Before and After

I just love before and after pictures! They tell a story better than any words ever can. You may remember the pictures of of the kids crammed in their bedrooms at Angel Cottage. The beds are end to end, side to side, in small rooms with 2 and 3 children sleeping in each. Today, I got the best "after" picture of the girls' room at the new Angel Cottage!

I know that walking between beds seems completely normal. It is to most of us. But these girls have been living in very tight, very unhealthy rooms for the past 2 years because they have no where else to go. As soon as the kids move into the new Angel Cottage, they are going to feel like they are living in a mansion!

Angel Covers has a new fan page on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angel-Covers/182221079501 We will post pictures and updates from all our programs on a regular basis. Join us and see lots of before and after pictures as soon as we receive them.

Your support of the America's Giving Challenge is making Angel Cottage a home. Keep up the good work!

So grateful,

Kari

Angel Cottage is almost completed!

Months ago we started selling bricks to raise money for the construction the new Angel Cottage. For just $10 per word, donors purchased the opportunity to have their names or a short message carved into the bricks of Angel Cottage. These names were going to be carved into the bricks in the dinning room so the children of Angel Cottage would always see their inspirational messages and names of those who want them to succeed.

I received word today that construction workers are ready to start carving bricks! This is wonderful news because it means construction is very close to being finished. Each and every donor will soon be getting a picture of his/her brick. The children who move into Angel Cottage on Nov. 1 will see these wonderful messages and names as soon as they walk into the dinning room, and will be inspired to reach for the stars.

Because of our amazing supporters through the Giving Challenge, $5,000 of the money raised to make this house a home will be going to Humble Hearts this week. This money will be used to purchase additional beds, wardrobes, sewing equipment to learn a trade, and tables. We will be working hard to be sure these items are at Angel Cottage as soon as the children move in. Because of all of you, very soon these children will not have to share a bed, and for the first time will have tables for dining and studying.

On Friday, October 23 at 1:00 MST Angel Covers will be working to win the $1,000 daily bonus. Please continue to spread the word about the Giving Challenge! The children of Angel Cottage have hope because of all of you. http://www.causes.com/donations/select_donation_method?cause_id=16135

So very grateful,

Kari

America's Giving Challenge

Yesterday the America's Giving Challenge began and the response has been overwhelming. In the first 24 hours, our supporters have come together and donated more than $2,000. Because so many different people donate, Angel Covers also received a $500 bonus donation from Giving Works. To say we are grateful would be an understatement!!

Throughout the evening, I keep thinking of the hundreds of people coming together to help 35 kids in Kenya. Sure, in a couple of short months, additional kids will come to Angel Cottage and learn how wonderful the staff and kids are. They will move in, begin going to school (many for the first time ever), and discover they have capabilities they were never encouraged to discover. Kids like Jane, who was raped and thrown out to live on the streets. She recently moved into Angel Cottage and is now learning that having HIV doesn't limit your abilities or your potential. But even after Angel Cottage is full, hundreds of you around the world will have come together to help 80 children. What a beautiful message that sends to these kids!

Please continue to spread the word about the America's Giving Challenge. This challenge doesn't end until Nov. 6 and we are again close to winning at least $500 tomorrow. Remember, the cause with the most individuals donating to their cause will win daily challenges as well as the overall challenge. That means that 4 individuals donating $10 each ranks us higher than one person donating $50. For most of us $10 is lunch out with friends, a cheap pizza for dinner, or a couple extras at the grocery store. During this challenge, $10 will completely change Jane's life and the lives of so many others like her.

Please go to our website, http://www.angelcovers.org/ and click on the blue America's Giving Challenge box in the middle of the page. Pass this link to as many individuals as you can. What a powerful picture it is to think about hundreds of us coming together to show these kids how special they are and how much potential they have.

Kari

My trip to Kenya

For those of you who followed my blogs while I was in Kenya, I have written a report on my trip, and I'm sure I left some things out. There was just so much to tell! But, feel free to read it at this link.

http://www.angelcovers.org/HumbleHeartsReport09.pdf

Since returning home, we have learned that the remaining Angel Cottage construction is fully funded. WHOOOHOOO!!! Thanks to the Vista Hermosa Foundation for this grant! We have a goal of Nov. 1 for the move in date and Beatrice is working really hard to make this happen.

Now for more good news! The kids of Angel Cottage are currently sleeping 2-3 to a bed as you all know. All of the furniture from the current home will be moved into the new home. However, there are lots of other things that are needed....more beds, tables for the dinning room, a concrete wall to provide a safe play area, etc. None of these items were included in the construction budget. But, a very generous couple has offered a matching donation for these items. For every dollar we can raise between now and Dec. 31 they will donate $.50 up to $5,000. Therefore, if we raise $10,000 for all the items needed at Angel Cottage they will donate $5,000. $15,000 will go a LONG way to buying all the things needed to truly make this a home.

Many of you do so much for these kids already. But, if there is any way you are able to help with this it would be so appreciated. Beatrice and I are putting together a complete list of items needed and their costs. I will have that posted soon. Please let all your friends and family know about these needs and the matching money.

Also, we have just put new holiday cards on the website. Profits from the sale of these cards will be matched as well, so please check them out and pass the link on. http://www.angelcovers.org/holidaycards.html I'm taking pre-orders right now and will start mailing cards as soon as they arrive to me on Oct. 7.

Thank you for all your support of Angel Covers and especially the kids of Angel Cottage and Humble Hearts. I've seen first hand how your changing lives.

Kari

Caring Kids

Frequently kids from around the country contact Angel Covers about how they can help others. Donations of clothing, vitamins, school supplies, blankets, and many other items have been sent to us from children trying to make a difference. More than $400 was recently sent by a school after they held a bake sale to raise money for Angel Cottage. Each of the children who worked on this fund raiser will have his or her name on a brick at Angel Cottage.

Another great example of a generous child helping orphans was seen this week. Melanie is a 5 year old little girl who was adopted from China when she was 10 months old. Rather than asking for toys for her birthday, Melanie asked her friends to donate towards baby bouncers. Because of her selflessness, two more bouncers will be purchased and given to orphans in China. Melanie put aside her own wants and asked that needy children be helped instead.

We can all learn from Melanie's example and the example of children around the world. Are you willing to follow their lead?

Coming Soon -- Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is always a little bittersweet for me. I love having a perfect excuse to spend the entire day with my kids. We go for hikes, go out to eat, whatever....as long as we don't have to think about anything else but having fun as a family. In this busy world of school, work, sports, and so many other activities, it's great to be able to take a day and just hang out together with no other obligations.

But Mother's Day also makes me think of those kids who don't have a mom, or kids whose families just aren't able to give their kids what they need. These are the kids who need to be able to "borrow" our moms for a day. These children need us to allow our moms to give them a home, and education, or food for the day.

This Mother's Day, please consider donating to help another child in honor of your mom. Put your mom's name on a brick at Angel Covers and let those children see how much she cares for kids around the world. http://www.angelcovers.org/angelcottage.html Sponsor a child at Humble Hearts, a Tibetan Minority Region school, or at our nutrition program in Huaibei, Anhui to provide kids with the warmth, nutrition, and education you mom provides you. http://www.angelcovers.org/childsponsorship.html Give a blanket to a child around the world so he/she has something to snuggle with as you did as a child. http://www.angelcovers.org/giftcards.html Any time a donation is made in honor of your mother, a card will be sent telling her of your generosity.

You can also purchase mom cooking aprons, blankets, notecards, or sweatshirts. All of these products support children around the world and let your mom know that you appreciate all she has done. http://www.angelcovers.org/products.html

There's a saying that says imitation is the best form of flattery. Help us imitate a mother's love through your gifts to her. By helping kids around the world this Mother's Day, you will be letting you mom know what a great job she does.

The Rainy Season

My sister-in-law, Lynn, and brother are living in Nairobi right now and Lynn has spent lots of time volunteering at Humble Hearts. I wanted to share a post she recently made on her personal blog. It gives a whole new understanding of the difficulties these children face each day. Kari

I can’t stop thinking about the rain. I’ve heard of rainy seasons, but this beats all for predictability (though a friend from New Orleans once told me that a 30% chance of rain there meant it would be raining 30% of the day. I leave it to the meteorologists among you to compare).

Every day since early last week it has p-o-u-r-e-d down rain. The clouds silently boil up in the late afternoon and, sometime between rush hour and supper, they demonstrate their power over us with more water than some places get in a year. Sometimes it goes on all night, sometimes just a fast thundershower.


It’s going to be like this for the next 2 months.


We’ve traded dust for mud. The cleaning up is a daily endeavor. At the Angel Cottage house where about 35 deaf kids from Humble Hearts live, daily rain means a daily flood. The bedroom structures were only meant to be temporary, and the city council didn’t allow them to include drainage around the buildings.

The kids come home every day and expect to help bail out the house. Shoes must still be washed, so it’s done in the muddy water on the ground.

coming home








There is no yard for these kids to go play in puddles and then leave behind for a dry, warm house. The water is outside their bedroom doors, filling up. The blessing is that so much rain water can be collected in barrels to help with other washing, like socks.


The good news is that a new Angel Cottage is being built, albeit slowly, as funds allow. If you can help, please visit angelcovers.org/africa.html and make a donation.
Thank you and take care,-L
(More pictures of Humble Hearts and Angel Cottage on flickr.)

Happy kids make me smile

This week we received some of the cutest pictures of kids in Kenya. As I'm sure you know, soon after Christmas the political climate in Kenya was very volatile. Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands were driven from there homes. The government even delayed the opening of schools by a week and many children weren't able to come for school for three weeks. (Sorry the date on the pictures say 2005! We've fixed this now.)


In the last few days, since an agreement was reached between the governmental leaders, Angel Covers has received pictures which perfectly show that the tole the violence took on these children is over. Seeing the smiles on these faces is the perfect way to end a week. On a good day, these children have to worry about whether or not they are going to get dinner, if their school supplies will be stolen, or if their shoes will last just one more day. Even though these worries are still very real, the more frightening realities of the past few weeks are no long there.

Gifts have been given to children from their sponsors, and the class 8 kids (8th grade in the US) have taken their exams. We are thrilled to report that everyone passed the exam and will be admitted to secondary school!!!

Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and financial support for these great kids. A huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders.

Kids Helping Kids

Angel Covers has amazing supporters all over the world, but the ones who make me smile the most are the kids. They have the biggest hearts and complete joy with doing things for others. They have such pride in what they are doing and have the purest intentions.

This summer, children around the US raised money for kids around the world by selling lemonade and so many other ways. Two kids held lemonade stands and raised money for a guard at Humble Hearts, and for a little boy in China to have heart surgery. We received the saddest news this week when we learned that the little boy in China died before receiving surgery. We aren't clear as to what caused is death....was he sicker than the doctors thought? Did he have another undiagnosed illness? What I do know, is that the children who tried to save him, did so with as much love in their hearts as any of us have. They didn't know him, and didn't want anything back. They just wanted to help another child. And the funds they raised will be used to help another baby with a heart condition as soon as possible.

Although the news this week was so sad about this precious baby, we also received a beautiful donation from another little girl, Mia. Mia asked her friends to make donations to Angel Covers for bouncy seats rather than receive birthday presents. She raised $88, enough to purchase 11 bouncers for babies throughout China! Her selflessness will allow so many babies to see their world and be out of their cribs. The babies receiving these bouncers will grown and and be a part of the world like they never have before.

We should all be like Mia and so many other children supporting children less fortunate. We should always give of ourselves without expecting anything in return. I've always know that we can learn so much from kids all over the world. These children are living proof of that.

Kari Fillmore