As you’re busy bustling about preparing for the holidays, please keep our kids in mind. Whether it’s as simple as signing up for Amazon Smile, making a donation on Giving Tuesday, or purchasing a handmade Kambulago as a gift, supporting Hope for Hearts this holiday season is as easy as 1… 2… 3!

  1. Shop Amazon Smile
    Whether you’re planning on participating in Cyber Monday, or simply purchasing items online at Amazon, if you haven’t already signed up for Amazon Smile, you should. It’s easy. Simply sign up at smile.amazon.com, select Hope for Hearts as your charity of choice, then do all your amazon shopping from smile.amazon.com, and a portion of the proceeds will go back to our organization. The best part about this program is that there’s no fee for you to sign up, and a portion of the proceeds from products you’d be buying anyway will go back to our organization. So why not put the money to even better use?
  2. Giving Tuesday
    After Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday comes our favorite shopping holiday – Giving Tuesday. It is a day to show your gratitude for all that you have by giving back to the local community. All donations are tax-deductible, making it a great, easy way to give your year-end contributions to a worthy cause. You can participate by making a donation to support our children online at https://hope4hearts.org/donate.
  3. Kambulagos (necklaces)
    Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer or small gift to give a teacher, colleague, etc.? But one of our handmade kambulagos (necklaces). They’re the gift that keeps on giving! We purchase the kambulagos from women in Uganda who hand-make and sell each necklace to make a living and support their independence. The necklaces are eco-friendly and made from recycled paper – ensuring each one is truly unique and one-of-a-kind. When you purchase one of these necklaces from us, the proceeds go back to providing a hand up to the orphaned children in our schools. The necklaces are made by a guest teacher of the school’s art program that teaches our students how to make this jewelry and sell it as a business to support themselves once they graduate. So we are still supporting the school programs with these beads.

Browse our products and make your purchase today at https://hope4hearts.org/products.

However you choose to support Hope for Hearts this holiday season, no contribution, no matter how small, goes unnoticed. We depend 100% on private donations. Every donation, large or small, supports our mission to educate up from poverty to prosperity. Here are just a few examples of where your money goes!

  • $25 provides two children a month of meals
  • $120 purchases a sewing machine
  • $240 one child, one year of education
  • $625 feeds 50 for a month
  • $1,200 sponsors five children for the entire year

With Gratitude,
Cristen

Thanksgiving has returned for another season. Families will be gathering around a table filled with plenty of delicious eats and saying prayers of gratitude for all that they have to be thankful for. Many of us can be thankful for the food on our table, and for never having to know the experience of being food insecure, not knowing where our next meal will come from.

It’s not often talked about around the Thanksgiving dinner table, but I’d like to take a moment during this week’s weekend word to explore what we’re truly thankful for – not having to live through a famine.

fam·ine
ˈfamən/
noun
1. extreme scarcity of food.

Food insecurity is a problem many people face all around the globe. The problem magnifies when you add a nationwide famine, which is what our friends in Uganda are facing right now.

gratuitous-giving

One-third of the population in South Sudan is food insecure, partially as a result of militant armed groups taking over throughout the country. Many people are forced to flee their homes as refugees, leaving behind crops that help sustain the population and adding to the current food shortage. As a result, food prices are skyrocketing, and it’s hard for humanitarian aids to get enough food supply in to feed everyone.

While many of us show our gratitude around the Thanksgiving table, I know many will also show their gratitude through charitable donations such as volunteering at soup kitchens and donating canned goods to food pantries. I urge you to also think about supporting the global community by making a donation to Hope for Hearts this holiday season.

The children of Uganda are not immune to this famine. At Hope for Hearts we are able to provide food, basic necessities and an education for as many orphaned children as possible. Father Mugagga, who takes care of the children in our schools, says the most immediate need is additional money to help cover the cost of food for our students during the famine. The rising cost of food is taking away money that would have otherwise been able to support additional students at our school.

While we take the time to count our blessings and show our gratitude by supporting our local community, please consider making a donation to help those less fortunate in other parts of the world as well.

You can be a part of the solution. Support Hope for Hearts on Giving Tuesday, November 29. Donate here and we have a matching grant for the first $250 – that underwrites two children. Every dollar donated will help us continue to provide food and education to more children in Uganda, helping them through the country’s current crisis.

With Love and Gratitude,
Cristen