Aura's House October 2007 Newsletter

Dear Aura's House Friends and Donors,

Over $1200 Raised in One Month!

Bacilio
Bacilio's Current House

We got off to a great start in September raising money for a safe, sturdy brick home for Bacilio Ramirez (10) and his family in Honduras. As of October 1st, we are just $11 shy of our first thousand. Bacilio's family is constantly in danger of health problems due to exposure, as well as injury or death during severe storms and hurricanes. We aim to reach our $5500 goal by the Holidays.

In other news, we've also raised $300 of our $500 goal to buy badly needed beds and furniture items for Allison Daigo (14) and family of Ecuador.

A Chicken Farm in Ghana
We received the first photo updates (see below) from our recent Ghana Agriculture project.

Officials from the Cape Coast School for the Deaf were able to purchase a large chicken farm and a number of baby chicks. Students will use the farm to learn agriculture skills as well as a means for producing eggs and meat.

You may remember that an extra $1563 was raised for this project. Representatives from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization have informed us that these funds will go towards a sheeping project at the school. Thanks to our donors for making this possible and stay tuned for more updates.

New Blog on the Site
We recently created a new blog, Aura's Blog for our users.
Here we'll be posting daily/weekly updates for our current and past projects, interesting articles, and links, images, or videos we want to share.

Feel free to comment on anything you'd like. If you want to be one of our bloggers, please email your request to join at: info@aurashouse.com

Tell a Friend
We've raised $44,057 to date for all our projects since 2004. Most people donate between $5 and $50 and every bit (even $1) helps. Please consider letting your friends and family know about our site and our small, doable projects by clicking on our new "Tell a Friend" button below and elsewhere on the site.

Aura's House on Facebook
If you are a Facebook addict, then come on over to our Cause: Aura's House and invite your friends. It's a great way to meet other Aura's House supporters, have discussions about topics that concern you, and help spread the word.

Thanks as always to all our supporters, whose enthusiasm and encouragement help keep our site going. We at Aura's House wish you a Happy Fall.

Best wishes,
Kristen, Anastasia, Mike, Christina, and the Aura's House Team

$989 Raised So Far...

House Progress as of October 1, 2007. Our virtual house for Bacilio will build up as we get closer to our $5500 goal. A new brick is added with every $50 raised. Thanks to Maggie Fridman of New Jersey for creating our house pics.

• Please note, this donation button, along all the others on the site are for our Main Project. To donate to our current Small Project please make a gift from this page.

I prefer to donate offline.

Previous Newsletters :

September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June Update 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007

Newsletters from 2006
Newsletters from 2005
Newsletters from 2004

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.

Aura's House shirts, cards, gifts, postage,
and more! Browse

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

Cape Coast School for the Deaf Receives a New Chicken Farm.

Thanks to the Aura's House Donor's generous contributions, the Cape Coast School for the Death in Ghana was able to purchase a new chicken farm.

Visit the Ghana Project.

Click here to see enlarged images of the chicken farm.

Featured Donor: Amber Shannon of Dania Beach, FL. helps Aura's House through her new store, The Blue Butterfly.

Amber writes:

"I've been a supporter of the oh-so-awesome Aura's House for a few years now. Over the past year, Kristen and Anastasia stuck with me as I went through a major life change. Part of that change was quitting my 9 to 5 job and plunging into the career of my dreams! For years, I wanted to live a more purposeful life, and I finally found it through opening The Blue Butterfly, an organic, fair trade clothing store!

I created The Blue Butterfly as a way to educate people about the harmful effects of conventional clothing and the benefits of buying organic and fair trade. I believe that we can live in harmony with the earth, and that people deserve to be treated and paid fairly!

"I've just launched the store's website, so I am donating 10% of all profits during the month of October to Aura's House!"

Amber in her organic, fair trade clothing store,
The Blue Butterfly.

I am so grateful for Kristen and Anastasia because they have inspired me every step of the way. One of my dreams has been to donate a portion of the store's profits to Aura's House, and today, that dream is a reality! I've just launched the store's website, so I am donating 10% of all profits during the month of October to Aura's House! So, come on everyone, let's build Bacilio a house and keep him and his family safe and dry! "

Amber Shannon
Dania Beach, Florida

What's Next :
Stay tuned for new features on the site as well as for updates on current and past projects.

In other news... Help! We need posters! Not the bus stop variety, but rather people who can post some blurbs about our new projects on volunteer boards such as Craigslist as well as any other online (or offline) community forums where people have interests related to Honduras, sponsoring children, poverty reduction, grassroots organizations, etc. Self starters preferable. We can give you sample text and you can go to town at your own pace. Participate or help as much or as little as you like. We who run Aura's House all have busy full time jobs so you would be helping us out tremendously by spreading the word.

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

Thanks for checking out our newsletter.
Don't forget to tell your family and friends about: aurashouse.com