All of us at Dianjiang Kids International would like to wish all our family, friends and supporters a Happy Chinese New Year. 2012 is the year of the Dragon! We are delighted to report that there has been a buzz of activities happening for the children.
Hurrah! We have been talking about our return to Gracie’s Room in XinXiang for some time now, but we have finally booked tickets. I have booked tickets for me ( Moya Smith, executive director of DJ Kids) and my younger daughter (a Dianjiang girl) to head to XinXiang at the beginning of March. We will be joined by Krista Dolan, our Grace’s Room coordinator and by Cathy Reilly, DJ Kids treasurer and most importantly, mom to Gracie. Xia Zhong of Chinese Children’s Charities will be with us for the first few days as we visit several other non-profits working with children in China.
We had hoped Gracie’s Room and, of course, the rest of the orphanage, would have moved to the new orphanage by now but there has been some bureucratic hold up. No worries, with the help of many generous friends, we have gathered tons of stuff ( see our next blog entry) from our Gracie’s room wih list on Amazon and will be delivering new toys and clothes and decorations to the room. And perhaps most importantly, plenty of vitamins for the kids!!
We have plans while we are there to brighten up the room. No use waiting for the move. We will be buying paint and hunkering down to brighten up the walls while there; we also hope to have some shelves built for all the new toys. We are so excited to check on the kids in Gracie’s Room and to begin talks with the director about making Gracie’s Room a 24 hour a day, seven day a week program.
If you would care to chip in, click on the chip in bar to help us pay for paint and materials for the bookcase. We also hope to take the ayis shopping for clothes and supplies for the kids while we are there. We hope to bring about $500 to meet all their wishes for now.
As a thank you for your help, all supporters who participate with the chip in will receive a FREE 18" chinese silk dress for a doll/bear!
As a thank you for your help, all supporters who participate with the chip in will receive a FREE 18" chinese silk dress for a doll/bear!
We are also very excited to have a volunteer videographer join us and document our journey! We will be able to share this video with all of you and for other opportunities to obtain much needed support and grants for the orphanage. We thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for those of you who would like to volunteer with this portion of the trip. We are seeking Canadian air miles to help our volunteer travel to China.
Points needed from Canada with Aeroplan are 75,000
Points needed from Canada with Airmiles are 13,950
If you or anyone you know has extra miles and would be willing to donate them to our cause, please contact Krista Dolan.
Points needed from Canada with Airmiles are 13,950
If you or anyone you know has extra miles and would be willing to donate them to our cause, please contact Krista Dolan.
Thanks for all your support and be sure to follow us here starting in March for our trip to China!
To attract good fortune, spend a new coin on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend, and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon. -Chinese Proverb
