A New Goal

As I've mentioned before, I won't give up on the older kids now that all of the zeros have been zeroed. It is just wonderful to see money in everyone's grant, but this isn't the end. Although many of the children who started with zero do now have a few hundred or even a few thousand (!) in their accounts, there are still many who have less than $20. So - that's my next goal. Again, it may not seem like much, but I've said it before and I'll say it again - baby steps :) There are 306 children in the 6 and up categories - 116 have over $20 in their grants, 65 don't have their own grants for one reason or another, and 125 have less than $20. I'll post about the children without grants another time. It took us almost 4 months to zero 171 zeros. So - I'll set a goal - $20 by Easter. This year Easter Sunday falls on April 8th - so that gives us a little over 10 weeks ? All of the children have a little something in their accounts - so a few dollars is all it will take for each child. I'll list all the children in my next post !! I'm pretty positive it won't take long to reach this goal - and then we'll move on to the next one !! Those grants will just keep going UP UP UP - and we'll see more and more of those beautiful children find their families ! $20 by Easter !!!

ZERO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ZEROED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in September, my goal was to zero the zeros by Christmas. Didn't make it, but made some wonderful progress, and knew it would happen eventually. Today is January 23rd - not quite a month after Christmas - and you've done it. There is not one single child in the older age groups with zero in their grants. Someone - or more than someone - saw the girls that were left, and did a wonderful thing. Elise, Olive, Erin, Leila, Allie, Noel, Ginger, Linda, Judie, Leesa. Zeros NO MORE!!! AND Piper - no longer a zero - and soon to be an orphan no more - she is on the "MY Family Found Me" page !!! We started with 171 children with zero inn their grants. Now there are ZERO ! What a wonderful day. I'll admit, I had days when I really thought it would never happen. I thought people would think it silly - whats the point ? I should have known better !! I really can't believe it's happened, though !! All I can say is THANK YOU !! Whoever you are, wherever you are - thank you. Thank you for reading, thank you for spreading the word, thank you for donating ! Obviously - the main goal has to be get money in the grants - but the true reason is to spread the word, gets the names and faces of the kids out there - to get them seen - to find their families. Yes - the grant money helps - but exposure - that's the key. So - my job is not done - the zeros HAVE been zeroed, but the campaign will continue. Please stay tuned for further announcements !! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every single penny !!!

The boys have it !!

Amazing !!! The boys have been zeroed !!! NONE of the boys age over 6 have zero in their accounts !!! Let's hear it for the boys !!!! Gary, Dmitri, Erik and Walter were the last boys - now, they're zeros no more !! Also - Patti - a zero no more. That means that there are only ELEVEN zeros left - please, go to their profiles and help them out !! There are 10 girls in the 6-9 Other Angels category, and a new zero in the 6-9 Girls with Down Syndrome category - we're nearly there - we CAN do it - we CAN zero the zeros !!! Click on their names to go to their profiles and help them out !! Look at those faces - how can you NOT help them ??

Elise

Olive

Erin

Leila

Noel

Piper

and don't forget the triple whammy girls - older, no picture, and zero in their grants -

Ginger

Linda

Judie

Leesa

Allie

Please, let's see if we can get rid of the last few zeros, so we can get a start on our next goal, which will be announced just as soon as we zero ALL the zeros !!

Fifteen left !!!

Just a quick update this evening - and a big thank you !! Four of the boys from my last post are no longer zeros - someone, somewhere - maybe one of you reading this right now, saw their worth, and helped them out. Terry, Andrew, Arthur and Caesar - zeros no more :) Again - thank you !

Also - ALL of the girls in the Down Syndrome girls aged 10+ now have a little something in their grants - Margit, Dawn, Lynette, Emilija, Natalija. Zeros no more.

Also - in the HIV age 6-9 category - Yelena, and Jenny & Jordan - zeros no more.

Also, in the Other Angel Girls age 6-9 - Brittany and Alisha - zeros no more.

THIRTEEN less zeros. Out of 171 zeros back in September - there are now only FIFTEEN left. 15 children. Four boys. Eleven girls. Please - go and find them - they're in the Other Angel Boys 6-9, and Other Angel girls 6-9 categories on Reece's Rainbow. Erik, Walter, Dmitri, Gary, Elise, Olive, Erin, Patti, Leila, Noel, Ginger, Linda, Judie, Leesa and Allie. Fifteen beautiful children - only 15 left. we CAN do this !

Triple whammy

These 8 boys listed on Reece's Rainbow face a triple whammy - they are older, they have zero in their grants, and they don't have a photo in their profile. They get passed over more than most - with no picture to look at, there seems to be no point in even reading their profile. Who wants to choose a child in a photo listing if there isn't even a photo ? Who wants to donate to a faceless child ? How about you ??

Caesar - Boy, DOB: June 03, 2004

Location: Asia

Caesar currently lives in foster care. He is diagnosed with developmental delays and may also have symptoms of Autism. He is described as kindhearted and does not bully the other children.

Erik - Boy, born 3/29/04

An incredibly handsome and charming boy who is seven years old, physically healthy and diagnosed with moderate mental retardation. This little guy is quite independent in self care areas and enjoys eating and playing with others. He lived with his birth family for the first three years of his life, currently resides in an institution and receives speech and occupational therapy. He loves music and books and enjoys the computer. His adorable face makes him a favorite of his caregivers who report him to be popular with his classmates. It is felt that he would make more progress in learning and development in a family setting with consistent care. Resilience is the word to describe this little boy who grieved hard for his biological family and who now longs for a family to love him as their own.

Walter - Boy, DOB: November 29, 2004

Location: Asia

Walter is hearing impaired and currently wears hearing aids. There is additional information available through the agency, including updated auditory reports.

Terry - Boy, born 4/23/04

An eight year old who loves classical music! What a sweetheart. This little boy loves music and likes to shake a maracas! He enjoys his caregivers and is described as a peaceful boy who is a "people person". His medical history is significant for quadriplegic cerebral palsy, he is fed by gastrostomy tube, has seizures and severe developmental delays. His resilient character has helped him to survive a variety of different kinds of physical and mental challenges since his birth. He is in need of a strong and committed forever family who would be willing to embrace and open their hearts to the unknowns in his future. With the support of a family and various health professionals he would indeed flourish.

Dmitri - BOY, born July 5, 2003

Diagnosis: vegetative-vascular dystonia, scoliosis

Gary - Boy, born 10/3/03

Please meet the sweetest boy in his home! he is described by his caregivers as having a "smile of sunshine"! With the support of healthy professionals and community resources, and a stable and committed family who wishes to nurture this angel , he will grow and face whatever challenges are ahead with courage! His history of epilepsy and severe grade mental retardation limit his development but he is currently able to walk with support. He enjoys using a wheelchair when he travels between home and school or when he goes on an outing. He receives regular physiotherapy training and is able to feed himself with a special spoon made just for him. His caregivers say he is a cheerful and curious boy and they look forward to him one day finding his forever family!

Andrew - Boy, DOB: September 29, 2005

Location: Asia

Andrew was born to a mother with AIDS. He was treated as an “AIDS baby” until test results in 2007 confirmed that he does NOT have HIV/AIDS. All tests were negative. He has been in 3 different foster homes since birth. He had 2 siblings that were adopted (one domestically and one to another country).
He had laser treatment for retinal detachment and now wears glasses to correct his vision. He receives speech therapy and cognitive therapy. In August 2009, he was given cognitive testing and it was determined that he could attend kindergarten without any extra support. Photos and additional documents on Andrew are available through the agency.

Arthur - BOY, born January 15, 2004

Diagnosis: severe scoliosis.

These boys are the only ones on their category - "Other Angel Boys Age 6-9" who still have zero in their accounts. All it takes is a few dollars - they have been passed over so many times, please share their names and profiles and see if we can help them out a little ?

SIX down !!

This has been an absolutely wonderful week !! Way back in October, when there were 171 children with zero in their accounts, my dream seemed impossible. How on earth were we going to manage to zero the zeros - get money into the accounts of all 171 children ? Children who never seem to get a second glance, children who are older, not so cute, that have been passed over so many times. I definitely thought I'd taken on something that would take forever. However, slowly but surely, it happened. One by one, week by week, those grants started to get money in them. Two days ago, there were just 71 children left with zero - meaning that we had managed to get a little bit of cash into 100 accounts !!! Wow !! How about that for a breakthrough !! Could it possibly get any better ? Well - actually - yes. It could.

A few months ago, I asked the help of a fellow advocate. Actually, she's the reason I am doing this. Julia and her husband Rob adopted a little boy, Aaron, from an institute in 2010. I started to follow her blog, and reading her descriptions of the institute and the "Lost Boys" ripped my heart out. I fell in love with this little guy - Heath.

I long for the day he finds a family - I just know they're out there somewhere, waiting for him. Anyhow, I digress. Back to Julia - she promised she would write a blog post to help zero the zeros. At the time, she was busy busy busy and was instrumental in helping many many children reach their Angel Tree goal. She is a tireless advocate for the children of Reece's Rainbow. Yesterday, she wrote the promised blog post - you can find it here. I think you'll agree that she definitely has a way with words :) She also has many more followers than me - I don't know who they are, but they are an army of wonderful people !! When she wrote her post, there were still 71 zeros. As of 4pm this afternoon, thanks to Julia's Army, there are only 28 zeros left !!!!!!!! In one day, 43 children had money put into their accounts. Absolutely amazing.

Listed below are the ten categories of listings for the older children on Reece's Rainbow. As you can see, out of 10 categories, SIX categories have zeroed the zeros. Let's see if we can make that ten, shall we ?

Down Syndrome Boys age 6-9 with zero in their account - ZERO !
Down Syndrome Girls age 6-9 with zero in their account - ZERO !
Other Angel Boys age 6-9 with zero in their accounts - Erik, Walter, Terry, Dmitri, Gary, Andrew, Arthur, Caesar
Other Angel Girls age 6-9 with zero in their accounts - Brittany, Elise, Olive, Erin, Patti, Leila, Noel, Alisha, Ginger, Linda, Judie, Leesa, Allie.
HIV Boys/Girls age 6-9 with zero in their accounts - Jenny & Jordan, Yelena
Down Syndrome Boys age 10+ with zero in their accounts - ZERO !
Down Syndrome Girls age 10+ with zero in their accounts - Margit, Dawn, Lynette, Emilija, Natalija
Other Angel Boys age 10+ with zero in their accounts - ZERO !
Other Angel Girls age 10+ with zero in their accounts - ZERO !
HIV Boys/Girls age 10+ with zero in their accounts - ZERO !

A wonderful start to 2012 !!

I have wonderful things to share !! Since my last post on Christmas Eve, there are now 23 less zeros !!! Can you believe it ? I can't !! I am just so excited - some of the children now have a couple of dollars in their grant, but some have tens, twenties, even hundreds of dollars now ! This is just amazing, I cannot believe what a wonderful start to 2012 the zeros are getting. Plus, some of the children are ones I've been watching particularly closely, making it even sweeter :) Here's a list of the latest graduates from the zero list !!

Jeff; Grant; Dasha; Susan; Marjorie; Drew B; Steffie; Benjamin 15H; Maggie 2H; Eric; Christian; Jamie; Ahren; Lance; Frank; Maksim S. 14G; Sasha; Mickey; Tiana 26HA; Isabelle #2-2; Galen; Nettie #64-1 and Lauren. Isn't that list a wonderful thing to behold ??

What could be better than that ? Well - how about the fact that out of 10 "categories" in the Reece's Rainbow waiting children listings, you have now managed to zero the zeros in THREE categories ?? There are NO MORE ZEROS in the "Other Angel Boys 10+", "Other Angel Girls 10+" and the "HIV 10+" listings !!

AND - it gets better !! When I started this blog, as you may recall from my last post, there were 171 children with ZERO in their grants. Can you guess how many there are now ? Go on - give it a try. No idea ? As of this evening, January 2nd 2012, there are only 74 zeros !!!! Almost one hundred less than when we started !! Totally amazing !! I just know now that it can be done - we CAN zero the zeros. I thought we were struggling there for a while, during the Angel Tree fundraiser - but we did great at the end there - AND the Angel Tree was a huge success, with ALL of the Angel Tree kiddos reaching their goal - some of them far exceeding it !!! What a wonderful end to 2011 for so many of the Reece's Rainbow children - I cannot wait to see those grants increasing in 2012, and hopefully, those beautiful boys and girls will be spotted by their mommy's and daddy's, and will spend next Christmas and New Year with their families, where they belong. Happy New Year - and thank you !!