Dear friends,
After months of relative peace at Little Flower and being able to just
focus on managing the 24/7 care of the 185 children in our three locations, I
am now back to being up at night worried. We’re looking at a
rapidly approaching funding cliff coming in September.
We’d been clicking along rather nicely: (1) Our
fully legal status in China thanks
to the link-up with the Beijing Chunmiao Children’s Aid Foundation and my seat
on the board of directors there along with some other wonderful directors; (2)
great interaction with the government at all levels—again very much thanks
to Chunmiao colleagues—and our ability to receive tax-deductible donations in
both China and the USA; and (3) the deepening growth and development in maturity, insightfulness and talent
of our Little Flower management team, who still amaze me with their tireless
effort and devotion in an environment of endless challenges. In short, many
things have been going well.
But now my old adversary has
returned…worry and fear about money!
The problem is medical expenses. In 2013, we spent a little over RMB 2
million on medical expenses (USD 330,000), but this year, we
are not even halfway through the year and have spent over RMB 3 million (USD
490,000).
Some of our kids—all abandoned or orphaned—have medical problems that
are relatively simple and inexpensive to treat—cleft lip and palate, clubfoot,
and minor heart defects. But others are complex and incredibly
expensive--premature birth, serious heart defects, gastro-intestinal birth
defects and more. We are now seeing more and more complex cases, more expensive
procedures, and old reliable sources of funding that have disappeared.
This is Yan, a 16-month-old who
recently came to us with brightly colored string tied around his wrist and
ankle—a traditional good luck charm for safe travels. Our dilemma can be pretty
much summed up by this little guy’s case. He needs a series of complex heart
surgeries, but his family—likely from a rural village—couldn’t pay or get
access to care and gave him up in the hope that someone could step in and save
his life. The cost of the first surgery will be RMB 60,000 (USD 10,000), not
including follow up care and possible later surgeries.
For
every month of operation, we’re working to raise US $171,000 to make sure that
the children across our projects in two cities get the 24-hour care, medical
treatments, surgeries, and education that they need. 100% of that
amount goes directly to childcare, as our administrative costs (accounting for
just 5% of our budget) are covered by specific donations each year. It’s a
massive undertaking, and your support can make a huge difference to us and the
kids we’re trying to save.
Here are a few examples of how
the funds you donate are used:
§ US$1500/month
allows us to provide surgeries at reliable Beijing hospitals with solid
surgeons, as well as follow on care at our Beijing location for children like
Xiao Yan.
§ US$700/month
enables us to provide high quality 24-hour intensive care for a prematurely
born baby in unstable condition in our Taiyuan location.
§ US$250/month
gives a loving home and 24-hour care to an intellectually-impaired child in our
Taiyuan Long-Term Care Program.
§ US$100/month
can give one of our infant care homes a new oximeter sensor, crucial to
monitoring the oxygen levels of our fragile preemies and heart babies.
§ US$50 per
month can purchase a set of five special spoon feeders for babies born with
facial clefts. We have a lot of kids in this situation and need more of these
spoons every year.
Please
click here to sign up for a monthly
donation. Our monthly
donors are crucial the stability we need to keep our services up and running
for the children in our programs. You can also fund a child's surgery by clicking here.
We're
in a really tough spot right now with the majority of our funding about to run out in
September and not much in the pipeline.
I’ve always been sort of envious
of the organizations and people who never have to lose sleep over a single
child or making budget in a single month. But I’ve always been the “here’s
a child in front of me that needs help right now” type of guy, and so that’s
why I’m here begging for help. Please
consider doing what you can.
Share
this message with anyone you know who might be in a place to support us.
Thank you for your support and encouragement. We've saved and improved the
lives of more than 2,000 children in China now, and none of that would have
been possible without your support.
We
need you now as much as ever, if not more.
Thank you, and wishing you
blessings as always!
Brent
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