Sending Smiles Update...

Kirsti and I just wanted to take a moment and shout out a giant "THANK YOU" to all of you that have done so much to help out with the recent Sending Smiles to Kara Kearsley and to the Liberia Orphan Education Project. You guys ROCK!!!

I met with Kara a few weeks ago and I must say, she is just a very beautiful and sweet girl. She looked fabulous for being through such a rough journey. In fact she was toting around her youngest and gearing up take another to pre-school. Can you say SUPER MOM?!? She said she still has rough days but that she is getting better and stronger all of the time....which is what we all want to hear. We are cheering you on Kara and we wish you a full and complete recovery! With all of your donations we were able to get Kara and her family a $50.00 gift certificate to a local nursery. We hope they will be able to find the perfect tree to plant in their yard that will bring them a lot of happiness in the months and years to come.

If you would like to follow up on Kara's journey and recovery, you can visit her blog, Life Redefined HERE

Now onto Liberia!! I was so excited and anxious to send all of your beautiful tote bags and items to LOEP founder, Beth Iden, that I forgot to take pictures. Grrrrr!!! Thankfully Sending Smiles member Elizabeth Ouellette saved my bacon and took pictures of her church group's contributions to LOEP! We want to thank everyone for all of the time and hard work that was put into this smile. The new Hope school in Liberia is gearing up for a teacher's training session in January. I just know all of your donated items will be very much appreciated and used for many years to come.

As a whole, we were able to gather 20 tote bags, school supplies and several sign language cards as well as other sign language materials.

Sending Smiles also sent several Super Star wrist bands for the LOEP staff and teachers in Liberia. They sacrifice so much and work countless hours to ensure that the children in Liberia gain an education and have a brighter future. They really are true super stars. We hope that they know and will always remember that we are here supporting all that they do. That we applaud them for stepping up and being heroes to those around them.... and are rooting for their success!!!

To follow up on the updates of the Hope school and the other fabulous things LOEP is doing, you can read their blog HERE

Once again...THANK YOU to all of you that have helped. Kirsti and I could not help and serve without your help. We are so grateful for each and every one of you!!

We are currently gearing up for the next Sending Smile as October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. That smile will be announced soon so be sure to check back.

Until then, we hope all of you have a very wonderful weekend!!!

(**The picture of the wristbands courtesy of Oriental Trading.)

Sending Smiles To LOEP- Part 2, Sign Language Cards

As a follow up to the last post, Sending Smiles would like to help the Liberia Orphan Education Project send school supplies, tote bags and sign language cards. For details on school supplies and tote bags, please read the previous post. For information on sign language cards, however, please read on!!!

There are many children in Liberia that are hearing impaired. LOEP is working to help make sure that the needs of these precious children are not over looked....this is where we would like to help!

ABC, 123 and Color sign language cards are needed. To make things easy, I downloaded some free flashcards from the web to my computer, printed the flashcards out on white card stock and linked them together with a simple ring. I of course do plan on laminating these cards first before donating them to LOEP! I want to make all of my cards first and laminate them all at once! It's important that the cards we send are laminated since Liberia is a very humid country. We also want to make sure they last a long time and get a lot of use!!

There are of course MANY wonderful resources for us to use, these cards are just to get you started and to give you an idea of what is needed. Just click on the title to be directed to their page.

For the ABC cards I found a free download at APPLES 4 THE TEACHER

The 123 cards I found at ACTIVITY VILLAGE

The color sign language cards were downloaded from SQUIDOO

With the colors, please make sure you send at least the 9 basic colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Black, White and Brown...if not more colors!

Also, the flashcards do not need to be linked together with a ring, if you prefer to group them by making a durable drawstring bag, that would be great as well. We just want to make sure that that cards are grouped together and stay together!!

Completion of the cards need to be made and received by no later than Monday, September 20th.

Please mail your sign language cards to:

LOEP

c/o Beth Iden

370 Browntown Road

Browntown, VA

22610

Remember to please send as many of these flashcard sets as possible! Not all of the children that are reached by LOEP are orphans. Family members and parents are very anxious to learn as well. We want to make sure there are plenty of sets to go around!!!

Helping LOEP is such a fabulous way to kick off this back-to-school year! Remember to have fun with it!! Get together with your fellow church members, community pals, extended family, children, friends and such and make a service party! If you do, email your pictures to Sending Smiles so we can post them!!

Until then, we deeply appreciate your help. I can only imagine the tender and happy smiles your contributions will make!

To learn more about LOEP you can view their site HERE

You can also follow their blog HERE

Please feel free to contact us with any questions. It would also be really helpful if you left a comment or an email letting us know that you are participating in this Smile. We want to make sure we are sending a sufficient amount of flashcards, tote bags, etc to LOEP!!!

A HUGE SHOUT OUT OF "THANKS" GOES OUT TO ALL OF YOU!!!

Sending Smiles To LOEP- Liberia Orphan Education Project!!!

(**Note, Donations for A Special Tree For Kara are still being accepted. This Smile will close on August 14th. Stay tuned for that upcoming post!!)

Sending Smiles is SO excited to announce this next project!! For the next 6 weeks we will be working with LOEP...better known as the
Liberia Orphan Education Project

You can view their blog HERE

They are a group of AWESOME people dedicated to serving those in the country of Liberia, West Africa. They are an "all-volunteer, not-for-profit operation". They are currently planning on taking a trip back to Liberia for a teacher's training course. To learn more you can visit their site HERE Supplies are very much needed.

This is where WE would like to help!!!

LOEP needs at least 32 durable tote bags for school supplies and other teaching aids. I have put together an appropriate tote bag tutorial specifically for this project. That is located in a SLIDE at the bottom of this post. IF YOU WOULD LIKE A TOTE BAG TUTORIAL EMAILED TO YOU TO PRINT OUT, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL AND THE TUTORIAL WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU SHORTLY!!

The tote bag looks a little something like this...

We kindly ask that durable fabric is used. Levi and Corduroy fabric is very appropriate and is usually on sale this time of year! Also, it would be best if gender neutral fabric were used as there are both male and female teachers in Liberia. We wouldn't want to send a strong, cheerful African male teacher a tote bag with pink kittens on it! Lol!! ;O)

If you are interested in contributing and sewing up one or a few tote bags, please leave a comment or email us committing that you will be donating a tote bag.

Bags need to be received no later than Monday, September 20th.

Please mail your tote bags to me, Christine Dallimore. Just leave a comment with your email address and I will contact you shortly with further details.

I will then them ship them out to LOEP the following day, September 21st.

Don't Sew...No Problem!!! LOEP is also in need of sign language cards

Currently, there are many children in Liberia that are deaf, either caused by "natural or preventable causes-diseases or from the war." The LOEP HOPE school would love to help these children find their voice in the world. To find out more information, check out their blog HERE

MANY Sign Language cards are needed. Specifically ABC, Colors, Basic words and such. We would LOVE to send as many sets as we can. Not all children apart of LOEP are orphans. Parents of these deaf children are just as anxious to learn. Can you imagine the excitement of being able to communicate with your child? Awesome!!!

We would also like to have these sign language cards laminated as it is very humid in Liberia. I've also been told there is a "raining season" that is pretty impressive! Laminating these cards would help them to be more durable and last A LOT longer for many children to use!

I will post A LOT more information on the Sign Language cards this weekend. To get you started, however, I found an awesome site where you can download and print out the ABC cards for free!! That site is Apples4TheTeacher This deadline will also be September 20th. That mailing address will be listed in the next post!

If neither of these ideas appeal to you, School Supplies are always needed, as are monetary donations! It's a perfect time of the year to purchase school supplies as they are on sale!! Don't forget to check out the Dollar Stores...and Target (my personal favorite!!) For a detailed list and other information, visit LOEP HERE

I also wanted to share these precious photographs with you! They were given to me by founding member Elizabeth (Beth) Iden. She is just as sweet as can be, an even though we have only chatted through email, her love for Liberia and these people can be felt through the waves. It's very contagious and I am personally so grateful to be working with her and her team on this project! Just look at their sweet faces and smiles...LOVE IT!!!

Thank You Beth and the other members of LOEP! It's so wonderful to be able to see the faces of those we are cheering on!

O.k. my fellow Sending Smiles Pals...Lets set to work and serve these fabulous people!!! I can't wait to see what joy this project will bring...both to the givers and the receivers!!! :O)

Of course if you have any questions, feel free to email us! Until then, here is the tote bag tutorial... Again if you would like to receive the e-pattern, just leave a comment with your email address. Thanks!!!

If you are having trouble viewing it, you can also view it HERE