Hello Partners in Hope,
Soon the holiday hustle and bustle will begin and our mailboxes will be flooded with catalogues, appeals, bills and hopefully a few cards sprinkled in. May we embrace it all…the chaos, the joy, the things that happen not-as-planned, but turn out seemingly better nonetheless.
I wanted to share with you an exciting Hope happening. At the end of September, we were able to increase the salaries of our teaching staff in Liberia to give them a long-overdue raise. Your consistent generosity enabled this additional $1,000 a month to happen and one day we hope to do even more. Since our doors opened 11 years ago, it has been our goal to provide a strong living wage for the entire Hope International staff, many of whom are pursuing further certifications in Liberia to become even better educators. The school exists today because of the staff’s commitment to the kids and the community. They offer the foundation for the nearly 1,200 kids that walk through the gate each day.
Speaking of our fabulous teachers and the onset of holiday frenzy, please mark your calendars for GivingTuesday on December 3rd, 2019. “GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world on December 3, 2019 and every day. nov/dec 2019 It was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past seven years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.” As was our goal last year, we use funds raised on GivingTuesday as an opportunity to provide each of our staff members in Liberia with a holiday cash gift. Our goal this year is $3,000.00.
When I was in Liberia last year, so many staff asked that I convey for them their gratitude at this extra gift. They use it to meet the needs of their families, buy food, medications, and clothing. Life in Liberia is hard…I mean really hard. It remains the 4th poorest country in the world and even our staff struggles deeply to make it all work. Your generosity lightens their load and they are tremendously grateful. To donate for GivingTuesday, visit us at: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/hopeproject or find us on Facebook @thehopeprojectliberia.
I am excited to share with you that I will have the opportunity to travel to Liberia for most of the month of January. During my time there, I will be living with our school principal, Joseph and his wife Tiangay and all of their children.
I will be joined for a part of the trip by Board Member, Ron Skylstad and photographer/videographer, Jake Martinez. They will capture photos and videos of the students. Both are volunteering their time and talent.
After they leave, Board Members Jeff Huse and Dave Frazier will be arriving and delivering (fingers crossed) 40-50 laptops. While there, they will work with the Liberian staff to get the computer lab up and running. We are 3/5 of the way towards our $10,000 goal of having the needed funds to complete the computer lab. A BIG thank you to the Microsoft Employee Give Campaign that helped us get this far.
I look forward to meeting with staff and students and checking in with all of our scholarship recipients. I will get to see firsthand, the Sew Much Hope program up and running and the Liberian Motorcycle Club recipients slaying their new businesses. Please watch for email and social media updates as I will be sharing in real time, all of the seemingly impossible things your generosity makes possible.
Speaking of making the impossible, possible…please mark your calendars now for Saturday evening, March 21st, 2020. This will be the theme for our Seattle Celebration and Fundraiser. We have some fun surprises planned and will have stories and updates galore to share about how together we are making the impossible, possible. As the beautiful unfolding continues, know that it is YOU that holds hope for us all.
With Heart Bursting Gratitude,
Jackie Frazier