When gathering information for a project launch I scour the internet looking for statistics. I found one this time on Orphan Outreach that stopped me in my tracks completely.
“There are more than 143 million orphans around the world. The majority don’t live in orphanages, they live in communities. They live in extreme poverty and many are homeless.”
One hundred and forty three million. 143 million. Can you comprehend this number? Staggering. Mind boggling. Overwhelming.
I read this information, along with other countless figures, from the warmth of my own home. A safe place that I have created for my own children. With love bursting at the seams. And I became overwhelmingly grateful for all that I have and am able to provide.
A few more statistics that will stop you in your tracks…
- Every day 5,760 more children become orphans.
- Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…
- Every year 14,050,000 children still grow up as orphans and AGE OUT of the system.
- More than 1 million orphans are waiting for a home in Russia.
- In Russia, 60% of girl orphans become prostitutes and 70% of male orphans become hardened criminals.
Kids don’t get to pick their parents. They don’t get to pick what their upbringing will be like. They have no choices. We can’t change this, but we can help. We can share a little love from across the globe.
Time and again we keep coming back to helping kids here at Craft Hope. Empowering a generation and changing our future for the better. There just is something about putting a smile on a kids face. Spreading hope. Doing what we do best.
For Project 12, we are partnering with Orphan Outreach and sending them with a little love to take to Russia. This time we will be making bracelets for them to pass out to kids. Bracelets are a huge hit with kids of all ages — hemp bracelets or beaded bracelets. They are going on a trip in August and have asked us to collect bracelets for them.
Carin Vogelzang, Director of Margaret’s Hope Chest and an angel in disguise, has stepped up yet again to help us coordinate this project. She’s a sweet friend of mine from across the miles who we partnered with previously for Project 5 to provide handmade quilts to homeless children in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We collected 436 quilts!
Basically WCSG, the local Christian radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is teaming up with Orphan Outreach to help children in Russia. They’ll be working at St. Petersburg’s Crisis Center 15 — a triage for children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned. The children who are brought to the center range in age from infant to teen — many are newborns who have been abandoned on the street or left in dumpsters. They’ll be reaching out in a variety of ways to help meet their physical and emotional needs. They’ll also be visiting orphanages in the region on Leningrad.
A little about Russia — When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it’s shaky orphan-care system also fell. Alcohol consumption increased 10 times the U.S. level. The instances of divorce also climbed, along with the HIV-infection rate, which is now one of the highest in the world. And, according to a 2007 UNICEF report, the annual number of children without parental care in Russian ‘has more than doubled over the last 10 years, despite falling birth rates.’ Currently, there are over 750,000 children in the orphanage system and hundreds of thousands more living in the streets. The goal of Orphan Outreach in Russia is to involve and empower local churches to do the work of orphan care. The ministry focus is on orphan graduates – those orphans who are leaving the orphanage system. Without essential living skills, education, or employment possibilities, many of these young people resort to addictions, prostitution, or suicide. To help prevent such outcomes, Orphan Outreach has begun to support local orphanages and ministries to bridge a child’s transition from orphan-care to independent living.
So here is what we need — We need bracelets. As many bracelets as you can muster. They can be hemp, woven, or beaded handmade bracelets. The one major requirement is that they are handmade. This is a great project for kids and groups to be involved. So please start rallying your groups. Make as many bracelets as you can.
The deadline for this project is June 15, 2011.
Please leave a comment on this post so we know how many people will be participating. If you don’t mind, leave your country as well so we can see what corners of the globe you are all coming from.
Please mail completed bracelets to:
Carin Vogelzang 630 Griswold SE Grand Rapids, MI 49507Spread hope!
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Update 4/14/2011 3:33 pm: Fabric bracelets will be accepted as well. Thank you!
Update 4/15/2011 3:21 pm: Any type of bracelet of any size will be accepted and shared–the children they will go to will be ages 4-18 (or older).
Update 7/28/2011 :: Project 12 has ended and bracelets are being delivered. Please check the Craft Hope page for our most recent project. Thanks.
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I have 1,000 bracelets that are shipping tomorrow from Ca. They were supposed to leave a few days ago but there was a blip in that plan.
However, my dear Husband is dropping them off at UPS in the a.m. and they are scheduled to arrive to you on the 17th, I hope that is ok!
I wanted to say thank you for choosing a project that even children could participate in. I’m sending out 60+ bracelets today made by my Primary (1st & 2nd graders) Sunday School class. They are so proud to be part of this project and it was the perfect service project to complete our “Learning to Love” lessons! May God bless your continued work.
About 30 or 40 coming your way mostly made by preschoolers! Thanks for the opportunity to do a craft that kids can participate in!
My daughter’s friends got together this past weekend and made 42 bracelets. I am shipping them out today from Victoria, TX.
Just mailed 8 bracelets that my daughter made. Hope they reach you in time.
102 bracelets on the way from me and my coworkers in Illinois!
Sending our bracelets off today from San Diego, should be there in a few days! =) San Diego Mamas
I sent out 75 bracelets today from San Antonio,TX.
sending 9 bracelets from PA tomorrow
Sent 21 bracelets my two daughters made from Los Angeles, CA.
Thank you for a getting them to Russia!
Sending 24 bracelets from OR tomorrow am.
I will be sending out 125 bracelets tomorrow from Utah. Thanks for this great opportunity!
15 coming from Seattle tomorrow!!! Thank you all for doing this!
boston is sending a priority mail package out today! thanks for the opportunity to participate and for having a project the kids could do alongside adults! xo
80 bracelets winging their way from my daughter (11) and I in Livermore California today!! Thank you for organizing this!!!
? Andie & Maggie
Shipping off a box of bracelets from RVA today.
I’m sending a whole bunch from CA today, too. Hopefully they aren’t too late.
I’m sending 19 bracelets this morning… my mom forgot to mail them!! I hope they make it to you in time
Sending a bunch of kid-made bracelets your way! Thank you so much for coordinating this wonderful project.
I have a bunch of bracelets that should be shipped out first thing tomorrow morning. Hope they aren’t too late!
Sending the bracelet now!
44 Bracelets shipping from Saskatoon, SK today via UPS!
Sent around 90 bracelets today from Maryland! Hope they’re not too late!
I put bracelets in the mail today from Plymouth MI. Sorry for the delay.
500 bracelets on their way today from the metro-Detroit area! I apologize for the delay, but my friends INSISTED we reach the 500 mark!
I hope it’s okay that I’m sending in bracelets after the deadline. Overnighting mine today
I have a few bracelets but lost track of the deadline… I want to make sure they will still be included if I send them so late… please let me know.
Just sent 54 bracelets from Erie, PA.
Sending a package of 8-10 bracelets made by fourth graders today. Sorry, I lost track of the deadline…hoping it’s not too late.
Can I still send bracelets that high school kids made? I have about 70. I don’t want to send them if it’s too late. Thanks!
We have 35 bracelets ready – if it is too late to send them directly to you I am happy to ship them directly to Orphan Outreach. Please let me know. Thank you!
Our family made 45 bracelets on a vacation. I realized I am past the deadline, but wondered if you had a contact that I could still send these. Please let me know. Thanks for the great ideas!
Isthere any chance we can still send these in?
Just learned about this amazing project and wondered if it is too late to send in some bracelets? We would be making them the week of July 18 and could mail them July 25 from Green Bay, WI. Thanks!
[...] victims of the recent tornado disasters here in the US. They recently conducted an outreach project creating bracelets for Russian orphans. I love, love the idea of sending love in the form of fun, usable, and functional items to those [...]
Hi! I am in the Delta Gamma sorority at Ohio Wesleyan University. We are interested in making bracelets to send. Is it too late? We would be mailing them about September 10th. If there is anything else we could do please let me know!
[...] Project 12 is now closed, but if you’d like to join this unbelievably giving Craft Hope community you can jump right in on Project 14 :: Christmas in Dixie. [...]
[...] meaningful with my creative talents. Right now they have two projects going on. They are collecting bracelets for orphans in Russia and blankets for tornado survivors. We have been having a little too much fun [...]
[...] Project 12 :: Orphan Outreach you made over 35,000 [...]
[...] Craft Hope, an organization that tries to meet needs of orphans through handmade goodness, and at the time, they were looking for people to make handmade bracelets, to be sent to orphaned children clear [...]
We are trying to adopt and would love to adopt from russia or anywhere. However due to the cost it has posed a halt. We have our homestudy and clearances and are raising money on shetlercreations.com for these efforts. I agree there are too many children without families , however it is hard for families that want children to adopt as well.