THANKFUL!!

One of the things that made an impact on me when I visited "Kind Hearts" in Ethiopia (in December), was how little the kids actually had - no school books, tattered clothing, shoes with holes, very little food, a crooked little swingset with 2 swings, and a broken teeter-totter ... and for many of the kids, no mommy or daddy.  And yet the joy these kids displayed at our mere presence was overwhelming and quite humbling.

The swingset at Kind Hearts in Ethiopia, shared by 68 kids (above).  The playground equipment in our neighborhood shown with our two sons from Ethiopia (below).

I've posted the picture of the crooked swingset many times on my blog, and one of our sponsor families, Alisa and Vince Martin, contacted me with an idea.  Now that the basic needs of the kids are being met through sponsorship (food, clothing, medical care, education and Christian discipleship), Alisa wanted to focus on the playground equipment.

Alisa offered to make hand-made, personalized Mother's Day cards and donate her time, material and postage so that 100% of the funds raised could go to Kind Hearts.  We encouraged everyone we knew to skip the $5 store-bought card, and instead donate that same $5 (or more) to Kind Hearts - for the playground equipment fund.

116 cards ordered (and being mailed to 30 different states) has resulted in .... (insert balloons, confetti and applause here) .... OVER $1,400 RAISED FOR PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT AT KIND HEARTS!

We already had $250 of donations in this fund so we now have a total of OVER $1,650!!

A good set of equipment will cost $2850.  We are more than half-way to our goal.  If you are interested in giving a one-time gift to the playground equipment fund at Kind Hearts, please contact me at kjwistrom@yahoo.com.

I. AM. AMAZED! 

I shouldn't be (because I have seen so many people come together on behalf of these precious kids before). 

But I am. 

AMAZED and THANKFUL!

We will continue to focus on the final funds for the equipment, and will update you on this blog when we have achieved our goal.  And of course, we'll have pictures to share when the kids first set eyes on their new "toys"!