Help!

My friend Aimee adopted Brynly from Ethiopia last year. The trip forever changed her and has made an amazing impact on me as well. That being said, Aimee is setting out to do something that will change the lives of many children and I am lending my support beginning with reposting this from her blog:

HELP!
So, if you have read this blog with some regularity, you know that I have on occasion spoken of being changed by my experience in Ethiopia. I have known since I was in Ethiopia that I had to do something to help the situation there. It was simply not an option to get on that plane with Brynly and never look back. The lack of resources was astounding. Even though Brynly was given much love by her caretakers at her orphanage, there was not much else available to her. Her diapers consisted of cloth with a plastic bag tied around. She did not have access to iron enriched formula or sufficient medical care. Three babies who shared a room with Brynly died not long after we left. They died. For the older children, there was not enough food, clothes or anything else to go around. There was no heat and no working bathroom. Can you picture, just for a minute, a group of children being given a bag of suckers by a visiting adoptive parent. Predictably, they ate the suckers. But, then they treated the bag like the best toy they had ever seen. They were even hungrier for any bit of attention we could give them.

For awhile, thoughts were rattling about inside my head. And then, one of my travel buddies approached me with an idea. She was having the same types of feelings. And then, another adoptive mom joined us. It took awhile for our ideas to take shape, but we kept talking, kept brainstorming... Then it was time to make necessary connections and, of course, paperwork..on two ends of the Earth no less. Those first steps have been taken and the ground work has been laid. Although some work remains to be done, we are now ready to unveil some things about our project. I am happy to announce the birth of ETHIO-AMERICAN FAMILY SERVICES.

Our mission is: Ethio-American Family Services is a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate and empower as well as enrich the lives of Ethiopian orphans and adoptive families. For Ethiopian adoptive families, education and connection to the Ethiopian culture are vital in the development of their families. Ethio-American Family Services works to provide educational and cultural opportunities to create culturally fluent families.There are more than 3.8 million orphans in Ethiopia, and in 2008 only around 1000 were adopted in the United States. Ethio-American Family Services works to enrich the lives of orphans yet or never to be adopted by providing for their basic needs including shelter, food, medical care, and cognitive, emotional and spiritual development.As everything is set in place, we will have many exciting offerings. Our website will launch early next month. What we are focused on first is a funding project that will create an orphanage in Ethiopia which will provide a superior level of care to children who would otherwise be living on the street or in extremely substandard conditions.

It will be a daunting task, no question. But do you not think every child everywhere deserves good food, clean clothes, medical care and love? I do too. We are a determined lot, but WE CANNOT DO THIS ALONE! An Ethiopian proverb says, a single stick will smoke, but can't make fire. WE NEED YOU TO HELP US LIGHT THIS FIRE. It won't take much to do much if many of us are working together. Please, take a look at the three ways you could help listed below. Every bit of help will be so appreciated by these precious, worthy children who would, otherwise have nothing and no one.

1) Be a Goodsearcher
All you have to do is go to Goodsearch.com, enter Ethio-American Family Services in the box, click Verify, and search away. EAFS will receive one penny for every search. You can make it your homepage or add it to your toolbar. You don't have to buy anything, just search the net.

2)Be a Penny Pincher
Set out some coin jars in your local schools, stores, churches, offices, etc. We will provide a label for you. Then go back a week or so later and gather them up. Every penny or dime or quarter that clinks into jars placed all over the country will help these children so far away.

3)Be a part of our Community Mobilization Campaign
Do you know a community or church organization that would be willing to undertake a fundraiser or even take up a special collection to help create this home for children who have none? These orphaned children needs the help of communities all over the USA. We will provide you with material to present to the group as well as informational materials about how the groups help is so greatly needed.

In addition to the above, we will provide a list of items each group can select to work toward as a fundraising goal. For example, $125 buys a crib, mattress and bedding so that a baby can sleep warm and dry.

If you knwow me personally and know of a group here in town that would be willing, I would love to come and make a presentation. Of course, lots of fundraising needs to be done. But, I know this ET Adoptive blogging community has a big heart. We hope that this organization to grow and to create connections and opportunities for our kids here in the USA. Even mor eimportant, though,a re the kids in Ethiopia who are waiting for us to say, "we have enough now, we have enough to give you a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear..." If you feel you can help in anyway, large or small, please leave a comment with your email. I thank you in advance on behalf of these precious children.

You go Aimee! Let's change the world one child at a time. So feel free to leave your comments. Let's see what one stick can do when others join in!!!