Kris: "After we adopted Ellie and I was in Guatemala for so long, I had a chance to see what the children, as well as those in the villages go through - how they live, what they don’t have - knowing this is the life our daughter would have had if she had lived and stayed in Guatemala. I took alot of pictures and brought them home to share with the kids. Our four youngest boys, Blake, Jacob, T.J. and Adam, sat around one night and decide they wanted to make a difference. They decided to start a foundation called the Four of Hearts, in honor of their baby sister! The Four of Hearts foundation is now a registered non-profit organization that has about 15 teenage boys and girls, along with the rest of our family, involved. The foundation is growing every day and we are adding new team members. Some of the team is out raising awareness, some are doing change drives and other fundraisers, and some are working on Eagle Scout projects to benefit the foundation! It is amazing to watch a group of teens in this day and age set aside so much of their time and efforts toward helping others! The goals of the foundation are to raise at least $40,000 by June of 2010, and travel to Guatemala, where they plan to visit a village in Santa Rosa and build a school house and community center! Another project they plan to do is to build several houses in the community. Most of the people in the village live in stick and dirt homes with dirt floors, some are lucky enough to have some wood or tin on the houses to keep weather out. Their hope is that the school and community center will be a safe place of refuge for those families during hurricanes and at other times. They also plan to provide water purification systems for each family for clean water! They have had one shoe drive and gathered over 100 pair of shoes, they have been gathering clothing to take down for the families. The boys have several fundraisers set up and are working on other ideas. They are going to 2 different high schools and hope to set up a competition between the schools to raise money for the foundation. We also received information from an adoption mom I met who has family in Guatemala City - they own a small church and have some needs we are trying to help them with. We had a child’s wheelchair donated to us as well as a walker for a couple of people who go to the church there, and are excited to get those to them soon! The boys who are doing Eagle Scout projects are putting together school bags full of supplies for each child, hygiene kits for the adults and kids, and infant kits for the babies. We are so proud of all of them and pray every day that they will be able to accomplish their goals! If anyone would like more information on their foundation and progress, or would like to help out, check out the website, run by my son Blake!
(Click on the picture to visit Four of Hearts website and donate to the best cause I know)
Kara: "I think sometimes, when we go through trials, or are having problems with kids, or we are just plain tired, we need to “go to our happy place”. Where is your happy place? If you could go there for one whole day, what would you do?"
Kris: "Well… that’s something I don’t dare to dream about! I would love to be sitting in a lounge chair on the beach under a palm tree, the wind slightly blowing and enjoying a cold frozen yogurt and reading my book, while I listen to the waves hit the beach. NICE……awe! I feel better already just thinking about it! Though I LOVE my mountains, the beach is just what I need to relax. Unfortunately there isn’t any place like this in Utah, at least no palm trees, so I will have to settle for my back deck- it will have to suffice!"
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2 comments:
Kris is definitely an "Incredible Woman;" and thanks so much to you both for sharing her story :) It's been very inspiring to read!
It is very inspiring....Kara,thank you so much for sharing.
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