Just another reminder that all items sold directly from the store are eligible for free giftwrap through 11/26. Just a few more days to put my mad wrapping skillZ to work. if you’re thinking about placing an order, do it soon. I can’t recommend the gift cards and calendars highly enough (because they are rectangular and therefore easier to wrap…) No really, everything we have in stock is lovely. Make your selection today!!!
Paige
Well, I have a splitting headache and my eyes hurt–must mean I just finished adding inventory to the EOR Store! We have some cool jewelry from the Art for Ethiopia event (a couple necklaces made by an Denver artist as well as the super fab necklaces made famous that night by the Romanian supermodels–if you were there, you know what I’m talking about!), really beautiful table linens just in time for the holidays, cute purses (including a multi-colored hobo bag that looks like it came straight from Anthropologie) and lots of ADORABLE boy clothes, courtesy of Cindy the Triplet Mom (who just got back from an epic trip to Ethiopia–go look at her slide show right this minute!). As you know, most of our stuff is one of a kind–if you like it, buy it! Our stock is flying off the shelves.
Don’t forget–because she has nothing better to do besides raise her two kids, prepare a feast for and entertain a host of relatives, write a funny blog, homeschool Elliott, take 10,000 photos a day of Astrid and run our store, Paige has offered FREE GIFT WRAP if you order by 11/26! And she’s one of those annoying Martha types who’s really good at making things look all pretty and stuff, so the recipients of your gifts will think you went above and beyond this year…we won’t tell.
And, just a friendly reminder, if you’re planning to order any of our custom stuff from the store for holiday gifts (i.e., jewelry, quilts, tutus, dolls, superhero capes, etc.) please do so by the first week of December. Our artisans need ample time to complete your gifts to your exact specifications! I’m waiting for my quilt and superhero capes right now and will post pics when they arrive–they’re Christmas gifts for the kids, but I figure, they can’t read the internet, so it’s cool.
–Danielle
As Thanksgiving is fast approaching us my thoughts move towards my family and friends. How thankful I am for both! I often wonder how I was so lucky to be blessed with amazing friends! These are friends who are there for you in the thick and thin of it. When we first started our journey to Ethiopia, I never dreamed that my life would become filled with some new amazing friends!
Do you have friends who have met your daughter before you, who held her and told her how much her family loved her, kissed her and told her that her forever family would soon arrive to take her home. Do you have friends that you have never met yet take the time to send the most beautiful bouquet of flowers in memory of your father’s passing. A friend who shares that first moment you see your child for the first time. A friend who just knows when you need a diet coke! A friend who understands your fear of public speaking and offers to do the speaking herself. A friend who has captured moments on film of my family that I will forever cherish. These are my Ethiopian Orphan Relief friends and I am so very thankful for them.
I hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and that as you gather to celebrate that you are surrounded by love and friendship.
Kim
See this link right here? It’s a link to iGive.com, an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each sale to a designated charity, like EOR. In the last few months, with just 10 members, we’ve raised nearly 200.00 with iGive. It’s so super easy to shop with them, there’s a handy tool bar you can download, and the stores included in iGive’s mall are stores I’d shop in anyway (amazon, drugstore.com, gap, hearthsong, shoebuy.com)
I know I’ve brought this up before, but if you have shopping to do (or just plan to place an online photo card order), and you are a friend of Ethiopian Orphan Relief please consider joining iGive, so that a portion of each purchase benefits our various projects. As an extra little enticement, first time shoppers through iGive earn a 5.00 bonus for EOR. Pretty sweet!
Thanks, and happy shopping!!!
Paige
National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the 129,000 children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. For the last eight years, National Adoption Day has made the dreams of thousands of children come true by working with courts, judges, attorneys, adoption professionals, child welfare agencies and advocates to finalize adoptions and find permanent, loving homes for children in foster care. Celebrated in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, more than 300 events are held each year throughout the country to finalize the adoptions of children in foster care, and to celebrate all families who adopt. In total, more than 20,000 children have been adopted from foster care on National Adoption Day. This year, National Adoption Day will be Saturday, November 15, 2008.“
While the day focuses on finding permanent homes for children in foster care, National Adoption Day touches just about all of us. Personally, I knew I would adopt from the time I was eight. I had read a fiction book about an adoptive family and knew that was the kind of family I’d like to have. Years later, I met my husband who was quite open to the idea of adoption. Albert is adopted, and so was his first mother, so in a way, it seemed to be keeping family tradition to adopt as well.
Good thing that was our plan–as we galloped headlong toward age 30, it was clear that adoption was our most prudent path to building a family. We began to look at domestic adoption agencies in our state and thought it kismet when we heard about the same agency from two very different people in the same day. We signed on with St. Elizabeth’s the very next day, and a little over a year later, met our 6 week old, Elliott. A rare specimen of both beauty and brains (this mama is not biased, AT ALL), we thought Elliott might complete our little family…
It took more than 6 years, but we finally agreed that the time was right for another baby. This time, the decision about how to adopt was a little more complex. The first time around, we knew that we could only afford a domestic adoption–my husband was working on his PhD and I did non-profit work, so our income (or lack thereof), sort of chose a path for us. The second time, with a bit more income at our disposal, and Elliott’s needs to consider, an international adoption seemed the best choice. We loved the relative finiteness of an international adoption. We did the research, looked at the various countries open to us, and felt that Ethiopia was our best fit. Our son is biracial and was thrilled that his new baby sister would “match” him. We initially loved the idea of an escort option, although from the start, our agency, Dove Adoptions International, emphasized how amazing the trip to Ethiopia would be. Within 6 weeks, we felt the same way too–between googling and cozying up with The Lonely Planet, Ethiopia, we couldn’t wait to see the beautiful home of our second child.
About a year later (see, a theme emerges…) we met our beautiful 5 month old daughter in Addis Ababa, at Toukoul SOS/EE. Although I was already in love with her, before the end of the week, I would be in love with her country, too. As we returned home, joining the board of EOR made great sense to me. It gives me a small chance to give back just a little, to the country that’s given so much to me. I’m so privileged to be the adoptive mother of my two wonderful kids–they’ve come to me in very different ways, and the gratitude I have, for their first families and Meklit’s first country, is vast.
It’s National Adoption Day, an
other day of Thanksgiving for me.. Paige
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I don’t know about the rest of you, but once Veterans Day is over, I know I really need to focus on my holiday gift shopping. Luckily, this year’s gifts will mostly come from various EOR ventures. I’ve bought jewelry and calendars and toys from our store, art from our event in Denver. While the art event is over, there are still plenty of fabulous items available in our webstore. As a further incentive, I’ll offer *free gift wrapping (Christmas or a winter-themed blue) from now until Wednesday, November 26th. That’s right, if it’s sold directly from the store, I’ll wrap it for you (Items that come direct from vendors will not be wrapped).
Personally, I am thrilled when I receive a gift that isn’t a mass-produced item sold at a big box store (although darling, if you’re reading, a Le Crueset dutch oven would be delightful!). The items sold in the Ethiopian Orphan Relief webstore are almost always one-of-a-kind items, most produced in Ethiopia. 100% of the profits from each item will benefit the various projects of Ethiopian Orphan Relief.
I can’t think of a nicer holiday gift than one that benefits a worthy cause. Please stop by the store–we add new items on a regular basis!
Can’t find anything suitable for your hard-to-buy-for intended? Why not make a donation to EOR in lieu of a gift. We send a fabulous thank you card to the gift recipient. My dad loved his for his birthday, I’m sure he’ll think it’s swell for Christmas too!
*when you place an order with the EOR store, be sure to indicate in the comments section which giftwrap you would like–Christmas/winter (I think it’s blue with silver snowflakes)/or birthday–I forgot we can offer that as well!
Happy Shopping!!!
Art for Ethiopia, our fundraising art sale/auction for Children’s Heaven that was held this past Saturday, November 8th in Denver was a SMASHING success!!! Not only was the event attended by hundreds of people, but we were able to exceed our own fundraising expectations and raise over $12,000!! Hanna Fanta, director of Children’s Heaven, was moved to tears when she found out how much people contributed towards her project of building a permanent community center for her girls’ programs. We were also moved by everyone’s generosity as well as the time commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication shown by the volunteers and board members who made the event happen. Special thanks to Tracy Stevens for planting the seed of inspiration that blossomed into this amazing event. Also thanks to volunteers Shawn Rodda, Emily Barr, Katie Bell, Becky Mitchell, Greg Cradick, Valerie Photogoddess, Jasmine Champion, Ellen Yeiser, Lisa Wells, Katie Bradford, Heidi, and Hanna Fanta for all you did!! And thanks to Board members Dawn and Paige for travelling out to the event. It was great to have you here!
Here are some stories from Hanna’s children to give you an idea of what these girls face every day in their lives:
Tigst Shewangizaw age 10 lost her mother and lives with her older sister who is
eleven. Her 11 year old sister is the one who is taking care of her and herself. Tigist has
lost a lot of weight because of malnutrition for she has no one to look after them. She wants
to be a doctor.
Asefu H/Mariam, age 11, lost both her parents and she now lives with her aunt.
When we met her she works during the day time and goes to school at night. Assefu baby
sits her niece and does chores in the house. We made a deal to her aunt for her to go to
school during the day time. She now goes to school during the day time and is very
happy. She wants to be a teacher.
Bethlehem Jafar, age 11 lost her father and lives with her mom. She was raped
when she was seven years old. She did not get any help to cope with the tragedy.
Bethlehem has aggressive behaviour because of the incident. She wants to be a pilot.
Haymanot Sisay, age 11, lost both her parents. She is HIV+ and gets sick more
often. After her parents died, she started to live with her aunt. In her new family
she gets a lot of stigma and labor work. She used to work hard and do many chores in order to
live with her aunt and be able to go to school. Her aunt finally wanted her to leave her
house for no reason and she is now staying at Children’s Heaven shelter for she has no one to
take care of her. She wants to be a singer.
–Jane
Greg Cradick, Tracy Stevens, Becky Mitchell, Heidi Mehlretter, Hanna Fanta, Jane Gregorie, Danielle Marquis, Paige Chapman-Layland, Dawn Finley, Shawn Rodda and Katie Bell
There is this awesome site–Good Search. It is a search engine and fundraising tool all in one. It is simple and every time you use it to search the Internet EOR earns a penny. I know that doesn’t seem like much but it adds up over a years time. If you tell all your friends about it and they use it for their internet searching/surfing then it will certainly add up. You can also use Good Shop and much like iGive it donates a portion of your purchase price to EOR without adding any cost to you. It is an awesome way to donate and help out in these economic times when dollars aren’t going as far as they were before. This is a great way to donate to EOR without having it put a dent in your monthly budget–not to say we still don’t need those types of donations as well. But we understand with this slow economy that not everyone has extra money to give. So log onto Good Search and install their tool bar–I am not a fan of tool bars but his one is nice because I don’t have to remember to go to Good Search’s website to benefit EOR. I can just go up to the tool bar and EOR is my default charity and I just search. It is so easy.
Check it out today. Search for EOR and begin surfing. Encourage your friends to sign up and start raising money.
