Friends of Colombian Orphans

John is going to Bogota tomorrow. He will meet with lawyers to set up a nonprofit foundation in Colombia so that we can do business there. He’ll also visit Amparo and see if we can get an machine installed immediately. There’s also a boys’ orphanage in Madrid that is interested in meeting us.

What do you think about this? A building in downtown Bogota, in the safe part of town, with knitting machines and yarn, a storefront  for sales and a place for wholesalers to come and buy our knitters’ projects. A daycare for our knitters’ kids, and then an elementary school onsite as the kids get older. A computer lab with a teacher and a business teacher to come and teach the women how to run their own businesses. A cafe….

None of this sounds impossible to me, although raising the money for it might be out of reach ? I don’t know…

Looks like we will be able to have the first knitting machine installed around the beginning of June! Our contact at Singer in Bogota will have one for us very soon: all we have to do is coordinate the delivery and payment. I have two people who are going to be trained on the machine initially. It’s so cool!

I’ve done it. I’ve committed to going to Bogota in July and installing the first knitting machine (if we can get one that quickly). We’ll set up meetings with lawyers, bankers, orphanage administrators etc. and get this show on the road.

Also, kind friends, old AND new, are arranging for an online auction in October. Stay tuned!

You can now support us at Good Search, Good Shop, iGive, and iSearchiGive.  Just click on an image below to visit the site and start supporting Friends of Colombian Orphans.

Everytime you search or shop, you’re helping us and the kids.  Bookmark the sites today!

Christmas 2007: Friends went to Ciudadela and took individual photos of each girl, framed them and presented them to the girls. None of these girls had photos of themselves: can you imagine a childhood without any photographic record?

On May 17th, the Kensington Marmalade Company is donating 10% of their gross receipts to Friends of Colombian Orphans. Alexandra will have a stand at her farmers’ market: we will have a poster and cards for shoppers to take with them. What a wonderful idea! Hopefully I will get a photo!

I received a lovely letter from a supporter: her goal is to fund the purchase of one knitting machine. She will be sending us regular checks until a machine is “paid for”.

A reader asked if we have a Facebook page: yes, we do: of course it’s called Friends of Colombian Orphans. Do join us there if you want to. I have a wonderful idea for a fundraiser, involving hand-knitted items donated by my knitting buddies all over the globe…as soon as I get that worked out, I’ll let you know. You know what? There aren’t enough hours in the day….

$1331…
One knitting machine and lots of yarn can be paid for with the above amount. That is how much we’ve raised on Facebook in the last week. Donations have ranged from the one dollar we’ve asked for to $250. When I think about the difference we will make in young people’s lives, it makes it easier to ask for money. It’s one thing to fill out grant requests for large corporations, but it’s another thing to ask people I know for money. It’s not easy to do. Everyone has been so gracious: just look at the donors’ list! A big thank you to all.

Well, after today, we are at $800. Lots of generous friends: thank you so very much. I thought about asking people to stick a dollar in an envelope and mail it to the address on the donate page. Is that crazy??