Walk for Water

This past weekend our family participated in the Walk for Water.

The event raised $5400 to provide clean water and sanitation programs to rural Uganda.

It was a beautiful day for a walk.

There was lots of information posted to bring awareness to the dire need for clean water in Uganda.

Buttons were made of the children who each person or family was walking for.

It was such an awesome visual to remind us that we are walking for the health of these kids and their families.

Families and neighborhood groups came together.  People carried buckets of all sizes and weight.

We started walking

and kept walking

raising awareness with every step

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When we got to a calm part of the river we hiked down under the overpass and filled our buckets up with water.

And then we carried the buckets filled with water back on the same path we just walked

With each step we labored

We adjusted our buckets

We sloshed water

We stopped to rest

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We came up with new techniques to ease the burden

With each step we became more aware of the work that has to be done every day in an effort to get water.

Water that isn't even clean and most of the time isn't even safe to drink.

Water that runs freely from faucets in our homes and comes squirting out of our refrigerators at the touch of a button.

Clean water can cut a communities child mortality rate in half.

We walked for the children

We walked for the families

We walked for the community

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Thank you for donating

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Water is life

Last week, our family was so excited to get an airmail envelope from our sponsored child in Uganda.

I told you a little bit about Moses a few weeks ago.

Enclosed in the envelope was a thank you note for a gift we sent at Christmas.

Each Christmas for the past decade or more, our family has adopted several local kids from an angel tree. This year we decided to use the money we would spend on the angel tree kids and send it to Moses and his family.

I am a thrifty gal so I was happy to see how far that money went for them!

They were able to buy a goat, a pig, Moses' school uniform, a suit (isn't he handsome!), blankets, books and several other items.

We were so thrilled that as a family we were able to help Moses and his family in that way.
And now, I want to remind you that you can help too!On Saturday, I will be participating in a walk for water to help bring fresh clean water to Moses' village of Buliisa, Uganda.

You can read more about The Walk For Water here.You can read more about our churches involvement in Bulissa, Uganda here.
You can make a donation by clicking here.
Thank you!

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Paula's Pillowcase Project sewing for kids with cancer

 Last week, I sewed my buns off for the third year at Paula's Pillowcase Project.You can read more about past years here and hereYou can read more about the project here
In a nutshell, my friend Paula's 10 year old son was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.While her son was at Children's Hospital in Seattle he had a scratchy stiff pillowcase.It didn't take long for Paula to see a need for kids with cancer andPaula's Pillowcase Project was formed.
Each year the amount of pillowcases that are made continues to increase as do the volunteers that are involved.This year the goal was to make 250 pillowcases for the kids at Children's Hospital in Seattle.
The event starts long before the project weekend.Donations are accepted and Paula and her son head to JoAnn's on black Friday buying bolts and bolts of fabricVolunteers wash and iron the fabricand on Friday, more volunteers come to pre cut kits that are sewn on Saturday
Here are the pieces of the kit all ready to be put togetherThere is one narrow pieceone wider plain pieceand a printed fleece that is the main fabric

People are cutting

Sewing 

and ironing

 Volunteers make a handmade card for each pillowcase with a sweet handwritten note inside

Volunteers young and old come out to help.

I was quite impressed with several young girls who came out this year to sew.

Both said they were taught by their Grandmothers

Such a great skill

It was also a lot of fun to teach this 10 year old boy how to sew

He really liked sewing more than he thought he would.

And just as I started helping him make a pillowcase from start to finish, my machine died on me.

Thankfully, Jenny was there to lend a hand and her sewing machine to help Seth out.

This year a decorative stitch was done on each of the narrow pieces of fleece.

I think it turned out great!

 Aren't they just adorable!

I am so thankful to have a part in making a little something to help the kids be just a little more comfortable.
 
I can't wait for next year.

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Walk for Water support me in my walk for World Vision

Did you know?

More than one in six people worldwide don't have access to clean drinking water.

To give water is to give life.  

Clean water can cut a community’s child mortality rate in half.  

It means food for families whose crops are failing due to drought. 

 It saves livestock.  

It gives parents a powerful way to improve the health, hygiene, and well-being of their children, and enable them to reach their God-given potential. 

This year, our church is partnering with World Vision
in a walk for water.

Last year, our family started sponsoring a little boy, through World Vision, named Moses who lives in Basila, Uganda.

In fact, our whole church partnered together to sponsor over 150 children in that area.
Several of our church members and leaders have already been able to visit and have seen first hand the work that World Vision is doing in their village.

To further that partnership and continue to help those families in rural Uganda, our church is hosting a walk for water on April 14.

Through the walk for water, money will be raised to build wells, treat contaminated water and provide water storage containers to save fresh rainwater for later use.

Each day villagers in rural Uganda are spending hours a day collecting water that can make them sick.

On April 14, I will have the opportunity to walk out to a water filling station, fill my buckets with water and return to the starting place raising awareness to the daily chore that is required for something I take for granted every day...clean water, accessible to me by the turn of a handle.

Last week Emily at Jones Design Company challenged bloggers to share a cause that they support and share it with their readers.

What perfect timing because our church launched this campaign that following Sunday.

I would love for you to support me in my walk for water.
I would be honored if you would help me by making a donation, even if it is just $1 to help bring clean drinking water to rural Uganda.
In the next few weeks, my goal is to raise $560, the cost of building and providing hand and face washing facilities to 20 families.

When communities have access to clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene, the child mortality rate drops by more than two-thirds. 


100% of your donation will benefit World Vision’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene projects in Uganda(UWASH).

You can donate by clicking here

Thank you!

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Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

For the past few months our family has been spending our Monday nights making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Tacoma Rescue Mission. I happened to read in our newspaper about a local gal named Jenny who saw a need and decided to do something about it.

Jenny contacted all of the necessary people, started getting donations and her idea of peanut butter jelly night was formed. We serve every Monday from 7-8. We have donated supplies, and some consistent (and not so consistent) volunteers. We work with lots of hands, or with just a few but we work hard that whole hour or until the loaves of bread are gone.

Every Monday around 500 sandwiches are made for the homeless shelter.

The thing that our family loves about it is that everyone can participate. It doesn't require any special skills and there is no age minimum to volunteer. Even our 6 year old can help out.

The sandwiches get packaged up and ready for delivery the next morning.

We love that we can give our kids the opportunity to serve in the community in this way. To share God's love to the homeless community even if we aren't meeting them. It's a way to think about something bigger than ourselves. How do you get your family involved in caring for others?

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