More Than Me 2008
Project Results
This year, notices went out to all of the kids registered in the middle school, and sometimes high school programs, reminding them about More Than Me, and asking them to raise any amount of money in their own way to support this year’s projects. It is remarkable how much they collected on their own. Kids babysat, did chores around the house, mowed neighbor’s lawns, walked dogs, sold lemonade and various baked goods, asked mom and dad, asked grandparents, aunts, and uncles, neighbors and friends. One young man went to a family reunion before camp and raised $300 for More Than Me. Another young lady wrote a heartfelt letter to most everyone she knew to raise $1100! They were resourceful and sincere, and this year really “got it” and felt proud of what they accomplished. All of the recipients listed below are non-profit organizations dedicated to serving children around the world.
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African/Caribbean Heritage Camp
Project:
28 middle and high schoolers raised $811. They did this by raising some funds
themselves, and then with the help of Colorado artist, Trine Bumiller, created
three beautiful African adinkra cloths at camp that were then auctioned off
to three lucky winners at the Saturday night festivities.
Recipients:
We divided the funds between three different organizations this year, representing
the three areas most of our camp children come from, Ethiopia, Haiti, and the
U.S.
They are:
Lighthouse Enterprises for Children in Haiti,
sponsoring the Brebis de Saint-Michel de L’Attalaye Orphanage in Haiti.
Please click here to read the
thank you letter from Lighthouse.
www.lighthouseadoptions.org
Layla House Orphanage in Ethiopia, sponsored by
Adoption Advocates International.
www.adoptionadvocates.org
Make It Right in New Orleans founded by Brad Pitt
to build sustainable houses in the devastated lower 9th ward of New Orleans.
Please click here to read the thank
you from Make it Right.
www.makeitrightnola.org
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Cambodian Heritage Camp
Project:
51 middle and high schoolers raised $1,236.53
They collected some of the funds themselves, then decorated baseball caps (which fit the project perfectly) at camp and were able to sell them for $20 each to friends and family on Saturday night at camp.
Recipients:
There were two worthy recipients of these funds at camp this year:
Cambodia Baseball, founded by Joe Cook, a Cambodian refugee who has given back to his country by starting a baseball program there, something the children of Cambodia had never had before. Joe himself was at camp this year to talk with the kids about his program and to share his incredible life story with everyone at camp. It was amazing to hear his story first hand.
http://cambodiabaseball.org
Rachel Rosenfield School, founded by a 17 year old girl from the Boston, MA area after she read about the plight of Cambodian school children in a newspaper article. She raised enough funds to open the school in Cambodia last year. Rachel was also at camp to talk about her experience and was truly inspiring! We were so glad to have her at camp to talk about her motivations and her dedication to children in Cambodia.
Sorry no web site available for the Rachel Rosenfield School.
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Chinese Heritage Camp
Project:
There were two projects going on for this year’s Chinese Heritage Camps. First, the 96 middle schoolers brought in 141 pairs of new shoes and 40 socks for orphans in China! Our camp theme this year was "Postcards from China," so the kids also made postcards to go with the shoes and socks for the children in China. Also, the kids raised $2,040.72 themselves, with some parental help in a couple of cases.
We were very fortunate to then have Lotus Travel add to the funds raised with a $500 contribution.
Recipients:
Shoes for Orphan Souls, through the Buckner Foundation
based in Dallas, TX. All 141 pairs of shoes and the socks, were delivered directly
to children in Chinese orphanages. Please click here to
read the thank you note from Buckner.
www.buckner.org
The CCAI (Chinese Children Adoption International) Earthquake
Relief Fund received the money that the kids collected and brought
to camp. CCAI immediately responded to the tragic earthquake that hit China
right before camp in August. Joshua Zhong and Lily Nie of CCAi came to camp
and spoke about their relief efforts and what had happened to some of the
orphanages they worked with in China. It was very compelling for the kids
at camp to hear about this first hand. Please click here to
read the thank you note from CCAI.
www.chinesechildren.org
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Chinese Heritage Camp Too
Project:
32 middle schoolers raised $207 that they collected themselves, and also by auctioning off a stunning panda blanket that they worked together on as a group at camp.
Recipients:
Pandas International, an organization based on
Colorado that is dedicated to preserving the Giant Pandas in China. The earthquake
devastated their Wolong Panda Reserve, so this was an especially important
year to support this organization. The kids were able to watch a video provided
by the organization to get a first hand understanding of what they accomplish
in China.
www.pandasinternational.org
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Filipino Heritage Camp
Project:
22 middle and high schoolers tie-dyed 120 t-shirts for children in the Philippines who were having cleft palate surgeries. They also collected coloring books, crayons, markers, etc. to help ease post surgery pain for the kids at the hospital.
Recipients:
Uplift Internationale, which has become our "pet project" at Filipino Heritage Camp, because doctors, nurses, and community folks here in Colorado volunteer their time and talent to over 70 underprivileged children requiring cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries in the Philippines each year.
www.upliftinternationale.org
Indian Nepalese Heritage Camp
Project:
The 39 middle schoolers at INHC this year worked on two projects for this year's MTM program. They collected and brought in countless school supplies & decorated backpacks at camp to put the supplies in. These much-needed supplies were then delivered to the Bangalore Roundtable School in India and to the Helping Hands School in Nepal. The middle schoolers at this camp also raised $1,412.26, which was split between the two worthy organizations.
Recipients:
We have two "pet projects" at INHC each year, one in Nepal and one in India, to represent the kids who attend camp.
Helping Hands Nepal, an organization with the main objective of bringing low cost quality medical relief services to people in rural villages of Nepal through the help of Western medical and non-medical volunteers. It was founded by man from Boulder, Narayan Shrestha, who has also become actively involved in teaching campers about Nepal at INHC! Each year a volunteer with Helping Hands comes to the More Than Me session to talk about their programs and engage the kids in learning about Nepal.
Sorry no web site available for Helping Hands Nepal.
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Bangalore
Round Table 44 School was built by BMRT 44 to proved free education
and free mid-day meals for over 700 school children in Bangalore, India.
Each year, Ferooza Eswaran, one of our INHC community volunteers and a
BMRT 44 member, comes to speak to the kids at More Than me about the school
and what the funds we have sent have accomplished. Please click here to
read the thank you e-mail from the Round Table 44 chairman and to see our
name on their Donor Wall in India.
Sorry no web site available for the Bangalore Round Table 44 School.
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Korean Heritage Camp
Project:
73 middle schoolers raised $1,014 on their own for a very special project (see below). They also decorated folders for sheet music, which went right along with the project, that were delivered to children in Korea. The high school kids also got involved this year. They brought in CDs of their favorite music to send to the older kids at Hope Home, and decorated the CD covers.
Recipients:
Jinhae Hope Children's Home, in Korea for their piano fund. Hope Home very much wanted a new piano for the children to learn to play, and to accompany their singing. A group of parents, who are sponsors of kids at Hope Home, also raised funds for the piano project and the combination of funds ($1500 in all) did get Hope Home their piano! Please click here to read the thank you letter from David Kyung Min Lee, the director of Hope Home and see pictures of the kids in the orphanage with their new piano!
Sorry no web site available for Jinhae Hope Children's Home.
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Latin American Heritage Camp
Project:
59 middle and high schoolers raised $1,125, partly before camp on their own, and then at camp by decorating and selling baseball caps to friends and family during the fiesta on Saturday night!
Recipients:
Wings
of Hope, an organization out of Canada, working on a water project
in Contay, Peru, to bring clean running water into the town for the first
time. One of our campers, Sarah Wright, was familiar with this project,
so brought the idea to the More Than Me session last year. The kids then
voted on it as a project for this year's program. They saw a video about
the project during the More Than Me session at camp, and learned why clean,
running water is so vital to a community. Please click here to
read the thank you note from Wings of Hope President, Andre Franche and
see pictures
of the projects in Peru.
www.ailesdelesperance.org
REECA (Russian/Eastern European/Central Asian) Heritage Camp
Project:
25 middle schoolers raised $81 on their own before camp, and then made about 40 blankets for the Angel Covers organization while at camp! Angel Covers will then sell these gorgeous fleece blankets online and every single penny goes to needy children. The funds from the blankets made by our kids during More Than Me will go directly to orphans in Russia and Ukraine.
Recipients:
Angel Covers, is an organization started by two moms in Colorado, one an adoptive mom of a little girl from China. Angel Covers helps orphaned and impoverished children around the world, including in Russia and Ukraine, two of the main countries represented at REECA Heritage Camp. The kids saw a video about the project and heard from one of our camp dads about his volunteer experience with Angel Covers first hand. Please click here to read the thank you letter from Kari Fillmore, Director of Angel Covers.
www.angelcovers.org
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Vietnamese Heritage Camp
Project:
14 middle and high schoolers raised $1,339 on their own before camp, and with help from parents while at camp for their very special project. They also decorated picture frames to take home with a picture of the little girl they helped in Vietnam.
Recipients:
Paul's Kids, started by Paul, a Vietnam War veteran, and his wife Sandy in 2007. The organization is dedicated to helping needy kids in Vietnam--especially those in orphanages who are unlikely to be adopted. Their projects focus on improving living conditions, medical care, educational opportunities, and overall quality of life. In our case, Paul's Kid had a special request to help repair the heart of a little 8-year-old girl, Le Thi Ngoc Trinh. $1,200 was needed to perform life saving surgery on Ngoc Trinh, and the kids in our More Than Me program came up with that and more! She is now a healthy and thriving little girl! Please click here to see a picture of Ngoc Trinh and read a thank you card from Paul's Kids.
Sorry no web site available for Paul's Kids.
This year, Colorado Heritage Camp's More Than Me program raised $10,266.51 for organizations around the world!
