When life hands you lemons…

I’m not the only Chapman-Layland concerned about finishing the building project at FOVC-Ethiopia.  Today, my awesome 12 year old hosted a lemonade/fresh brownie/duct tape wallet stand during our friends’ adoption fundraiser yard sale.  That’s right, a duct tape wallet stand, because who doesn’t need a duct tape wallet?

Elliott has been concerned about raising the last funds to finish the FOVC-Ethiopia building project too.  His own allowance is a pittance (and he owes it all to me for the next several centuries, but that’s a story for another day) so he found a way to earn some cash to contribute.

By the end of the day, he had raised almost $20 for the children of FOVC-Ethiopia… pretty good for someone who’s in debt to his eyeballs.

If, like Elliott, you find yourself short on funds, you too can find unique ways to contribute without tapping your own coffers.  Host your own lemonade stand, collect your spare change, or even sell something on ebay or craigslist.  There are so many ways to make a difference.  Choose one, and if you are the first to make a contribution, Elliott will make you a gorgeous duct tape wallet too (really, he’s promised to customize one for you, and I’ll ship it out–pronto)!

We’re just  2600.00 away from finishing the building project at FOVC-Ethiopia.  Every contribution–loose change, or lemonade stand proceeds, helps complete this amazing project.

Run, don’t walk with your contribution–it’s win-win.  A new building for the FOVC-Ethiopia kids, and a new wallet for you… sweet!

Paige

Rock star kid

Meet Parker. He’s EOR’s newest young  philanthropist. He’s  only 9 years old, yet this guy has a heart for orphans in Ethiopia. His little sister Mia was adopted from SOS EE’s Toukoul Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Recently this rock star kid held a lemonade stand and donated all the proceeds, $50.00 to EOR for his sister’s orphanage.

Thank you Parker for making a difference in many orphans lives.

If you’re interested in supporting EOR with your personal fundraiser, please contact info@ethiopianorphanrelief.org

Kim

Parker & Mia

Make a Stand

Is the weather getting warm where you live? Here in Portland we had about 31 days of straight rain but am happy to say the past few days have been sunny and in the 80’s. The neighborhood children are starting their summer lemonade stands.

Are you children getting their lemonade stands ready? Would they like to give a portion to a charity? Help them decide where to donate their hard-earned cash. Brainstorming ideas is always fun..maybe a local children’s hospital, animal shelter, loaves and fishes, or how about Ethiopian Orphan Relief?!?  The past few years we had several children give their fresh squeezed lemon profits to EOR. Their generosity can help provide bedding for kids in Orphanages, safe drinking water for villages in Ethiopia, help with purchasing  boards and nails for a new orphanage and much much more.

Here are some tips to help your kids Make a Stand:

1. Attract a Crowd: Help your kids make flyers and signs to promote their stand–the larger, more colorful and full of kid drawings, the better. Use an old sheet as a table cloth and have the kids paint on it with fabric paint. Decorate the driveway with chalk. Add an element of fun by setting up a simple ring toss game where customers can win a free goody. Combine the stand with a garage sale or set it up outside the local grocery store to bring in more foot traffic.

2. Offer Snacks: Offer tasty treats like homemade cookies or baggies full of homemade trailmix-a combination of Cheerios, dried fruit, M&Ms and nuts.

3. Make Homemade Lemonade: The instant stuff is fine, but if you want your customers to keep coming back, offer something really special and delicious. Below is a crowd pleaser recipe.

1 c. fresh lemon juice (about 5 lemons)

4 c. cold water

1/2 c. superfine sugar

1 c. ice

If your child chooses to Make a Stand for Ethiopian Orphan Relief, please send us photos along with the donation! We’d love to post a special thank you on the blog.

Kim

EOR Project Updates-September

The moms and dads that make up Ethiopian Orphan Relief’s team of Board Members, Advisory Board and Volunteers have been so very busy raising money and organizing projects, we wanted to update all of our readers on the status of our various projects.

Many amazing children have spent their summer selling lemonade to benefit EOR, asking for donations to EOR instead of birthday gifts and even donating all the money they were saving for a Wii to EOR (Curious? Look back in our archives). Parents, you’ve done good–mini philanthropists in the making, for sure. Kids–we’re all so proud of you. You probably don’t remember the cheesy lyrics to Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All,” but as someone who spent many a summer day torturing my babysitter with a lip-synced version of the song, I can tell you–you are the future, I hope the money you’ve raised has made you feel proud and I hope other kids (and adults) see you as heroes like the kids in Ethiopia will.

We’ve also had lots of adults step up for Ethiopian orphans–we’ve had parents to be ask for donations to EOR instead of gifts at their baby showers, and raise lots of money in the process.

As of today, a mere 8 months after our founding, EOR has raised over $6,000 to benefit Ethiopian orphans. None of this came in the form of huge donations. Our vision for EOR was lots of people doing whatever they could for the greater good of Ethiopian orphans–it’s amazing to see that coming to fruition.

Here’s the status of individual project fundraising–

Playground for AHOPE for Children: We’re about half way there…but we need the rest of the money ASAP so we can get the playground shipped over the first week of October. PLEASE donate now to this project if you can! There is a link on our website!!

Playground for SOS/EE: We’re about a quarter of the way there. Donations welcome!!

Building/Facility for Children’s Heaven: We’ve only just begun…EOR will be hosting an Art for Ethiopia event in Denver on November 8th to raise money for this project, please plan to attend if you’re in the area and if you’re an artist, please donate something!! More information is available on our website under “Fundraising”

Sanitation System for Hope for Hosanna School: Donations needed!

Foundation for Be’Emenet Orphanage and School: Donations needed! This is a new project for us, and a very important one. If we can get the foundation built quickly (by the end of the year) we can have the land FOR FREE to build the rest of the orphanage and the school.

For more information on our projects and beneficiary organizations, please visit our website and click on “Partners and Projects” and/or search our blog archives.

Thanks again for your support, donations and purchases from our store–every little bit helps. Together, we can change the world for Ethiopian orphans.

-Danielle, President of EOR

Thank You Elliott!

Thank you to Elliott from Ohio for setting up a lemonade stand to benefit Ethiopian Orphan Relief, Inc.! The money you’ve raised has been sent to Ethiopia with Board Member Dawn and Advisory Board Member Krista and used to purchase children’s clothing and jewelry to stock our online store, which will launch in mid-August. All proceeds from the store will benefit our programs!