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October:
On Friday October 28, 2005 two members of the Smithson Valley High School PALS
(Peer Assistant Leadership) group organized and worked at a Spaghetti Supper Fundraiser
to benefit Life2Orphans. The fundraiser was created for the purpose of helping
send out boxes that are sitting in the Portland, Oregon Life2Orphans warehouse.
The 2 girls that organized this project are Senior Amber Daughtery and Junior Paula Jones.
These 2 incredible girls raised a total of $200 for Life2Orphans!!! The girls' only request
was that the money raised be used to ship items to an orphanage that houses mentally
challenged children. Their money will go to send boxes to Torez Orphanage.
Photo (L to R): Paula Jones, Hannah Ulbricht, Amber Daughtery. Hannah is my daughter.
Hannah was adopted from Ochakov Ukraine (Mykolayiv Region) in August of 2002.
Smithson Valley High School is located in Spring Branch, Texas.
Monica Ulbricht
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Lotikovo:
Let
me reintroduce myself. My husband and I have 3 biological children and 2
daughters adopted from Ukraine. Sophia was adopted at the age of 5 months,
medical conditions put her on the old medical list that allowed her to be
adopted early, from Lotikova in 1999. Tatiana was adopted at the age of 15
years from Belarashenka in 2000. Sveta helped us with Tatiana’s adoption!
Recently, early March, Tatiana and I returned to Ukraine to visit with Sveta and to return to LuHansk so that Tatiana could see her sister, Oksana, and also to visit her old orphanage/school. During this trip I also visited Lotikova and took pictures on Life2Orphans behalf of the donations that were recently made. (I don’t want to ‘mess up’ you computer. Please let me know how many pictures you can easily receive at a time. I will start sending them right away!)
Lynn, I was in shock at the difference in that orphanage!!!!!!!!! The effect of what your organization has had is almost immeasurable. The physical plant is still old, but it didn’t smell like urine and rot. The children had toys, and more than that, they were actually allowed to play with them. It was like you could reach out and touch the hope that could finally be found there. The workers were different, the children were different. When we where there they looked like little skeletal people from a concentration camp. You could see every bone in their body! What I saw in March, were happy children that actually had a little baby fat on them.
I have seen several humanitarian organizations in Ukraine doing ‘good’ things. However, many of them were run like ‘mom and pop’ operations, and anyone could see that so much more could have been done with the resources that were being poured into them. That was very discouraging!!! I can’t say enough about how impressed I am with what I have seen of your organization. You are making a REAL difference, and from my perspective you are making the MOST DIFFERENCE that you can with your resources.
Blessings,
Cheri L. Hayes
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October:
A group of young women ages 12-18, from the LDS Church - 5th ward in Yakima, Washington made 92 scarves for the young women at Mykolaivka
Internat! Fantastic job ladies!
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October: This is the article that appeared in the Gorlovka newspaper.
Great job Katrina and Gorlovka team.
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October:
The latest on "DNEP" is that the orphanage director is extremely grateful and decided to apply the
repair money to the roof – it has been leaking for years and years. The director got some other
funding and the contractor gave a huge section too from his own pocket. So with the Life2Orphans
funds they are able to complete the roof repairs. (They decided that this was more important than the
kitchen and sewage repairs, and in terms of impact on the kids this definitely rates higher).
George visited and had a chance to walk on the roof, meet the contractor, inspect the materials and
see the previous shoddy work and materials used in the past.
These repairs are making a huge difference to the orphanage and the quality of the lives of the kids.
Thank you Dana and Dy'Anne.
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October:
We are pleased to announce the first collection of the Children's Art is now open to
bidding on Ebay under our Life2Orphans seller's ID sell4life2orphans.
The link to our charitable listings is:
http://www.missionfish.org/NPMMF/nphomepage.jsp?NP_ID=5677
Happy Bidding!
Here is also a summary of the seven pieces currently listed:
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October: Orphan Anna
George contacted Odessa Orphanage #3 to ask
about the size of their crib sheets to discover that they had a crisis.
Orphan Anna was in hospital in Kyiv and they had run out of money to care for her - when babies go to Kyiv for treatment the orphanage has to send and pay for an accompanying nurse, extra food, medicines etc. George borrowed 100 grynva and asked his wife to visit Anna.
Notes from George: "Anna is 4 years old and is truly an amazing little girl who really wants to live. She was abandoned by her parents. She had teratomas (pineal view) on the face. Little by little they started moving... until they protruded out her eye one night!
A very good neurosurgeon Verbova in the Kiev baby hospital operated on Anna the first time several years ago. The girl lost a hemisphere of her brain after this.... but she started to speak in Kiev... Everybody was glad! But later teratomas appeared on her cheek, and she returned to Kiev for another operation... , during the night, Anna woke up and was crying: "Mother!... Good bye!... I'm dying!" The teratomas moved into the area of temple in the bone, in the direction of eye and ear... They asked doctor Verbova for a renewed effort: this third time she was operated on from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. Anna survived, he is speaking and walking now...
When my wife visited hospital, the child had talk to her: - Have you brought the money? - Yes... - Is it possible to buy cottage cheese with it? - Yes! A lot of!... Scar is wet yet, so child needs treatment yet after operation... How long it will be and how much money they will need director of the orphanage can't tell exactly... After all the fighting for her life all the staff are eager to help Anna to be healthy... And they are appreciating any help!"
Thank you to the 4 donors who contributed funds. A further 500 gryvna was delivered to orphan Anna.
Donations for orphan Anna are still needed.
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September:
The children at Orphanage 12 enjoyed the clown show today. Absolutely loved
it! I can't remember them so excited. Thank you everyone who made it
possible!
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September: Every child at Internat Mykolaivka receives a bag crammed with
goodies!
Thanks to Cara-Donne and family for managing this amazing project. Thank you
Marina, Mindi, Gail, Dana, Diane, Jon, Stacey, Michelle, Laura and Katrina
from Life2Orphans. And thanks to all Cara-Donne's private donors.
And of course, Megs and the team at the warehouse for shipping the dozens of
boxes.
And from the kids:
"Greetings my far away American friend"
"Thank you for the gifts."
"Thank you for the backpack and the gifts that were put inside. I liked it
all very much.
"I received the parcel. I liked it very much. I especially liked; the maps,
the rubberbands for my hair, the diary with a lock, the pens, ruler,
pencils, colored paper, toothpaste, brush, candy, t-shirt, socks, underwear
and of course the thing everything came in the back pack itself."
"I received a parcel. I really liked it. I especially liked, the colored
paper, the pens, the butterfly, markers, pencils, maps, the blouse, the
candy, the brush, and the very best was the backpack, underwear and socks."
"Thank you so much for the wonderful parcel, everything was beautiful and
tasty."
"I received the package. I really liked it. I especially enjoyed the felt
tip pens, pens, pencils, erasers, candy, ruler, brush, toothpaste, shorts,
socks, underwear and the backpack.
"Will be waiting for a reply, like the sparrows await summer."
"I liked everything very much, an enormous thank you."
" P.S. My wish is to come to America, to relax (vacation). In fact, I would
love to find an American family."
" I received your parcel. I really liked it. I especially liked… the ball,
tennis shoes, flashlight, parrot, construction set, socks and underwear and
t-shirt. I am wearing them with such happiness. …… I want to come to
America, I will behave myself. I will be waiting for a reply."
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Merry Christmas!! Internat Mykolaivka
Here are all of the Christmas Goodie Bags on Angies couch!
She took them to
the Mission today (Sept. 9)
"Wow! Our Christmas bags combined total 99.5 lbs. of goodies!! That makes it
approx. 1/2+ pound of yummies for each of our youngsters!! There are 227
bags total. I'm sending photos of 120 bags sitting on my couch :) All have
been gently packed (layered) by Art into two 24x18x12 boxes and are all
ready to ship. "
Thanks Angie, Marina, Megs and team.
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August:
Thanks to each of the 27 donors who made the August Project of the Month a great success.
Kremenchuk will have the commercial dryer they need just in time for winter - together
you raised $750!
As always, your generosity in this collaborative effort is greatly appreciated.
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August:
The ladies of the Nabb, Indiana Presbyterian Church spent many Wednesday nights this past winter
making beautiful quilts for the children in Kremenchuk orphanage. The bright, stimulating colors
and designs will provide the children warmth in the coming winter. A special thanks to Pastor
Beth Walden-Fisher for coordinating the project.
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August:
Many thanks to the donors who paid for the shipment of Kelly's Kids clothes to the orphanages.
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August:
Thanks to Dana for the donation of play equipment for the AIDs children.
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July:
An Unexpected Adoption
Three years ago, Jimmie and Amanda Clark adopted 2 boys from Ukraine. While in Ukraine, they
also met a little girl named Lena who would captivate their hearts and thoughts for years to
come. They were elated to find out a year and a half ago that Lena was going to be adopted
by an American couple. However, after a sharp turn of events, in June they found out that
Lena's adoption had fallen through and she was scheduled to enter an institution in a
month, where her chances for survival would be slim. Now they are on a race to raise enough
money to complete Lena's adoption as quickly as possible. Click below for their story.
http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=bcdr§ion=Announcements&storyid=23402
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July:
Special thanks to Dana for his office supplies distribution project to the orphanages. This particular
box of supplies was greatly appreciated at the Sevastopol Street Shelter.
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July:
From Bogdan:
Here are some pics of the computer center. We ended up fixing up two rooms - one for teaching
computer literacy, and one for teaching English and presentation skills. Our graduates fixed
up both rooms. On one of the pics you can see them working the wooden floor.
Thanks to Dana we got the following equipment (beside the REALLY nice Dell computers donated
by Stacey): a NEC multimedia projector, an HP laptop, 9 computer desks, 9 chairs, 2 x 1.2 m
whiteboard, overhead projector, projector cart, 1.8 x 1.8 m projection screen on a tripod,
HP printer with an extra cartridge, a Canon copier with an extra cartridge, a 29" TV, a DVD/VHS
combo, a stereo, plastic comb binder, surge protectors, office paper, and some other supplies.
Wow....I still can't believe we have all those things! THANK YOU DANA!! This is an incredible
investment into the future of Orphanage 12 children and graduates.
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July:
From George:
Nadvirna's chief Galina was such surprised, that she can use such a lot of
money for repairing the building, what was build 25 years ago on the...
watery place!
That's why it goes little by little down and it reflects on the surfaces of
walls and ceilings!
Svalyava's chief Victor was patient to wait for me (because 200 miles
through the mountains were much more longer, than plain road: that's why I
had to hire the car between Nadvirna and Svalyava, because I had money and
didn't want to be risky in several buses till the deep night in the rather
wild area...) Victor showed me great progress, that he reached in
boiler-house, laundry. And nowadays repairing changings with the help of his
own workers, who are repairing for the additional money after main job...
And L2O's money will push this work strongly!
I made a lot of pics as all of these events.
I connected to Chinadievo and organized everything for teaching them to
operate photocamera and using computer - but it will take some time for
them...
So, today I'll try to send you photos and documents about receiving the
money and will prepare the report!
"Transcarpatian" George!
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July:
Thanks to Michelle A for boxing up hundreds of glass baby bottles for Zhitomir, Svalyava,
and Kremenchuk.
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July:
Dana received the following thanks for a recent sizeable donation to Bolgrad Deaf Orphanage:
Kids and staff of Bolgrad specialized school of general education for deaf children thank
you kindly for your help and support in improving study conditions in our school.
On 22nd of September, 2005, we will celebrate the 60th anniversary of founding our school.
This institution is situated at 11 buildings, mostly built at the beginning of twentieth
century. Nowadays there are 74 children at the age from 3 to 18 coming from southern areas of
Odessa region. 15 among them are orphaned children and those who are deprived of parental care.
Dear friends! We want you to know that we, adults, those who shared their life with children
with special needs, understand your feelings very well and admire your warm-heartedness
and your generosity!
We believe that the Lord sees you and He will reward for your kind deeds with your personal
well-being and with health and happiness of your family.
Thank you very much and welcome to us: our kids and adults will be glad see you at our school!
Director of the boarding school
T.A.Netkova
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July:
Special thanks to Guidecraft for extending Life2Orphans wholesale pricing on their
incredible line of developmental toys.
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July:
Cristin's dad, Tim, is hard at work making many, many wooden puzzles for the children by hand. His
website can be found at www.homestead.com/etccreations.
Many thanks Tim for all of your hard work - the puzzles are perfect, and are sure to delight
the children.
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June:
THANK YOU to each of our donors for making June Project of the Month a great success.
Kiev Orphanage #12 is now on its way to having a library in place thanks to your
generosity.
There are 28 participants and each one of you is a part of what it took to raise the $750,
with no one person giving more than 14% of the total funds needed. We have never had so many
participants for a Project of the Month until now.
I know that each of you have commitments to support several L2O projects, but you found that
little extra to help provide educational opportunities for the children at this orphanage.
Our success as a group is only possible through collaborations. Thank you again!
Kind regards,
Stacey
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June:
Patie visited the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington on behalf of Life2Orphans.
Click here to read about her wonderful visit.
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June:
A note from Yuri & Kristina at Children's Hope:
"Sherry Harris had wonderful time with us and with children. It was very great to meet her, to see
how much she loves children, not just her sponsoring but all our children. She became also as a
child and was playing with them in deferent games, dancing, jumping, teaching English and taking
all of them in McDonald and not only children but also all staff who was working in this day!
She has great attitude to children as all children loved to be with her and we wish than Sherry
will be back to us for more long days."
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June:
The future never looks bright to a Ukrainian orphan. To an orphan growing up in an
orphanage for children with learning disabilities the future looks twice as dismal.
Children at Orphanage No.12 in Kiev know this only too well. The orphanage is a home
to 80 orphans aged 10 to 16, many of whom have been victims of severe neglect while
others have minor learning disabilities such as dyslexia. The children considered unfit
for regular schooling and are offered a simplified curriculum that excludes many subjects
vital for further education and successful employment such as English and computer
literacy. With such a sub-standard level of education graduates of specialized orphanages
can not apply even to vocational schools, let alone colleges or universities. Needless to
say, employers are also rarely interested in a 16-year-old candidate with a fifth-grader’s
certificate.
The Children’s Computer Center, launched at Orphanage No.12 by Life2Orphans, will be used
to teach older children as well as orphanage graduates English and computer skills that
will make them more marketable and employable on the local jobs market. The Center has
been equipped with modern computer equipment, unlimited access to the Internet, furniture,
visual aids, books and other necessary materials and equipment. The English course will be
taught by a licensed ESL teacher. The computer lessons will be taught by the orphanage
staff that has been trained under the US-funded Internet Access Training Program.
English and computer lessons for the orphanage children will start In September. Lessons
for the orphanage graduates started in June.
This is the first experiment of the kind, and if it proves successful it will not only
help graduates of Orphanage 12 find gainful employment but it will also help convince
Ukrainian officials that orphans with special needs have just as much potential as
'regular' children do.
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June:
Word from Sherry who visited Ukraine this month:
Just a quick note to let you know that I had a wonderful trip to Kiev and a memorable visit with
the children, Kristina, Yuri and all the teachers and workers. Their work is remarkable and their
hearts are amazing.
Many fond memories.
Best regards,
Sherry
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June:
Jason is an amazing child adopted, along with his beautiful sister Kaitlyn, from Ukraine by
Linda and Jeff.
Click here to read his graduation
story.
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June:
Megan was met with big smiles and many thanks when visiting the vocational students at Kiev Orphanage #12.
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June:
The children and caregivers are extremely appreciative of the generous donation of special needs
equipment and warm coats received by the H.E.L.P. (His Everlasting Love Prevails) Organization.
These items were distributed to many orphanages, and each and every one will be put to good use in the homes.
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June:
Many thanks from Mykolaivka Internat:
Dear Lynn,
From all our soul we want to thank you for the parcel for Vasya. We are all very happy that
he has someone for him now. May God give you health and happiness (luck)..
Sincerely,
Valentina
Dear Friends from the Kelly's Kids firm, an enormous thank you for the gifts for the children.
All the children are very happy with their gifts. Thank you very much for your kind heart,
that is open for our little heart. With love the children and Valentina.
Dear Marina,
We are receiving all of the parcels. An enormous thank you. The children are very happy with
the clothes, toys and shoes. We are very happy, that we have American friends, who think of
us and who worry about us. We bow low to you with happiness.
With love the children and Valentina
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June:
Magnets Attract Medical Supplies for Orphans
The Life2Orphans magnets fund raising campaign will bring hope to many by providing badly
needed medical supplies.
Few needs are as basic as food, water and medical care. Unfortunately, many orphans go without
the essential medical care that many of us take for granted.
The proceeds from your purchase of one or more colorful Life2Orphans car magnets, shown below,
will provide medical supplies that will bring good health and hope to many orphanages throughout
Ukraine. 100% of the proceeds from these sales go toward the purchase of medical supplies.
By proudly displaying Life2Orphans magnets, specially treated for outdoor use, you are also bringing
awareness to the work done by this dedicated team.
Magnets are being sold for $6.25 (US) per magnet, which includes shipping to all US addresses.
A purchase of $25 (US) buys four magnets and the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done something
genuinely worthwhile to help others.
Checks may be sent to the following address, or payments may be made via Pay Pal (subject
to Pay Pal’s processing fees).
Life2Orphans
11876 NW Tyler Court
Portland, Oregon 97229
You too can become a magnet that attracts hope and good health to the orphans supported
by the Life2Orphans team. Proudly display your support of Life2Orphans today.
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June:
Thanks from Makiivka AIDS Orphanage:
"Dear Dana,
The administration of the regional specialized children's home in the city
of Makeyevka for
HIV infected children-orphans expresses to you a huge gratitude for
the rendered help in purchase of medicines and vitamins, so necessary for
children with HIV for the maintenance of their immune systems.
Head physician OSDR Goncharov V.G.
The deputy head physician Batehina L.I.
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May:
News from Megan's Trip to Ukraine:
The kids made a great big huge dinner for me/Sveta/Life2orphans - it was so beautiful and they did such a
great job. We took pictures of the dishes for a cookbook that will be made.
When we walked up the stairs we saw a HUGE BANNER - saying Welcome Life2orphans. We went around to each
child and they told us about their lives and how they are doing in their studies. It was so special as
each of them were so proud of what they are accomplishing.
Bogdan would add many personal items to each story and we laughed and talked for several hours. Dean Peterson
was in town for business and stopped by to meet his sponsored child Maxine and all of us. It was so nice to see
one of our sponsors and they kids loved being able to feed someone else some of their wonderful meal.
The children made two cakes which said THANK YOU LIFE2ORPHANS and Oksana made another that said THANK YOU MEGAN.
They all tasted so good and they really put so much into making this dinner and they wanted to pay for everything
out of their own pockets. Just incredible.
I saw these same children last year and they are totally transformed. Everyone of them has hope in their eyes,
laughter and happiness was all around us.
Last year they were graduating and things looked so bleak for many of them - such a transformation.
We then toured the orphanage and talked about the donations that they have received and their current needs.
And of course took many pictures for everyone.
Took care of handing over money from Life2 and then went on to Oksana's apartment. It is looking so much
better. The work the children has changed a barren hole into an apartment/home that still needs lots of
work - but is so transformed. We exchanged gifts and Oksana showed me examples of her wonderful sewing
projects. Oksana sewed me potholders and also a beautiful apron - such lovely work she really is doing
a tremendous job. And was so happy with light in her eyes that I did not see before.
Just the small things we do for these children make all the difference in the world to them. Someone cares.
Oksana sends her thanks to Stacey for material and Dana, Megan and Stacey for all the wonderful items
for her home. The refrigerator, stereo, couch/bed and TV have transformed her small home.
Will write more later and some about Childrens Hope and everything else we are doing.
All the best,
Megan
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May:
Good Things are "In Store" for Kiev Orphanage
#12
Children play and
learn responsibility early at Orphanage 12. You can help.
Alyosha, a 16-year-old graduate of Orphanage 12, is helping
other children there to have fun and learn responsibility early through his role
as manager of the Orphanage Store.
Children, many aged 12-16 years, earn "store points"
by working at the orphanage – helping the receptionist, assisting the nurse,
and helping caregivers. Along with learning valuable trades and skills, they
come to understand the value of work and the esteem and pride that comes with
it.
Store points may be redeemed for items at the store – used
Walkmans, batteries, envelopes, cookies, and other rare items that reward
children for their help and teach them valuable lessons about work and
"money."
You can help! Alyosha and all the children in Orphanage 12 rely
on donations to stock their store. Consider putting a box together of items
that may appeal to children 8-17 years old, including watches, alarm clocks,
shampoo, foot powder, hand cream, acne cream, soaps, deodorant sticks, pens,
envelopes, school supplies, music tapes, old tape recorders, hair dryers (220
volt) sports clothes, baseball caps, belts, tee shirts, jeans, mugs, flavored
teas, make-up, etc. Note that packages arrive in approximately 2-3 months, so
consider food items with a long shelf life that will not spoil easily.
Love your local dollar store? It's a great place to start. A
few hours of your time today will help create life skills for children that will
last a lifetime. Self-esteem, work skills, and special rewards that most of us
take for granted – with your help, good things are "in store" for the
children at Orphanage 12!
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Special thanks to Brownie Troop #2745 from Lincoln School in Oak Park, Illinois.
The girls collected 80 pairs of shoes for children in Life2Orphans' sponsored orphanages. These will be sent
to Yalta and Sumy Preschool. Great job ladies!
Chinadievo is extremely appreciative for the money raised for window
repairs and the incredible shoe donation from Shoes for Orphan Souls. The money remaining after the
window repairs were completed was used to purchase new doors for the home.
Many thanks to Jenny and Verizon for the $500 donation
for administrative expenses. As part of their Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP)
Verizon donates $500 to the charity to which an employee donates 50+ hours. Jenny
certainly put in the time for Life2Orphans!
***** NOTE: When sending donations through PayPal.com, please only send to
paypal@life2orphans.org. This is the only open account at this time. *****
NOTE: Due to new requirements by the Ukrainian government,
TWO copies of a new Ukrainian customs form will need to be supplied with every package
shipped through the mission to Ukraine.
Special thanks to Sherry Smith from the His Everlasting Love Prevails
International organization (H.E.L.P.) for coordinating their donation of 7 pallets of brand new
coats, medical equipment and other very necessary items for the children. This donation is currently
being distributed to our sponsored orphanages and making a difference throughout Ukraine.
From Bogdan at Orphanage #12 Kiev:
"What are you trying to do, Stacey, give me a heart attack?! I knew the computers were going to be nice
but not THAT nice!!! The first one arrived today, and I could not believe my eyes. It is SOOOOO cool!!!
You can only see computers like that in high-end business offices. THANK YOU STACEY!!!! We won't have
to worry about upgrades for a LONG time. I did change the switch to 230V (remembered it the last minute
- whooh...). The computer works fine. Great job on packaging - THANK YOU Megan and everyone else who
worked on it.
A big thank you to the Country Day School in Portland, Oregon for organizing
a "Wishing on an Angel" Christmas program for children at Orphanage #2 Sevastopol. They mailed out
holiday packages for numerous sponsored children in the orphanage.
Special thanks to Eagle Scout Ajay Jakate and his troop from Elmhurst, Illinois.
Ajay organized a toy drive on behalf of RMH Children's Foundation, collecting a total of 550 toys. 325 of these
were donated to Life2Orphans.
The children at Internat Mykolaivka are enjoying their Adidas
soccer balls. Many thanks to the donors for the balls and shipping expenses.
January 14, 2004
Dear friends:
With this letter I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the wonderful work your
organization is doing to help underprivileged children and youth in Ukraine.
The vocational training project, funded by Life20rphans and implemented by the Kiev Children
and Youth Support Center since September 2004, is making a tremendous difference in the lives
of the thirteen orphanage graduates that are currently participating in the program. Thanks to
your support these young adults, who have been abandoned both by their parents and by their
government, have a unique opportunity to receive the education and the training that they need
to become independent and self-reliant members of the society. I want to thank Life20rphans
for giving them such a chance. They certainly deserve it.
I would also like to thank all sponsors, coordinators and contributors of Life2Orphans projects
in Ukraine for doing a wonderful and very much needed work. My special thanks are to Lynn Kolber,
Megan Fordenbacher and Angela Mitchum for sacrificing their time on a daily basis to ensure an
exceptionally efficient and well-organized operation of Life2Orphans, and for coming up with more
and more ways to help orphans across Ukraine. There are no words that could describe the
importance of your work. It has been a privilege for me to work with such committed and wonderful
people!
Once again thank you for your support and I am looking forward to working with you in the future
to further improve the quality of orphan lives in Ukraine!
Respectfully yours
Bogdan Bashtovy Director
Life2Orphans
December 31,2004
Dear friends!
On behalf of all children and staff at Orphanage No. 12 in Kiev I would like to thank you
for the support that your organization has been providing to our children.
Throughout the last year our children felt continuous care and support of your organization.
Life2Orphans assisted in organizing trips to McDonalds for our children, helped organize
art contests, collected money to buy new mattresses, donated high-quality sports
equipment (soccer balls) and computers to our facility. These are only a few steps that
Life2Orphans took in 2004 to improve the life of children at Orphanage No. 12. We highly
appreciate your help and make every effort to use it as effectively as possible. We hope that
Life2Orphans will continue to support children at our orphanage in the future.
I would like to wish all of the Life2Orphans staff and volunteers a lot of happiness in 2005,
and much success in the very noble and important cause that your organization is doing.
We are always very happy to see you in our orphanage!
Respectfully yours,
Svitlana Pilyuchenko
Director
Special thanks to the ladies of Alpha Chi Lambda at Trinity University
for raising $1,600 for Svalyava and Chinadievo. This money will be used to purchase much needed
food for the children, and to install new play equipment for Svalyava.
March's Project of the Month was for Boyarka Baby Orphanage which is
in great need of new cribs and beds.
The campaign was a complete success, with over $750 raised by multiple contributors. Thanks
to everyone for their participation.
The little ones at Antoshka look adorable in their new Kissy Kissy clothes.
Special thanks to Tatiana & Company for their generosity.
Antoshka received their commercial dryer which was purchased from the funds raised
by the January monthly project, and couldn't be happier. Many thanks to all of the project
contributors.
A thank you from Antoshka to Jeanne:
"Esteemed Jeanne!
We thank you for your charity and generosity, for sympathetic care about needs
of orphan children.
Thanks to you, we’ve obtained the machine for sewing and dress repair to make
sure that our children always look neat and, with their outer appearance,
attract most tender feelings of those around them while experiencing care and
caress of their ‘foster-moms’ every single moment.
Your sincere help made life of our children brighter, more colorful and joyful.
Albeit most important is your cordiality and love that make their small hearts
warm, give a sunbeam of light and hope despite all distances.
We wish that the little flame of goodness and charity never fails in your soul.
May Your good deeds fill up Your home with happiness and love.
God’s blessing to You at all times!"
A thank you from Antoshka to Life2Orphans:
"Dear Friends,
We are very grateful to you for your sensitivity and your generosity, for
your sensitivy towards the needs of the orphans. Your heartfelt help has
made life for the children more bright, fulfilled and happy. The children
were so happy, when they saw the new beautiful outfits, shoes, and
interesting toys. With the help from the vitamins, they have made the
children strong and healthy. We are grateful for the ice chest it has made
it easier to transport blood analysis to the laboratories and for deliveries
of immunizations for carrying out preventive care to the children. And the
clothes dryer -- this has been a dream for the laundry workers, who with all
their might work hard for the well being of the children. But, the most
important is your warmth and your love, that warm their small little hearts,
you have given the light of the moon and have open up great hope.
We wish for you, that the fire in your soul never burns out the warmth and
peace that you share. May all the good deeds that you have done fill your
home with luck and love.
Let Gods blessings be with you now and always.
Head Doctor"
The children at Antoshka are getting vitamins! Many thanks to JuicePlus+ for their generation donations.
Click here to view the pictures taken when Sveta
visited Roschitsa in February. The kids are playing with the toys sent in the 14 boxes of
donations that arrived recently.
Thanks to the donors who sent the items and the Kramatorsk fmailies who helped pay for the shipping!
Also thanks to Megan who together with Vasiliy, Summer and Amy work tirelessly to send out a
shipment every week. Thanks too to Anatoly and the team at the mission in Portland.
15 of the kids at this orphanage will be leaving in the summer. We have raised the funds for
12 graduation packs. If you would like to contribute to the last 3 (every contribution helps)
please contact Lynn (lynnk@life2orphans.org).
Thanks to Jon who provided the funds for many new tables in Roschitsa.
Congratulations to Melanie, who won $1,000 for Life2Orphans in a Family Fun essay contest! Look
for the details in their May 2005 issue.
Gayla in Sevastopol writes,
"Lynn, I just wanted to thank all the sponsors who e-mailed their
letters to the kids. You can't underestimate the importance of your
letters! Last time I visited at the end of Feb I distributed all the
letters, except for those whose recipients were out of the orphanage
at that moment (those I left with the director so that she could hand
them in later), I don't think the kids had a chance to read them
before I left, because they had their birthday party right after that.
But a couple of days ago when I came again to distribute several boxes
the director told me that the kids were THRILLED with your letters!!
You made them so happy and they felt your love and care which your
expressed through your letters. The kids kept coming up to me telling
what was in their letters, the names of their sponsors, and their eyes
filled up with joy when they spoke about you with radiant smiles on
their faces.
Thank you again everybody for you wonderful letters!! Thank you for
the joy you brought in the kids' lifes!
Galya
A note from Christine:
"Thank you so much for the pictures of Rostik and Zina!! I love to see them standing next to
the big box with big smiles!! I attached a picture of Tyler and Emily standing next to the
big box in CT, USA....where the box started its journey! ...... and then one of Rostik and Zina
standing next to the big box!!!!! I just keep looking at these 2 pictures side-by-side and
I am in awe. I am humbled by the joy in the kids' faces, the realization of how much
God has blessed me with 'stuff' and how wonderful 'giving' to others is. This is all
so amazing!!! What joy I am given from seeing their smiles. I want to go get them!
[I know I can't....but I can still want to!]
Thank you again,
Christine Mazzotta and Family"
Thanks to Elizabeth, Jon and Sveta for arranging the Christmas shoeboxes for Children's Hope.
A picture is worth a thousand words - so a new shipping flow image has been added to the
shipping instructions web page. Thanks to Lynn for making the process easier to understand.
Lena at Antoshka Baby Orphanage received a new chair from Life2Orphans, and loves it!
The children at Sevastopol Shelter were very excited with their new toys. Thank you to all of the contributors.
Orphanage #2 Sevastopol girls received their necklaces from Life2Orphans for International Women's Day
on March 8th, and smiles abounded throughout the home.
The girls at Internat Mykolaivka proud wear the watch/necklaces sent to them by Life2Orphans in celebration
of International Women's Day, March 8th.
"Our Dearest Women (mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters..)
From all of our soul we congratulate you all with the Holiday of March 8th.
We wish you great health, luck, happiness in your families, and a peaceful world around you!
A very big thank you for the watches and the gifts, and for not forgetting about us.
With love, the students of Nikolaevskoi school - internat"
Donated formula is clearly being enjoyed in the Antoshka Baby Orphanage. Thanks to all of the food
contributors for the various orphanages.
If you Paypal money to Life2Orphans, we ask that you include the Paypal fees on top
of your donation. There is a new chart so you will know how much to send.
The children from Internat Mykolaivka wrote a thank you note for the donations
they recently received:
"Dear Friends,
An enormous thank you to you all, that all of you do not forget about us.
Your presents give us such joy and warm our little hearts. We are now able to
understand, that there are people on this earth, who are openly ready to help
children, who do not have any parents.
We wish you all luck, health and that the fire in your great souls never burns out.
With love, the students"
And the following note of thanks specifically for Dana:
"Dear Dana,
From the bottom of our soul we are very grateful for your presents - the televisions.
Now we are able to watch the programs with great quality and understanding.
We are grateful to you that now we are able to receive more news about what is
happening in the world around us. We thank you, that your big heart warmed our
small hearts. We now understand, that we are needed by someone on this earth.
With much love, the students from Nikolayevski school-internat for orphan children."
The children at Orphanage #12 received their beautiful quilt donation. They have
nothing in the large room where their beds are and these really brighten up their
lives. Thank you so much Melissa and your mother's church group!
Galya held the February birthday party at Orphanage #2 in Sevastopol on Feb. 26.
They had fruit (enough for them to have a party and have some left for the
following day), cakes, juice and candy bars. The next birthday party will be March 26.
From Galya:
"Here are the photos of the party at Internat #1. I held it today. The kids
were absolutely thrilled!! Among all of them only 5 have eaten at McDonalds before.
I'm also going to buy them fruit, meet and other foods next week, when their driver
will get back from hospital. The director and the caregivers were very touched too,
they don't have many parties there and they are going to write a thank you letter
to the people who generously donated for the treat and made this day so
special for the kids."
Thanks to Nestle for their ongoing support of Life2Orphans. Their 2004 corporate Christmas card
displayed the artwork of a child from Orphanage #12.
Many thanks to Megan and the volunteers who work so tirelessly to process
the numerous boxes received at the mission!
We now have 52 Help an Orphan sponsors at Orphanage 2 in Sevastopol. Only 9 more to go.
Thanks to all the participants!
"Juice PLUS+ Fruit and Vegetable Blend provide naturally balanced whole food
based nutrition from a wide variety of nutritiously dense fruits".
Each daily dose is giving an orphan all the recommended daily amount of
fruits and vegetables! Thanks so much for your on-going donations, Juice
Plus+.
Feel free to visit Juice's Plus+ website at www.juiceplus.com.
Thanks to everyone's generous donations to Green Forest Orphanage, enough formula has been purchased to provide
supplemental feedings for all of the babies a full year! Donations for cereal and other food for the older children
are still needed and would be greatly appreciated.
An update from Jimmy:
"Happy New Year Everyone!
My trip to Kharkov Ukraine over the holidays was a success.
The first couple days I was there, my very good friend Natasha and I
helped buy medicine and food for Kharkov Orphanage #3 with money given
to me from Sherry H. and Life2Orphans. We had a blast doing this!! We
met the doctor of this orphanage at a pharmacy in the center of the
city, check out the pictures attached, and later we went shopping at our
favorite Target store for baby formula and personally delivered
everything to the orphanage.
The only thing troubling about our visit was the obvious appearance of
this orphanage, that it has much more money than Green Forest. Natasha
and I were told by the doctor of Orphanage # 3 that his orphanage is the
"healthy baby" orphanage and the babies with diseases and defects go to
Green Forest. If I was to rate this place like we do hotels, I would
give this orphanage a 5 star rating while Green Forest would not receive
even one star.
But this only motivated Natasha and myself even more!!!
We got busy the very next day by going to the outside market to shop for
clothes and art supplies for the children of Green Forest. It was a
long walk and a rather cold day that we picked to do this. Here are
some pictures of Natasha and me shopping. The lady at arts and crafts
booth kept looking at me strangely when everything I pointed at to buy,
I wanted 20 of. She would ask (translated for me) "Do you want 2 or
20??" To which I would smile and reply with hand signals that I indeed
was wanting to purchase 20!!
We needed to get a taxi back because we bought more than I could carry
that far. Once back to my apartment, I laid everything out on the floor
to get a picture.
We called out to Green Forest and told them we were coming out the next
day to visit again. Natasha smiled when she hung up the phone and said
that they remembered us and were excited for our return :-)) We
stopped at the Target store again and bought a ton of juice, bananas and
oranges along with Pampers, soap, baby creams, lotions, etc. We spotted
some children's sleds that looked like they needed to come with us,
too!!
When we helped the doctor the first day from Orphanage #3 buy medicine
at the pharmacy, I asked him to get two of everything that he ordered so
I could bring the same medicine supplies to Green Forest.
We arrived at Green Forest and were warmly welcomed!! I carried the
boxes of medicine inside and was met by the nurse that seemed to thank
me about 30 times :-)) Next we took the bananas to the next building
where the oldest children were. The same children I had visited last
time and passed out a banana to each of them. As the children sat
waiting for their banana to be handed to them, their faces reminded me
of my own niece's and nephew's faces on Christmas morning. Their eyes
were so wide and they had the biggest smile on their little faces. I
can only compare it to the look on a child's face Christmas morning when
they are sitting in anticipation to start opening all the presents under
the tree...... but only this was just a banana that I was about to hand
out. The joy that I brought them....... with such a simple
gift......it tore my heart in two.
My camera battery decided at this moment to die. I am extremely sad
that I couldn't capture their smiles to bring back to show all of you.
Natasha had her camera and took a few photos that she told me she will
try to email to me if she could figure out how to do it :-))
As we were leaving, we asked what other items were needed that maybe we
would be able to help with. The lady we spoke to explained to us that
they have 4 children that are HIV infected and they must do all of their
washing separate from the other 100+ children. She said they could use
some washing supplies and a big metal tub so they could wash all the
clothes and sheets in it..... by hand. I asked if they would like a
washing machine instead of a metal tub....... and tears came to her
eyes. I took that as a yes and told Natasha to tell her that a washing
machine would arrive tomorrow!
So off we went to the store to find a washing machine and had it
delivered the next day! I snapped a picture of the washing machine
which made Natasha extremely nervous. She explained to me that it is
strictly forbidden to take pictures of prices or to even write down the
prices on a piece of paper!! They do not want you to compare prices
with other stores and if caught she was sure that I would have my camera
taken away from me. Well......this only made me want to take a
picture all the more!!! So carefully, I pulled my camera out from
underneath my coat and took this picture of the washing machine I
purchased. They delivered it the next day for us and we called the
following day after that to make sure it had indeed arrived. Natasha
smiled when she hung up the phone and told me that the lady on the other
end said something like, "Yes, yes, yes, it arrived, yes, yes, thank
you, thank you, its here, yes, thank you, thank you, yes, thank
you....." :-)))
I owe so much of my success on this trip to Natasha. Without her
translating and her knowledge of the city, it would be impossible to
accomplish any of this. Most importantly, she protects me. She warns
me when I am breaking cultural rules, which I seem to do very often.
She helps explain things to me when my impatient attitude can't accept
why things take so long in that country. She is quickly becoming one of
my dearest and closest friends.
She even invited me to a New Years party with all of her friends, since
I would be sitting at home alone that evening. I made many friends that
night and I think it brought our two countries a little closer to each
other. I was truly blessed that night with fun and new friendship all
around me.
Natasha and I email each other almost everyday. She has some great
ideas and is already working on some more much needed items for the
Green Forest Orphanage. Tables!! They need a bunch of tables for the
children and Natasha thinks she may have found a place that manufactures
wood products and that maybe they can take a special order from us to
make about 30 of them, since there really isn't a "table store" that we
can shop at. She is working on the details now!! Hopefully by the time
my next trip over there, in a month or so, we'll have a pile of tables
ready to be delivered!!"
Many thanks Jimmy, for your continued efforts to provide for these children.
Special thanks to all of the donors who provided formula to the orphanages this past year:
November 2003 Nestle order (provided supplemental feedings for the following):
Boyarka - 120 babies for over 4 months (14,730 days total)
March 2004 Nestle order (provided supplemental feedings for the following):
Boyarka - 120 babies for over 4 months (14,730 days total)
Svalyava - 99 babies for 2 months (5,940 days total)
Antoshka - 69 babies for 1 month (2,070 days total)
Kherson - 34 babies for 1 month (1,020 days total)
September 2004 Nestle order (provided supplemental feedings for the following):
Boyarka - 120 babies for over 4 months, (14,730 days total)
Antoshka - 87 babies for 2 months (5,250 days total)
Nadvirna - 64 babies for 2 months 128 (3,840 days total)
Lotikovo - 18 babies for 1 month (540 days total)
December 2004 Nestle order (provided supplemental feedings for the following):
Green Forest Orphanage - 128 babies for 3 months (11,520 days total)
Antoshka - 107 babies for 2 months 214 (6,420 days total)
Svalyava - 107 babies for 1 month (3,210 days total)
Nadvirna - 80 babies for 1 month (2,400 days total)
Kharkiv #3 - 54 babies for 1 month (1,620 days total)
Lotikovo - 30 babies for 1 month (900 days total)
Click Here for the 2004 News Flash
Click Here for the 2003 News Flash
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