Be A Hero Newsletter November 2009
Greetings to all our Heroes!
For as little as $33 you could be a Hero to a child, providing them with a home, food and clothing for an entire month! Perhaps you can even take care of two children, or invite a friend to sponsor. It is literally the difference between life and death for an orphaned child... Click here for more information about sponsorship. |
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Be A HERO recently hosted “My Call to Action” in Kelowna, featuring guest speakers Mia Farrow (actor and activist) and Ray Zahab (extreme athlete and activist). Around 800 people were inspired to “take action” on behalf of the world’s poor. We are working to set up programs that will make it easy for anyone to ‘take action’ - scroll down to see two new programs.
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Delight your family and friends with meaningful gifts that will help the poor!
BE A HERO doesn’t have the staff or budget to produce and mail out a glossy, full colour catalogue of items for our children’s homes. Our Christmas Gift Program is entirely on-line – saving us loads of money and time that can be used to continue our work rescuing and caring for orphans and other vulnerable children. As an added bonus you will also receive a tax receipt for your donations. Make your selections from our Gift Suggestions (starting at just $8.00), then choose a card for the recipient—all from the comfort of your home. Don’t you think your Mom would rather help rescue a child from the sex trade than get another sweater? |
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BE A HERO Christmas Gift Program is a great idea for your workplace as well. Instead of exchanging silly or generic gifts, make a group selection that will have a lasting impact on a vulnerable child.
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The very first graduating class of Heroes of the Nation High School at Nyahururu, Kenya has 43 students sitting for college-entrance examinations. 15 of these students are children living at Heroes of the Nation Children’s Home. For everyone who has contributed towards buildings or sponsored a child from Heroes of the Nation—this is the fruit of your investment! Thanks to all our HEROES, orphaned children with no hope have been rescued, raised, educated and are now poised to become leaders in their community! Congratulations to our students— we are very proud of you. |
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Field Report from Kitale, Kenya (sent in by Joni Eveleigh, a Canadian working full-time in Kenya amongst the poor)
(excerpt) “One of our mamas left her family of 10 children. Her husband died a couple of years ago and she was so overwhelmed with the responsibility of trying to raise 10 children with no job, no income - she just disappeared. The 2 eldest, still in their teens, got married just to get out of the house (which is a 12x12 mud hut). So we found out that the 11 year old was going around the neighbourhood foraging food in the dump for her siblings (4-11 years) and cooking what she could. When we arrived at their home…there was absolutely NO food in the house…like NOTHING!!! And 8 little pair of eyes silently looking at us! We lost it and our hearts were once again broken for these precious little ones. So we quickly loaded beans, rice, etc. Into my little Isuzu and with tears and joy…filled their little home with chakula (food). We’re seeking wisdom in order to know how to help with this family. None of the children go to school because they have no school fees.” |
How long will an 11-year-old be able to cope with 7 younger siblings and no support? What will become of these children? Sadly, here at BE A HERO we get field reports like this all the time. Our children’s homes are overflowing, and with the current dismal economic situation in North America, our donations and sponsorships are down significantly this year (30.8% overall). We have cut expenses to the bone, laying off staff and reducing others to part-time. But we have no way to further cut expenses at our children’s homes—if we have 100 children at a Home we can’t pick 30 to send back to the streets, the garbage dump or brothels they came from….
HERE’S A WAY THAT YOU CAN HELP!
Introducing our new program |
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| Which child would you send away? |
It’s very easy—
→ Print out our letter-size poster and put it in an acrylic stand (available at your local Staples or Office Depot)
→ Place the poster beside a vase, piggy bank or any other collection jar in the foyer of your home, on the counter at your business, in the lunchroom where you work, on your desk..
Get your children to decorate a coffee can—you can cut a slot in the lid, then tape it to the can.
→ Encourage your employees, customers, guests, clients, friends to empty their pockets of change into the jar
→ Once a month or so buy a money order with the change (or deposit it in your bank account and write a cheque) and send the funds to BE A HERO either by mail or securely on-line
BE A HERO will use the funds to care for children, providing them with love, a home, food, clothing, education and medical care
PS : Ask your friends, clients, business associates if they will take the ¢oins = ¢hange Program to their home or workplace. Ask neighbourhood businesses if they would promote the ¢oins = ¢hange Program. Pocket change can change a life!
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IF YOU have any great ideas for fund-raising programs, or would like to host an event in your city give us a call at (250) 717-1003. Let’s all keep working together to save kids!
Thanks, Heroes!
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