An Orphan's Bright Star - anorphansbrightstar

6/26/2011 1:34:05 PM - 001076461309

I especially love to see the children so joyously swimming in their underwear!!! Natalie D

This is an urgent need for FLU vaccinations. Please help by donating ANY AMOUNT. OBS will purchase whatever amount we can.Hopefully enough for all 150 kids to receive vaccine. Please visit our website to help ASAP http://www.orphansbrightstar.org/dona...

If you plan to mail a check, please let Mindi know the amount as we need to get the money to them fast!

Hey everyone! Poltava Vocational now has ten new students! If your student has graduated or dropped, perhaps you will give these kids a try. They live at the Alexandria orphanage. Alexander, the director, allows them to continue to live there if they are in school. Please see the photos and descriptions below. These children have dreams and aspirations! Please help us in guiding them as they work towards a better future.

We have 6 boys and 4 girls currently in need of sponsors:
Twin brothers include; Sergy  and Alex. Sergy wants to study electrical installation and work in that field.
Alex wants to also study electrical installation but wants to transfer to the field of lathe operator or miller as soon as he is allowed

Ivan is trying to enter accounting. He really dreams of becoming a doctor but couldn't enter the program- let's cheer him on to medical school!

Artur is in tech school having several majors including: remodeling, building, interior decorating- meaning he does walls and ceilings straight and painting them.

Dima is following Artur but add on Plasterer, and tile setter. has two more years to go.

Anton studying remodeling as well plasterer and tile setter.

We have four girls. These girls are working hard, studious and diligent students and are very excited about making new friends.

 Two sisters, Luba and Vika who are going to cooking school. Luba has completed her first year and since she finished the 11th grade instead of the 9th, she only has one year and 6 months to go. She loves to study and practices at the orphanage canteen. Vika also likes to study, will be starting her first year.  She has 2 years and 10 months to go.

We also have two more fantastic girls, Anna & Lera

Anna likes school and will be starting her first year of nursing, so she has 2 years and 10 months to go.

Lera wants to be a vet and is in her 3rd year! She would have 4 months to go but plans to enter a different technical school to get another field of study and higher education!

$ 507.71 raised so far!   We're already halfway to our goal! 

 

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

At $13.50 per child X 80 kids, that's a total of $1080 we're trying for.  

You sure are getting us there!  Need more people, though, and we can wind up this fundraising Blitz right away!

 

I'M OVER THE MOON!  You guys are so responsive to the children's need.  

 

Look at what can be accomplished in a short amount of time!  I am so proud of our teamwork here.

 

After some of the children have gone off to camp with their clothing in pillowcases, wearing who knows what on their feet, you'll wish you had parted with $13.50.  

 

If you haven't yet stepped forward to help out, NOW is the time we need you! 

 

Please e-mail me what you intend to send, so I can update everybody again. Natalie@orphansbrightstar.org

 

See the posting below!

 

We're having a 2 week fundraising blitz so our kids can have what they need for camp!

Ukrainian orphanages send their children to summer camps for a couple of months. 

Remember, Green Forest's children live and go to school on one campus, so they seldom have chances to go anywhere.

It is BASIC camp ~ think Scout Camp in the 1920s.

They need small traveling bags and sandals urgently, our director says. Sandals and scuffs are approximately $5.04 a pair, depending on size. We need 80 pairs for all children. 
Bags costs $8.10 and 80 bags are needed. They are scheduled to leave the Internat in early June.

It's $13.50 for one child to be ready to go! 

ARE YOU READY TO SEND ONE CHILD @$13.50? 

HOW ABOUT SENDING MORE...for 2, 3, 4! 

If all members and friends send Mindi a check or PayPal right away, no problem raising that money!

Checks to: 
An Orphan’s Bright Star 
PO Box 1076 
Seabrook TX, 77586 

PayPal: 
(please send $14.21 to cover Paypal fee for 1.
Calculate here if you send to more children) 
http://thefeecalculator


Please help Green Forest children, immediately!  

We are so pleased to announce Marina, one of two university students is now being sponsored! Her chances of a better future are now brighter because of the wonderful work of our sponsor, Mary Lee!

An Orphans Bright Star is still seeking a sponsor for beautiful Tamara. Tamara is studying to be a teacher at the teacher's school. She is incredibly hard working and would prosper enormously from the support of a sponsor. 

OBS is currently providing Tamara with clothes and basic living necessities as she continues her schooling, however consistent funding is desperately needed for this talented and determined girl to grow and develop. 

Half sponsors are welcome. Sponsors can even support Tamara for a brief three month period, from March through May of this year. It only costs $150 to improve this girls life through the end of this year!

Full sponsors are also encouraged, as our girls require a sponsor the rest of this year and 2012 as well.

For information on how to become a sponsor please contact Carolyn atcderipaska@earthlink.net

Here is one of our dedicated and most heart warming donors, Shirley K.  She has been sewing, knitting and crocheting toys to send to our orphanages for years!  She recently moved from California to Florida. Shirley is severely sight-impaired. However, this does not stop her from making beautiful gifts. Shirley has a big magnifying glass attached to her sewing machine so she can operate it and bring smiles to our children’s lives. 

Shirley works all year to hand-make the many amazing items she donates. As you can tell from the photos she is really good at sewing!  Each year in early fall, Shirley sends all her completed gifts just in time for our holiday gifts packages to Ukraine.  

I have shipped almost all her gifts to the children at Green Forest Internat and they know her beautiful work very well and absolutely love her personalized gifts. Last fall, I shipped her distinctive puppies to the handicapped girls who live at Nova Borova Internat.  Scarves and hats went to GFI, as usual. 

The children adore wearing her scarves and hats and enjoy cuddling her hand-sewn puppies.  One year Shirley made decorative quilted angels to hang on the wall for the kids to look at in the orphanage. 

I always photograph her gifts before I ship them, please take a minute to look at the amazing the photos.

-Natalie

Ukraine winters are extremely difficult for the children we sponsor, particularly those without proper winter gear. Thanks to An Orphan’s Bright Star’s generous donors, we provided enough winter footwear for the kids this season.  The children at Green Forest range from 7 years old to 17, and quality, sustainable winter footwear is very expensive in Ukraine. We were informed by the director, that there simply was not enough money to ensure all the children at Green Forest had winter boots and shoes.

Thanks to all our donations received, the young men at Green Forest now have brand new, good quality winter shoes and boots. Please see the photos of the boys laughing and joking around as they tried on their new shoes. It brought the boys such joy to receive much needed winter gear.

More donations needed for next year!

Looking ahead to next year’s cold Ukraine winter, the children at Green Forest will again need reliable and warm winter gear. Spring and summer are the perfect time to purchase end-of-season winter shoes and boots at a discounted price. An Orphan’s Bright Star will help coordinate the logistics of sending donations. 

Please donate any new shoes or boots (keep your receipts) and contact Natalie@orphansbrightstar.org.  Natalie can also answer any questions you have.  If you would prefer to send a gift of money to Mindi, please make sure that your donation is clearly marked for the Green Intranet Winter Footwear project.

An Orphans Bright Star is seeking sponsors for two college girls in Poltava, Marina and Tamara. Marina is studying to be a power engineer at the university and Tamara is studying to be a teacher at the teacher's school. Both of these girls are incredibly hard working and would prosper enormously from the support of a sponsor.

OBS is currently providing Marina and Tamara with clothes and living necessities as they continue their schooling, however consistent funding is desperately needed for these talented and determined girls to grow and develop.

Half sponsors are welcome. Sponsors can even support the girls for a brief three month period, from March through May of this year. Full sponsors are also encouraged, as Marina and Tamara require sponsors the rest of this year and 2012 as well.

For information on how to become a sponsor please contact Carolyn at cderipaska@earthlink.net

Attachments:

One of our generous donors works for Hewlett-Packard.  He & his wife took advantage of HP's in kind donation policy last summer & donated an HP mini netbook.  They liked helping our Ukrainian orphans! 

So while President Mindi was in Steamboat Springs, she received an e-mail from HP saying, "HP would like to donate technology equipment to your organization."  Up there on the ski slopes with the family, Mindi wasn't checking her blackberry too often, but luckily she noticed that message in time to comply with HP's 3 day acceptance window.  She faxed in the agreement & completed forms. 

Here's the news she received from HP:  "Congratulations on your grant & thank you for the outstanding work you are doing. 

Sincerely, The HP Employee Product Giving Program Team" 

The gift: 3- 10" Minis, list $575, total value of $1575 !!!!!  (Our donor gave 1/4 of that!)  We had requested these minis for our OBS contacts at the orphanages to use to send reports & photos back to OBS, & for receiving information from us.  But now 3, in addition to the one last summer!

A huge help to us!  Natalie

Shimmer, Shine

Whimsy & Wine

Everyone had a FANTASTIC time at the 2009 fundraiser for An Orphan's Bright Star at Haak Vineyards and Winery!

It SHIMMERed, it SHINEd, and there was both WHIMSY and WINE!

Thank you to everyone to participated, whether it was through online auction bidding or attendance at the live event!

It's hard to believe, but the donations are STILL coming in! So we have set up a store front to facilitate the sale of the additional donated items.

Stop by and take a look at our GIFT central and make that birthday and holiday gift shopping a breeze this year ... all for the benefit of the children in our supported orphanages.

http://www.giftberry.org/orphansbrightstar 

Mindi Miller Davis

100% of the proceeds from all auction items will go towards projects benefiting the children in our supported orphanages throughout Ukraine. 

OBS has focused recently on the Playgrounds For Development projects and getting the bye-bye buggy strollers to the baby houses.  Getting 15-20 kids outside with 2 or 3 caregivers is not an easy task. Imagine doing it yourself.  One worker outside, one inside and one making trip after trip to get the group outdoors.  As a result, the kids just don't get out enough.  This results in a whole host of problems...can you imagine a child with rickets in this day and age.  Well, lack of vitamin D causes this...this comes from a lack of sunshine and vitamins !  Sad but true.  Also, getting the kids OUTSIDE will help with their sensory development.  Many of these kids suffer from sensory deprivation...just getting them outside with new sights and sounds will help tremendously !  THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who donated to make these projects a big success ! 

Elizabeth