August 8 (Day 161) Newborns In Need

Newborns in Need provides care necessities to premature, ill or impoverished newborns to give them a safe, healthy start in life. Volunteers work tirelessly in their own communities all across the United States. Founded on Christian principles, we provide help to all babies who need our assistance. In 2009, we donated out 493,207 items!


Can you imagine what it would be like to have a new baby and nowhere to turn? Other than the clothes and blankets the hospital provides, there is no decorated room, no dresser of clothes, no crib or bassinet waiting. Can you imagine holding a 3 pound baby in your arms and wondering where to get clothing when she goes home? Will there be something to fit someone so small? Diapers or heat, electricity or food, hard decisions are being made and this can result in unintended harm to the newborn. Poverty or illness touches the tiniest babies and families become overwhelmed. Imagine that in the midst of the fear, the sadness and a sense of “what do I do”, a nurse, a doctor, a social worker, or a friend touches your shoulder and hands you a basket full of blankets, diapers, and baby clothes.

We pray that no mother has to hold a dying or stillborn baby in her arms, but it happens in hospitals across our country. Families struggle as they want to memorialize their child but are not prepared for the moment they never planned for. A baby loses it’s fight for life and, as you are handed the child you so desperately wished for, you never expected to see your child dressed and wrapped in a beautiful blanket and that child’s life is validated and acknowledged by a group of strangers whom you have never met but who provided for you and the baby in your arms.

The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 -- about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and Newborns in Need has distributed millions of dollars worth of donated and purchased baby items through dozens of local community-based agencies and organizations.

Newborns in Need, made up of volunteers across the United States, is dedicated to making sure that the teen mom, the stressed family, the mother overwhelmed in sadness is supported in the first moments of the child’s life. The “911” for babies, Newborns In Need is the organization mobilized across the United States to offer baby items to those families who need help. Raising awareness, opening new chapters, Newborns In Need believes that communities can and will help each other if given the vehicle to do so. Whether crafted with love by the hands of a volunteer or donated by others who understand we need to take care of each other, Newborns In Need has positioned itself as the first response for the baby in crisis.



Get Involved:

Donate to Newborns In Need.

Find a chapter near you.

Other ways you can help Newborns In Need.




Source:  Newborns In Need

July 10 (Day 132) Fresh Air Fund

Remember your summer vacations?

Doesn’t every kid deserve that kind of fun?

 

I love the idea behind today's post...I wish I lived in the hosting area because I think it would be awesome to share my family with a young person this summer.  What an awesome honor and a great way to make a difference! I imagine this would have to be as much fun, or even more fun, for the host family as it is for the child - imagine opening up a whole new world for a child in need. 

If you live outside the hosting area, there are still opportunities to help. Please consider making a donation to allow children the experience of summer camp. 

THE FRESH AIR FUND, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877.  Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2008, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

FRESH AIR CHILDREN:

Children are selected to participate in The Fresh Air Fund Friendly Town program based on financial need. Children are from low-income communities, and often come from families without the money to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

FRESH AIR FUND FRIENDLY TOWN PROGRAM:

Fresh Air children, boys and girls from six to 18 years old, visit 300 Fresh Air Friendly Towns in the summer. Fresh Air children on first-time visits to Friendly Town host families are six to 12 years old and stay for up to two weeks. The program also has a special one-week option for New York City families who would like to host children on their summer vacations in the country. Over 65 percent of all children are reinvited to stay with host families, year after year. Reinvited youngsters may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many spend the entire summer in the country. Fresh Air children and volunteer families often form bonds of friendship that last a lifetime.

FRIENDLY TOWN HOST FAMILIES:

Fresh Air Fund volunteer host families open their homes to inner-city children for two weeks or more in the summertime. Each Friendly Town community is supervised by a committee of volunteers. Committee members select host families after reviewing their applications, visiting them in their homes and checking their personal references. There are no financial requirements for hosting a Fresh Air child. Most hosts simply want to share their homes with inner-city youngsters. Host families are not paid. The Fund has a program for placing children who have special physical or emotional needs.  If you are interested in hosting a child, refer to the hosting area map to see if hosting is available in your state.

Get Involved:

Donate to the Fresh Air Fund.

Volunteer opportunities at Fresh Air Fund.

Fresh Air Fund on Facebook.

Source: Fresh Air Fund

May 18 (Day 79) Summer Camp Impacting Lives

For more than 20 years, Hole in the Wall Camps and programs have empowered children to reach beyond the limits of their medical conditions to create lasting and positive impacts in their lives. The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps unites the world’s largest family of camps that are joined by their commitment to improve the quality of life for children coping with serious illnesses. Today, with 10 medical specialty camps in the United States and Europe, and one soon to be opened in the Middle East, the need for dedicated and passionate volunteers is continually growing. 

Trained volunteers, who range in age from 19 years old to senior citizens, make up more than 50% of the staff necessary to run each of the camp programs. Activities are intended to inspire children to realize their full potential, encourage team work and social connection, and boost self-esteem and confidence. Volunteers help facilitate these activities and create friendly, supportive and barrier-free environments, where children can speak openly about their hopes, dreams and fears with others facing similar situations. Hole in the Wall Camps and programs serve children affected by nearly 150 specific medical conditions through on and offsite programs.

Ways to Volunteer:

Volunteers are needed year-round to support our camp programs. There are opportunities to join a camp for weeklong summer session or for a weekend program in the fall, winter or spring. A volunteer can also help with off-campus fundraisers or programs. We need male and female volunteers year round.

The summer camp season is quickly approaching at Hole in the Wall Camps around the world and we are in need of a few good men. Are you energetic, creative and compassionate? Are you looking for a way to spend some time this summer that is meaningful and valuable? Are you interested in sharing your talents or picking up a new skill? Do you know someone who is?

Yes? Then we have an opportunity for you! Each year our family of camps relies on more than 12,000 volunteers to work alongside summer staff to ensure that children with serious medical conditions are able to ‘kick back, relax, and just be kids’ while they are at camp. Several of our camps still have male volunteer spots available for this summer and would love to hear from you.  Click here for more information. 

2009 Statistics:

• 31,500 children attended a Hole in the Wall Camp or program
• 20,110 children benefited from Hospital Outreach Programs
• 11,724 people dedicated their time to volunteer
• 42,060 children, caregivers and siblings served through on and off campus programs 

Since 1988:

• Nearly 200,000 children attended a Hole in the Wall Camp or program
• More than 150 medical conditions served at our camps
• Children from 45 countries and all 50 United States benefited from camp

Click here to donate.
Read inspirational Stories from Camp.


Source:  Hole in the Wall Camps

March 21 (Day 21) Connecting Military Parents & Kids

The Dog Tags for Kids Project is dedicated to helping United States Service men and women most in harm's way connect with their children at home. Specially engraved Dog Tags in the appropriate service color are provided FREE to the service members for their children.


The dog tags must come from the parents so all dog tags are sent to Iraq, Kuwait, or Afghanistan at the request of the service members to send back to their children; from their hearts to their children’s hearts. We are a grassroots project depending entirely on volunteers and donations to continue this mission. All donations go through the Kids Charities of the Antelope Valley, a 501(c)3 charity. Our goal is to see that every parent soldier who wants a dog tag for his/her children receives one at no charge to the service member or their families.
 
100% of Your Donation Delivers Smiles

Help send dog tags to troops in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan so they can send them to their kids back home! This is a grassroots effort to show support for the troops and their families.

Your donation will help send a tag in the appropriate service color to an appreciative service member. There is NO charge to the service member or their family for these tags. As of December 1st, 2009, they have sent 500,580 tags to the troops overseas to send home to their children. Check out the website to see how you can help.  Please help make a difference and thank our troops by putting a smile on their kid's faces!


Source: Dog Tag for Kids
Related Link:  www.dogtagforkids.com

March 14 (Day 14) Change the life of an AIDS-affected child.

For about $1.00 per day, you can transform the life of a child who is affected by AIDS. 

Sponser a HopeChild through World Vision.  A HopeChild is a child living in a community affected by AIDS. As a HopeChild sponsor, you are connected with one special child who will know your name, write to you, and feel your tender love and prayers. Your monthly sponsorship gift can help turn the tide of the HIV and AIDS pandemic! You can provide things such as:  
                 Clean water
                 Nutritious food                                                      
                 Health care,
                 Educational opportunities
                 Spiritual nurture
                 Care for sick or dying parent
                 HIV and AIDS counseling


About mother-to-child transmission of HIV:

-Every 90 seconds, another child becomes infected with HIV.
-Most children living with HIV acquire the virus during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.
-Without the right care, HIV-positive moms have a 1 in 3 chance of passing the virus on to their children.
-Every day, 740 children die because of AIDS — one child every two minutes.
-Without treatment, nearly half of all children living with HIV will die before their second birthday.
-Only 1 in 3 HIV-positive pregnant women can access treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
-One study in Mozambique found that providing ARV therapy to new moms reduced their risk of   transmitting HIV to their children to less than 2 percent.


Visit the World Vision site  and find out how you can make a difference in the life of a child affected by AIDS.  Visit the World Vision Experience and walk in the steps of a child affected by the AIDS crisis. View the trailers of children, hear their stories... I promise you will not be the same.  You will not be untouched by these children.   There are also other ways you can help, so check it out.   World Vision provides hope and assistance to approximately 100 million people in nearly 100 countries. In communities around the world, we join with local people to find lasting ways to improve the lives of poor children and families.








Sources: UNAIDS, WHO, UNICEF, WORLD VISION