Picking up the formula

Formula for Nam Dinh

On Sunday we bought 8 cases of formula for Nam Dinh, the orphanage my son is from. Henry, our coordinator, helped me get it wholesale price - $100 per case. The 8 cases won't last long with 20 or so babies, but it will definitely help. Your contributions got us there and it was fun going to get the formula and bringing it to the orphanage. I also brought a bag full of blankets for the babies, but I'm not sure they will use them.

I'm trying to upload photos, but the internet connection is so bad that it stalls out.

Latest updates

I'm sorry to say that Baby Sinh is not going to make it. The medical team decided that she would never survive the surgery, so she is left to live out her remaining days with good care. I'll still send the money to John to help in that.

As for the water treatment tank, I spoke to John about that today and he said formula is a higher priority. They boil the water to make the formula and other baby foods, so it is safe. Instead of buying the tank, I'll be buying formula and other foods as needed. I'll also go talk to the orphanage director to see what else is needed. John said it might be good to buy some space heaters for the cold winter.

Total collected to date = $2400! Way more than the $300 I had hoped to raise. Thank you all!

Dropping off the donations

My car full of donations; mostly clothing


Bringing the donations into the shop. The ladies there were very friendly and helpful


The Baby Boutique shop. The families that can shop here are either homeless or transitioning out of it. They get a list of items they can select and they get to choose which ones they want. All items are free to the families and are a tremendous help to them.

Thank you to the North Seattle Families of Multiples sale for donating your unsold items and for allowing me to be a part of this. It was truly uplifting and I look forward to working with this organization again.

Local donations

I finally found the time to research a good place to take the donations of clothing from the consignment sale. I've been sharing my living room with 5 large boxes, so it will be nice to move those out tomorrow. The lucky recipient is Baby Boutique! I got a tip on this place from someone I know, but I couldn't find the info she gave me. Fortunately, a quick Google search turned it up. Baby Boutique is a program to help local homeless families cope by providing clothing, toys and other necessities for the children. I'm very happy to be helping the orphans in Vietnam, but I also wanted to do something to help families stay together. This seemed like a perfect opportunity. I can't wait to take everything down there. Follow the link below for more information. They take gently used clothing, high chairs, cribs, toys, etc.

http://www.family-services.org/get_help/homeless/kids_clothing.php

Deadline for Donations

If you haven't done it yet, now is the time to get the checks to me. If you prefer clicking, just use your online billing. I'm setting the deadline to receive checks as Sunday, Oct 14th. This will give me enough time to get the check to Faith who will in return send it back to me so we can record the total raised for tax purposes. I'll be sure to get receipts out to those that donated by the end of the year.

Update on Baby Sinh - I talked to John on her a week ago and it was not looking good, but the agency and the orphanage are still hopeful. I've been a bit preoccupied with my own donation, but will try to get more info about her soon.

Updated Total

The total raised now is $2320, which is fantastic! I'm now feeling pretty comfortable about getting the water treatment tank. It will change the percentage spent on each orphanage, but it is such an important investment that will last. They'll also be able to move this tank when they build the new orphanage in a couple of years. The additional help has come from friends of friends. A few of my friends who have donated shared the email with their friends who wanted to donate, so now I'm getting checks from people I don't even know. I'm really honored that people have so much faith in my donation drive and I really appreciate you spreading the word. Not much time left though. If you wanted to donate, but haven't yet, do it now.