Friends, Countrymen, Send me your Shoes, your Whiteboard Markers, your ESL Books

Ever read my blog and think, wow, these kids are amazing, I want to help them!  I wonder how???

Well worry and wonder no longer.  If you like, we would LOVE for you to host a supply drive to fill up our container (leaving in July) with things the kids need.  All you need to do is contact Rachel Olstein at Rachel@asyv.org and she will help you get started.  See the flyer below to read what we need and for tips.

Here's a little story to inspire you.  Sports are very important to our kids, and we offer a number of opportunities from track to karate to basketball.  But, like all teenagers, these kids go through sports shoes amazingly quickly.  Last week, since most of our recent shoe donations had been used to go to the kids who arrived in the village without shoes, we were struggling to make sure that those whose shoes were completely worn also got them.  Happily, a volunteer had JUST arrived with a crate of sports shoes and when I brought them to the "store" (where the kids get clothes from the village) the kids happily found their sizes and brought them home to wear for sports that day.  Shoes on feet.  Excellent!

I could tell you a million similar stories about other items, but the basic point is, your donations make a direct impact in the kids' lives.  So read the flyer, and e-mail Rachel.  Don't worry about how much you get - even just putting a box in your office is a great start.  And good deeds are contagious...maybe you can get a number of workplaces/schools/shuls involved! 

Marakoze Cyane (thank you very much)!