Meet Lyn Thomas - Team LWB

Over the next few weeks, we would like to share with you the stories of some of our wonderful supporters who are participating on Team LWB in the Marine Corps Marathon to raise funds for LWB's Foster Care Program. Meet Lyn Thomas.

My name is Lyn Thomas. I am a mother of four and a runner. I have been running for four years and love it! I am very excited about running for Love Without Boundaries as it holds a special place in my heart. I have been blessed with two children from China.

My daughter is from Hubei Province and my son is from Guangdong Province. My little girl was in foster care and for that I am thankful. She was loved and cared for by her foster mother. I feel it helped her transition to our family with ease because she understood how a family works. Hugs and kisses were not a stranger to her.

My son spent fours years in an orphanage. He has had a hard time learning how to be a kid. I wish he would have had the chance to be in foster care to learn what family is all about. I am running for Jake and for all the little angels in China that need a mother's love. Go Team LWB!

Home Sweet Home

On March 28th two young women who have lived in an orphanage their entire lives took a huge step toward independence by moving into their own apartment.
These young ladies have worked hard to graduate from high school and attend college. They are both now employed and have decided it is time to become more independent. LWB is assisting these young ladies in their endeavor by providing rent assistance, help with furnishing their apartment, and hiring a “house mom” to live with them for a time and teach them life skills such as cooking, cleaning, shopping, negotiating, and social interaction with neighbors and landlord.
As you can see, the girls had fun on their shopping spree picking out items for their new home.
We are able to help these courageous young women because of our generous donors who have supported them every step of their journey, and we want to say THANK YOU!

Karen McGinty
Shantou Education Coordinator

Pink Birthday Shoes

In the Guangdong province, we have a program called PAL, which stands for Preparation for Adult Living. It had become very clear to us as we followed children over the last four years, that many kids who grow up in orphanages don't have an opportunity to learn a lot of important life skills that a child would learn growing up with a parent. For instance, if an orphanage has a cook on staff, then chances are the kids don't get to take part in helping to prepare meals. They are usually just served the food when it is ready, and so they don't get to learn how to cook for themselves for when they enter society. Also, most orphaned children don't have access to "allowances", where they would learn the skills of saving money, spending wisely, and bargaining.

LWB is trying to tackle some of these real life issues for teenagers living in orphanages, and one of the ways, which might seem quite small, is by occasionally giving the teens a small allowance at special times like Chinese New Year, so that they can go out to the stores and markets and learn how to bargain. This year we also began giving each teen 100 rmb (about $13) on their birthday, so that they could choose the presents that would bring them the most joy on that special day but also so that they can once again have an opportunity to practice money management.

We just got in some photos from a wonderful teen's birthday. Emily has always been such a special girl to me. She had been involved in a severe accident with her legs which left her unable to attend public school when she was younger. She ALWAYS has a beautiful smile on her face and is just always so happy with any small thing she is given in life. I was really looking forward to seeing what she chose with her birthday funds.

I just love the first photo of the girls shopping because it shows what a fun afternoon they had together. After spending a GREAT deal of time in the shoe aisle (go Emily!), she decided on the following:

Cup -- 5.90 RMB

Shoes -- 39.7 rmb

bobby socks -- 6.9 rmb

T-shirt -- 19.8 rmb

Chewing gum -- 1.2 rmb

ham -- 2 rmb

Hamburger -- two. 7.9+7.9= 15.8rmb

Total: 91.3 RMB

We all wish we could have been there for her special day. And Emily...I do love those pink shoes!

Amy Eldridge

Straight From The Hearts of Our Donors!

We recently received this photo from the Qujiang orphanage in Guangdong Province. Qujiang is one of our older nutrition programs (started in early 2005), and it is the model of what I would love to see for every orphanage. We send the very best formula there, and the director was so impressed with the results that he now buys the same brand as well. The results have been so gratifying, with healthy babies and the most positive reports from parents who adopt "our" kids!

I always love to see the brand new babies, and it is so wonderful to watch their progress over the the months that follow. I got a little sentimental the other day, and thought about how this baby's first bottle came straight from the hearts of our donors, mostly other parents who have previously adopted from Qujiang. Hey little baby, welcome to the family!

Jan Champoux
Nutrition Director