Bricks and Blocks Fundraising Campaign

February 1, 2012 . Two more houses have been built and we now have raised over $22000!  The campaign officially ends February 14th. This has been such fun and we hope you have enjoyed participating!

For the past few months we have been building a village of virtual adobe houses- each home is $2000, with a brick costing $20. So 100 bricks builds a home! Just think how many adobe houses we can build in three months and then disperse to our international charities! Our goal is to surpass the $20,000 we raised last winter.

You can: buy a brick, buy a block of bricks, or form a group, and see if you can build a house together.  We have two teams working to do just that right now. Name your team and you will be flagged, and identified on our village map, as in the house above. As homes are built, they will go up in the village. We will keep you informed of individual team progress via Twitter and Facebook, as well as totals to date.

Our international charities run amazing programs, and this campaign will make a big difference for each of them:

1.     We will continue to contribute significantly to the food costs at Nepal Orphans Home. You may be surprised to hear that nutritious food in Nepal is nearly as expensive as in North America. NOH began a Healthy Meal Plan last November which has resulted in much more energetic children and lower pharmacy bills. We remain dedicated to maintaining this program, and Bricks and Blocks will go a long way in this regard.

2.     S4K pays for the education of 19 children at Asha Nepal's children's home in Kathmandu. Extra funding is allowing half of the children to join the rest of their peers who are attending a school in their neighbourhood.  Up to now, half of the children have been attending a free school that required staffing for walking and greatly tired the children, taking an hour and a half for them to walk each day. Extra funds beyond tuition, will go to school supplies, books, and the house library.

3.    Funds raised for Next Generation Nepal will continue to go to the agency's reconnection program. This means that we help fund their search and re-connection of separated children and families, and the ensuing costs of the field work and logistics of keeping children and families informed and connected as well as supporting regular child visits home.

4.    The most critical need for SOPUDEP in Haiti, remains paying their staff. One of the school's major goals is to provide free education for its students, something very elusive in this country. Funds raised will go towards the wages of the 48 staff members at the school. 

5.     At Phoenix Vision, in Haiti, our money is spent on providing trauma counseling to those affected by the earthquake as well as training so that locals can spread this healing to as many groups as possible.

We will begin selling t-shirts, hoodies and iPad covers on our website at the beginning of March. We have a gorgeous design, and the items are in production as we speak. Many people have been asking for such items and we are thrilled that it will soon be happening. Thanks to all who followed our auction, raising $14390. Small ripples  make big waves!

Peace,

Amanda, Jill and Damian