AHOPE for Children

Join us

2011-02-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Please join the For the Love of Our Kids Campaign. Help us find 14 sponsors by February 14th to support AHOPE for Children. Childhood should be a carefree time, filled with laughter, learning and family. For one million Ethiopian children, this is not a reality. AIDS had decimated their lives – orphaning them and leaving many of them HIV positive.

Imagine... a whole generation without family, health, or hope. It’s unfathomable. Amid the desperation is AHOPE for Children, a highly effective nonprofit that runs two amazing homes for HIV-affected Ethiopian children as well as a Child Development Center serving over 300 children. AHOPE protects and respects the Ethiopian culture while caring for and finding adoptive homes for these homeless children.

For just $35 a month, you can make a profound impact on those who need us the most. Do it for the love of our children. To sign up for our sponsorship program please visit our website.

2011-01-01T08:21:00.001-08:00

May 2011 bring you peace and hope!

WORLD AIDS DAY 2010

2010-11-30T19:40:00.000-08:00

Dec. 1, 2010 This day marks a day when all over the world people are increasing their efforts to change how HIV/AIDS impacts our world. They are educating, singing, pleading, discussing - they are making a difference. Hopefully a difference that will carry all the way until WORLD AIDS DAY 2011. I hope this post will encourage you to step out and more importantly step up so that a child living, fighting in Ethiopia will also live to see next year's WORLD AIDS DAY.

I believe in change and that one person can make a difference. I'm an AHOPE volunteer and I believe that even if I just make a change for one child it will be worth it. I've met the children of AHOPE Ethiopia. They have dreams and hopes and the strength to do some amazing things with their lives and they deserve the chance to live those dreams. So be a part of making a difference. Consider sponsorship, get creative on fundraising, educate yourself on HIV and AIDS, find an event in your community...

Find a way to make a difference.

AHOPE Targets 25 New Sponsors for November

2010-11-14T21:03:00.000-08:00

AHOPE for Children needs 25 new sponsors for the month of November. Greater demands from Ethiopia and the need for a Youth Development Program in 2011 means we need your help. Your sponsorship dollars are critical to our success. Sponsorship has always proven to be the backbone of how AHOPE funds many of its lifesaving services.

Please help us meet our goal of 25 new sponsorships this month. AHOPE has always been blessed with remarkably responsive supporters. As a team, we are confident that we can once again react to the needs of the kids.

AHOPE News

2010-10-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

We're excited to announce that child sponsorship updates went out in the mail today so keep an eye out for them!

Also, click on the AHOPE website link above and check out the fall newsletter under the "news" section. It's a great way to keep current on all that is happening at AHOPE!

Not forgotten...

2010-10-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Tilahun Yimer 1996 - October 2008

A Way to Give

2010-10-04T21:35:00.001-07:00

Macy’s and AHOPE for Children are teaming up again this year!

Since 2006, Macy's Shop for a Cause event has partnered with non-profit organizations nationwide to raise more than $34 million for their ongoing charitable efforts. This is your chance to participate in this monumental event on Saturday, October 16, 2010.
Shop for a Cause gives you the opportunity to help AHOPE by purchasing a $5 savings pass for exclusive savings and offers in every Macy's store and a chance to win a $500 gift card, exclusive to each store. As a participating charity, AHOPE for Children keeps 100% of the proceeds from the sale of each savings pass.....but we need your help!

Please support AHOPE and help HIV+ orphans in Ethiopia!

Whether you purchase one savings pass or you purchase 20, 40, 50 etc. you are helping our fundraising efforts immensely. If you choose to purchase several, we are asking that you pay for the savings passes at $5 each and then reimburse yourself as they sell. If you do not sell them all, we are happy to give you back the money owed, so please keep track. Once your money is received, we will send you coupon booklets immediately.

You may do this one of three ways:

Send a check (memo: Macy's) directly to the AHOPE for Children office at:
5023 N. Parkway Calabasas Calabasas, CA 91302
OR
Provide credit card information directly to the AHOPE for Children office at:
818-876-9616
OR
Enter credit card information online through Network for Good.
In the designation section, please indicate Macy's.

For further inquiries and/or to purchase your savings passes, please contact Melissa Curtis, Office Administrator at 818-876-9616 oradmin@ahopeforchildren.org

With thanks...

2010-10-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

To those who have opened their hearts and their homes; we thank you. To those who have given their time and their gifts; we thank you. To those who fight each day, around the world, to reduce the stigma and fear; we thank you. To those who have and continue to walk with AHOPE and the children AHOPE serves; we thank you. It does make a difference.

Something simple

2010-06-17T07:02:00.000-07:00

It's a simple memory of mine but one that has made a big impact. When you leave AHOPE Ethiopia after volunteering they have a goodbye ceremony. The kids usually make a card and sing. Amazing stuff but not what I want to write about. After I walked out of the school room one of the older girls at little AHOPE walked over to me. She tugged at my skirt and pointed at my card and then would take her hand and pat her chest. It took just once and a look at her face for me to realize what she was saying. I got down to her level and said "Did you write this?" and her face beamed, her head was nodding "yes" but the pride in her eyes and smile said it even louder. I told her it was the most beautiful card I had ever received and I meant it. That trip made me realize that AHOPE is not just about a group of children, it is about the uniqueness of EACH individual child. A life changed, hope given. While that journey may take turns none of us like to see we keep fighting, we keep going, we keep hoping for change because every child deserves a chance at something better.

Wordless Wednesday from Little AHOPE

2010-05-12T11:16:00.001-07:00

In honor of her mother

2010-05-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

I don't think I will ever forget her phone call. She had just lost her mother to cancer and the funeral service was just a couple days away. People had been calling wondering where they could send a donation in honor of her mom. She really wanted to find a place that gave hope to children who knew how it felt to lose someone you love. Her heart was hurting but even in her grief she wanted her mother's death to make a difference. She knew what it meant to have to make sacrifices when you experience loss. She would need to set aside school for awhile in order to help her dad and younger siblings move so they were closer to family. She saw a friend wearing an AHOPE t-shirt and the words about "today your mother died, you have no home... who will help you?" just seemed to fit. The connection just made sense.

I think of her often. As we near her first Mother's Day without her mom I am reminded and humbled by those willing to give, willing to make a difference and help make a change. I am thankful for those willing to give hope.

Fighting for Hope

2010-04-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

"Why are you even bothering? He is going to die anyway." These are the words Tenagne heard from her neighbors and friends as she spent her days fighting for her nephew who had suddenly fallen ill. The young toddler had become blind and was unable to move from his bed. Even for the most optimistic, the situation looked dire. Here lay another orphan boy who after watching both of his parents die, would suffer the same slow, agonizing death. He was not alone in his misery. Thousands upon thousands of little boys throughout sub-Saharan Africa were facing the same end. To many his fate was already secured. They knew the disease ravishing through this boy though many feared even saying the name. They knew what he was fighting against and they knew the outcome. Why did this little boy's aunt believe that she could make a difference?

Tenagne didn't give up despite the limited support and resources that she had. Tenagne lobbied doctors, the government, anyone who would listen to her. She would not give up on her nephew. She knew that what little she had was not enough to keep him alive. Somehow she found a connection to a small orphanage in Addis Ababa, a day's drive from her home. Tenagne, her husband, and her nephew loaded a bus and headed to Addis Ababa to find AHOPE's Children's Home, one of the few orphanages in the country that cared for HIV+ children.

Tenagne says that when she brought her nephew to AHOPE she didn't have much hope left. The weight of fighting alone was finally becoming a burden too heavy to carry. Her only wish was that he'd die with clean clothes on his back and a full belly. She had no idea that not only would the little boy live, but that he'd thrive under the care that he received at AHOPE. When she left, he was distraught and scared. He remained that way for months. He grieved his loss but slowly he began to find himself. He became stronger and over time his grief turned to joy.

Almost two years later the little boy returned with his adoptive family to his village to visit his aunt and uncle. As he approached their home the neighbors came out to see him. They were in awe to see that the little boy had lived! That afternoon a life was celebrated. Hope had been victorious.

There is so much joy when a child is saved through the love and compassion of AHOPE Ethiopia but the story runs deeper than that. This story is not only about a little boy, but about a woman who fought a disease, a stigma, and hopelessness. Her effort is still a legend in her village and I like to think that her persistence stood as a shining example to those around her. I know she has been an example to me.

When I support AHOPE for Children I am not only supporting the children within the orphanage and Community Outreach Program I know that I'm also standing with the brave men and women who fight for these children. These are the social workers that work long hours out of their tremendous passion to help foster joy and love amongst the children. They are the grandmothers who commit to raising their orphaned grandchildren through AHOPE's innovative Community Outreach Program. They are women like Tenagne, whose tireless effort would not have been realized without AHOPE. A donation to AHOPE for Children not only saves the lives of children living with HIV/AIDS, it also honors and supports those that fight in the midst of adversity for these amazing children.

~guest author

World AIDS Orphans Day Press Release

2010-04-07T20:43:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since the last post, too long. There have been many changes at AHOPE for Children and while these changes were occurring the blog didn't get the attention it deserved. No excuses just our apologies...

It only seemed appropriate that our first post on the blog since our hiatus mirrored the last post and continued the heartfelt call to help. Again, we ask you to join us...

World AIDS Orphans Day is an international movement to highlight the urgency of the current AIDS orphan crisis and a call to action. AHOPE for Children's Text2Give campaign has answered that call by spearheading a major donation drive that takes advantage of the effectiveness and ease of mobile giving.

You only need a mobile phone and a plan with a major carrier to instantly become a donor and provide relief to the AIDS orphans. To give, text "AHOPE" in the message box to "85944". You will receive a message asking you to confirm. Make sure you respond by typing "YES" to make your donation count. Your donation of $10 will be added to your next phone bill.

To date, 2.2 million of the 20 million AIDS orphans are themselves HIV+. Each year 300,000 children die of the disease. Another crushing statistic: 500,000 children were infected with HIV this year alone - that's about 300 children since you got up this morning.

In addition to the destruction of their family and support networks, children orphaned by AIDS face increasing obstacles to survival: little or no access to medical care or schooling; vulnerability to hunger, starvation, and poverty; subjection to negative stigmatization and discrimination within the community; and amplified susceptibility to exploitative forces such as child labor, prostitution, and child soldiering.

With your help, we can raise $100,000 by May 7th and change these children's lives. It can be done. So far, the lives of hundreds of children have been saved. On May 7th, we will begin our work on 2,000,000 more.

Thanks for your support,
Tom Starko
Executive Director of AHOPE for Children

2009-02-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

There’s a movement growing. Everyday in the Western world someone’s eyes are opened to the orphan crisis that’s ravaging the developing countries. The problem seems so large and we seem so insignificant. We can make a difference though. By raising awareness we foster a community and as a community we can provide. We’re asking you to help us in creating that community.

World AIDS Orphan Day is May 7th. The AHOPE Store has developed a 2009 t-shirt to commemorate this day and the community of supporters that are growing year after year. Please join us in raising awareness. It’s simple. Wear your shirt as often as possible, and especially on World AIDS Orphan Day. It will serve as a reminder to your community. It may even create a dialogue. That dialogue could open someone’s eyes. You might inspire them to do more, give more. We are asking you to join us in creating a community that is committed to orphan care.

After seeing what one little t-shirt can you might be inspired yourself. If that’s the case be sure to check out the World AIDS Orphan Day website. Here you can find further information on this grassroots campaign and how to organize an event in your area. The campaign was founded by FXB International in 2002 and continues to grow year after year.

The new t-shirts images, designed by 13-year-old Isaiah, are shown below:

T-Shirts for the Children

2008-12-04T18:26:00.001-08:00

On November 10th a box full of AHOPE t-shirts left the US and headed to Addis Ababa. These shirts were made specifically for the children of AHOPE. This was made possible through your support of the AHOPE Store.

The t-shirts were a big hit! To the children, AHOPE is their family. They have a strong sense of pride in the AHOPE name and receiving these shirts was such a joy to them. In a world where HIV has such a stigma, it is wonderful to know that these kids have so much pride in who they are and where they come from. In my opinion, this is what makes AHOPE such a special place. It’s something that these kids wear their identity with such confidence.

Lining up to receiving their shirts at "big" AHOPE

The kids of "big" AHOPE showing off their shirts

Joy!

Thank you very much for your continued support of the AHOPE Store. While a vast majority of the funds go to provide the essentials to the children at AHOPE, it’s wonderful to be able to do something like this, simply for the purpose of happiness.

As I said, the t-shirts were such a big hit that the AHOPE staff wanted their own! In 2009 we plan on providing t-shirts to the entire staff. These dedicated individuals deserve to boldly display their pride and commitment as well.

AHOPE Store Sneek Peak

2008-10-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Check out the AHOPE Store It just gets better and better. We are now offering Hoodies, Holiday cards, and Handcrafted Sterling Silver jewelry. Some of the items haven't been officially launched yet, but they are available. It's not too early to shop for the holidays!

If you are a sponsor, adoptive family, or a friend of AHOPE, you will be interested to know that the Sterling Silver pendants and key chains can be personalized on the back for no additional charge. A name, date, or up to five words can be added. They are fabulous!

We'll make an announcement about our new items on the AHOPE Yahoo group soon, but if you happened to stop by the blog, you got the special sneek peak.

~Lisa

AHOPE Store Items!

2008-10-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

We are very excited about the AHOPE Store which benefits the children of AHOPE. Sales of T-Shirts and Bracelets are going strong. Thank you for your support. Hoodies, Long Sleeve T-Shirts, Specialty sterling silver jewelry, AHOPE Coffee, and Holiday Cards are now available!

Here are photos of some of our items:

Stainless Steel Bracelets which feature an AHOPE child's name, the AHOPE for Children logo, and the Amharic word for Hope. $10.00 each.

Honor a special child at AHOPE by commissioning a set of bracelets with his or her name. Memorial bracelets are also available to remember AHOPE children who have passed away.

The following items can also be ordered on our new AHOPE Store site, which is still under construction. Please check back often to see new items that are being added. Don't forget that it isn't too early to begin shopping for the holidays!

www.ahopestore.org

Youth Hoodie in Black $19.50. Adult Hoodies are also available.

Contemporary-Fit Unisex T-shirts in Espresso $20.00

Contemporary-Fit Ladies T-shirt in Clean Denim and Contemporary- Fit Unisex T-Shirt in Espresso (Black and White also available) $20.00

Youth T-shirts in Violet and Pink (Black and Natural also available) $10.00

Toddler T-Shirt in Black (Light Blue and Pink also available) $10.00

Infant One-Piece With Shoulder Snaps in Pink (Light Blue and White also available) $10.00

Thank you for stopping by the AHOPE for Children blog.

~Lisa

AHOPE Bracelets

2008-09-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

The AHOPE bracelets have arrived and they look great. The bracelets are to honor and remember a child at AHOPE. The include the AHOPE logo, the name of a child currently residing at AHOPE, and the Amharic symbols spelling "hope."

If you would like to receive a bracelet please send an email to ahopestore@gmail.com indicating the quantity desire along with your mailing address. We will then invoice you for a $10 donation per bracelets.

**Proceeds go to support the children of AHOPE**

T-shirt raffle

2008-09-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Our next AHOPE raffle is for an AHOPE t-shirt. One dollar buys you a chance to win a shirt. This raffle ends on September 12th. Please consider donating just $1 to support AHOPE. Thank you!

Please go here to donate:

Ethiopian Drum Raffle

2008-08-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

This gorgeous Ethiopian drum was donated to us by Laura Dergel on her recent trip to Addis Ababa. For every dollar you donate to AHOPE for Children between now and the end of the month, you will receive an entry in the raffle for this drum. The drawing will be held on September 1st.

You can make your donation through our Facebook Cause (a minimum $10 donation is required by Facebook) or by clicking on the PayPal link below.

Let's set a goal of $250!

"You get Lemonade, We get Life!"

2008-07-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

Tammy and her daughters raised $265.00 for AHOPE with their lemonade stand.

"You get Lemonade, We get Life!" was the slogan developed by the daughters of Tammy Kelly who chose AHOPE for Children as the beneficiary of their fundraising efforts. The girls, ages 13, 10, and 6, applied for the opportunity to receive a special fundraising kit including cans of lemonade for their selected charity. The girls received 100 cans of lemonade which were sold for $1.00 each. They were very pleased to raise not only the $100.00 of their original goal but an additional $165.00 in donations. They also distributed many AHOPE brochures.

Thank you to Tammy and her daughters for devoting their time, talent, and energy to raise needed funds for the children of AHOPE!

~Lisa Qualls
AHOPE Director of Development

AHOPE T-Shirts are Now Available!

2008-07-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

Click on the photo to see a larger image.

Be among the first to wear an AHOPE t-shirt and support the children of AHOPE with your purchase!

We are very excited to launch the sale of our first AHOPE store item, AHOPE t-shirts. T-shirts are available in all sizes, from infant to adult 4XL, and in several colors. All children's shirts are $10 and adult shirts are $20. Shipping is free with the purchase of seven shirts or more.

Support AHOPE and spread the word! Send us a photo of your family in AHOPE shirts and we will post it on our blog. We know your kids are cute, and you will love seeing them smiling out from this page.

100% of the proceeds benefit the children of AHOPE.

Please contact me for shipping information outside of the contiguous United States.

To purchase your AHOPE T-Shirt, please visit our temporary store: www.ahope.nconx.com/ahope/store

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