For information on Paulie’s fundraiser please visit the Beach Party Fundraiser page on Facebook. To make contributions to the Team Paulie’s Crusade Foundation, you can send your donation to: PO Box 10216, Trenton, NJ 08650, in Paulie’s memory.

We will announce a new date for The 2011 MFFO Calendar Ball in the upcoming months. Thank you for your understanding.

If you’re from West Virginia, you are probably among the minority of people who can name the woman who started Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, and her Mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis.  If you’re from Grafton, WV, as I am, you couldn’t escape Mother’s Day history if you wanted to. Grafton is home to the International Mother’s Day shrine and the site of the first Sunday service honoring Mothers.  It is the pride of a city that has seen much better days. And that history has always been a source of pride for me as well.

Today, my feeling of connection springs from a different source. Because what many don’t know is that the first Mother’s Day was organized by Anna Reeves Jarvis as a day to “raise awareness of poor health conditions” in her Appalachian community, “a cause she believed would be best advocated by Mothers. She called it ‘Mother’s Work Day.’” Anna was a Mother fighting for others.

So, today I say Happy Mother’s Day with a renewed sense of pride and in the spirit that Anna Reeves Jarvis originally intended.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

A Is For Aids, is the title of a primary reader. It’s part of the New Progressive Primary English (NPPE) course in Kenya. It’s targeted at elementary school children. It is self-described as a “reading scheme that offers the modern pupil an excellent mix of graded stories all packed with many exciting things. Now the pupil has fun that’s built to last.”

I took screen shots of a few of the pages. The page to the right reads, “O is for orphans. Mother went first. Father followed fast. AIDS is not a curse, we’ll win at last.” I am wholly unfamiliar with what being a child in extreme poverty in Kenya, especially an orphaned child, must be like. But I’m going to come back to this post any time I’m having doubts about the veracity of what MFFO is doing.

We’re helping orphaned girls become powerful women. Educating girls is a key to breaking the cycle of poverty and preventing the spread of AIDS.

The “create your own” link caught my eye and the first thought that popped into my head was, “we already have one.” The story of how Mothers Fighting For Others came to be is a real life Google Search Story. Rocky tells it in her Founder’s Letter. It begins, “I would have never guessed that Mothers Fighting For Others would have started by a simple Google Search on “Volunteer Africa” in 2006. I was just doing research, that’s it. Less than a year, and many, many shots later, I was to far off Kenya. I volunteered with Global Volunteer Network and was assigned with an all girls orphanage outside of Nairobi.”

At this very moment she is once again in Kenya and the girls at Saint Monica’s Childrens Home are now in a new place. It’s been an amazing journey. To cap it off, she returns from this trip on Mother’s Day. It just doesn’t get any better. So, I just had to put together this Google Search Story.

It makes me smile. I hope it makes you smile too.

This is the Mount Kenya Room. We’re figuring out where to put all the beds!

Passing out supplies for school to ALL the girls! We will need sponsors!!

MFFO and Sisters Arise Project cheering the accomplishment.

Thank you ALL for your continued support!

I’ve seen most of the photos numerous times. I imagine that I am a lot like most of you who follow what is happening with MFFO. I look at the photos trying to get a feel for a place that I have never visited. I look at the photos trying to get to know, on some level, girls I have never met, but who I’ve come to love. Last night, I was simply missing my wife.

But the photo below stopped me in my tracks. It helped me focus and helped me go to sleep. It captures a simple moment in time. Two girls are reading a book. As a result, it clearly illustrates our mission: helping orphaned girls become powerful women.

What can you see in this photo? Call me pollyanna, but I see hope. I see the cycle of poverty being broken. “Educated girls grow into educated women, who – research shows – have healthier babies and are more likely to educate their children.” It’s the girl effect.  Writing this now has me on the verge of tears.

This photo is what MFFO is about.

This is why we’re taking action in Kenya by creating a new home for 34 girls. We believe that part of the education process is teaching girls that they DESERVE to be treated with respect. Combine an education with a healthy sense of self-worth, and you’ve powerfully changed a life. And changing the life of a girl is important. Here are some facts provided by The Girl Effect.

1. When a girl in a developing country receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later, and has 2.2 fewer children.
2. Educated girls grow into educated women, who – research shows – have healthier babies and are more likely to educate their children.
3. When girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families, as compared to only 30 to 40 percent for a man.
4. An extra year of primary school boosts girls’ future wages by 10 to 20 percent.
5. An extra year of secondary school boosts girls’ future wages by 15 to 25 percent.

At Mothers Fighting For Others, our mission is to help orphaned girls become powerful women. And there’s a lot of work to be done. If you’d like to help, please let us know.

This is amazing news. For the last two months, we have been unable to speak freely about the work we’ve been doing behind the scenes with our US partner, Stepwise, and our Kenyan NGO partners, Sisters Arise Project, to take over the guardianship of the 34 girls so we could move them into a more suitable home. Today, it is done.

We have been unable to speak openly about this until now. But you should know that the money you have donated in the past few weeks has already been put to work. We have secured a new temporary location for the girls and have paid for four months rent in advance.

I Leave For Kenya On Thursday

The timing of this news could not be better. Although we had some concern about how the volcanic activity in Iceland might affect this trip, that now appears to be mitigated. When I arrive in Kenya, my main focus will now be:

• preparing the new facility
• purchasing the needed supplies
• and moving the girls into the their new temporary home.

This signals a whole new chapter for these girls’ lives. And we could not be more thrilled. You will now begin to see more frequent updates about exactly what we’re doing and exactly why your funds are needed and where they are going.

Thank you all for your support. My heart is filled with joy right now!

In response to this need, many have come forward to donate their services to be auctioned to raise funds to help. Our first auction raised $2,413 and Denise Ulrich, from Duluth, GA, graciously made the winning bid.

Now, we have two more packages being offered, and both auctions end Saturday, April 17 at around 8 PM PST. We are reposting these auctions to end April 20, at 2PM PST.

Package 1 – Marketing Services – Total Value Over $2,800

Epic Marketing: Newsletter Design – $1000 & up

• Design of a two page newsletter.
• Includes design, copy and images, and printer ready PDF.
• Does not include printing.

Se7en7: Identity Design  – $1500 & up

• Complete identity design package.

Honeybee Consulting: Copywriting – $375

• Three hours of copywriting services.

Package 2 – Real Estate Services – Total Value Over $3,000

Laura Monroe: Virtual Assistant – $400

• 10 hours of virtual assistant services.
• The scope includes consultation and implementation on either a project, goal, or the creation of an action plan in area of the winner’s choice.

Mike Price: Logo Design – $500

• One complete logo design, and all finished digital media formats.

Real Bird: RealBird Pro – $297

• Three years of complete RealBird Pro service.

PlanOMatic: Photo Tour – $350

• One full-service flooplan creation and photo tour.
• This service is contingent on the location of the buyer. Please contact  aaron@planomatic.com for coverage areas.

Joeanne Fossland: Business Coaching – $800

• One full month of personal and business coaching.

Brian Gardner: AgentPress Pro Membership – $150

• WordPress AgentPress Pro Membership with StudioPress.

Gina Kay Landis: Licensed BPO Specialist – $600

• 10 hours of training & consultation for an office, team or single agent.
• Instruct how to construct a value assessment BPO (and how to get more BPO’s)!

As I write this, there are no bidders, but several watchers.

Thanks to everyone above who donated their services for these auctions!

Every dollar counts, normally. Now, two of our supporters have decided to make a few dollars count twice. $2500 each, to be exact. Bill Lublin kicked off the matching funds challenge by offering to match, dollar-for-dollar, any donation made to his chipin widget, up to $2500. When Monica McNamara heard about Bill’s challenge, she decided to create her own matching funds challenge. Monica will also match, dollar-for-dollar, every dollar donated to her chipin widget, up to $2500. We’re doubly thrilled!

Donate today! Every Dollar Counts – Twice!

Of course, to take full advantage of their generosity, we need you to donate too. So, please, this is an opportunity to double your money. Donate to MFFO via one of their widgets and help us create a new home for 34 very deserving Kenyan girls.

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Please help if you can!