As you may know, I am on the BOD of a phenomenal organization that works to reduce the causes of chronic childhood malnutrition in rural, indigenous communities in Guatemala. For obvious reasons, I have a huge amount of passion for the cause. The name of the organization is/has been Behrhorst Partners for Development (BPD) but it is changing shortly to ALDEA, which means "village" in Spanish.
Our Executive Director and the Executive Director of our sister organization are working to raise $25,000 in honor of the 25th anniversary of the passing of our founder, Dr. Carroll Behrhorst. To do so, they will be climbing two volcanoes in Guatemala, totaling 25,000 feet. I have committed to raising at least $2,500 of that and I NEED YOUR HELP! If they can climb a volcano, you can spare a few bucks.
https://bpd.myetap.org/fundraiser/Volcano2015/individual.do?participationRef=1044.0.22764565
I recently had the opportunity to write a story on "Giving Back" for Adoption Today magazine. What I am most proud of is my daughter's contribution to it.
Some of you remember my strange dichotomy at being both Jewish and a Notre Dame alumni. Well there is no greater pleasure than brainwashing your children into loving the things you love...
Last Saturday I took my kids to the Notre Dame-Navy game at FedEx Field. I had a huge tailgate planned as it is close to home. About an hour after I was all set up in the parking right, I looked to my right and saw that two spaces over was a family that looked like mine.
As you can see from the pic, my kids who are usually bored while daddy cooks and drinks beer had a wonderful and a new friendship was formed between fellow Notre Dame lovin' Chapines.
The other kids' faces are covered as I forgot to ask if it was okay to post. And to the parents, whose names I of course can't remember.... get a hold of me!
I hope there are still some folks stopping by from time to time! As you know, I now sit on the BOD of Behrhorst Partners for Development (www.behrhorst.org).We are looking for volunteers so help us develop an improved website and to improve our social media strategy and presence. I don't have big bucks to offer, but I know that the satisfaction and good karma I get when I visit the communities we serve is compensation enough.
So if you have the skills, please let me know. We aren't looking for magic, an uber-website, or anything spectacular and it is a great organization.
It wasn't so long ago that many of us were in a similar boat. There are current many adoptions in a legislative limbo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I do not claim to be an expert on the situation there, but please take a minute to sign this petition.
http://www.petition2congress.com/15065/all-children-everywhere-need-families-help-right-wrong/
(I apologize it won't hyperlink, something not functioning properly but you can cut and paste).
Here is a press release:
http://childrendeservefamilies.com/senator-landrieu-stuck-drc-families/
It has been a long since we have posted a homecoming story. And it is both amazing and shameful that they have taken so long. Congrats to the Rice family!!!
Admittedly, I'd like to talk with the copy writer at their local news station. The constant use of "third world nation" seemed unnecessary but most of all, why would anyone put "Adopted" under the child's name. "Finally home" would have been more appropriate. Nonetheless, great that they covered the story and a happy ending to a rough journey!
So it is that Top 10 time of year and I got the crazy idea to ponder, what were the top 10 posts on Guatadopt? So I decided to compile my list.
I did so off the top of my head and I am sure there I have missed some stuff. And of course, this is the Top 10 from the perspective of the person who was dealing with these issues. So what may have seemed huge to me, may not have to another.
Please post with any that I missed and would make your list. Brought back a lot of memories...
One of the happiest moments in our adoptions was undoubtedly the call that we were out of PGN! For us that also happens to correspond to Thanksgiving. Say what? You got the call on Turkey Day? Your agency was working on Thanksgiving? Well not exactly, read on for a cool story and why tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of something spectacular!
Did you know that 1 in 3 people worldwide do not have access to a clean toilet? Or that one tiny piece of poop can contain 10 million viruses and 1 million bacteria? World Toilet Day is only one week away and we NEED your help to support our goal of raising $1,000 to purchase latrines for indigenous Mayan families in rural Guatemala through BPD!!!
Admittedly, I am not a fan of Justin Bieber and am quite thankful that my kids feel the same. Generally speaking the kid seems like a spoiled brat who has been allowed to let his fame get too far into his head.
But I give him a solid thumbs up for this story and hope that his feelings don't change and he continues to support Guatemala.
I am thrilled to join the Guatadopt team to share my experiences over the years with giving back and share opportunities for you to make a difference looking forward. Over the years, Kevin and Kelly have posted many opportunities to give back to organizations that impact the lives of Guatemalans--many of those opportunities related to the work of the Cincinnati Friends Through Guatemalan Adoption (FTGA). I thought I would take a moment in my first post to share the history of FTGA's Giving Back program and then give all of you information looking forward on how to keep the Guatadopt community aware of future opportunities to give back!
I came across this Op-Ed published today by Foster Friess in the USA Today. The piece, titled "For orphans, family is a human right" sounds much like something I would have published, with the exception that my tone on Unicef would have differed on this matter. But what is says is correct, right and left can unite on this and it is with no trepidation that I salute and promote the dude who bankrolled Rick Santorum's campaign.
Parenthood that is. I mean after all, most of us went through the trials and tribulation of trying to become a parent together. And then once our kids came home, reality struck!
After a few years of separation, I am really happy to say that Guatadopt is back and hopefully we can rebuild some of the community and lively debate of times past. Obviously times have changed and as such so has the mission.
Before going into why Guatadopt disappeared, I want to introduce our newest writer, someone that I am sure many old-time readers already know. Sonya Fultz, who drove Moms on a Mission and other great work through FTGA, has agreed to come aboard. Welcome Sonya!
Click on more to get the low down and what happened and where we're going...
There will be more to come between Guatadopt and BPD. I am now on their Board of Directors and am trying to get back into the groove of bringing back Guatadopt. I do owe our old readers an explanation of what's been up!
For now, here is a chance to support Behrhorst Partners for Development and get a chance to win two roundtrip plane tickets anywhere in the US. It's only $10 a ticket and trust me that it goes to a good cause!
http://www.behrhorst.org/donate_for_a_chance_to_win_
