I've spent the day trying to get caught up on things, only to remain behind on a good many things. But we've got donation pickup coming on Thursday, so at least there are bags of donations sorted out and ready to go. I'm working my way through organizing the house, but it's slow going. And then there's email. I am woefully behind on email. Also woefully behind on thank you notes, months behind in fact. You'd think I'd forgotten all my manners or wasn't properly grateful. But it will get done. I feel like things are slowly starting to get lighter. Burdens we've been carrying are lifting.
One burden we've been carrying is financial, as related to Elvie's adoption fees. I think it's obvious that we are not in the "no debt to adopt" camp. In addition to what we raised through Give It Forward, we also received a generous interest free loan from a fantastic organization called Pathways for Little Feet. We have been paying a monthly payment to them since September, and have continued with Give It Forward. There have been months that things have been tight that we did all we could to pay our Give It Forward payment, and some months that we have delayed due to life circumstances. January was one of those months, though I didn't even manage to mention it. The day I should have been posting options was the day after Elvie's surgery, and to be honest, it didn't even cross my mind. It did later; I don't forget financial obligations forever, and this one in particular is close to our hearts. But still, it just didn't happen in January.
There are a couple of reasons for this beyond Elvie's surgery sucking every last bit of brain power out of my mind. First, I didn't have any good ideas for charity options. Oh, I knew organizations that we could help, but nothing spoke to me, and no one had written lately to suggest something, and I just couldn't seem to get it together to look around a bit and choose a few options. The second is that I like to file our taxes fairly early, and so we get our tax refund early. I was thinking that it would be nice to give the rest of what we owe, plus the accompanying interest, all in one lump sum, somewhere that it could make a big dent.
So that's where you come in. The total amount given to wrap up Give It Forward will be $1133.41. It will be put to a vote just as soon as the tax refund hits our bank account. We are filing this week. Do any of you know of an organization that could use that amount for something that is desperately needed? In the past we've given into some general funds, but this time I'd like some ideas of some smaller organizations that are doing good work, for whom $1133.41 will be well used for something in particular. Please, give me your ideas! Let's make this last gift count!
A acquaintance of mine recently set this charity up. When my budget is less tight I plan to give to them. Seems be good charity.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gogivenj.org/#!donate/c1ghi
thanks
Melissa
What about giving to a charity either connected with the hospital Elvie (and by extension, you) has spent so much time at, or one based in your new home city?
ReplyDeleteI really like "Green's" idea. Also, I will always recommend this children's home started by my second cousin in Guatemala http://www.theloveofpatricia.org.
ReplyDeleteI'm completely partial but I do love All the Skies. We left Back to the Roots (we weren't getting our donations on time, boo) and started out on our own, to rescue children who found themselves on the street due to poverty, sex trafficking, or because Nicaragua just closed most of their orphanages. We're currently in the process of legally adopting all our kiddos, as the government will place children in our rescue center, only to return them to parents and potentially abusive situations. We want to be able to give these children a permanent home, in their home country, if at all possible. Site is currently under construction but here's a link: http://blog.alltheskies.org/?page_id=378
ReplyDeleteRoots Ethiopia!
ReplyDeletewww.lilysarahgracefund.org
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking story, enlightening fund!
friend of a friend started up this charity in uganda for women to make/sell baskets and to help care for their children while they work. they have four women currently.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.themightyriverproject.com/project/
the family who started the project adopted two children from uganda 5 or so years ago.
St. Dorothy's is a local camp, the oldest in California, and hosts two weeks of camp for critically ill children, at no cost to the child's family. For $1100 you can send a child to camp. http://www.stdorothysrest.org/wp/camp-4/
ReplyDeleteNo matter where you decide to donate, one of you might want to take Zinashi to the Ankle Biters Camp in June-two night, one parent, one child. It's a great taste of camp life in the redwoods and some fun bonding time!
The Batonga Foundation was founded by Angelique Kidjo and works to support African girls secondary and higher education. They give female Ethiopian university students school supplies, and also support various youth centers in Addis Ababa. Their US office has very little overhead (only one full time employee) so you know that almost all of the money donated goes to support the girls.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.batongafoundation.org/
It's not a charity, per se, but what about giving the funds to someone who is in the adoption process, with the understanding that they'll pay it forward to someone else? My cousin and her husband are in the middle of adopting their first child(ren) from Uganda, and I know finances are a challenge for them, and I'm sure there are lots of other adopting parents in the same situation.
ReplyDelete-Sarah (friend of Suz & Shayne in SC)
You can always donate to the child life department at ucsf. Also, I was thinking about http://www.donnasgoodthings.org. I love them because they started their charity recently after their daughter died from a brain tumor at age 4. They do some amazing projects in Donna's name and they have a lot of hospital activities at the hospital in Chicago where Donna was treated. For example, they just hosted a huge Super Bowl party at the hospital for all the kids. So they're giving back to the places that gave them hope and help and support as they went through Donna's cancer journey. Her mom also reminds me a lot of you. She has a blog, Mary Tyler Mom, and is just a great freelancer writer as well as cancer advocate. They get my vote BIG TIME.
ReplyDeleteHi! There's a Foundation that sponsors children in China with special needs, getting them surgeries, foster care or things they need. Ashley from Under the Sycamore posted about it and donated an incubator to an orphanage in China through them.
ReplyDeletehttp://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/the-incubator-project/
http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/
I googled and found this page where a blogger lists her (his?) ten favourite chrities that help children. Some of them are pretty amazing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.squidoo.com/charities-that-help-children
World Education, which provides ways for children who have to work the ability to learn in the mornings/evenings. World Education Nepal I saw relatively up close.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary, was thinking about ideas and it hit me how about share our strength?? they have a wonderful "no kid hungry" program that would be perfect for that!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foodnetwork.com/share-our-strength/package/index.html
Amy Mackenzie
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteYou have been so generous to The Small Things once before - we would be very, very grateful to be considered for this project as well. Currently we have about 30 orphaned children from newborns to five years, who we care for until they start boarding school around five. What you may not know is that we are about to start a big expansion! In April, I will be moving to Tanzania full time and we will be transitioning to a children's village, where the kids can stay until they are teenagers. You know how important family and consistency are to young kids, and we agree! The kids will be in family style homes with 8-12 other children, and a set of five staff who work exclusively with those kids. We will send them to high quality day schools, provide extracurricular activities, access to art and music, and much more. With the children's village, and the privacy and space that goes with it, we will also be able to take in and care for HIV positive children, which we are not currently able to do because the crowded conditions wouldn't be safe for them.
$1,200 would pay for a full year's salary for a deserving and hardworking Tanzanian mama to join our team and give these kids the care and attention they deserve and need. They do everything - give baths, kiss boo-boos, feed them bottles, push them on the swings, put them to bed, and a million things more.
I know you have a lot of deserving organizations that will be nominated here, but thank you for thinking about us. Readers can find out more at www.thesmallthings.org or www.facebook.com/thesmallthings. Thanks for everything that you're doing, and love to you and your girls!