to help the International Rescue Committee (IRC) with opening up micro-enterprise opportunities in southern Sudan to help entrepreneurial Sudanese get the seed money loans to begin life again in their homeland. I am meeting with the point person at IRC this week to see what the steps are to make this happen. As an entrepreneur myself, I love the idea of helping those individuals who just need a little money to get started in some small enterprise which will allow them to make their own way with their own money and not be dependent on foreign aid, which is not good for Africa's farmers and doesn't allow local people the opportunity to sell to their own people.”
F-to-F to Send ‘Lovies’ Blankets to Ugandan Orphans After hearing about babies left orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda, Pam recently contacted Ro Cafaro, a wonderful woman who crocheted blankets for babies in a Mississippi daycare center after Hurricane Katrina, and asked if she would be willing to make “lovies” (small blankets) for Ugandan orphans. Ro not only said yes, but put the word out through her Web site www.onesmallthing.org to the crocheting community she’s involved with to start working on cuddling blankets for HIV/AIDS babies. One of the people who responded was a 4th grade teacher who says she plans to have her 4th graders make some blankets! As Ro wrote to Pam: “Kids making blankets for kids. This is just too cool.”
Thanks to Ro’s efforts, people across the U.S. are making and sending us beautiful hand-crocheted “lovies”, which we will forward to the non-profit organization GCBC (Ggaba Based Community Care) in Uganda for the profoundly poor, orphaned babies and children they care for. We received the first ones in the mail a few days ago… and they are incredibly beautiful!!! These lovies (meant to give comfort by giving the babies something to hold) will be given out to over 100 of the approximately 600 orphaned babies and children cared for by GCBC.
We first heard about these needy babies from our new Ugandan chapter chairperson, Jerome Kasekende, whose mother is active in GCBC. Jerome estimates that approximately 400 of the 600 orphans there are HIV positive. He tells us there are two categories of orphans – “total orphans” - children who have lost both parents, and “partial orphans”- children who have lost one parent. GCBC tries to obtain anti-HIV drugs for these kids and whatever family they have, which it distributes to them for free. Through donations, GCBC also supports some of the children through the primary level of education, as well as educates the community about HIV and AIDS.
F-to-F’s New ‘Best Dressed Babes’ Donation ProgramF-to-F is excited to launch a “Best Dressed Babes Recycled Party Clothes” effort! We are collecting gently used and outgrown party clothes (for either girls or boys ages 2-18), and forwarding them to our receiving communities.
We’re asking our community coordinators to make the clothes available to our receiving families… so moms, dads and kids, too can “shop” (no money necessary) for a perfect dress, party suit, shoes... the works!! A truly empowering gift for these parents who have so little, and a super “Princess or Prince for a day” treat for the kids! We’re sure our F-to-F kids will be thrilled to have “party clothes” to wear to their “Birthday Club” and “Birthday Buddies” celebrations!! We’re looking for:
girl’s party dresses
boy’s suits
girl’s prom dress
boy’s dress jackets
girl’s fancy shoes
boy’s dress shirts & ties
party type girl’s purses
boys dress shoes
…but only items that are in very good condition. Anyone interested should email us at famtofamily@aol.com for information about where to send them.