Ingathering Plans in Qinzhou

I talked to Anna Liu, the Blessing Hands administrator in Qinzhuo, tonight with a cut rate Chinese phone card. She is going through 600 applications to find the 180 high school students that can be funded for the fall semester in Qinzhou County. She has 26 rural schools and her own home school (Qinzhou No 1 Middle School) who are submitting applications. She is setting 10 students per school on the average, except for Pubei Town that was flooded from the typhoon. She says some families lost everything there, and she gave that school 20 student grants.

The schools cannot believe their good blessings and the lack of paperwork required. Anna says that the government would take three months to give money out and require them to submit paperwork again and again. They will get the Blessing Hands grants on National day in about one week.

She has had people trying to come in the backdoor so to speak, trying to get their poor relative included. She just tells them to submit the paper work, and they will be considered with all the other applications. She tells them Blessing Hands does it the American way, in the front door.

She is getting ready for the fall ingathering now with the help of three teacher assistants who are helping her as volunteers. 180 high students will come to her campus to receive their tuition money and school supplies, have their photos taken, write thank you letters, and enjoy a social time. 26 teachers will come with them from the rural schools and some teachers from her high school as well will attend. She says it is going very well, and everyone is excited and happy about what is happening. It helps that they remember me in the schools, since I taught rural English teachers in a summer English camp there in 2004.

She will give some of the donated American books to the rural teachers for their schools. We need to send them some more English books. The reading level is about 6th grade or lower. Books can be sent for a dollar a pound (up to 60 pounds) in a M-bag at the U S Post Office. They take three months to get there, but are very welcomed. If someone wants to send books let me know, and I will give you the address and more information.

Grants and Stock Gifts

Since the Founding Family Foundation matching offer runs out on December 31, 2006, let me encourage you to donate now while it can still be matched. Founding Family Foundation has given us a good start, but they are turning to more individual adoption grants in 2007, and our grant with them may be reduced or even eliminated for 2007. If you intend to renew your subscription or pledge to help a child, now is the time.

Blessing Hands now has a stock account, which will allow us to accept stock donations. People who have stocks that have increased so much that their capital gains would raise their income taxes can give them to Blessing Hands instead and get a tax deduction. It is a wonderful way to give to the children and would help the donors as well. There is no need to cash out stocks and pay taxes on your profits and then give to charities when you could give the stock directly as a donation and get a handsome tax deduction. Being a public charity, Blessing Hands could use the sale price for the students and owe no taxes on the profits.

Volunteers Wanted

Blessing Hands has discovered volunteers. We set up atable at the Morehead State Volunteer Fair, and invited people to come by and see our display and sign up to help us with anything from a fund raising scavenger hunt to computer profiling of our Blessing Hands students who would like pen pals or sponsors. We are seeking organizations or individuals willing to help us with setting up our bookkeeping system, advertising, advocacy for our children, web site maintenance, fund raising, newsletters, pen pals, sending English books to schools, travel to China to have clinics or work days with Blessing Hands schools or children, matching sponsors and children, matching sister schools or classes, grant writing, computer records, and etc.

So many people have been a blessing already, especially our donors. Maybe some of you would be willing to help Blessing Hands contact churches, scout troops, community clubs, and other organization thatmight be interested in helping children. I have made a PowerPoint presentation that can be used by anyone to introduce Blessing Hands. The first time it was shown to a vacation Bible school in Pennsylvania resulted in $500 being given. I will gladly mail you a copy, and you can show it at your club, sorority, family reunion, scout troop, school, church, youth group, or synagogue. It encourages participation on small and large levels and involvement of everybody.

Nine Mile School Gets Fall Grants for Textbooks

One donor has adopted Nine Mile School to pay for their textbooks and school supplies. She only works part time since she has her mother to look after, but she has managed to bless these children abundantly. The pictures of the children receiving their gifts brought tears to my eyes. Mr. Huang, the principal, said the children started arriving as early as 7:00 a.m. for the 10:00 a.m. appointment. The teachers also came on their one day off to see the children get their gifts.

Anna Liu, who got to give out the gifts, gave a little speech to ask them to pass the kindness on to others and be a blessing to others just like they were blessed. She had such a good time that she is looking forward to going back in February to give out the next semester's grant. Our thanks also goes to Lu Hanbin who assisted Anna with transportation and shopping.

Anna hopes to give them winter sports jackets in February. I can tell from the pictures of the children that some of them are wearing very old torn jackets. I think we can find people willing to help give them jackets. We might even be able to buy them some other clothes. Maybe you would like to be that person. Just send a donation for this to Founding Family Foundation before December 31, 2006, and it will be matched. Be sure and make the check out to Founding Family Foundation. Their address is:

Founding Family Foundation
1004 Rodney Drive
Nashville, Tennessee 37205-1018 

28 Children at Nine Mile School Get New Shoes

Anna Liu, our Blessing Hands administrator in Southern Guangxi, was delighted to visit Nine Mile School recently to give the 28 Blessing Hands children there new shoes. The children had never had shoes that good before, and they said it was like Chinese New Year gifts. Anna got a good price of under $3 for the shoes. Each child also got socks, ten new pencils, erasers, pencil sharpers, textbooks and homework exercise books. All of this only cost $280.

When people ask why we are helping children in China instead of America, I always mention that US money can buy 8 times more in value in China. To these children $280 US =$2,240 buying power in their money. In US money Chinese famers only make about 200 to 500 dollars a year. Our charity dollar goes a lot farther in China, and the children really, really need the help.

Click on this link to see the movie of Anding Primary School going to our eye glass clinic

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7356210220983174287&pr=goog-sl is the address on the internet where you will find a movie of the Anding Primary School Blessing Hands children at our recent eye glass clinic.

Click on this movie of Anding Primary School

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2661150041128430494

I have placed two movies on line for your information. This one is our visit to Gaotian Anding Primary School. I used my little digital camera, so the size is small.