Elim Christian Center in Poland

For the spouses' club Trips & Tours in March, we visited Boleslawiec, Poland. The purpose of our trip was two-fold. One was to enjoy time together and shop for Polish pottery. But our second purpose, in light of the current situation with Ukraine, was to bring some much needed donations for Ukrainian refugees that are currently being housed in Poland. 

Our community donated a ton of items like bedding, clothing, toiletries and more. We packed as much as we could in our bus and headed off to the Elim Christian Center. 

Emily, our host at Elim, greeted us and gave us a tour of the property. The center is in an old Polish castle that has been restored for the Center's purposes. Emily is an American whose mother escaped Poland during the Communist era, so Emily has a passion for the Polish people. Through tears, she expressed how grateful she was for our visit and for all the donations we were able to collect for the 70+ refugees they are currently providing shelter for. 

When we arrived, this room was completely empty. We quickly got to work sorting all our bagged and boxed donations into this room. Emily told us the donations would only last a couple of days before they were all claimed by their residents. 

After we finished putting things away, we were treated to lunch at the Center and were able to see their Nativity Sets that the Center crafts and sells to raise money for their mission. They are sewn and are the most adorable sets that include the typical Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus but also camels, sheep, donkeys, wise men and more. I brought home a Mary, Joseph and Jesus set to remember my time at Elim. They sell them through area reps, so if you're interested in checking them out visit their website and send them an email! 

Dressember 2017

Back in 2015, I was introduced to Dressember by my friend Ciara. Dressember is a campaign that challenges participants to wear a dress every day for the month of December to raise awareness for human trafficking and sex slavery. The last time I participated I didn't participate in the official Dressember by creating a page through their site to raise money, but instead encouraged my friends and family to donate to Project Rescue which also works to help victims of sex slavery.

This year I decided to participate fully in Dressember and created a page where family and friends could donate. It's a unique way to highlight something that is so prevalent and needs to be stopped. I hope my small efforts will impact lives around the world.

Design: Elephant and Rhino Foster Parent

My brother-in-law had spent some time in Africa. While he was there, he was able to visit an organization that fosters elephants and rhinos. His girlfriend (now fiance) loves elephants, so he "adopted" one for her.

This past Christmas, Charles and I were trying to decide what to get them. Their foster parent aid had ended, so we thought it would be nice to reinstate it. Since you cannot really wrap that as a gift, I created a couple signs to send them to represent the donation. We ended up sponsoring both an elephant and rhino in their names.

The signs are very simple. You could even do something similar as nursery or child's room art. 

Fonts used:
English Essay
Vingy