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| The Guatemala
Bed Project and Eliana's $28.28 for 28 Challenge, Daniela's Small
Project, Bacilio's House Complete, and a New AH Volunteer. |
Dear Aura's House Friends and Donors,
Progress!
Hello. Lots of stuff is going on at Aura's House these days. We said we'd be doing quarterly newsletters from now on only to have so much news to report we couldn't actually wait that long. Thanks to AH partner, Christina Sidoti for compiling everything and setting up this July/August Newsletter.
Beds in Guatemala and Small Project 19 News.
So far we've raised enough for The Guatemala Bed Project to give 10 needy families the gift of a bed and mattress! We are 1/4 of the way to our goal. Special thanks to Eliana of Miami for putting forth a $28.28
for 28 Challenge to her friends and family. So far she's raised over $600 to buy beds for needy families in Guatemala.
In other news, Small Project #19 for Daniela Feliz Cuevas (7) of the Dominican Republic is nearly complete! As of July 21, 2008, only $45 is needed to buy her family the following gifts: a refrigerator, a chest of drawers, an atlas, and a dictionary. Getting there!
Our New Volunteer
Hooray for Heather LaBonte from Bristol, UK! She is our latest volunteer and Publicity Coordinator at Aura's House. She has been kindly promoting the website as well as fundraising for her sponsored child Daniela, featured in Small Project #19. In short, she's been amazing. See what she has to say below about her experiences helping people and animals whenever opportunity allows. |
Bacilio's House is Complete
Check out the most recent photos from The Bacilio House Project in Honduras. Bacilio's new brick home is now complete and the entire family is grateful to Aura's House donors for making this dream come true for them. What a difference from their original house that was made of wood branches and plastic bags.
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| Bacilio and family standing near the doorway of their new home. |
We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter. Stay cool this summer and thanks as always for your help and support.
Best wishes,
Kristen, Anastasia, Mike, Christina, and the Aura's House Team |
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Small
Project #19 Almost Complete!
$455
Raised so far with only $45 left to
raise for Daniela of the Dominican Republic.
Visit Small
Project #19.
I prefer to donate offline.
What's New at the Aura's House website:
Get the latest Aura's House statistics -updated daily.
Shop online at over 685 stores and up to 30% of every purchase is donated to Aura's House. Join Free.
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Aura's House shirts, cards, gifts, postage,
and more! Browse |
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Double Your Donation
At NO COST TO YOU!
Learn about Children International's Company Matching Program. Just make sure to send us an email so we can have the matching funds earmarked for the Aura's House project of your choice.
See who our latest visitors are!
In 2005 Children International
launched an online fundraising tool inspired
by Aura's House called SponsorThon. Since then,
it has now grown and evolved into the Lift One Project.
Just $22 a month will help a child get basic medical
and dental care, schooling, clothing, and more. Learn
more about Lift One.
If you are living in, studying
in, or planning on visiting the Eternal City, this
resource is for you. www.romereview.com
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The Guatemala Bed Project and
Eliana's $28.28
for 28 Challenge.
We aim to buy desperately needed beds for impoverished
families in Guatemala. Our goal is to raise
$4200. Each bed costs $105 and our goal is to
provide beds (mattresses included) to the 40
neediest families identified by Children International's
Guatemala City Agency.
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Eliana
of Miami. FL put forth a $28.28 for 28
Challenge for the Guatemala
Bed Project and has raised over $600 so far. The $28.28
for 28 Challenge is a fundraiser Eliana
held among her friends, family, and associates
for her 28th birthday. Eliana asked for
donations to the Guatemala Bed Project
instead of traditional birthday presents.
This fundraiser was inspired by our own
Anastasia Yecke who held her $30.30 for
30 Challenge last year when she turned
the big 3-0. We sincerely thank Eliana
for helping the children of Guatemala
rest more comfortably.
See the webpage Eliana put together to
promote
the challenge.
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Bacilio House Project Complete.
See
photos of the construction progression on Bacilio's now complete home.
Bacilio and his mother feeling the running water
from their new bathroom sink. |
We raised $5500 for the construction of
Bacilio's new home which was finally completed in June
of 2008. With the $523 raised for furniture,
the family received a table with chairs, pots,
a bed with sheets, pillows, and a shower curtain.
The new home is made of cinder blocks and
has thick wooden doors, windows, and a bathroom
with working plumbing. This is a huge difference
from their original home that was made from
plastic tarps, and branches for supports.
The family is so grateful and happy to have this
home built from your donations.
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Introducing
Our New Publicity Volunteer: Heather LaBonte.
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Hi
my name is Heather. I just recently started volunteering
for Aura's House. I saw Aura's House online last
year and thought it was a really great site. I
put my sponsor children on the waiting list for
small projects there and then the site went on
hiatus. I was so happy when the site came back
online! After my sponsor child went up for Small Project #19 I decided to volunteer for the site.
I basically spread the word about Aura's House.
I also created a Myspace page for Aura's House
to get more people interested in the cause.
I
am 34. I moved from San Jose, California to Bristol
in the UK in December 2006. I work full-time and
go to university part-time. I live with my husband,
Costa, and our two silly cats Lily and Maskin.
I have two sponsor children through CI, Daniela
of the Dominican Republic and Mirriam of Zambia.
I have been sponsoring children from Children
International since I was 17 years old. |
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I
am a big fan of helping people who try so hard to
help themselves in dire situations and just need
a helping hand to move forward in life. Everyone
deserves a helping hand. I also have done a lot
of animal rescue work. I currently help homeless
people with their pets by giving them food for their
pets and by buying the homeless newspaper homeless
people sell here to get back on their feet. I carry
pet food in my backpack at all times for whenever
I see some of my 4-legged homeless friends with
their owners. Sometimes a homeless person's dog
is their only source of unconditional love and warmth.
I've seen they will usually feed their dogs and
give their dogs their blankets before they do something
for themselves. I give out umbrellas here a lot
to them because I will see homeless men putting
their jackets and hats on their dogs and then get
sopping wet out in the rain just to protect their
pets. My husband thinks I should get sponsored by
an umbrella company! It takes so little of people's
time to make a difference in other's lives. I have
room in my heart to help several causes and people
who need it. I get a little less tv watching time
(and I really LOVE my tv hehe) but it's time well
spent! I am hoping to get more people to volunteer
for Aura's House and to give donations.
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Friendly Neighborhood Reminders :
As usual, we will continue to fund raise for our current projects and keep you posted on the status of completed projects.
Don't forget that Aura's House is now listed as a cause on Facebook and Myspace. Join and help us spread the word about our small-scale doable projects that help needy families around the world.
Remember that 25% of all proceeds from our online shop go towards our Guatemala Bed project. You can also join iGive for free. Up to 30% of your online purchases go to our projects. There are over 680+ stores to choose from and include shops like Barnes and Noble, Travelocity, the Gap, EBay, Staples, Best Buy, and many more.
Aura's House needs YOU! We're always looking for people to help out with fundraising, design, graphics, promotions, and keeping the site going. Interested? Please contact us at info@aurashouse.com if you have any comments, ideas, questions, or suggestions. Volunteer Job Positions can be found here.
Over and out.
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Thanks for checking out our newsletter.
Don't forget to tell your family and friends about: aurashouse.com
© Kristen Palana 2003-2008.
This website is for nonprofit, charitable purposes only |
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