Archive for September, 2009

iGive (.com) therefore I am…

September 30, 2009 at 8:59 pm · Filed under Businesses that give back, Do Something!, Donate Now!, Shopping

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If you’re like me, money, even for things you really care about, is in short supply. Many of you tell us that you’d like to donate more to EOR, but you just don’t have the extra cash. IF you find yourself in this position, a nice way to donate to Ethiopian Orphan Relief, inc. without sending dollars directly is by joining iGive.com. Turn your everyday online purchases into donations for Ethiopian Orphan Relief, inc. Support EOR with a portion of each purchase at over 700 online stores, just by shopping through iGive.com. iGive is a free service for shoppers and the causes they support. You should also try the sister-site iSearchiGive.com and raise money for EOR every time you search the web. Every search yields a penny or two, and those can add up fast!

Mission: Change online shopping (and searching)…for good! Products: The iGive.com Mall features over 700 online stores including eBay, Expedia, Sephora, Staples, NORDSTROM, Best Buy, Banana Republic, PETCO, iTunes Store, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and hundreds more. New stores are added every week, and they’re happy to take your suggestions. For a complete list of participating stores, visit: http://www.iGive.com/shop.

To join iGive.com to benefit EOR (and receive a 5.00 donation bonus the first time you shop) : www.iGive.com/EOR

To join iSearchiGive: www.iSearchiGive.com/EOR

Most of the online stores I visit are on iGive, so I make money for EOR doing what I’d do anyway. It’s win-win. I made a bet with a certain friend of EOR that we’d have 50 new iGive members listed before the end of October. When this happens (notice, I say when, not if, because I am confident!) I will donate an additional 50.00 to EOR (again with the winning).

Our Vice-President, the multi-talented Kim Pasion is among other things, a world class shopper!  She starts every online shopping session at iGive, careful to add her shopping donation to all of her other generous gifts to EOR.  She’s putting the finishing touches on her holiday shopping (see, what’d I tell ya–world class) and has garnered all sorts of donations from many different stores, including Kodak and Amazon.

There are SO many ways to give to the various programs of EOR.  Please consider adding this one to your roster.

Thanks,

Paige

Once you join (and you know you’re going to), drop us a comment so we can add you to our ever-growing list of supporters.

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Thank You Denver Center for International Studies!

September 24, 2009 at 4:41 pm · Filed under Fundraising Opportunities

Ethiopian Orphan Relief received a donation for $155 last week from the 8th Grade Global Service Learning class at Denver Center for International Studies.

The students researched a number of educational projects in countries around the world, made presentations to their class, and selected EOR as the organization they wanted to help! The students said they were particularly impressed with our work with girls, and the fact that the children we serve seem to be getting very little help from other sources.

Thank you students, and thank you teacher Heidi Hursh!

If you’re a teacher or parent who would like to do something similar at your school, email us at info at ethiopianorphanrelief dot org and we will send you an informational packet for youth fundraising.

-Danielle

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Macy’s Shop for a Cause Passes–On Sale Now!!

September 17, 2009 at 4:44 pm · Filed under Businesses that give back, Current Events, Macy's Shop for a Cause, Shopping

Looking for a great, easy way to help Ethiopian Orphan Relief and your pocketbook at the same time? Make a $5 donation via our Network for Good link on our website, and specify “Shop for a Cause” in the comments. I’ll mail you your Macy’s shopping pass, good for 20% off just about everything in the store on October 17th, and EOR will get to keep your $5 donation (Thanks, Macy’s!). You can use the shopping pass at any Macy’s store–or even online! Macy’s will have tons of great deals on this day, and the only coupons you can use are these, so act now!

All proceeds from this year’s Macy’s Shop for a Cause program will help fund our Board of Directors trip to Ethiopia in December, where we will be building a well that will bring clean water to 5,000 people in the village of Boru (near Dessie).

-Danielle

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EnKuTaTash–Columbus Style

September 17, 2009 at 4:19 am · Filed under Current Events, Ethiopian Culture, Ethiopian community, Ohio

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A year of team-building, planning, shopping, fund-raising, and meetings, lots and lots of meetings is coming to an end. I hope you’ll join us for the party on Saturday to celebrate the New Year.  I’ll be the redhead coordinating the event, making a fool of myself on the dance floor, celebrating our success.  I’d love to see you there!

Paige

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Keen Shoes Rock! 1,500 pairs of shoes donated

September 11, 2009 at 4:33 am · Filed under Adoption, Businesses that give back, Do Something!, Family, Media, Oregon, Partner Organizations, Physical Donations, Shopping

Keen Shoes Rock!!! EOR has a wonderful volunteer here in Portland that has given many hours of her time collecting shoes for Ethiopia. She has had collection boxes located in the Portland area and she personally secured a HUGE HUGE donation from Keen Shoes! They donated over 1,500 pairs of shoes! Way to go Keen!! The shoes filled a minivan, Ford pick up and a Tahoe! She will be delivering countless suitcases of shoes when they visit Ethiopia in the near future. EOR will be delivering some of the shoes on behalf of this wonderful volunteer and Keen when we travel in December. The shoes will help girls at Children’s Heaven, Kids at SOS EE Toukoul and several orphanages! EOR is so lucky to have such amazing volunteers! Thanks to *** (she wishes to remain anonymous) for personally taking on this wonderful project! Were proud of you and all our volunteers! We all think Keen Rocks!! Next time your thinking of buying shoes we hope Keen is at the top of your list!! Their generosity is amazing!!

KEEN donates over 1,500 pairs of shoes to orphanages in Ethiopia

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Talking To Preschool Kids About Adoption

September 10, 2009 at 8:23 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

My daughter started preschool a couple weeks ago, and her teacher asked if I’d come in and talk to the class about adoption, because they’re working on a unit about “family.” I wasn’t really sure what to say, so I did some research and brought along my daughter’s Life Book. Here was the gist of my talk:

1. Adopted kids are born the same way as everyone else.

2. Adopted kids grew inside another woman, but that woman wasn’t able to be a mommy to any baby at that time.

3. Adoptive parents want to be parents very much.

4. Once adoptive parents adopt a child, the child belongs to that family forever and ever, just like if the child had grown inside the mommy.

After I went through this general outline, we flipped through my daughter’s Life Book and showed the kids pictures of Ethiopia. They LOVED looking at pictures of “Baby Amelie” and were really into it. My daughter was really proud to show them where she came from, and she felt very special when she was the only kid who could identify the continent of Africa, the country of Ethiopia and the city of Harar on a map.

At the end we had a Q&A session, and the kids only had questions about the plane we took to Ethiopia–which seems about right for 3 & 4 year olds. When I was trying to explain that it took 2 days to get to Ethiopia on the plane, one little boy raised his hand and said,

“Yea, that’s far. But have you ever been to Michigan? THAT’s far.”

-Danielle

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Macy’s wants to give EOR money–please help!

September 7, 2009 at 9:11 pm · Filed under Board of Directors, Businesses that give back, Do Something!, Macy's Shop for a Cause, Shopping, Uncategorized

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Since 2006, Macy’s Shop For A Cause Event has partnered with
non-profit organizations nationwide to raise more than $28 million for their
ongoing charitable efforts. This is your opportunity to be part of this
monumental event on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.

Non-profit organizations with 501c3 status are eligible and will
be given special Shopping Passes to sell for $5 each.

EOR keeps 100% of the proceeds raised!

On Saturday, Oct. 17th, when our guests shop for a cause, they’ll
receive exclusive all-day savings storewide on a wide assortment of
merchandise and an extra-special offer for selected departments.

While EOR’s board members will be hosting tables in cities throughout the US, we’re hoping you’ll be willing to host a table at your local Macy’s.  It’s fun, easy to do, and it’s a great way to help EOR provide schools, clinics, playgrounds, and clean water to the children of Ethiopia.  Last year, with just two tables, we made more than $700.  Just think of the dollars we can raise with more volunteers.

Here’s how it works:

Create a user, and sign on with Macy’s.  Download the Shop for a Cause packet (prior to September 14th).  Send an email to me:

paige  @  ethiopianorphanrelief.  org

I’ll give you the pertinent details (like the EIN number) and then you turn in the packet to Macy’s.  Once you’ve received a date,  send me another email so I can blog about your event here, and I’ll send you a packet of table display information.

So easy, so fun, SO helpful!

Lots of little people are counting on you.  Thanks for doing your part for them.

Paige

Confirmed Locations:

Macy’s-Washington Square (Tigard, OR)

Macy’s-Flatiron Crossing (Broomfield, CO)

Macy’s-Easton Town Center (Columbus, OH)

Macy’s-Polaris  (Columbus, OH)

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Project & Partner Updates: SOS EE & AHOPE

September 2, 2009 at 9:48 pm · Filed under "Lights of Hope" Auction, AHOPE for Children, Board of Directors, Current Events, Do Something!, Partner Organizations, Playground for AHOPE for Children, Projects, Sayre's Playground at Toukoul, Toukoul/SOS EE, Travel

Thanks to the immense generosity of attendees to Ethiopian Orphan Relief’s first annual Lights of Hope auction in Portland in May, we have funded our first project for partner SOS EE (parent organization for the Toukoul orphanages) and raised a significant amount of money and supplies towards medical equipment for their new HIV clinic. Over the last year and a half, we have also successfully raised all of the funds required (and then some!) to complete our first project for partner AHOPE for Children. In fact, we were able to do double what we’d originally planned, thanks to the support of our wonderful donors.

For the last several months, the EOR Board of Directors have worked tirelessly to source local Ethiopian suppliers and contractors to set our plans in motion. Once we selected the right folks to work with, we worked with them to design two playgrounds for AHOPE and one playground for SOS EE’s new Akaki complex, which was recently completed and opened its doors to orphaned children. In addition, we have raised enough money to also purchase an indoor swing for AHOPE, fund several field trips for the children at AHOPE and we’ll be bringing over lots of art and school supplies to AHOPE when our Board of Directors travels in December to work on the well we’re building in Boru in conjunction with the Union College Chapter of Engineers Without Borders. Here’s the details!

Little AHOPE Playground (at the facility for younger children):

  • Wooden swingset with slide
  • Wooden sandbox
  • Merry go round
  • Traditional Toukoul style playhouse
  • Wood and chain adventure bridge
  • Metal curved climbing ladder
  • Picnic table
  • All ground will be prepped for safety

Big AHOPE Playground (at the facility for older children):

  • 2 Sets of monkey bars
  • Wooden swingset with slide
  • Basketball court & hoops
  • Chain “cargo net” style ladder
  • Balance beam
  • Picnic table
  • All ground will be prepped for safety

AHOPE Art & School Supplies

  • 20-24 packs of crayons
  • 5-Kid’s scissors
  • 6-12 packs of colored pencils
  • 4-Pencil sharpeners
  • 4-Pencil cases
  • 5-11 packs of markers
  • 4-5 pack squeeze & brush paints
  • 11-8 color watercolor paints
  • 24-Paint brushes (various sizes)
  • 2-20 stick packs of sidewalk chalk
  • 4-88 pc. construction paper & stencils
  • 16-Glue sticks
  • 5-White glue
  • 5-Sets of learning flashcards
  • 2-Beginning writing tablets
  • 4-Preschool workbooks
  • 2-Elementary workbooks
  • 30-Photo albums
  • 1-Digital camera
  • 1-Photo printer, ink & photo paper (enough to complete photo albums)

AHOPE Field Trip #1

  • Swimming at a local pool in Addis for 14 kids
  • 2-250 water balloon packs (for the kids remaining at the compound)
  • 7-Boy bathing suits
  • 7-Girl bathing suits
  • 4-Pairs of flip flops

AHOPE Field Trips #2 & #3 TBD

SOS EE HIV Clinic Equipment

  • Approximately $13, 150 toward medical equipment TBD based on most immediate need at time of clinic opening (i.e., autoclave, oxygen cylinder, exam beds, pulse oxymeter, suction machine, etc.)
  • 6-Splints
  • Nebulizer
  • Clock
  • Stethoscope
  • Blood pressure cuff
  • Mid calf boot
  • Sling  shot brace
  • Brace liner
  • Cast shoe
  • 4-Otoscopes
  • Home care kit
  • Reflex hammer

SOS EE Playground at Akaki Orphanage

  • Teeter totter
  • Merry go round
  • Slide and bridge
  • Wooden swing set
  • Monkey bars

Construction on the playgrounds will begin in the next couple of weeks, and will be completed by the time our Board travels to Ethiopia in December. We look forward to taking lots of pictures of the children playing on the various playgrounds for our donors, and in addition to taking the children at AHOPE on their swimming field trip, we will also be conducting art clinics at AHOPE. We look forward to completing a project suggested by adoptive mom and new Board Member Katie Bell–photo albums for the older children of them playing with their friends and caregivers at AHOPE, so they can take those memories to their forever families when they are eventually adopted.

Thanks again to all of you who have supported us! We couldn’t have done it without you! You helped me to realize a dream I had two years ago when I saw my daughter play on her swingset for the first time, and for that, I will be forever grateful. The kids whose day you’ve helped brighten will too.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ethiopian Orphan Relief,

Danielle Marquis

President & Founder

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Enkutatash, San Jose style

September 1, 2009 at 6:30 pm · Filed under Ethiopian Culture

Here’s the earliest US Enkutatash celebration I know about.  I was lucky enough to celebrate Enkutatash in San Jose two years ago, for the Millennium celebration and it was an incredible time.

Paige

ENKUTATASH,

The Ethiopian New year, is a family and community gathering festival where families and friends, the elderly  and the young, and others from all walks of life will gather to celebrate Ethiopian New Year. ENKUTATASH, which means the “gift of jewels”, is an important festival in the lives of Ethiopians and its celebration dates back to the days of Queen Sheba. After three months of heavy rain, spring comes creating a beautiful clear fresh atmosphere in Ethiopia. The highlands turn to be gold as the daisies burst to into flower. Ethiopians welcome their New Year in festivities with food at the center surrounded by family and friends. The San Jose Ethiopian Community Services, Inc. in collaboration with the Oakland Ethiopian Community and Cultural Center bring ENKUTATASH to the San Jose Guadalupe River Park to host the Ethiopian Community in the Bay Area.

When: September 6, 2009, 11 am
Where:  GAUDALUPE RIVER PARK @ HP PAVILLION

DOWNTOWN- SAN JOSE (SANTA CLARA & AUTUMN ST.)

If you know of an Enkutatash celebration planned for your community, please drop me a line so we can share with the larger EOR community–thanks!

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