Aura's House February 2006 Newsletter

Dear Aura's House Donors, Friends, and Supporters,

Happy Winter! Personally, I'm not a fan of the season myself, but all the activity going on at Aura's House has definitely cheered me up, (not to mention the families being helped!)

The Philippines Classroom Project was officially launched on January 9, 2006. As of February 1, 2006, we have raised $2156! Every $50 donated adds a new brick to our virtual school house. When we reach our goal of $7000, construction will begin on a new classroom structure that will improve the lives of 4,611 students, their families, and all the students who will come after them at the Sto. Nino Elementary School in Manila. See photos of the students who need our help. Check out the architectural plans for the classroom structure here.

Recently we completed another goal! Our first Small Project to raise $500 for badly needed beds, furniture, and supplies for Levy Jean Fulgencio (6) and her family in Manila, the Philippines is now complete! We will share photos and details as they come in. Elizabeth King of Sydney, Australia who is Levy's sponsor would like to thank all who donated to help this deserving family. Our current Small Project is for Amalia Marshall's sponsored child, Luis Marcos and his family in Guatemala. We only have $176 left to raise! Visit this project.

In other news, we now have new photos of Rituparna Mandal of Khordanahala, India with the pipes purchased to construct a safe tubewell for her entire village. Also, just in are new letters from Aura Hernandez, her teacher, and a classmate thanking us for the purchase of $700 worth of desks for their village school in Guatemala. Across the world in Zambia, we are still waiting for an update regarding the $1407 we raised to send students to school. We promise to keep you posted with the latest news as we get it. It's our hope we can restart our Zambia project again as soon as Children International comes up with a lasting strategy for sending children there to school.

Finally, I recently got a letter from Jim Cook, the President of Children International thanking Aura's House for its efforts. It was a nice pat on the back that should be extended to everyone who volunteers at the site as well as to our donors.

Here's to a happy February. Thanks for providing so many children and their families with new hope for the future!

Best wishes from Kristen Palana, along with Anastasia Yecke, Mike Epler, and the crew at Aura's House.

Introducing the Aura's House 2006 High School Art Contest

Aura's House Art Contest 2006, Art for Humanity, was a collaborative idea born from a website founded and supported by artists, volunteers, and other do-gooders around the world!

The Art Contest is providing high school students with the ability
to build up their portfolios while helping others through winning designs
that promote Aura's House Humanitarian goals. Winning designs will be
featured on three media types: Shirts; US Postage Stamps; and Large Format Advertisements. The students will learn the challenges of designing for a small scale 1" x 1" format, eye catching shirt designs, or designing for an outdoor 60.5" H x 42.5" W backlight advertisement, which will be shown around Miami, Florida!

Visit our Art Contest Web Page to get your entry form!

Special thanks to all who put the contest together:

* Mike Epler - Art Contest Guru, Entry Form and Rules/Regulations
* Kate Rarick- Our high school student providing us feedback
* Amanda Snyder- Designer doing Flyer and T Shirt Designs
* Christina Vermeal- Art Contest Web Site Design
* Kristen Palana- Artwork Judging, Web Work
* Anastasia Yecke- Marketing Support

February's Featured Donor

Kate Rarick, Franklin, TN.

Kate is a High School Senior with big plans.

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Kate will soon have a small project featured on our site to raise $500 to buy beds and furniture for her sponsored child, Cindy and her family in Legapsi City, the Philippines. Our current Small Project is for Amalia Marshall's sponsored child, Luis Marcos and his family in Guatemala. We only have $176 left to raise! Visit this project.

If you are interested in doing a small project of your own, please send us an email.

Kate writes :

"I have been involved in child sponsorship since I first stumbled across the Children International website at age 13. At first, I depended on my parents to actually pay for the sponsorship, but as I have begun to get my own jobs and make my own money, I try to take on as much of the costs myself as I can.

Currently, I sponsor two girls through Children International. I love working with children, whether it be through babysitting, tutoring, or
teaching them at church, and I hope to be a teacher when I am older.

I found out about Aura's House from a message board for child sponsorship, and as I began reading about the group's work, I was amazed by how much they had been able to do for so many sponsored children like my own.

My oldest girl, Cindy, is currently 12 years old and she resides in the Philippines. She is a very sweet girl who writes lovely letters. In one of
her more recent ones, she wrote: 'We have the same ambition. I'm study[ing] very well because I want to be a teacher someday.'

I want to do anything I can not only to help Cindy and my other sponsored child achieve their goals, but also to help children like them achieve theirs. Aura's House is a great way to do just that. I fully support this group and am a proud donor!"

What's Next : We will be fundraising and promoting our Philippines Classroom project as well as continuing to raise funds for our Small Projects section. To keep up with any new developments, please check out our Community Forums for news and updates. Don't forget to stop in and introduce yourself.

Our Art Contest is now open and ready for entries. Special thanks to Mike Epler for organizing everything. We are looking forward to seeing the inspirational and thought-provoking designs that help promote Aura's House humanitarian goals.

We're also always looking for people to help out with fundraising, design, graphics, promotions, and keeping the site going. Interested? Please contact Kristen (kpalana@aurashouse.com) if you have any comments, ideas, questions, or suggestions. Volunteer Job Positions can be found here.

• Please note, this donation button, along all the others on the site are for our Main Projects. To donate online to our Small Projects section, please donate from this page.

I prefer to donate offline.

Thanks for checking out our newsletter.
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