We have pictures!

I am so excited to share these photos. As you are viewing these pictures. I want you to know what a great thing you have helped us to do. We have brought a little joy to these children's lives. :) Your donations are there being handed out. All the months of collecting, sorting, packing, driving to the post office, standing in line and filling out customs forms have paid off!

Again I want to thank everyone for all of your help in this project. It would not have been successful without your support. A special thanks to Kristine Hunt for donating her own fabulous photography skills to help raise funds to support this project.

To everyone else who brought donations to me to be shipped or who shipped donations directly overseas, Thank you and God Bless you and your families.

To our Marines who recieved these packages, and then made sure they were handed out to the children. Thank you for your service. You are truly our heroes and we love you.

Sincerely,
Jana

The last of the donations have shipped!

Greetings all. I wanted to take time to let everyone know that I have sent the remainder of the donations to Afghanistan. Thank you all so much for your support over the last 5 months. May God Bless you all.

Coming to a close.

Hello friends!
I hope you are all doing well on this chilly fall day. I wanted to give everyone a reminder that this is our last month of receiving donations to be shipped to Afghanistan to help the children of the Rigg district with school supplies. I recently spoke with our contact and he expressed his wish for me to go ahead and ship what I have received thus far this month. The donations will be handed out to the schools and children in the next few weeks. So, if you currently have a donation that you want to have sent, please let me know so we can get it shipped over in time. Thank you!

Again, I want to thank everyone who contributed to this endeavor. You have all helped so much and I can not thank you enough. May God bless you and your families.

New Shipment!

Hi again! I just wanted to give another quick update on our donations to date. Today I mailed 4 more boxes to Afghanistan. Today's shipment totaled 135 pounds! As I understand it, the kids in Afghanistan will be starting the new school year soon, so these supplies are going to put a smile on some lucky kids faces. Thank you so much for your continued generosity in supporting us on this endeavor. We would not be successful without your support.

Greetings all!

     August is now upon us. July was a very busy month for me with the 4th of July and family visiting and vacationing. I am back home and recently sent out another shipment to Afghanistan. This time, I chose to use a big 20x20 box to save money on shipping. It worked as far as saving money, but the box was very heavy and bulky. I would like to say a big thank you to the kind Marine who helped me carry it from my car into the post office yesterday. I really appreciated it. :)I shipped 3 boxes yesterday and I have at least 3 more to ship in the next couple of days.
     I received an update from our contact in Afghanistan. He stated that the schools that are being started are very similar to the school we remember from the old favorite TV show "Little House on the Prairie". So things like paper, pencils, individual pencil sharpeners, chalk and small chalk boards are what is most needed at this time.

Again, I want to thank everyone for helping out as much as they have. May God bless you all for your generosity.

Photo

Here is a picture of the first half of July's Shipment.

Update

Hi everyone.

Let me first say I am so sorry for the lateness of this post. I have been busy with family this weekend celebrating the 4th of July. I hope you all had as much fun as we did.

I will be working on getting the June shipment out in the next day or two. Due to the size of the shipment, I may be making more than one trip. Thank you again for all the generous donations. You are all awesome people!

I will be posting pictures of the shipment soon. Take care.

~Jana

Update

I just wanted to give a quick update on how our donation drive is doing.

As of today, our Rubbermaid tote is over flowing thanks to Bitz Intermediate School and St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, NC. We are going to have a good size shipment to send to the Afghan children for the month of June due to all of your generous donations.

I also want to give a huge thank you to Suzanne Carothers and Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, NC for sending in the box of donations that went out for the month of May.

Thank you again to all the individuals who have contributed as well. Your continued support will help to make this endeavor successful. Take care and I hope you all continue to have a great week.

~Jana

The Photo shoot was a success!

I want to thank Kristine Hunt for all her hard work on making the photo shoot a success. We were able to raise some much needed funds to help cover the cost of shipping and to purchase more school supplies and shoes for the children of the Rig District in Afghanistan.

Thank you to all the wonderful ladies who brought their children out to be photographed. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you love the pictures.

The donation bin is currently residing at Bitz Intermediate School on Camp Lejeune. If your kids go to this school and they have school supplies they are willing to part with as the end of the school year approaches, have them toss the supplies in the bin. Every donation helps! Thank you goes to Jenny Sokol for talking to the administration at the school and making this possible this week.

I hope you all have a fabulous week and I hope to see you on Saturday at the Run to Afghanistan event. Remember to bring your donations!

Now booking for June 12th!

Hello! I just wanted to give a quick update on the photo shoot. Our June 11th Photo shoot is now booked! Due to popular demand we have added a second day to this fantastic photo opportunity. We are now taking appointments for June12th. Please contact Kristine at kennedyannphotography@gmail.com to book your time slot. Thank you for your support.

May Shipment is on it's way!

Hello all! I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on our donations to date. As you can see in the photo, we were able to fill 5 boxes with your generous donations. We received erasers, pencils, markers, paper and more! We also received 16 pairs of shoes! I was so excited to get these boxes to the post office today. They are on their way to Afghanistan to help the kids. To everyone that was able to donate, a huge thank you to you all! We would not be successful without your support. Now, on to collecting donations for June. Take care and may God bless you all!

Photo Opportunity

Greetings! I have some exciting news. A dear friend of mine has graciously offered her time and talents to help raise money for our service project. Kristine Hunt, of Kennedy Ann Photography, has offered a photo session, the rights to one digital photo of your choice, along with a 5x7 print of the digital photo you chose, all for a minimum donation of $10. This is an excellent opportunity to get a great photo* of you or your child or both!

The backdrop will be a 6 x 10 American flag. You can bring whatever other props you choose. Some examples are: combat boots, USMC hat, dog tags, or even the daddy doll.

The date for the photo shoot has been set for June 11, 2011. The current times for appointments are from 10am to 12pm and 3:30pm to 6pm. Please contact Kristine at kennedyannphotography@gmail.com to set up your appointment.

Remember, all proceeds go to help cover shipping costs and purchase of school supplies and footwear for the Afghan children in Helmand Province. Thank you for your support!

*Please allow 10 working days for post processing.

I hope everyone is enjoying their week. I just want to pass some info on our donation project. On Saturday, May 21st, our donation box will be at the "Run to Afghanistan" get together at the Greenway Trail on Camp Lejeune. Katherine has been gracious enough to stand in as the keeper of the box this week while I am visiting family in Georgia.

If  you haven't donated already, please consider doing so. Remember our first shipment will be mailed on the last day of the month.

On a bright note, we have filled one box with school supplies and we have collected three pairs of shoes. Thank you again for all your support as we help those less fortunate than ourselves.

Update

After receiving an update from our contact in country, it looks like we will be adopting a village. That way our efforts will be concentrated on one place instead of many. Once that particular village's needs are met we will adopt another. This is very exciting. Remember, Our May donations will be shipped on the last day of the month. Take care everyone and Thank you.

Week One Update

Hi Everyone.
     I wanted to take a minute to update the blog. As you can see from the picture above we have received our first donations. It doesn't look like much, but it is a great start. We want to thank all those who donated. Remember, donations will be accepted from now until the end of September. We will always have a donation box at the "Run 2 Afghanistan" get together on Saturdays. If there is ever a time I can't be there, I will make sure that the donation box is. Again, thank you for supporting this project, I believe that we can make a difference in the lives of these Afghan children.

Let the donation drive begin!

Greetings! I want to take this opportunity to say thank you for visiting the site. As of May 1, 2011, I will be accepting donations for the act of giving project. Remember, no donation is too small! Thank you in advance for your generosity as we move forward and don't forget to check back for updates on our progress. I will post an update on a weekly basis.