OTHERS DOING GOOD THINGS

Dear Angela, Dianna, Rob, Claire Susan, Stanley, Barry, Dave and Sarah,

 

First, thanks for all of the opportunities you are providing for the Casa Hogar Kids this summer!  These will change their lives for the better in immeasurable ways! (Rob, this is FYI as we are quoting your mom, with her permission.  As she has not email, please share this with her.).

 

Here is our charter for the Atencion opportunity:

 

Articles of 500 – 700 words with crisp art according to this schedule:

PUBLICATION DATE	COPY/ART DEADLINE	THEME	FEATURE	FUNDRAISING PROGRAM	COORDINATOR
June 29	June 7	No Limits	Flying Nuns	Friends of Organizations	Dianna
July 6	June 15	History	Success Stories	Sustaining Supporter Program	Robin
July 13	June 22	Casa Hogar Kids	Pix, Names, Ages, Interests	Support a Child	Robin
July 20	June 29	School’s Out!	Summer Programs	Sister Schools	Robin
July 27	July 6	Legacies	Bernie Weisman’s Gift to Mothers and Children	Foundation for the Future	Barry

 

Here are partial draft articles which need for your input, immediately, por favor (and please add any input that you want, regardless of what is asked for!).

 

6/29 - FLYING NUNS KICK-OFF SUMMER OF ‘NO LIMITS!’ FOR SAN MIGUEL’S ‘ORPHANS’ – 600 at present, leaving us another 100 to add.

 

Flying nuns?  In San Miguel?  This summer?  Por que???

 

Yes, San Miguel will see flying nuns Sunday, July 1, when The Oz Project literally launches several nuns from the local ‘orphanages’ in hot air balloons at TIME AND PLACE, PLEASE, DIANNA.

 

“The San Miguel Community is basically the primary support system for 100 children who, because of extremely dire circumstances in their families of origin, are now Casa Hogar Kids – children between the ages of 2 months and 20+ years who are cared for by Dominican nuns in three casas hogares – the Mexican code phrase for refuges for orphaned and abandoned children,” said Dianna Aston, a San Miguel resident who created The Oz Project and the No Limits Concert scheduled for September WHAT DATE, DIANNA? to help these kids break out of their dramatically negative history and into a future of concrete hope.

 

Called Mexiquito (boys’ home), Santa Julia and Sollano (girls’ homes) for their locations, these homes do not receive sustaining support from the church or the government, so the nuns must beg in order to feed, clothe, educate, house, and otherwise care for these precious children.  This could produce a very limited life for these deserving children, but various ‘friends’ of these homes are sure that beginning this summer, the Casa Hogar Kids should know ‘No Limits!’

 

DIANNA’S PEARLY PROSE HERE

 

So, a series of events is being planned, and the San Miguel Community is cordially invited to participate in the development and success of each, as follow:

 

DATE	EVENT	PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITIES	CONTACT
Sunday, July 1, TIME/PLACE, DIANNA	Flying Nuns	Come meet the ‘Madres’ and cheer them into the wild blue yonder!	Dianna Aston, WHAT CONTACT INFO DO YOU WANT HERE, DIANNA?
Sunday, July 22, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Exclusive Private Home	School Daze	Help organize or come to this fundraiser brunch featuring the Casa Hogar Kids Choir to get them back to school.	Robin Loving robin@robinloving.com 152-3709 – SMA 925-418-8003 - US
Week of July 22, TIME/PLACE, SARAH	Create a Documentary Film	Help kids get to Guanajuato to do this.	Sarah Hoch, NEED CONTACT INFO, SARAH
Wednesday, July 25 TIME/PLACE, DIANNA	Flying Casa Hogar Kids	Come meet the Casa Hogar Kids who will receive the first No Limits ballooning experience.	Dianna Aston, WHAT CONTACT INFO DOYOU WANT HERE, DIANNA?
Week of August 11 - 18	Learn to Tutor Casa Hogar Kids	Learn from university experts how to take specific children forward with specific techniques.	Robin Loving robin@robinloving.com 152-3709 – SMA 925-418-8003 - US
DAY, September, DATE, TIME, PLACE, DIANNA	No Limits Concert “THEME”	LIST	Dianna Aston, WHAT CONTACT INFO DOYOU WANT HERE, DIANNA?

 

“We get by with a little help from our friends,” sang the Beatles long ago, and it’s still true.  Friends help their friends.  Please consider befriending the 100 Casa Hogar Kids who are totally dependent on our community for their current needs.  With your time, your gifts in kind, or your financial contribution.  This article features friends, and it is possible to form a Friends group.  “When Ed died, we formed a Friends group in lieu of flowers and raised enough to get the nuns at Santa Julia their first car and ensure better security at the orphanage,” said Barbara White, director of the Friends group in Savannah , Georgia . 

 

For more information on specific needs of the Casa Hogar Kids, how to begin a Friends group, how to make donations, how to receive monthly updates, or how to tour any of the casas hogares, contact Robin Loving at robin@robinloving.com, 925-418-8003 – US, or 152-3709 – SMA. 

 

Photos

 

July 6 – Community Assists Casa Hogar Kids to Grow Past their Limitations– 500 WORDS, leaving us 200 more to add

 

Quote from Petra about perceived limits earlier in her life as a result of her previous life circumstances. - Susan

 

Quote from Susan about Petra ’s work with her in her important business and why Susan is involved.- Susan

 

These stories are repeated over and over again each year as various Casa Hogar Kids matriculate into the world as adults.  The children of San Miguel’s casa hogares are orphaned, abandoned, and/or abused, but grow up healthy, happy, and productive as a result of the loving Dominican nuns who raise them with their sole source of support:  The San Miguel Community.  This community extends past the borders of San Miguel to include Friends groups in other parts of Mexico , the United States and Canada , but the Madres – the designation of the nuns in charge of these children – would need even more support – sustaining support, to meet the kids’ expenses.

 

Here are the average expenses per child and per-home, per month and per year.  Some who read this will be amazed at these expenses as some will seem high and some will seem low.  There are reasons for these, including the fact that each house has to cover not only the expenses of an average of 32 children, but also the expenses of 4 – 6 Madres, various household helpers, and occasional volunteers – not to mention the overhead on a home for that many people.  No matter whether you see these as high or low, please consider how you, your friends, and/or organizations with whom you are affiliated might want to earn the title of Sustaining Supporter by underwriting some of these expenses for one or more of these children’s homes.

 

MONTHLY AVERAGE EXPENSES FOR EACH CASA HOGAR

(MEXIQUITO, SANTA JULIA, SOLLANO)

 

ITEM	COST IN DOLLARS
Food (Thanks to Feed the Hungry and Patronato Pro Ninos for ongoing assistance with this.)	$675
Transportation	$655
Medicine (Thanks to Patronato Pro Ninos for ongoing assistance with this.)	$200
Telephone	$200
Office Supplies	$70
Electricity	$1,510
Clothes (Thanks to so many donors of these items.)	$275
Household Assistance (Thanks to occasional live-in volunteers who help with this.)	$3,310
Gas (Thanks to a gas company for some help with this.)	$280
Cleaning Supplies (Thanks to Feed the Hungry and Patronato Pro Ninos for ongoing assistance with this.)	$125
School	$450
Maintenance	$600
Television (Mexiquito has no cable nor high-speed internet…)	$25
Toiletries (Thanks to so many donors of these items.)	$400
TOTAL/HOUSE/MONTH	$8,775
TOTAL/HOUSE/YEAR	$105,300
TOTAL/CHILD/MONTH	$275/child/month
TOTAL/CHILD/YEAR	$3,2909/child/year

 

Sustaining supporters receive a framed certificate of recognition, monthly email updates with photos, and the satisfaction that their gift is ensuring that these deserving kids receive the basics it takes to help them heal and grow into productive citizens of our community and our world.

 

For more information, contact Robin Loving at robin@robinloving.com; 925-418-8003 – US; or 152-3709 – SMA.

 

July 13 – Meet the Casa Hogar Kids – 200 words, leaving 500 to add

 

They look like any other kids anywhere, but Casa Hogar Kids are special kids.  They came from dire family situations, luckily fell into the hands of local Dominican nuns who are raising them in an atmosphere of pure love, and will grow up to be productive members of the community – with our support.  These kids have no ongoing support from their families of origin, the church, or the government, so they rely on the support of the San Miguel community.  

 

Most, though called ‘orphans,’ cannot be adopted as their families of origin still have parental rights, if not custodial rights, so their childhood needs probably will not be met unless our community decides to meet them.  So, peruse these photos, names, ages, interests, and the souls behind each, and if you are so moved, please pledge to support the Casa Hogar Kid(s) of your choice from Mexiquito (boys’ home), Santa Julia (girls’ home), and/or Sollano (girls’ home).  Yes, there are approximately twice as many girls in need as boys, a sad cultural truth.

 

Pix, names, ages, interests

 

For more information about the Casa Hogar Kids Support a Kid Program, contact Robin Loving at robin@robinloving.com, 925-418-8003 – US, or 152-3709 – SMA.

 

July 20 – School’s Out for Summer! – 350 WORDS, so we have room for 350 more.

 

The Casa Hogar Kids – children who are in the custody of Dominican nuns in group homes in San Miguel due to dire family circumstances – will have a rare treat this month and part of next as they are placed with caring families for their brief summer vacations.

 

“We try to place every child with a family during holidays in order to ensure that each child has some more normalizing experiences,” said Madre Chuy, Mother Superior of Casa Hogar Santa Julia Don Bosco, A.C., a girls’ home in San Miguel.

 

While the Casa Hogar Kids are away, there will be plenty of ways that the San Miguel Community may continue to interact on behalf of this aspect of the community’s future.

 

School Daze will be a brunch in an exclusive home in San Miguel Sunday, June 22, from 11 – 2 at which a few of the kids will sing while the rest of us enjoy a delicious brunch and see what we can do to raise funds for their next school year.  This brunch will be limited to the first 100 people who RSVP, so make plans now to ensure that the Casa Hogar Kids, who have no ongoing support besides what our community may be able to provide, may all go to school in the fall.

 

“To gain Sister School Status is a great way to open the eyes of kids in other cultures to the wonders of global differences,” said Claire Carew, who established Sister School Status between her junior high school kids in Canada and one of the local casas hogares.  “Our kids decided that they would host a variety of fundraisers to help their ‘ Sister School ’ in San Miguel, and as a result we raised enough to meet basic needs of a couple of kids for a month, she continued.  “As a result, our kids got more interested in language, culture, and geography – which made my job as a teacher easier and more rewarding,” she concluded.

 

For more information about getting involved in Casa Hogar Kids Events or obtaining Sister School Status for your school, contact Robin Loving at robin@robinloving.com, 925-481-8003 – US, or 152-3709 – SMA.

 

July 27 – Ways to Build a Foundation for the Future for Casa Hogar Kids – WORDS

 

Barry to write with a bit of Robin’s input.

 

THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT THAT ANY OF YOU CAN PROVIDE!  I’ll be out of town June 7-29 but will coordinate by email as I can. 

 

Appreciatively,

 

Robin

152-3709 – SMA

925-418-8003 - US