Lola march

 

ethiopian orphan relief, inc. newsletter
March 2011  
In This Issue
Lights of Hope
Dead of Winter Bash
Donor Spotlight
Board News
Buy A Brick

Quick Links


SAVE THE DATE

 

May 14th

Portland, Oregon
Lights of Hope Auction

 

June 18th
Portland, Oregon 

Day of the African Child

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Issue: # 7
March 2011

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Spring is here, despite the snow flurries that suggest otherwise today.  The season's change and new growth mirror much of what is going on at EOR. As we begin our 4th year all sorts of fantastic changes are taking place.  From adding new board members, to planning ever-more-ambitious fundraising campaigns, we never stop growing.  Our original mission, to provide for orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia remains the same, we're just finding new and better ways to achieve our goal.

 

Take a look at the fundraising thermometer at the bottom of this newsletter.  It's growing, growing, growing (much like the spring flowers) thanks to all of YOU!  Happy Spring, everyone!


Paige

Vice President, Ethiopian Orphan Relief

 
Lights of Hope--Tickets available now!

 

loh 2011


Join us Saturday, May 14th in Portland, Oregon for the 3rd annual Lights of Hope Benefit Auction. It will be a fun evening with dinner, drinks, and amazing items to bid on during the silent and live auctions. There will be something for everyone.

 

For tickets, please visit our website.   For more information about this fabulous event, please email Kim Pasion at 

 kim @ethiopianorphanrelief.org

 

See you there! 

   

The Dead of Winter Bash

snowflake logo for dowThe first annual Dead of Winter Bash was a roaring success!  Great food, great music and generous guests made for a magical night.   

 

Held in March 5th, in chilly Columbus Ohio, the guests did their best to kick winter to the curb while dressed as the famous and the dead. 


 DoW David

By the time the last of the celebrities left for the night, more than 8500.00 had been raised by the event.  Thanks to all who joined us for this incredible night.  Can't wait to do it all again next year!

 

 DoW Frieda

Donor Spotlight

Meet Staci from Massachusetts! 

favorite family!

 

 

             


How did you become involved with EOR? Are you an adoptive parent?

 

My brain is so befuddled I cannot honestly remember exactly how I found Ethiopian Orphan Relief. Andrew and I are parents to a little guy from Ethiopia (home 6/2010) and three homegrown children.  It is highly likely we learned about EOR through various rounds of blog hopping. We found great support through the online blogging adoptive community during our process and somehow I found Paige through this community, who in turn introduced me to EOR.

 

How do you find ways to give?


Our giving is sporadic, and based largely upon moments when Ethiopia is slipping. By that I mean, I am hitting the Restoration Hardware or JCrew catalogs a little too hard. Every day all of us are inundated with the message that we need more, need it to be fancier and that these things we buy can give us happiness. When those temptations hit, we need to take the pressure off and give a little.  It is amazing how making a small gift here and there reminds us of what is important.

 

We love when EOR sends out little reminders about programs it is working on, and their donation goals in the newsletters and on their blog is very motivating. It makes us want to make the little red thermometer go up a tiny bit more.  Last year I (Staci) was able to participate in the dress drive for Shanto, Ethiopia. Several girlfriends from my church and I sewed dresses to send to the village, and it was a hugely rewarding experience. When we saw photos of the girls in some of our dresses it was very emotional. That is what our giving is all about: sometimes the problems that Ethiopia faces seem so vast and unconquerable, but EOR helps remind us that we can change lives one kiddo at a time.

 

   We actually learned about FOVC from EOR as well, and      we have become huge fans of FOVC. We love their child    sponsorship program and have been able to exchange      letters with a little guy in Shanto, who now is going to        school. Having a face and a name, and a voice 
   and a life, to keep us grounded, well, all I can say
   is that our whole family needs our sponsored child
   as much as he needs us.

 


Why is being part of EOR important to you?


A friend of mine in the blog world said that when she first visited Ethiopia it became a part of her life, but on her second visit it became apart of her. EOR helps us stay connected to Ethiopa. We owe it to ourselves, to God and to our Habesha Boy to do all we can to keep families together, to advocate for children there, to do all we can to improve lives there. EOR has such great partners on the ground and great oversight, we feel so happy that our donations are doing what they supposed to be doing.

Are you part of the leisure class aka fabulously wealthy? How can you afford to give?


We are not apart of the leisure class by any means. We are very blessed that Andrew has a career that allows me to stay home with the four kiddos. I do not have to work for us to get by, and we are able to save every month. Though we don't need it, I do teach violin lessons and do photography work, and I LOVE to take this "extra" and put it into EOR. We also sometimes take the funds we would use for a date night: a nice dinner, a movie, a sitter costs can cost almost $100 dollars. That is a perfectly respectable donation! 

 

The next phase of our giving will be when our kids are a little older and they are learning about money -helping them set aside some of their money from birthday gifts or chores to donate as well.  (Though we have not established how this will all go down. I came from a strict "you don't get money for chores it's apart of being a family" family, and no allowance either. My husband did get allowance and was occasionally paid for jobs. He didn't turn out so badly so I am realizing we might need to compromise on how to teach our children the mishmashed values of work, saving, giving, spending, etc.)

 

    We are so grateful for the good that EOR helps our             family do. We are grateful we have ways to 

    stay connected to our child's birth country. We hope 

    over the years to become more and more involved with     this wonderful organization.

 

And we are so grateful to you Staci, for your ongoing support AND for your beautiful photos.  YOU are EOR!

 

 

  

Board News

Recently, EOR has added 2 fabulous members to the board.  Molly Curran from Oregon, and Amy Harcar, from Ohio.

 

                        Molly

Molly has been an EOR volunteer the past few years and recently accepted the position of board member and our fundraising chair.

 

Molly and her husband Joe reside in Portland and  have two boys and a daughter. Their daughter Hana was adopted from Ethiopia in January 2007. Whenever we have put the call out for help with an EOR project Molly is always there. She's been actively involved with the planning of Lights of Hope the past few years and will now take on the role of Auction Chair along with Lauren, Jenny and Kim.

 

                     Joel, Tesfa

Amy has been an EOR volunteer for the past few years, and has recently accepted the position of board member and secretary for EOR. Amy and her husband Joel live in the Columbus OH metro area.  Their fabulous son, Tesfa Edilu was adopted in the summer of 2010.

In addition to chairing The Dead of Winter Bash with Paige, Amy (and Joel) are on the steering committee for the  local Enkutatash celebration which hosts more than 600 people annually.   

 

             We are so pleased to have them join us! 

'Buy a brick...build a legacy'
 

 buy a brick...

Our newest campaign begins...TODAY!  Please join us in building a safe and secure home for the children of FOVC. 


2011 Fundraising Thermometer:  The February total

                      Thank YOU!

   

Feb. therm.

Ethiopian Orphan Relief, Inc.
3020 SW Christy Avenue
Beaverton, OR 97005

Visit our website for more information about our program!
www.ethiopianorphanrelief.org
www.ethiopianorphanrelief.wordpress.com

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