Jiangxi (China) Orphans Need Help With Schooling

The following, is from Peggy Gurrad from the Altrusa Foundation (www.altrusa.ws) which serves orphans in Jiangxi, China. My heart is naturally drawn to this foundation because my first daughter was born in Jiangxi Province. Please prayerfully consider making a financial donation to allow these precious girls to continue attending school which will give them a chance at a successful future. If you are not able to contribute at this time, please use the list of children to pray for their needs.

My Jiangxi Girl (with Mr. Cuddles)

Like the kids here in the U.S., our sponsored children from several of the Jiangxi orphanages are returning to school and they need your help. We need to pay the schooling costs for our sponsored foster children that attend the school near their foster home instead of the one near their orphanage. The cost is $155 for the year. I hope you can help!

I'm sure you can all appreciate the benefits to these children to be in a loving, attentive foster home instead of in the orphanage. And once they're in school they benefit from having a foster family that will encourage them and help them with their homework, giving them a chance to compete with all the other kids at school that have parents and grandparents focusing their attention on their only child. A child in the orphanage is at a significant disadvantage. The child in
foster care also benefits by being in the community and seeing the value of an education and growing up with the expectation that she will someday be an independent adult that can get a job and care for themselves. And hopefully in a school away from the orphanage, surrounded by their foster family and local community that accepts them, they will not have the stigma associated with being an orphan and can really live a normal life without bullying at school.

But to achieve all this we must pay for their schooling in addition to their foster family stipend and need some new sponsors for this. Here is a list of some children of the children that need a sponsor ($155):

HENGFENG

Girl born May 2005, in kindergarten
Girl born June 2002 who has congenital heart disease, in kindergarten
Girl born March 2005 who has congenital heart disease, in kindergarten
Girl born March 2004 who has cleft palate, in kindergarten

GANZHOU

girl - 5 y.o. - healthy - kindergarten
girl - 6 y.o. - HepB - primary school
girl - 15 y.o. - left leg deformity - middle school
boy - 3 y.o. - club foot - kindergarten
boy - 3 y.o. - lower extremity deformity - kindergarten
boy - 3 y.o. - healthy - kindergarten
girl - 5 y.o. - Cerebral Palsy - kindergarten

JINGDEZHEN

Girl born 11/04 (has Cerebral Palsy) in kindergarten
girl - 4 y.o. - possible autism - kindergarten
girl - 6 y.o. - Cerebral Palsy - kindergarten
boy - 3 y.o. - Cereberal Palsy - kindergarten
girl - 6 y.o. - Cerebral Palsy - kindergarten

NANCHANG

girl - 14 yo - cerebral palsy - special ed school
boy - 15 yo - cataract - special ed school
girl - 15 yo - low IQ - special ed school
girl - 7 yo - cerebral palsy - kindergarten
girl - 10 yo - cerebral palsy - primary school
girl 9 yo - cerebral palsy and epilepsy - kindergarten
girl 10 yo - cerebral palsy and epilepsy - kindergarten
boy - 9 yo - developmental delay - kindergarten
boy - 3 yo - hydrocephalus - kindergarten
girl - 10 yo low IQ - kindergarten
boy - 13 yo - low IQ - special ed school
girl - 7 yo - "malfunction of the brain" - kindergarten
girl - 16 yo - low IQ and hep B - special ed school

SHANGRAO

girl - 13 yo - middle school

All of the above children need $155 per year. But we also have some older children that need more but this could come from several sponsors if needed so any amount you could donate would be much appreciated. A few of these are:

A girl from Leping, born 10/90, who has had polio and will attend Nanchang Financial College. She needs $994 for the year.

A girl from Nanchang, born Jan 1993 and has hep B, in her first year at Nanchang Women's College. She is majoring in aviation service and hotel service and when she graduates wants a job as an airline stewardess or job working in hotel. The cost is $268 per year.

A girl from Nanchang, born Jan 1990, has hep B, also in her first year at Nanchang Women's College. She is majoring in metro service and administration, planning for a job associated with the subway. The cost is $268 per year.

A girl from Shanggao born 7/95, healthy, who is in high school and needs $315 for the year. (High school is not paid for by the government even though she is living in the orphanage).

Support is provided by donations to Altrusa Foundation which is a 501(c)3 organization in the US that works together with Amity Foundation in China. Altrusa does not take any admin fees out of your donation and Amity Foundation in China charges only a 7% admin fee. The rest of your donation is all going to your sponsored child's schooling! You can learn more about us at http://www.altrusa.ws/

If you'd like to donate by check it should be made out to Atrusa Foundation (tax deductible in the US) and mailed to me at:

Altrusa Foundation
Attention: Peggy Gurrad
P.O. Box 1354
Longview, WA 98632

peggy@gurrad.com

You can also donate through PayPal.com (which is a good option for those of you outside the US). But there are fees with PayPal also so please add about 3% for US donations and 4% of those from outside the US. (However it appears that you can choose an option that says this is a gift and then neither you or Altrusa are charged fees.) If you want to use a credit card let me know.

Please consider helping. We have lost many sponsors because of the bad economy and won't be able to continue helping all these children if we don't find some more people who can help. And it makes such a big difference. It's thrilling to see some of these kids continue on with school through university or professional school and then get jobs!

Peggy Gurrad
Altrusa Foundation
http://www.altrusa/.ws

FaceBook Challenge for Half the Sky

Almost 10 years ago my husband and I adopted our first child from China. Throughout the years I've known about and supported the efforts of an organization called Half The Sky, started by a mom named Jenny Bowen. HTS has amazing programs that care for the needs of orphans in China. I'm continually amazed at how effective they are in their work, and how this organization has grown. For this reason, I'm asking all FaceBook junkies to step up to the challenge described below. For HTS to win this contest would be an amazing triumph in the lives of orphans throughout China. Please take a few moments to read the letter from Jenny Bowen and get involved. For more information on Half the Sky, visit their web site at www.halfthesky.org.

January, 2010

Dear Friends of Half the Sky,

If you haven’t heard it already, you’re about to hear some wonderful news.

Half the Sky has the great good fortune of being one in only 100 nonprofits competing for a $1 Million prize in the Facebook Chase Community Giving contest.

If we win, we will be able to do something we’ve only dreamed about. We will be able to transform the lives of ALL of China’s orphans within just a few short years.

I know it’s a long shot, but I just keep thinking of all of the people who pulled together and voted so that I could carry the Olympic Torch on behalf of China’s orphans.

And I think of all the people who pitched in to help Half the Sky provide relief and comfort to thousands of children whose lives were shattered by the Sichuan earthquake.

And I think of a kind supporter named Julie, who wrote to us during the holidays: “I would give you guys a million dollars if I had it. You are awesome and make such a difference to so many children. Thanks for all you do.”

And I’ve just got to believe that we might have a chance.

We need your help.

If you have a Facebook account, we need you to vote for our “Big Idea” January 15-22.

If you don’t have a Facebook account, we need you to start one – if only for a day or two.

Watch and forward our video and our Big Idea

Post our video and stories about Half the Sky on Facebook walls

Tweet the news

Become a fan of Chase Community Giving and

Vote January 15 – 22

When the vote starts on Friday, you’ll be hearing from me daily. It’s only a week.

And what a difference we can make if we win. Please tell your friends and your family and your co-workers and everybody you know who thinks all children deserve a chance. Tell the world.

A vote for Half the Sky is a vote for every forgotten child.

We can do it!!

with love and gratitude,

Jenny