What an amazing year 2016 was for Give Amore! We are so thankful for everyone that has come on this journey with us and through prayers and financial support made all that we’ve done possible.
We can’t move forward into 2017 without first reflecting on what we’ve done in 2016. Here’s just a few of the highlights:
- Our 40 children are healthy and thriving! They’ve been clothed, fed, received medical care and another year of education! But most importantly, through our sponsorship program, they feel loved and they know that they matter! Of all the children in the world, they have been chosen and supported and their lives are being transformed
- 5 students graduated from high school this year and will be able to stay in our program while they wait on the results of their national exams. Meanwhile, they will take advantage of the free community computer classes that Give Amore is helping support
- Our 4 completed wells are providing clean, healthy water and blessing hundreds of people daily!
- Our free community sewing classes are going well and adults are being taught skills so they can provide for themselves!
- Over 200 Made with Amore tote bags were sold in 2016 to support our programs
- Each of our children, staff members and sewing students received a chicken for Christmas
- Each of our children received a much needed coat for Christmas
- We put a roof on Cornerstone Ebulechia’s school/church building
- We’ve supported area midwives with much needed supplies
- We’ve purchased bunk beds, mattresses and bedding for a new orphanage opening up on our campus through Cornerstone Church! More details coming!
- We launched our new website
- We have promotional materials such as postcards and flyers
- We have had over 150 donors (not including anyone that may have purchased a Made with Amore tote bag)
- All of this and more has been done with just over $62,000 that was donated to Give Amore in 2016!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!
Now, I’d like to share with you our plans and goals for 2017:
- We have two wells funded and ready to be dug! We have chosen the site for one of the wells and as soon as all the children are registered for school, we will begin the process of the first well! Our goal is to complete at least 6 wells this year!
- This year, we need to do something to avoid us scrambling for school fees in December, along with Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, we were not able to pay all of our children’s school fees up front due to our accounts being depleted. Our sponsorship program covers the school fees but we have to pay in advance and most sponsors pay monthly, this creates a shortage that takes us nearly all year to catch up on. Then, the fees come again. So, please pray with us for more general donors that will help alleviate the “close call” that we seem to have every December. General donors help cover unexpected expenses.
- We would like to add more children to our sponsorship program, but haven’t been able to because it’s taken us almost two years to have all of our children sponsored! I’m excited to say that we do have them all sponsored and pray that the sponsorship funds will come in regularly and consistently. That was not the case last year but we didn’t drop any children from our program despite them not having a sponsor. Thanks to an up front sponsor, we are adding the youngest sibling of one of the poorest families in our program to our sponsorship program on a minimum level.
- We need to upgrade/improve our teams’ computers, get new camera lenses and get everyone on my team a Smart Phone for better communication. Please contact me if you can help with any of these needs.
- We’d like to grow Made with Amore as our first batch of students will graduate this summer. We’d like to see more sewing machines, more students and opportunities to contract graduates of our program to make the school uniforms for our children.
- We’d like to take a team from the US to Kenya in June 2017. However, in order to do this, I need help covering my expenses. We’ve always covered it in the past, but I’ve always gone every other year. Now that I’m running Give Amore, I need to be there more often and will need financial support in order to make that happen. All donations are tax-deductible. I need to ensure that I’m able to go before I can secure a team to go with me.
Please pray over these details and goals. One thing we’ve learned is that God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called. He’s called us to do big things in his big name! We trust for his provision and know that our plans are just that, our plans. But we do believe He is calling us to grow Give Amore and we will be respectfully responsible for all that he entrusts us with.
We hope this overview reminds you that while each one of us may not be able to do huge things, together, we are making a huge difference to this community. We are excited to see what God has in store for 2017! Thank you for joining us on this journey!
