Jessica's Emergency Fundraiser Pictures!

Post by Lisa:
Here are the photos from the wheelchair fundraiser for Jessica and from the walker I provided. The left over money was used for ankle braces for Jessica that she needed in order to safely use the walker. They also used money for her to see a specialist and they had a doctor and therapist come with them when they went for the walker and wheelchair so they were assured they were getting the right size.

Emergency Fundraiser for Jessica's Wheelchair

While we don't have the official report back with the thank you letter and everything, I thought you would enjoy seeing one of the pictures from the emergency fundraiser. Jessica looks so happy to be able to get around with her walker, doesn't she?! And check out those "snow tires" that grandma has. She got the wheelchair with regular wheels + additional tires for rough terrain. It makes me want to get a wheelchair for myself ,so I can ride around it style like Jessica is going to!! Thank you for helping Jessica get her wheelchair!!!

Brayan & His Family~ AKA Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

A weight has been lifted for Brayan and his family. Thanks to some great people in this group, his mother will now have a business!

As stated before, his family is completely without funds. His child report stated $0 for the income. They were, also, being told they needed to get out of the home. The home is owned by Marlen's first husband, and he was ready to put Marlen and the two boys out on the street!

$540 was raised to give Marlen a business selling socks, underwear, t-shirts, pants, imitation jewelry, etc + a cart to move the items around in. This is a business that can not start soon enough! To make this happen, some strings & special circumstance approvals have been made- Brayan and his family will have the items they need to start the business today!!

Since they are, also, losing the roof over their heads, they will need to look for a new place to live. An anonymous donation was made to help them get a start on rent for a new home. $200 will give them shelter for a little while. That means that Marlen and her boys can look for a home & move today!!!

I know it is just unbelievable- What was such a scary situation has now been turned into a dream come true for Marlen. I wish I could be there to see the look on Marlen's face when the news is delivered. I imagine something like the faces of the people on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Have you ever watched that? You know when they start chanting, "Move that bus!" The bus finally moves and the family collapses in tears of joy and screams! What a sense of relief she will feel when she knows that she will have a home & a business! Wow!

I can not thank you all enough- You all made this happen, & you have saved a family from homelessness, hunger, and despair! You all are the best!!!

Urgent!!! Emergency Fundraiser #4 launched!

I need every one's help, and I am willing to do just about anything to get it! Now don't take advantage of me while I am in a vulnerable position, but I will take requests for whatever I can do for you (in exchange for you helping me).

I must preface this I guess with the position I am in. I do not have big money hanging out in the bank... In fact, for the year, I will be lucky to make about $15,000. Everything I do here is voluntary because I can physically do a lot (I am just strapped money-wise). I say this, not so you will feel bad for me, but rather so that you will understand why I can't just call up CI & get this family taken care of.

Now, on to my situation. Some of you may remember Steve's trip to Mexico. He visited with my child Brayan & got several good video (and still) shots. In one of the video shots, Brayan's mother was explaining the situation the family was in- that they were going to be evicted and she had no money to pay them to stay in the house.

Well, I asked Greg @ CI to look into the situation. I got a long response back explaining the situation (which I have explained on the fundraising page). I had Brayan waiting in line with all of the rest of the fundraisers until today...

Today, I opened up my account, and I thought something was wrong with the web-site... But, there was nothing wrong with the site. However, there was something very wrong with the child report that they had just posted! The family was living on $95 a month. Now, their income is $0!!!! They have no support from family, and their situation is serious.

We have go to get Marlen (Brayan's mother) an income generating project TODAY! I just hope that they still have a roof over their heads & food to eat. I can't imagine what they must be going through.

Please help me help this family. I will not be sleeping tonight, I am sure. I will be thinking of ways to help those who help me/them. Stay tuned, as I am sure to post something for those special people.

If you would like to help, click, here

Emergency Fundraiser #3

Jessica (above) & Kiara (below)

An emergency fundraiser has just been launched! Jessica is Ecuador currently has no way to get around inside her home. She must scoot across the dirty floor to get where she needs to go. This fundraiser will provide her with a wheelchair she can use inside her home.

To make this fundraiser fun, there will be some fun items raffled off. One item is being raffled off starting today. The raffle will go until Tuesday when Lisa will draw the winner at 9AM eastern time. Stay tuned for details on what is being raffled. In the meantime, check out Jessica's fundraiser here:

Wheels4Jessica

Emergency Project Fundraiser #1

The special needs request provided was to start an IGP. Due to the cyclone, the money may be better spent building a new home. I am providing the special needs break down. While the money could be used for the IGP, it will be up to the family (with CI's assistance) to decide what they need the most. $500 will go to the field office in India,who will contact the family and determine their urgent needs. Here is a few paragraphs from Camille (Kanika's sponsor):
The project that Kanika's family would like to start is a rice business. They would purchase rice from a wholesale market and sell the same rice in the retail market. They would require 12.5 quintals of rice to start, which would cost $304.00 and would be very beneficial to the family and enable them to earn an extra $16.00 a month approximately.They also need:1 bicycle1 wooden table2 plastic chairsWhich would cost $100. I think they would be using this to transport the rice and as their vending table. So the total that they need if we were to fund both parts would be $404.00
They currently are 5 people in the household (with no house)- mom, dad, an older sister (4 years older) and a relative. They make $21.00 a month. She is 9 years old and loves school and drawing. She has been warming up and opening up more in her letters- it is sweet. her father is a daily worker and her mother a homemaker. They lost their mud house in the recent flooding 3 weeks ago and are currently displaced and living with relatives in the area. Their house is completely ruined, all of their possessions are gone except for the clothes they were wearing when they had to evacuate their home. Thankfully, they are all safe and healthy but in miserable conditions with all sorts of disease festering in the standing water and mud. They used to get their water from a community pump and the only sanitary facilities are an open field. (Which also contaminates the water now I would imagine...) They are receiving aid from CI and another agency- like all of the people in their area. They fortunately own the land their home was on and have a title to it. It is possible that they can go back and rebuild a stronger structure in the future- which I would like to be able to work towards.
It is so sad because they had been making strides towards a happier, healthier life- I had been able to fund having electricity put in their home so they had light at night (just one bulb), and had purchased furniture and kitchen utensils, pots and pans etc as well as food and clothing and shoes. But it is all gone now. Very sad.

http://www.firstgiving.com/emergencyproject

Speaking of a Minga...

Photos taken from the CI news courtesy of Reuters

I have been approached by a fellow sponsor regarding an emergency situation. On of our own google group sponsors has been affected by the recent disaster in India. Her sponsored child Kanika and Kanika's family lost their mud home to the disaster. Now homeless, with only the clthes on their backs, they need our help.

At first I wasn't sure about what to do. We have fundraisers lined up that are waiting for special needs break downs from the field, and I don't want to push those fundraisers out of the way. After a couple of days of thought, I came up with a plan.

Starting now, we will, also, have emergency projects for times like these. Emergency projects will run concurrently with the regular fundraisers. To qualify for an "emergency" fundraiser, you would be a sponsor that receives a call from CI notifying you of your child's precarious situation. Due to the situation, we will set up a fundraiser to raise $500 to be used as the family needs it (without waiting for a special needs request to be returned). However, you (as the sponsor) will still need to abide by the "pay it forward" concept to get your fundraiser started. This is a "one for all and all for one" group, so I am thinking we are all on the same page about this.

Be thinking of Kanika and the others that were impacted by the most recent disasters. I will be posting her fundraiser as soon as I get the site up.

Here is more information from CI's web-site regarding the Cyclone in India:

Kolkata, India – A team of relief workers from Children International, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization, is assessing the damage left in the wake of Cyclone Aila which hit Kolkata (Calcutta), India, on Monday, May 25. Hundreds of children and families supported by the organization are seeking shelter in schools and emergency centers after the rains flooded their homes and destroyed their belongings.

Officials report 70 mph winds damaged over 4,000 homes when the cyclone made landfall. The high winds uprooted trees, damaged buildings, and knocked out communications, while resulting floodwaters washed out public transportation as well as 5,000 acres of land which these farm communities rely on to support themselves.Children International is providing emergency assistance in the form of food, medicines, water-purification tablets, and other supplies.