Giving Back

The following is a press release from Friends Through Guatemalan Adoption. It’s a great idea they have and hopefully other local groups will do the same! For more inforamtion on this project, you can e-mail Sonya at szumbiel@cinci.rr.com.

Adoptive Families Give Back to Their Children’s Birth Country on Make A Difference Day
Families from around the Cincinnati area connected through adoption from Guatemala will come together to give back to their children’s birth country on National Make A Difference Day on October 23rd. The group – Friends Through Guatemalan Adoption - will package dental kits for distribution in rural areas of Guatemala where medical and dental health care is scarce at best. The group is also planning to make fleece tie blankets to be distributed to families living in the Highlands of Guatemala where the nights can be very cold. Two mothers in the group plan to travel to Guatemala in November to distribute the items. The dental kits and fleece blankets will be put together at Church of the Savior United Methodist Church, 8005 Pfeiffer Road, in Montgomery from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm on October 23rd.

The over 30 families involved in Friends Through Guatemalan Adoption are dedicated to “giving back” to the birth country of their children. In addition to their participation in Make A Difference Day, they also collect donations and supplies at their monthly meetings to benefit various organizations in Guatemala – they have raised over $2900 so far this year. Three of the fathers in the group traveled to Guatemala to distribute textbooks and school supplies which had been donated by Cooperative for Education, a Cincinnati-based non-profit organization. And 15 or so members are planning a mission trip to Guatemala for July 2005 where they will work in a medical clinic and an orphanage for a week and take down donated supplies.