Want a biligual laptop for your child?

In order to help free these toys from customs, I am going to up the ante... To participate in this part of Day 8, you will need to purchase a raffle ticket. 1 raffle ticket per $1 donated, like always. I will raffle off this bilingual Spanish English laptop that you can sent to your sponsor child. To enter the raffle, make the paypal donation to hhamilton2002@hotmail.com Anyone who donates $40 or more will automatically get a laptop, and if the money goes over the price needed to get the toys out of customs, the excess will be distributed to the fundraisers.

So, I will raffle off 1 laptop tonight at 9PM CST for all donations sent to the above paypal account... And, if you donate $40 or more, you will get a laptop automatically!!! (limit of 3 can be given out, so act quickly!)

Now, here are the details about the laptop:

Teaches English and Spanish

Gives kids the option to play in both English and Spanish speaking modes at a touch of a button

Press the translate button to instantly translate words and numbers between English and Spanish

13 activities covering topics from mathematics and spelling to musical composition and games

Contains 90 songs in three categories for kids to listen and sing along to

Keeps track of right and wrong answers and displays the final score

Makes learning a new language fun and easy

The fold-down screen features a built-in handle and locks for secure transport

The 3 1/4”(W) X 1 3/4”(H) LCD screen features a variety of moving animated graphics designed to keep learning fun for kids

Kids can choose from a wide assortment of spelling games, math puzzles, music and other educational activities

With its twin power source, you can operate the computer using either 3 “AA” batteries (not included) or optional 4.5V AC power adapter (Not included)

Folding design
Animated LCD screen
Easy-To-Use keyboard
5 button selector mouse
Shortcut keys

English/Spanish mode button
Translate button

Built in audio speaker
Directional buttons
Closed Dimensions: 10 1/2”(W) X 11 1/2”(D) X 2 1/2”(H)
Weight: 2.4 lbs.

English Mode:
Press any alphabet key and the computer will show and speak the letter, then display words that start with that letter

Pronounces words that appear on the screen

Translate button translate the word on the screen into Spanish and pronounces the word

Displays a word with a missing letter, and asks you to fill in the missing letter

Shows a picture along with three different answers, and asks you which is the correct answer

Mathematics Mode:

Choose between addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division

Displays a random math question from the chosen subject, and the user must enter the answer

Game Mode:

Shooting game (I wish they would omit this one, but since they are only shooting letters and not people...), Different letters of the alphabet will appear on the screen starting from the right hand side, the player must quickly find the letter on the keyboard to shoot down the letter

Wallop, Hit the monster on the screen by moving the left and right

Music Mode:

Playing piano, learn and create melodies by using the letter keys on the keyboard
30 Christmas songs
30 Children songs
30 Love songs

In the box:
Compukidz 5706 Bilingual Kid’s Laptop
Users Guide

And the winners for Day 7 are...

Sterling & Valentino Schilling! Also, the big donators Chrystal Torres and John P. will be receiving gift cards as well!! Close to the end of the raffle, Steve sent out a challenge and offered a $25 gift card to any one who donated $50 or above. To up the ante even more, he offered a match of $5 to every $1 people donated!! This means that Steve has provided $75 in gift cards for this raffle and $975 in dontaions for Araceli's house!! They will no longer have to use the toilet in the open!

That makes Araceli's fundraiser just about halfway to completion! It has brought our yearly total paid to these fundraisers to now over $8,000!!! Wow! That is more than I made in income this year (shhhhh...) Thank you everyone for your dedication to these fundraisers and your support of other sponsors.

Araceli has one more day of Christmas coming up, so we should be able to make a good dent in this fundraiser.

Tamara & John, please send me your addresses, or you can e-mail them to Steve. Thanks!

On the 8th Day of Christmas...

Kevin's items are above

Katherine's items above & below (as you can see the package included the biligual laptop~ This will come in great use when Katherine is stuck in bed sick & unable to go to school!)

Today's raffle is for a personalized, one-of-a-kind, LAP QUILT or BABY BLANKET or WALL HANGING

This item will make a good gift for:

A family member
A friend
A child (sponsored or otherwise)
An arriving infant
Yourself

The quilt can be themed any way you like. Some ideas are:

Favorite colors
Favorite animal(s)
Favorite hobbies
Children/grandchildren/sponsored children
All of the above

The quilt squares can be:

Made from material matching your theme
Made from photographs or other graphics
Embroidered with pictures or words

I will work with the winner to design a quilt that will perfectly compliment the recipient. I've included a photograph showing one of the many fabric shelves in my mother's sewing room - if she doesn't have the materials you need on hand, no problem, the fabric store is just down the road.

DELIVERY BY CHRISTMAS IS GUARANTEED!

As an example of what can be done, here are some photos of various wall hangings around our house:

The pictures on the "Frog Theme", "Carousel", and "Child's Bedroom" are all done with embroidery.

The red and blue squares are from a wall hanging in progress that we are making for my sponsored child, Wilson. It is themed after his favorite Honduran futbal team, Olimpia, and the logos were printed onto the fabric using files I downloaded online. The square in the center shows him, his mother, and his brother wearing the hats and jerseys that Victor and I bought them on our last visit.

Unfortunately we can't set up a Firstgiving page for this fundraiser, because CI would not get the money until February. The rep told me that Ecuador customs will hold the package for only around 2 weeks before considering it abandoned. Therefore, all raffle tickets must be purchased by gifting me money through my PayPal account. The address is: scubaboarder33@gmail.com

This method means that you will not be able to see how many tickets other people have purchased, so you can't gauge your competition. You'd better contribute BIG, just to be safe. Good luck!

Mack

This raffle will go until 9PM CST today. Good luck (and I will ask Mack to keep us posted on donations)

Tomorrow's Raffle

Kevin Bryan~ His father recently passed away and he is struggling to deal with the loss (above)
Katherine~She has had and up and down year with her health. She is now taking Pediasure, vitamins & liquados in hopes of getting her immune system to a normal level (below)

A message from Mack:

Dear fellow sponsors,

I must apologize in advance for the frivolity of tomorrow's fundraiser. I realize that my cause does not seem very important in comparison with kids who are sick, or with those who have lost their parents or their homes, and I will understand if nobody wants to donate.

Today's raffle is in support of the FREE THE TOYS FUND!

Like many of you, I enjoy sending toys and other "fun" items to my sponsored children. They only get useful holidays gifts - such as clothes and dishes - from CI, and they never seem to be allowed to buy non-essential items with the money we send (unless the sponsor specifically asks that the donation be used on a bicycle, swim lessons, etc). I know that having food to eat is far more important for a child than owning a Barbie doll, but does it really hurt them to have both? Kids are kids, no matter what their economic status may be, and there's a certain amount of benefit to stimulating a child's imagination through play!

For Christmas, I sent a large box full of toys to Katherine and Kevin in Guayaquil. I received a call from CI on Friday to inform me that customs in Ecuador is holding my package hostage for a ransom of $135! The rep told me that 7 other sponsors are in the same fix - all being forced to pay $100+ for the release of their child's Christmas gifts.

$135 is an outrageous amount to be charged for a package containing only $75 worth of toys (and I believe I declared the value at only $50), and obviously I will not be sending any more large, expensive boxes to Ecuador. I'm hoping to raise enough money to free these gifts, however, because my father and I have already invested $150 dollars into the package ($75 for the items + $75 (insanely) for the shipping). I'd hate to just write everything off as lost ... but worst of all, it is now to late to get new holiday cards and letters out to Katherine and Kevin. I'd hate for them think that they've been forgotten at Christmas! If all else fails, I will send them each a $25 special needs gift - but I would prefer to use this money to free their presents if I can get other contributors to chip in.

To encourage donations, I am offering a very special PERSONALIZED raffle item that will make an awesome and unique gift for a loved one, a sponsored child, or even yourself! Look for all the details in tomorrow's blog post!

Your friend,
Mack

And the winner for Day 6 is...

Steve!!!

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

my sponsor gave to me...

7 interior wall sheets!

Welcome to Day 7 of the raffle-thon! Today's raffle is for Araceli and her family who are in desperate need of a more stable structure to live in.

The same rules apply $1 = 1 raffle ticket

The raffle is for a $25 Mastercard gift card.

The raffle will end at 9PM CST

To enter the raffle, just make a donation here

Box of Books #2 to CUS in Uganda!

Another big shipment of books is headed to Kampala, Uganda!!! Thanks to these great folks who contributed money for shipping:

McKenzie Fritch

Sharon Clyburn

Suzanne Lowry

Janice Wilkinson

Brenda Hagood

I was able to give 62 books, and the box weighs 14 pounds!!! Wow! We have now given CUS over 100 books in time for Christmas!

I am still willing to keep up with my end of the bargain, and I will ship out as many books as you all can pay the shipping for. If you would like to contribute to another shipment of books, I will ship out the books as soon as the contribution gets to $50 (one large flat rate box costs $51.25 to ship to Uganda). Of course, I will keep you posted as the funds come in to let you know how we are progressing. Payments can be sent via paypal to hhamilton2002@hotmail.com

I am, also, hoping that within a few weeks we will get the pictures of our first shipment to Hellen at CUS. Thanks everyone!

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

my sponsor gave to me...

6 ice cream scoops!

This fundraiser is for the Guatemala Ice Cream Shop. We are getting very close to completing this fundraiser as well. Very exciting!

The raffle for today is a CD that ships directly from Portugal. Since, I don't know anything about Portuguese music, I have to refer to Su's email. This is what she said:


This raffle is for a "Fado CD named "The art of Amalia Rodrigues".


Amalia was the greatest fado singer ever in Portugal. Fado is a typical Portuguese type of music known all over the world.


This is a great gift for any music lover!


-------------------
Amália da Piedade Rodrigues, GCSE, GCIH, (July 23, 1920 – October 6, 1999), also known as Amália Rodrigues (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈmaliɐ ʁuˈdɾiɡɨʃ]) was a Portuguese singer and actress.
She was known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") and was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. In fact, she was one of the most important figures in the genre’s development, and enjoyed a 40-year recording and stage career. Rodrigues' performances and choice of repertoire pushed fado’s boundaries and helped redefine it and reconfigure it for her and subsequent generations. In effect, Rodrigues wrote the rulebook on what fado could be and on how a female fadista — or fado singer — should perform it, to the extent that she remains an unsurpassable model and an unending source of repertoire for all those who came afterwards. Rodrigues enjoyed an extensive international career between the 1950s and the 1970s, although in an era where such efforts were not as easily quantified as today.


--------------------
Fado (Portuguese:destiny, fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. However, in reality fado is simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain structure.

The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade (that has no match in English but it could be understood as nostalgia felt while missing something or someone important), a word describing a sentiment.

Mainstream fado performances during the 20th century included only a singer, a Portuguese guitar player and a classical guitar player but more recent settings range from singer and string quartet to full orchestra. Known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado"), Amália Rodrigues was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. Other famous fado singers include: Carlos do Carmo, Cristina Branco and Mariza."

To enter the raffle, it is 1 raffle ticket for each dollar donated. The donations for today need to go to the delicious ice cream shop.

And the Winner for Day 5 is...

Wow! Amazing turn out for this raffle. Thank you to all who participated & contributed a total of $97 today!!! Jonathan's fundraiser is only a few dollars short, so let's just call it complete :0)

Now, as you can see by the video, the winner is Bernie! Yay!

Check back in the morning for the next Portuguese style raffle!

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

my sponsor gave to me... 5 Comforter sets!

This raffle fundraiser is for Jonathan and his grandmother. It is VERY close to completion! With the money, Ms. Lidia (grandmother) will purchase several bedding items to sell as a street vendor. She will use some of the income to purchase other items to sell, and can therefore, keep the business going. This will provide the household will a steady stream of income which they so desperately need.

Remember, $1 is 1 raffle ticket, so the more you donate, the more chances you have to win! Here is the link to donate to today: Help Ms. Lidia

The item up for raffle today is one of the camera's pictured above. It is the black one you will win, should your name be drawn. Here are the details of this prize:

Warranty: 1 Year Digital Blue
Features:
 Easy to use: One-touch record with instant playback
 Flip-out 1.5” color TFT LCD screen
 Expandable to 2GB via SD card slot
 VGA video resolution
 1.3MP snapshot resolution
 64 MB memory on board
 Expandable to 2GB with SD card (not included)
 Magic Director storyboard scene mode with audio instruction
 TV output
 Built in microphone
 4x digital zoom
 Uses (2) AA batteries (not included)
System Requirements:
 USB port
 700MB free hard disk space
 Windows 2000 or XP, CPU: 800 Mhz or faster processor
 Vista: 800 MHz or faster processor
 128 MB RAM

I will draw and announce the winner tonight at 8:30PM CST, so make sure you get in your donations early! Good luck!

And the Winner for Day 4 is...

30 tickets for Sara & 30 for Sterling/Valentino, 2 for Holly & 2 for anonymous

$64 was raised for the 4 different fundraisers highlighted. Jaden wanted to draw the name this time. Really, the 2 main names in this drawing were Sara who donated $30 and Tamara's boys who donated $30. They both had close to a 50-50 shot. Well, Jaden was soooooo excited to draw the name "Sara" because it is, also, the name of one of her closest friends.

Congratulations, Sara, you won 3 Disney DVD's! Send me your address as soon as you can.

Thank you all once again for your donations! I have put the new raffle on the web-site, but I won't be posting the details of the prize until in the morning because I am too sleepy right now. Good night!

And the Winner of Day 3 is...

Hold on, I will tell you the winner in a minute :0) First, I want to thank everyone for participating. Maila's fundraiser received $67 in donations from everyone that was entering into the raffle... Then, as Steve did the drawing last night, he decided to donate enough to finish off the fundraiser! That brought Maila's total to $411 in 24 hours! So, her fundraiser is now complete!

And the winner is... Sara Senser! Sara, please e-mail your address to Steve so that he can get your gift card out to you. Thanks!

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

my sponsor gave to me...

help for 4 fundraisers! Mack has donated the above prize to help all of the fundriasers we have currently running. This means, you can donate to any of the 4 current fundraisers to be entered into the raffle! I will tally up all of the donations & do a raffle tonight by 9PM CST (so that is the cut off for donations).

Here is some info about the 3 DVDs up for raffle... They are all brand new, wrapped & ready for gift giving!! Here are the 4 links you can donate to:

Chile

Ecuador

Guatemala

The Phillippines

Good luck!

And the winner for Day 2 is...

Drum roll, please... Gema received $40 in donations yesterday! Thank you to all who participated!!! Now, I know you are anxiously awaiting the winner. First, I am going to tell you how Su drew the names... This is what she wrote:

"As a true computer engineer that I am, I did an excel file with numbers 1 to 40 (for the 40$ donated) and in front of them the name of the person who donated. For instance Dana had 20 tickets (for example, numbers 1 to 20), Kate had 4 (ex: 21 to 24) and so on.

Then I used a random number generator (http://www.random.org) to give me a number between 1 and 40 and it turned out that the number drawn out corresponded to one of Dana's ticket.

Ok, just in case you wanna know how I did it"

So, Dana is the winner!!! Yay!

Want to get a camera for your child?

TODAY ONLY!!!

Another great deal! You can get a digital camera for your child/children:

camera site

It's only $4.99, and there is even a Batman one :0)

Like I said before, I have to look out for my devout blogger fans... Enjoy!

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

December 3rd: On the third day of Christmas, my sponsor gave to me...

3 pieces of furniture!

Today's raffle will help provide Maila's family with some much needed items, such as a dining table, clothes cabinet, study table, clothes & shoes.

Steve has provided a $25 Mastergard gift card for this raffle. So here goes the Mastercard commercial:

Steve offering a gift card to the winner- $25 dollars

People making donations to win the gift card- $1 dollar

Completing the fundraiser- $411 dollar

Pictures of Maila and her family with big smiles after getting the new items- PRICELESS!

To enter the raffle, just make a donation to Maila's Fundraiser. The winner will be drawn at 10PM PST, 12PM CST! Stay tuned!

And the winner for Day 1 is...

The raffle tickets (above)

Katja Simon! Yay!! Katja, I do not have your info, so please e-mail it to me. I need your address to ship this gift out to you. Thanks!

And, a BIG thank you to all of you who participated yesterday! Jonathan's fundraiser received an extra $19!! Thank you so much!

2nd Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas, my sponsor gave to me...

2 waffle cones!!

Actually, we want to provide a whole ice cream business. This is another income generating project that should help the family tremendously!

Su is offering the item pictured above for today's raffle. It ships directly from Portugal. It is a nice set of 6 mini-bottles of port wine

It contains several different types of port wine: red, white, ruby, lagrima (which is a sweeter white wine) and a special reserve!

I personally don't know anything about wine, so I can't elaborate on this gift. However, doesn't it look nice! I'll be putting in for the raffle, so that I can give the gift to one of my husband's sisters who loves wine.

Here is where you need to donate: Gema's Fundraiser

***A special note, since this is the first year we are doing this, we are still working out some kinks. This is what I think will work out better to give everyone a chance to enter the raffles: The raffle will start as soon as I post it, and won't end until the next day when I post the new raffle. This will give those that live in Europe and other faraway places a chance to enter the raffle without having to get up in the middle of the night to do so.
Also, the raffle winner for the day before will be announce the next evening. This will give each raffle host time to tally up the tickets & draw the name.)

Jonathan's Fundraising Raffle

On the first day of Christmas my sponsor gave to me...

One IGP!

Let me tell you a little more about dear Jonathan. He will soon turn 10 in January. He loves school and taking long walks with his grandmother.

Jonathan's aunt seems to be the one providing Jonathan and his grandmother with the things they need. She lives in a different house close by and give them approximately $60 a month to pay for food and other things.

Jonathan's grandmother had to stop working because of a health condition. The health condition is not serious, but it restricts her from doing the only thing she knows, which is sewing.

When CI approached Ms. Lidia (Jonathan's grandmother) she at first wasn't really sure what she could do for work. The CI staff worked with her a little and came up with the idea of a business selling bed items. She will sell the items to family, friends, and neighbors. Then, she will reinvest some of the income back into the business to buy other items that she believes she will be able to sell at mark up.

It is not too late to help Jonathan and Ms. Lidia~ only $123 more needed to start Ms. Lidia up with a business for the new year! Thank you everyone for your continued support!

http://www.firstgiving.com/igp4jonathan

World AIDS Day- The 1st Day of Christmas

December 1st- Raffle for World AIDS day! Starting now, you can join in on the first raffle! The raffle will benefit Jonathan who was orphaned by the world-famous serial killer known as AIDS. We have all heard of HIV & AIDS, but the statistics may astound you. I saw this piece that was put together by World Vision last year, and it makes my heart stop beating every time I see it. It reminds me that while we talk of the HIV/AIDS crisis, we don't really KNOW what it's like until we have been in their shoes... The mothers and fathers who are dying, the children who are watching their parents (who are supposed to care for them, by the way) wither away. I know it's hard to hear, but imagine how hard it is to LIVE. We are just talking about it, and they are living it every painful day. So, please pay attention to these few words that come in the intro of the program:

AIDS the largest humanitarian crisis ever

3 million people die every year

250,000 people die every month

brothers, uncles, fathers

57,533 people die every week

sisters, aunts, mothers

8,219 people die every day

AIDS

5 people die every MINUTE!!!

but no statistic can help you understand the suffering

of those who are dying with AIDS

and those who are left behind.

Now, if you think you are strong enough to watch these short clips, they will inspire you to make a difference in these children's lives:

One Life

Hidden Faces of AIDS

Now, I want you to know that you can make a difference. All of the money earned between 11/30 beginning at 6:30 PM CST and ending 12/1 at 11:59 PM CST that is donated to Jonathan's fundraiser will go to help children orphaned by AIDS. Once Jonathan's fundraiser is completed, the excess funds will go to other children orphaned by AIDS who are in the Children International program. I hope we can make a big difference in their lives and wipe out all of their bad memories of what the virus has taken away from them!

To enter the raffle, make a donation here. For every $1 you give, you will receive 1 raffle ticket. Make sure to leave your e-mail address in the comments section of the donation page, so that you can be contacted if you win. Today's prize is a 6 piece ceramic mug set and 2 bags of flavored coffee. All items are brand new, and ship out in time for Christmas gift-giving.

Description of prize:

Cities around the world stacking mugs set of six 10 oz mugs in chrome holder

Boca Java Hightide Hazelnut 8 oz ground coffee (smooth and creamy toasted hazelnut. A subtle hint of nutty flavor and a nice finish. This coffee will help you sail through the day.)

Boca Java Tropical Kiss 8 oz ground coffee (Chocolate coffee with a smooch of coconut, coupled with sweet chocolate and tropical coconut. Cupid is sure to take aim at the coffee lover in you!)

There are more great gifts to come... Tomorrow's gift ships directly from Portugal! So, stay tuned!