Earthquake Update: 7/12/08

Sixty- nine days ago life was normal in Sichuan.

Sixty-eight days ago their world turned upside down.

As we have watched this situation unfold, we have been witness to a tremendous, and humbling, outpouring of support from our donors. We have received donations from groups, corporations, individuals, and churches, as well as donations from children who gave their allowance to help the children in China. Each and every donation given for this cause is very important to us, as is each and every donor.

We have been working diligently to use the funds that have been entrusted to us in a way that will honor our donors' intentions. The first thing we did was send a large shipment of formula to Chongqing Civil Affairs for distribution to any baby who needed it. At that time we started working on our long-term relief plan. We have investigated many, many options but have not yet found the right project. Are we being picky? Perhaps, but here is why:

• We want to make sure that any project we begin we are able to follow through to the end. The children we will help deserve that.
• We want to be sure we know where every dollar of every donation is going and that it is making a real and tangible difference. Our donors deserve that.

The Chinese government is doing an amazing job of taking care of the immediate needs of the children impacted. The outpouring of support, both financially and in volunteer hours, that the Chinese people have donated has been amazing. Even the children in our programs throughout China donated the little they had to help. We had been moving forward with plans to help foster children who were newly orphaned due to this tragedy, but we recently got the wonderful news that the vast majority of children impacted were able to be reunited with at least one relative.

The effects of this earthquake will be felt for years to come. Some of the effects have been seen already but others won’t be seen for quite some time. Please be patient as we continue to work with those on the ground investigating our options for us. We have wonderful, compassionate people in place working with us, and we are confident that together we will be able to provide true, long-term relief to the children in need.