What's Happening

Because we are gearing up for our big Christmas Gala on December 9th we don't have too much else to report. We are doing this fundraiser and then I can give more details and pictures on what the money helped with. We will be splitting the proceeds in 3 ways - 1/3 to orphanages in Hunan, China - specifically the city of Yongzhou where Alyssa lived for 15 months - 1/3 to orphanages in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - where our daughter has lived and other smaller foster homes in the area - 1/3 to children and families right here in PEI - some of this will go to our "Heart to Heart" project (see below) and some will go to children with other needs (food, christmas, school lunches, etc...)

We are in the process of completing a website which will make it much easier for people to see what our projects are and what fundraisers are happening. It will also be set up to take donations and people can join our team to help with fundraisers and any trips we go on to other countries! Exciting!

For now, here is an overview of our projects:


China

Each year we hope to host our "Kids Carnival" to build a playground at orphanages in China. Our last Kids Carnival was great fun and a great success as we raised $4000 and built a beautiful, colorful playground where children can laugh, play and interact with their peers!

Money raised will also go towards supplying baby formula and other food for children living in orphanages, necessary items for orphanages (cribs, clothing, toys, cleft bottles), foster care programs and help with medical surgeries.

We are currently assisting one orphanage and we've had 2 others contact us and we are waiting to hear how we can help them with their needs.

Ethiopia

We are hoping to raise funds to support "Faith Village" which is a huge project that is being done by our adoption agency, Kids Link. Here is a quote from them about this new village for children in Ethiopia... (http://www.globalreachchildrensfund.ca/)

"Faith Village will provide daily meals, a formal education, spiritual teaching and proper medical care for 500 children each day. Together, with clothing and shoes, each child will be treated with dignity and given hope – as we recognize their importance in society as future leaders in the coming generation"

Our hope is to raise money to help with the Faith Village project but also raise money to help with supplies for smaller foster homes in Addis Ababa who care for many children but at the same time, the "mothers" caring for the children are stretched beyond their means. We would like to help with food, clothing, education for these foster homes and for the precious children living in them.

Prince Edward Island

"Heart to Heart" Project. This project was initiated by a foster child who used to live with us. She has a deep compassion for other foster children and wanted to give them something to comfort them as they were placed in foster homes. Together, we are collecting teddy bears and toiletry items (toothbrushes, books, journals, hairbrushes, etc...) and putting it all together in a care package (kitbag) to give to each child who goes into foster care on PEI. We will gladly accept donations of any of the items listed above or monetary donations and we'll do the shopping!! This would be a terrific project for a class at sunday school, youth group or a family wanted to give back to their community!

Local Food Banks - we are collecting large cans of baby formula and large packages of diapers (size 3 & 5) for our local food banks. MANY families with babies and toddlers use our food banks and the biggest need for babies/toddlers are these items. Again, you can donate these items and drop them off at SNUGGLEBUGS at 85 Belvedere Avenue, Charlottetown. You can also donate money and we will do the shopping!!!

Here is a picture of Nathan and our other 3 children. Nathan lived with us for 6 years as a foster child. He is the "big brother" of our house!!! (by the way, Nathan doesn't mind that we posted this picture and said he was our foster child :-)) Now, Nathan is all grown up and lives on his own!

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If any of our projects interest you and you would like to help out with our fundraisers or donate to any or all of these GREAT causes, please feel free to contact me at tammymackinnon@pei.sympatico.ca

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We are in the process of obtaining our charity status as well!

Tammy

Sorry it has taken so long to post again! I don't have too much to update about the orphanage - our contact is gone on a trip so I haven't communicated with her since the playground arrived. Alyssa's orphange sent us a thank you and it was really sweet. They also said they are doing okay right now and there is nothing they need right now. We are still talking about helping with a foster care program with her orphanage. I'll try to get more details on that when our contact gets back. She is also going to be updating us on the other orphanges who were asking for our help. They are all located outside Alyssa's birth city, Yongzhou.

CHRISTMAS FUNDRAISER

We have a fabulous fundraiser planned - it is coming along nicely and I am just waiting to confirm the date. We are tentatively booking the first weekend of December (perhaps Dec 1) but I will post for sure when it's finally confirmed! We are also having an Art Auction and there are so many talented artists who are providing beautiful pieces (pottery, jewerly, quilts, paintings, drawings, etc...)
The Cornerstone Baptist Church Choir will be performing a beautiful Christmas cantata and they are truly amazing!!! The whole night is going to be magical - candlelight, christmas music, delicious food, amazing artwork to buy and best of all, 100% of the funds will go to help children in Ethiopia, China and locally here in PEI!!!!

Mark your calendars now for the first weekend of December. Tickets are going to be around $50 - $60 so that's a great deal for such a magical night and great cause!!!

Stay tuned!!! Tell all your friends. We only have 150 tickets to sell!!!!!

Tammy

The Playground is DONE!!!!

I am so emotional right now and started crying the minute I saw the email saying there were pictures of the new playground built at Alyssa's orphanage!!! I can't believe it's done and the children and nannies are enjoying it. How thrilling!!!

The playground arriving at the orphanage. WOW - looks like a lot of pieces!

Beginning to assemble the playground. The kids and nannies are watching in the background - they must have been so excited to see these brightly colorod playthings being built at their home!

Look at the little baby checking out the tunnel - too cute!!

And the little girl trying out the slide...

Some of the older children trying out the swingset!

The children and nannies checking out everything and testing the playground for the first time.

We also supplied some other items for the orphanage - for the inside - tables and chairs for mealtime and crafts, other toys and a few other things. I'll post pictures of those items as well if the Director sends any. WOW, our family is so excited about this!!!!

Tammy and the gang!

Helping local families

Two Homes One Heart has now expanded and has projects on the go that are helping local children as well as children in China and Ethiopia. We are working together with Snugglebugs, a local children's store, to help our local Island families. You can help by donating the following items:

BABY FORMULA

DIAPERS - especially sizes 3 & 5. We will accept opened packages. We know many times children are potty trained and there are diapers left over so we will gladly accept those!

BABY CEREAL

These items will be delivered to the Food Bank and distributed to many Island families who depend on the Food Bank and our community's generosity!

DROP OFF DONATIONS TO:

You can drop off donations to Snugglebugs at 85 Belvedere Avenue, Charlottetown. (Located beside Dow's Furniture and across the street from the big Superstore) We will make sure all items are delivered to the Food Bank!!!

Here is an excerpt from an earlier post I did about the local Food Bank and the needs of our Island families....please join us in sharing our love!

FYI: For the last 2 years a few friends and I have collected diapers and baby formula for our local food bank. We collected over 100 cans of formula and MANY packages of diapers both years. I talked with the coordinator of the Food Bank and these supplies only last for 3 months! There are many families with babies and toddlers who need our help in supplying them with food and diapers. Our mission for Two Homes One Heart is to help any and all children worldwide who need food, shelter, care and love. We cannot focus on international projects and forget the many children needing our care and love right here in our own communities. So, this year we are challenging our communties across PEI to collect 400 cans of formula to supply the food bank for the whole year! We would also like to collect this many packages of diapers and boxes of cereal! Can you help us? We can do this - together!!!

Thank you! We are looking forward to collecting many donations!

A huge success

We had our yard sale on Saturday! WOW, I'm really glad that's over. It was a lot of work but so worth it! We were able to raise $1173.60 for our new daughter's orphanage in Ethiopia. You can jump over to our adoption blog at www.themackinnons.blogspot.com to read more about it and to see pictures!

Still waiting to get pictures from Alyssa's orphanage in China! The playground should be finished now so the pictures should be coming shortly!

Our next big fundraiser is going to be held in November and we are having a dinner and art auction. Entertainment will be a Christmas cantata by a local choir (they are awesome). We are hoping to raise a lot of money at this event so we can help a few of the orphanges in the city where Alyssa was born. We are waiting to hear back from these orphanages to see what their biggest needs are right now.

Words of my heart

I have often tried to put into words why I am so compelled to advocate for children - especially orphans. I heard this song and it spoke the words in my heart. Especially the line "your pain changes me". It is so true, I will never be the same and I will continue to bring love and smiles to as many children as I can throughout my life. Listen carefully to the words of this song..."Your courage asks me what am I afraid of...". There is so much we can do and we have so much to give - our time, our love, our money, our compassion...so much to give...

YARD SALE!!!!

When: Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
(Raindate September 29th)
Where: Calvary Temple Parking Lot (Ch’town)
Time: 8:00am – 1:00pm

A great selection of furniture, bedding, boys & girls clothing (in great condition!),adult cothes, DVDs, games, lots of toys, books and many household items!!!

Enjoy lemonade, cookies and other great treats
at Caleb, Dylan and Alyssa’s “Lemonade for Hope” stand!

Mmmmm! Yummy

We are using all the funds to help the orphanage where our daughter is currently living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia..

Please join us in sharing our love!

THE PLAYGROUND ARRIVED!

I just received word that the all the playground equipment has arrived at Alyssa's orphanage!! They are beginning the assembly and the Director says she will send photos very soon! YAY!!!

We are waiting to hear from 2 other orphanages in Yongzhou City (same city as Alyssa's orphanage) to hear how we can assist them and the children who are living there!! Can't wait!!

Tammy

Waiting...

I haven't heard anything yet in regards to the playground arriving at the orphanage. I'm sure it must be there by now! We are also waiting to hear word about 2 other orphanages on the outskirts of Yongzhou City. We are hoping we can assist them with some of their needs as well as continuing with Alyssa's. Our contact in China, Susan, is getting some information for us on what the biggest needs are for the children.

I still haven't posted any info about our upcoming fundraisers becasue I'm still waiting for accurate dates for the events and locations. Please be patient and stay posted!!! Thank you!

The playground is on its way!

I received word today that the playground is being shipped as we speak from Beijing to Yongzhou City, Hunan. It should arrive at the orphange in a couple of days!!! WOW, I am so excited for them!

The Director of the orphange said she would take pictures of the playground being installed and the children and nannies enjoying it when it's completed. I will post them as soon as I get them.

Here are a few of the items we ordered for them...

We also ordered long tables and chairs for meal time and craft time, school desks/chairs, ride on cars, benches for the nannies and a few other things. I can't wait to see the pictures of the kids playing!

Are you beautiful?

Audrey Hepburn wrote the following when asked to share her beauty tips:

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, and one for helping others!

Be beautiful today!

At last...

Chris and I have finally decided we are far enough along to share our exciting news...we are in the process of adopting again! We decided in June to pursue another adoption and we are finally at the end of getting all our paperwork ready and homestudy updated. This time, we are adopting from Ethiopia and we are requesting a girl between the ages of 2 1/2 -4 years. We have started another website to keep everyone updated on this adoption so feel free to check it out at http://www.themackinnons.blogspot.com/





As for Two Homes One Heart - we have decided to focus on 2 areas international and 2 areas local. We will want to give back in any way we can to our new daughter's orphanage in Ethiopia and we also want to add more orphanages (and still support Alyssa's!!) from the city where Alyssa was born (Yongzhou City, Hunan). We will be focusing on supporting our PEI Food Bank with a baby formula drive and collecting diapers, baby cereal and school snacks for children all across the Island. We will also be focusing on the "Heart to Heart" project - collecting teddy bears and care packages for all foster children who come into care on PEI.

FYI: For the last 2 years a few friends and I have collected diapers and baby formula for our local food bank. We collected over 100 cans of formula and MANY packages of diapers both years. I talked with the coordinator of the Food Bank and these supplies only last for 3 months! There are many families with babies and toddlers who need our help in supplying them with food and diapers. Our mission for Two Homes One Heart is to help any and all children worldwide who need food, shelter, care and love. We cannot focus on international projects and forget the many children needing our care and love right here in our own communities. So, this year we are challenging our communties across PEI to collect 400 cans of forumula to supply the food bank for the whole year! We would also like to collect this many packages of formula and boxes of cereal! Can you help us? We can do this - together!!!

What you can do to help:

*purchase baby/children items each time your grocery shop
we are looking for large cans of formula (no name brand costs about $15.00 at Superstore, Sobey's and Walmart), large packages of diapers (mostly size 3 & 5), boxes of baby cereal, and/or snacks for school lunches (juice boxes, fruit cups, fruit-to-go, cheese & crackers, pretzels, etc...)

*collect toiletry items such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, journal, pens...

*donate teddy bears for boys and girls

*donate kit bags (boys and girls)

*join us for one of our fundraising events - chinese cooking classes, car rally, dinner/auction (I will be posting details on these events in the next week!!)

Thank you!!!

So much to do!!!!

Okay...so maybe my office isn't this bad but I'm beginning to feel a little overwhelmed..........

There is so much going on with Two Homes One Heart right now that I'm finding it hard to keep everything together! It's all good but it requires so much work. We have 2 weeks left of summer vacation so I'm trying to spend as much time with the kids as I can! I really can't believe how quickly the summer went!

We are in the process of writing a charity proposal to get our charity status so that requires a lot of decision making. We need to have a board, we need concrete mission statements, goals and programs.

We have several fundraisers in the beginning stages (chinese cooking classes, car rally, banquet dinner and auction....) and we are trying to find dates, locations and PEOPLE to help organize the events.

We are in the process of communicating with other orphanages in China to see what their needs are in relation to food, clothing, foster care, medical care, etc....

I am still waiting to hear back from Director Lei to see if I am able to go to China. I am very stressed about the financial obligation of this because Chris and I are in the process of something very special and it's going to cost us...oh, say...about 20 grand! So, now I'm not sure where that leaves me and the trip to China. Of course, I still want to go with all my heart! We are praying for God's direction in all these decisions, decisions, decisions!!!

If you are interested in joining our Two Homes One Heart team, please email me - we would love to have more help and ideas. Even if it's just to help out with one (or two!) events. We can give you a little to do or a lot - it's up to you!

A different perspective...

A different perspective on the question post I wrote about the other day....



This morning I was reading some articles written by adoptive parents on the adoption experience and QUESTIONS they get from children and adults. There was a story written almost like my encounter in my last post, only the adoptive mother in the article was upset by the child's questions. She thought the child was being nosy and inconsiderate in her questions. I guess for me, I realize a lot of the questions from children come from their own insecurities. They worry about whether their parents will give them up. For several months after we adopted Alyssa, our Dylan (then 6) would ask us "Are you going to let me be adopted by a Chinese family?" It is too difficult for a child to comprehend the "WHY" of adoption and so children want to make sure the reasons our children are adopted don't apply to their lives. Does that make sense?
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I just really want to be as open and honest about adoption as I can- I want adoption to be seen by our community as a wonderful experience, not a "tragic event" in Alyssa's life. I want Alyssa to be confident in her place in our family and in our community. The more people I can talk to about adoption and set the record straight - the better!!! And trust me, I've had some doozies of questions! The worst one (and I've been asked by many people) - "which ones are your real children? Are they all adopted?" Okay folks, do they look fake!!!! Of course, they are all my real children! Even in these situations, I use the opportunity to talk about how each child (any child!) is equally as loved, special and important in our family.

It doesn't get any more real than this!!!

Questions, Questions, Questions!

I had some very sweet, interesting questions asked today about Alyssa's adoption. I always welcome questions from people - I use every opportunity to share about adoption and to tell people about the needs of orphans. Most times, people are very sincere in their questioning and have a true desire to know about adoption. There are other times when people are being insensitive and provide me with very inaccuarate information they've heard or "learned" about adoption and orphans. Still, I don't mind this, I can use these opportunities to share the truth about why families adopt and the plight of children around the world. If I didn't want questions about our adoption, we would not have chosen to adopt a child of different nationality!

BUT, today, I had the most sincere questions asked of me. Alyssa and I were at the park playing and there was a group of kids there - probably between the ages of 6-10 (their parents weren't there). This is kind of how the question - answer period went between the kids and I...

First little girl asked me, "Why is she brown and you're white?"

Me: "She is from China and I'm from Canada"

All the other children come over at this point and start asking me questions at once...

Kids: "WOW, does she know all the chinese restaurants in town?!"

Me (laughing): Well, we do eat at a lot of chinese restaurants - her daddy and I love chinese food but Alyssa likes chicken nuggest and fries"

All the kids yell, "Me too!"

Kids: "Why is she with you?"

Me: "We adopted her. She didn't have a mommy and daddy to take care of her and we really wanted to be her mommy and daddy so we decided to adopt her as our child"

Kids: "How could she be born without a mommy and daddy?"

Me (thinking...oh great...the birds and the bees!!!): "Well, she was born from a lady in China but that lady wasn 't able to take care of Alyssa."

Kids: "But why not?"

Me: "Sometimes grown-ups aren't able to take care of their children - maybe the lady was too young, or maybe she didn't have money to feed her baby - there can be lots of reasons why someone can't keep their babies. She loved her baby and wanted someone to take care of her so she said she could be adopted"

Kids: "where did she live if she didn't have a mommy in china?"

Me: "She lived in an orphanage. It's a big house where lots of children live and nannies take care of them. "

Kids: "Like on Big Brother? There's a nanny on that show!" (I'm not sure if this is true because I don't watch Big Brother but how funny that she said that!)

Kids: "So now you're her mommy?"

Me: "Yup. She is my daughter and I'm her mother"

The kids all look at Alyssa, smile and go play as if nothing was talked about.

Two Weeks in Africa, or China or wherever...

Remember the children...remember the love of Jesus...

Johannesburg to Capetown

the plane had barely touched down

she was taking photos for the friends back home

this was always where she felt her heart belonged

and she was finally here

the sky was bright and clear
two weeks....and we all can feel the calling

two weeks...to make the world a little smaller

and so a girl got on a plane

for two weeks in Africa

Johannesburg to Houston

she came home on a mountain

but school was starting, things kept moving on

before you knew it, seven years had gone

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she found a picture of her standing, smiling

arms around the starving kids

she swore to not forget...

she swore to not forget

and if we follow our dear sun

to where the stars are not familiar…
faces turn to numbers

numbers fall like manna from the sky

why, oh why? oh Father, why?

one village in Malawi now has water running pure and clean

one church alive in Kenya’s full of truth and love and medicine

We put the walls up, but Jesus keeps them standing

He doesn’t need us, but He lets us put our hands in

so we can see His love is bigger than you and me

Written and performed by Caedmon's Call (Two Weeks in Africa)

A delicious meal!

Stir Fried Romaine, Corn & Pine Nuts, Steamed Buns, Shrimp Dumplings, Honey Garlic Ribs, Spicy Chicken Stirfry, Pork & Rice Balls, Chinese Tea

Wendy and her children, Yvonne and Tiger, invited us all over the other day for a traditional Chinese meal. WoW! We had such a great time visiting with each other and tasting some really delicious food. Wendy and her children moved to PEI last January from Beijing. She and her husband also have a deep passion for the orphans in China and are so supportive of our family and Two Homes One Heart. Our China Adopt group here in PEI is starting a playgroup for families who have adopted children from China and Wendy will be teaching them mandarin. We are all excited about this!

Wendy is also going to be hosting Chinese Cooking Classes this Fall with 100% of the proceeds going to Two Homes One Heart - helping the children in Alyssa's orphanage. I will let you know the date, location and time. Her cooking is fabulous so you won't want to miss out on this!!!!

Steamed or "stuffed" buns

Shrimp Dumplings

Pork & Rice Balls

Wendy - our fabulour chef!

Lemonade anyone??

Like, really...who can resist this?!!

We finally received our lemonade stand from Sunkist (www.sunkist.com/takeastand) - they are giving out free lemonade stands to the first 10,000 children who pledge to give all their profit to charity. Caleb and Dylan pledged to give all the money to Two Homes One Heart...how sweet of them :-)

Alyssa and I set up tonight for the first test try and we did great! We went to a baseball game for 1/2 hour and then to Caleb and Dylan's soccer game for 1/2 hour. We made $51.61 which we were thrilled with. I had made 4 dozen cookies and we sold out! We are going to buy one of those coolers that keep things frozen for 3 days and then we can sell freezies and popscicles, too. It's really quite a lot of fun! We are going to try to do a couple a week (sports games are a really great place to set up!) and then set up a few times at local businesses.

Alyssa serving her customers!

Our friend, Jacob, enjoying cookies and lemonade! Thanks, Jacob!

EXCITING NEWS!

We had a great meeting on Monday for Two Homes One Heart. We were able to share ideas, shed a few tears, and come up with a plan to help even more children through Two Homes One Heart.

The exciting news is...a local law firm has agreed to do all the work in getting our charity status PRO BONO! This takes a lot of time, a lot of headaches and a lot of money. We are so thankful to the local firm who agreed to do this and work on behalf of all the children we will be able to help. Having charity status gives Two Homes One Heart credibility and will allow more individuals and businesses to support us financially as we can give income tax receipts! THANK YOU!!!!! God is so good!

Two awesome fundraisers we are working on are:

Car Rally - to be held early Fall (probably in September) so stay tuned for the date. We will have teams compete on a fun, challenging race across the Island!!!

Charity Auction & Dinner with a beautiful choir cantata for entertainment - the dinner will be catered and will be an experience of fine dining with a beautiful atmosphere. We will be having a PEI choir perform amazing music to entertain while you eat. There will also be an Auction of items from China and Ethiopia - scarves, purses, jewlery and other items handmade in both countries. We will also be framing artwork from children living in the orphanages in both China and Ethiopia. It will be a very special night honoring the children needing families and care. We hope to raise a lot of money at this event! It is going to be a really beautiful night. We will keep you posted on location, date and price of tickets!!!

Who will hear their cries?

This video is a reminder of why we do what we do. My favorite line of the whole video is "Each one has a name" - these children are real. My daughter, who I adore and love with my whole being, was one of these children. Please pray about how you can get involved and hear the cries of these children. Together, we can be their voices!