Welcome to our Blessing Hands Blog

Thanks for visiting our website and learning about our charity that helps impoverished children stay in school.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Children's Day and other News




Marie-Lucie Spoke of Community Roots  with Children's Day Students.
Marie-Lucie Spoke of Community Roots with Children's Day Students.- click to see pictures.
Children's Day 
 
Yaya Luo and Community Roots 
Charity delivered Children's Day gifts to hundreds of students.
 
June 1st is Children's Day in China. Blessing Hands and Community Roots China worked together this year in several areas to give gifts to students in minority schools. You can see the whole story by clicking on this link to our pinterest page about the wonderful events. 

Betty Cutts and Yi Yanlan
Betty Cutts and Li Yanlan at a scholarship meal
Leaving for China 

I hope to see many of our students and volunteers during the 4 weeks I will be in China. I return on July 15th.  Folks can contact me at my Chinese email1571012836@qq.com while I am in China. Our intern, Anne O'Brien, and many Chinese friends will join me for different parts of the trip. 

We will be visiting schools, giving away wheelchairs, having a dental clinic and interviewing scholarship students. We will have scholarship luncheons in Yangshuo (June 28th), Guilin (June 29th), Qinzhou (July 12th)  and Nanning.(July 13th). Each time we will meet in the lobby of my hotel at 12:30 pm and go to a nearby restaurant. Write for more information if you are a scholarship student.

Dr. Dai visits a Longfu Primary School
Dr. Dai visits a Longfu Primary School
Du'an Primary Schools Receive School Supplies  and Gifts
 
Blessing Hands helps Schools

We collect money in cash jars in local Chinese Restaurants. We are supporting three Longfu lower primary schools with the jars. Dr. Dai, the assistant medical administrator of Longfu Hospital, buys and delivers the school supplies to the schools each semester. Click on the pictures to see more pictures on ourPinterest boards.

Wei 's neck is almost normal now.
Wei 's cheek is almost normal now.
Update on Wei Senbao and his Family  
 
We recently got pictures of Wei Senbao and his family. Blessing Hands is giving monthly support to this family with five fatherless cousins living with their grandmother.  Click here to meet the family. 
 
  
Meng, Wei mother, and his cousin Sencai
Meng, Wei's mother, and his cousin Sencai

Blessing Hands Endowment Fund

Two donors are giving $50,000 to establish a permanent endowment fund for Blessing Hands with the Blue Grass Community Foundation in Lexington, KY.  http://bgcf.org/learn/nonprofit-services/ is the website of the Community Foundation.  The fund is designed to insure the future stability of Blessing Hands.
 
The endowment will give a percentage of the investment income (up to 5%) to Blessing Hands each year while the principal is allowed to remain or grow.  There is no fee for establishing the fund and no yearly fee at the level the fund is funded. Tax reports and management of the fund will be the responsibility of the Blue Grass Community Foundation, which can accept a wide range of contributions including land, stocks, retirement funds and other items besides cash.   

The State of Kentucky gives a State Tax Credit up to 20% of contributions to permanently endowed funds like ours, (not to exceed a $10,000 credit per taxpayer).  For example:  If you give a $25,000 gift to an endowed fund at a Kentucky community foundation, you could get up to a $5,000 state tax credit!  To receive the maximum credit allowed by the program, you could give a $50,000 gift for the benefit of Blessing Hands.  

Anyone can add to this fund on behalf of Blessing Hands. Those donations need to be given this July to take advantage of this year's state quota of tax credits before they are all used up by other endowment donors.  The tax credits can be spread out over several years. 

We also encourage you to give to a donor advised fund called Blessing Fund that was also set up at the Blue Grass Foundation. The Blessing Fund will accept contributions by donors who want to give to Blessing Hands without giving to the endowment fund.  All the money in that fund can be spent without restrictions. 

Blessings come to those who give. 

Betty Cutts  

Blessing Hands Yard  Sale
Blessing Hands Yard Sale
Blessing Hands Yard Sale was Successful 

Volunteers and customers had a good time at our yard sale on June 14th. We had plenty of things given for us to sell. About half of the items sold. We had brochures for people to take to explain what Blessing Hands does and a display to show our kids. 

All proceeds from the sale will be spent on our dental clinic in Du'an this summer. 
Blessing Hand's purpose is to help people help themselves and others.