As the Christmas Season Approaches you may be finding yourself trying to find ways to help your family focus on the true meaning of Christmas. During the month of December we turn our thoughts to the Savior. We reflect on his glorious birth and what his life meant to each us personally. This is a time to commit to living a more Christlike life. This is the time to show our love and appreciation to our loved ones, our neighbors, or to the kind people we come in contact with on a daily basis who make our lives easier. It is a time to say thank you to people like our postal delivery person, the young person who delivers our newspaper and carefully places it on the front porch so that it doesn't get rained on, or our children's teachers or bus drivers. It's a wonderful time of year when we gather in the kitchen to make holiday treats to take to these special friends and neighbors. These traditions that we share with our families help to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas. The scriptures teach us that when we serve our fellow man we serve our God.
"I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your god. " Mosiah 2:17
What better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior then to serve him.
As you may know my husband and I are serving a Humanitarian Mission in Ukraine. We have received letters from friends and family who would like to provide service to the children in Ukraine. We are so grateful for your sweet offers of service. As Humanitarian Volunteers we have been instructed not to accept personal donations instead to direct people to the church's Humanitarian Fund to make donations. I would like to encourage you to do that. Another way you can help is to organize friends, and family or fellow church members to do service projects that can be donated to the Humanitarian Department. You can make a personal donation on your tithing slip or by going to the website here and your donation will be used as part of the Humanitarian efforts worldwide. I have included a list of organizations whose focus is to help Ukrainian Children. There are some wonderful ideas of ways that you can personally support an organization here in Ukraine or you could get a group of friends or fellow church members to work on a service project together. Some of these organizations were started by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints however,
*the church does not endorse these organizations. It is simply a list that I have personally compiled.
The Blueberry Children’s Foundation
Blueberry foundation has orphanage projects in Ukraine and the Philippines. They are currently working on the 3rd annual pajama drive. Their goal is to deliver 3,000 pairs of pajamas to children in Ukrainian Orphanages this year.
http://www.blueberryfoundation.org/
Orphans Bright Star http://www.orphansbrightstar.com/
(They have a great list of ideas for Christmas donations)
"Providing fundamental assistance to the children in our sponsored orphanages in Ukraine."
We are moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and friends of Ukrainian orphans who have seen firsthand the many needs of these very special children. We have witnessed in our own homes and communities the unbelievable difference that sustenance, shelter, services, skills and spirit can make in transforming the lives of these forgotten ones, and intend on doing everything within our power to provide the same life-altering changes for all of the children left behind.We earn no salaries, have no offices, and yet we are as competent and effective as any brick and mortar organization in operation, providing donors with project statuses and pictures of the changes as they are in progress.
Project Reach Out http://www.projectreachout.com/
Nate Shipp, a Sugar House resident, works as a real estate developer in Salt Lake City. However, his first major construction project involved arranging for extensive repair work at an orphanage several time zones away. That was eight years ago shortly after he co-founded Project Reach Out, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping improve the lives and living conditions of hundreds of orphans in the Ukraine. Nate Shipp and his former missionary companion, Benj Becker started making annual trips back to Ukraine to visit Orphanages and help improve the lives of the children who live there.
iOrphan http://www.iorphan.org/
Ascent Russian Orphan Aid Foundation is a non-profit charity that spends 100% of donations to provide basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter to orphans and homeless children living in the former Soviet Bloc countries. We do not receive any compensation for our work and pay for all operating expenses out of our own pocket. Every penny of your contribution goes directly to an orphanage to help complete the project you support. All orphanages and shelters that receive our help are registered non-profit organizations and have at least a 5-year record of accomplishment.
Save a Child Foundation http://www.saveachild.cc/
Save a Child Foundation has been established to offer humanitarian aid to children in foreign countries. One focus of our program involves finding families for older children. Typically, when families want to adopt, they are interested in children 5 years old or younger. Our goal is to be advocates to children ages 6 – 15, and to provide opportunities for families in America to interact with these children with the possibility of future adoption.
Life 2 Orphans http://www.life2orphans.org/
The Blueberry Children’s Foundation
Blueberry foundation has orphanage projects in Ukraine and the Philippines. They are currently working on the 3rd annual pajama drive. Their goal is to deliver 3,000 pairs of pajamas to children in Ukrainian Orphanages this year.
http://www.blueberryfoundation.org/
Orphans Bright Star http://www.orphansbrightstar.com/
(They have a great list of ideas for Christmas donations)
"Providing fundamental assistance to the children in our sponsored orphanages in Ukraine."
We are moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and friends of Ukrainian orphans who have seen firsthand the many needs of these very special children. We have witnessed in our own homes and communities the unbelievable difference that sustenance, shelter, services, skills and spirit can make in transforming the lives of these forgotten ones, and intend on doing everything within our power to provide the same life-altering changes for all of the children left behind.We earn no salaries, have no offices, and yet we are as competent and effective as any brick and mortar organization in operation, providing donors with project statuses and pictures of the changes as they are in progress.
Project Reach Out http://www.projectreachout.com/
Nate Shipp, a Sugar House resident, works as a real estate developer in Salt Lake City. However, his first major construction project involved arranging for extensive repair work at an orphanage several time zones away. That was eight years ago shortly after he co-founded Project Reach Out, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping improve the lives and living conditions of hundreds of orphans in the Ukraine. Nate Shipp and his former missionary companion, Benj Becker started making annual trips back to Ukraine to visit Orphanages and help improve the lives of the children who live there.
iOrphan http://www.iorphan.org/
Ascent Russian Orphan Aid Foundation is a non-profit charity that spends 100% of donations to provide basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter to orphans and homeless children living in the former Soviet Bloc countries. We do not receive any compensation for our work and pay for all operating expenses out of our own pocket. Every penny of your contribution goes directly to an orphanage to help complete the project you support. All orphanages and shelters that receive our help are registered non-profit organizations and have at least a 5-year record of accomplishment.
Save a Child Foundation http://www.saveachild.cc/
Save a Child Foundation has been established to offer humanitarian aid to children in foreign countries. One focus of our program involves finding families for older children. Typically, when families want to adopt, they are interested in children 5 years old or younger. Our goal is to be advocates to children ages 6 – 15, and to provide opportunities for families in America to interact with these children with the possibility of future adoption.
Life 2 Orphans http://www.life2orphans.org/
Life2Orphans wants to make a Christmas miracle come true for the children in our sponsored orphanages. The goal is to provide Christmas presents for over 6000 Ukrainian orphans this year. These are children who will otherwise receive nothing. Many of the older orphans have never received a gift in their lives! Consider the impact that Christmas can have... A small gift lets an orphan know that they are special and that someone cares about them. One child at a sponsored orphanage announced that the reason he doesn't run away anymore and live on the streets is because he gets food AND - for the first time ever - received a CHRISTMAS GIFT!
Send a gift off our 2008 Christmas Wishlist on Amazon.com. Almost all of the gifts shown are eligible for free shipping to the Mission with a $25 order. FREE SHIPPING!! L2O will send donated gifts to our orphanages.