Happy Holidays

Some of the China Team in the summer of 2013

Volunteers Give
More Than Time

We could not do half of what we do without volunteers. Their love and big hearts make life easier for our kids and staff.

Last summer our team visited Lin Wang Primary School in Du'an County to give gifts and school supplies. Eddy Wu, on the left, came from Hong Kong to volunteer. On the right is Mr. Liu, who I traveled with to the Buyi minority area in Guizhou Province. These great volunteers were a blessing wherever they went.

These are just a few of the wonderful people who have helped us this year. You can see many more volunteers on our Pinterest.com page. Clicking the newsletter pictures will also take you to our Pinterest volunteer board.

Give a Child a Merry Christmas

Maybe you don't have the time to devote to helping our kids, but your gifts can do the work for you.

Sponsor a whole Yao primary school of 50+ children for $250 a semester. This gives them art supplies, snacks, and sports equipment.

Sponsor a primary student for $42 a semester.

Give a middle school child $75 in aid a semester. We have 20 new ones we have just begun to support.

Give $95 to pay the tuition of a high school student. We have many new students needing sponsors.

Give a one time gift of your choice big or small.

Give Any Amount

Even better send a check to:

Blessing Hands, 106 Timber Lane, Morehead, KY, 40351

Blessing Hands is a 501(c)3 public charity and your gifts can be deducted from your US income taxes on April 16, 2013.

Get your tax deduction before the end of 2013.

Your business can also receive a tax deduction.

Be a Blessing Hand to many this Holiday Season.

Gayle Bourne

A Volunteer With a Big Heart.

Gayle Bourne is volunteering with Erting Pan and myself to help us to learn Quickbooks. She knows her financials and specializes in bookkeeping for nonprofits. I am so relieved to have someone who knows the answers to my accounting questions. She even came out in bad weather recently to help us. She helped me file our 990EZ this year. Gayle both provides administrative services and/or volunteers for several different organizations.

This is how she states her motivation. "I believe we have an obligation to God and to our community to use our talents to make the world a better place and serve those in need."

Tom Politowski

Tom Politowski, A Friend of Nonprofits

Tom helped us implement our Salesforce platform this year. He knows a lot about nonprofits and is expert in programming knowledge. He had the heart to get the job done on a deadline after it had been languishing for three years.

He never lost patience with my lack of computer expertise and followed through with everything he promised. He has indicated a willingness to continue to help us tweak the system as needed. Tom did all of this without charging our nonprofit. He is one in a million. May he always be blessed.

This is what Tim has to say about working with us.

"I met Betty at a conference where she came up to me and asked for help. I listened to her story about how Blessing Hands helps poor Chinese children have an opportunity for an education.

A few months later Betty and I connected and spent a weekend completing their system and loading in all the students and donor information. Betty was tireless in the mission to complete the task. We accomplished her goals, so she can communicate with all the students and sponsors easily.

Betty and the Blessing Hands team are dedicated to their mission and persistent in making a difference in the world. I'm happy to help."

Tom Politowski, CEO
Nthropy, Inc.

Bernardo Lopez

A Wiz at Data Cleansing

Bernardo Lopez had the patience and expertise needed to help us get our data cleansed and ready to import into the Salesforce cloud platform that is free to nonprofits . When I was upset, discouraged and afraid that we would never get our data up and running correctly, he knew just what to say to calm me down. I am thankful for his kindness and ability.

He is from Ecuador and speaks Spanish and English fluently. He is a founding member of Engineers Without Borders (FIU chapter) and their treasurer. He works in New York as a Senior Analytics Consultant. His photo caught him eating a grilled scorpion in Beijing.

Deepak Subhedar

Deepak Subhedar

Deepak Subhedar was born and raised in Hyderabad, India. He attended Osmania University and later Mysore University before pursuing a software application development career. He moved to the US in 1996 and currently works for Glovia International Inc. - A Fujitsu Company. He lives in Eastvale, California with his wife Jyothi, and daughters Shivani and Sanika.

Through the magic of the cloud, he has made it possible for our student records to be available online for our administrators in China as well as for our US office. They can see the contacts and sponsors in a Chinese interface while we in the US can use English to view the same records. He has set up the framework for our data base.

"I discovered Blessing Hands while exploring volunteer opportunities for my daughter Shivani and landed up initiating implementation of a non-profit Salesforce.com CRM for Blessing Hands.

Blessing Hands, promoted by the Cutts family, is a small charity organization which is making a big impact on global society. It is not just giving scholarships but teaching philanthropy. By being the student recipient of a Blessing Hands scholarship, it is hoped that one day the students will become philanthropic themselves and "give back" when they are financially able".

East Oldham Middle School Water Purifier Team.

Great Team

These volunteers from East Oldham Middle School spent two weeks in China last summer installing water purifiers. Left to right they are history teacher Joshua McCurdy, principal Jim Ross, physical education teacher Tim Kelly, and science teacher Dennis Mangum. They made a deep impression on the Chinese wherever they went. With their USA student's help, they raised enough money to pay for their trip and three water purifiers for Yangshuo, China primary schools.

Lan Liuxia

The Best Volunteers of All - Our Blessing Hands Students

Our college students usually volunteer at least three hours a semester to help others. They do tutoring, visit older people, clean up the environment, gather things for poor people, and join volunteer clubs.

Best of all some of our students have volunteered to help other Blessing Hands students by giving up their scholarships when they no longer need them or by sponsoring students when they become wage earners themselves. Lan Liuxia was our only Yao minority college student when she wrote the letter below.

"I have a good news to tell you that I am a senior student now. We don't have many lessons, so I am mainly to find a proper job. Which means that I can make a living by myself soon, so I don't need to apply for a scholarship this year. I hope to leave this precious opportunity to other people who are in need of help.

Thank you very much for helping us over the past years . I hope I can do my best to help people who are in need of help in the future ,just like you .Now I am also preparing for the BEC exam, because I want to go to a foreign company to work. I will work harder and harder."

Yours sincerely,

Lan Liuxia

Our purpose is fulfilled when our students start to become Blessing Hands to others. Our adult volunteers are a great inspiration to the students. Everyone is learning it is better to give than receive.

At this season of joy and giving, I want to honor those who have given so much to our kids this year. So many more people have helped our students over our eight years of giving to Chinese students.

Merry Christmas to all you sponsors, volunteers, and donors. Our students and I are very thankful for you. I will end with this recent quote from one of our students, Qunhui Zeng.

"In my opinion, Blessing Hands is a warm-hearted charity. Without Blessing Hands, there would be more Chinese children who cannot finish their studies.

In the end, I would like to say, "Thank you" and " Merry Christmas" to you. "

Qunhui Zeng.

Merry Christmas from the Cutts home .
Betty Cutts, Founder and Director