Like most kids in the US right now, Lil O is a Rainbow Loom lover. We have soooo many bracelets and other random Rainbow Loom objects floating around our house. In efforts to give this hobby an outlet and to help others, Lil O and I thought, why not Rainbow Loom for a cause?
Thus, I contact my coaching friend, Julie, who is executive director of AHOPE - an organization that provides free assistance, housing, clothing, schooling, medical care, etc. to HIV+ orphans in Ethiopia. I asked her if the orphans had seen Rainbow Looms before. She said probably no one in Africa has.
AHOPE
serves 213 orphans - kids and teens. Many of them have lost their parents
to AIDS. All of the kids/teens were born HIV+. At first, AHOPE was
a hospice to provide a nurturing, comfortable setting for the orphans to
transition with dignity. Now, with all the medical advances, the orphans
are living and thriving and becoming young adults! AHOPE basically raises
them at their nurturing AHOPE facilities - all expenses are paid from donations
mostly from the US.
Today,
Susan from Crafterhours, Ashley Ann from Under the Sycamore, Jenny from The Southern Institute, and Stacy from Kids Stuff World are joining me to launch the Rainbow Loom Project to collect bracelets for all the kids and teens at AHOPE
- it's time to spread the Rainbow Loom
Love. Any extras could be shared in their Ethiopian community.
Along with donating Rainbow Loom creations, families, please send in a monetary donation to AHOPE. Julie said every single dollar counts, so any donation $5, $10, $50, etc. will do.
Along with donating Rainbow Loom creations, families, please send in a monetary donation to AHOPE. Julie said every single dollar counts, so any donation $5, $10, $50, etc. will do.
Ready to join us? All the bracelets, creations, and checks (made out to AHOPE) should be sent directly to me, Jen Lara at Upcycled Education, PO Box 950, Savage, Maryland 20763 by March 15th. If you prefer to make a donation using your credit card, you can do so directly on AHOPE’s website. The graphic below is completely sharable. Please right click, save it and post it to your Facebook feed, Instagram account or blog. The more who join us, the merrier. Also, tag your photos with #ahope, so we can keep spreading the Rainbow Loom + AHOPE love.
Join us
in the three-fold service project: 1)
Give our US kids a place to direct their creative energies and be charitable.
2) Provide orphans at AHOPE a lovely, colorful connection to other
kids/teens from the US. 3) Raise money for a cause that I know, trust,
and provides much needed love/support/attention to kids in need. And an added
bonus, Julie and some AHOPE volunteers will be going to AHOPE in Ethiopia in
April. They bracelets will be hand delivered.
Yay for
Rainbow Loom Love and AHOPE!
Jen
