Great Progress!

With 4 days left to go & multiple chipin issues I was starting to panic but even through it all I still have managed to get donations for Reece's Rainbow! Chipin is at $1,572.42 & with additional donations we have just $19,170.46 to go!!!!!!!! Still a long ways away but I know we can do it!!! To make it I NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ALL YOU CAN TO EVERYONE!!! TWITTER, FACEBOOK, BLOGGING, ANY METHOD POSSIBLE just DO IT!!! Today & yesterday alone their have been two retweets for my goal by well known people! 

Their lives are dependant on YOU!!! You just never know, when someone might fall in love with either one or go on to adopt another child listed on Reece's Rainbow because YOU SHARED. Which brings me to share this if any of you live in the local Elk Grove area Please share this with your friends!! Feb 4th from 11am-11pm when you present this flyer in person or share this photo on your phone 20% will go to Reece's Rainbow! 

If you can also pray chipin will no longer have issues that would be awesome!!! If chipin is down please be sure to come back to donate! If your tecnology challenged or have friends who wish to donate via check made out to Reece's Rainbow please send your donations to:
Reece's Rainbow
PO Box 4024
Gaithersburg, MD 20885
PLEASE PUT IN SUBJECT LINE-Leahs 21 for 21
Thanks so much!

His Love Never fails!

Tears in my eyes as I count statistics & how God's Love never fails! Almost everyday since January 17th their has been at least one donation a day & my friends keep overwhelming me more than word's can say! To Start I want to say an appreciated thanks to all my family members & friends spreading the word! Aunt Kelly, thanks for caring about my passion for the orphans & taking the time to write an email out to your friends about what I am doing. Dad, you have also been a great support sending out emails during two of my crazy endeavors so thank you for all you do!
Steph & Mom, thanks for being so enthusiastic spreading the word about the fundraiser every way you can!
Lastly, Rebekah thanks for not only spreading the word daily but also by creating this wonderful way to spread the word!

 Without all your help, the chipin would not be at $1,572.42!!! Thank you to the 19 people who have donated so far whether it be $10, $21, or $210 every little bit helps! Thank you also to my two awesome friends who have given me money towards the goal! Now for some fun stats on the chipin.
Out of 19 donors,
10 I have met/know or is friends with someone in my family
5 I know online through the Reeces Rainbow community
& 5 total strangers I don't even know.
With ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT, WE STILL HAVE $19,291.58 to go!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!! These girls are counting on us!

    

Leaps & bounds!

Well today the chipin jumped by $362 hooray! With what I have collected personally, we are now just $19,501.58 away!! I want to thank each & every one of you for donating! It truly means the world to me that strangers, friends, & family have come together to help make this happen! I'm also excited for the local fundraiser we have setup at Leatherbys which is a local Ice Cream place that is well known here. 

Still so far from the goal but I know we can do it! I did not ever think I could raise $220 in change from friends back when I did my change drive for Celine in Oct 2011.

But with the help of my friends we did it so I think we can do it again!!!

Big step

We have reached a big step in the right direction between the chipin, Birthday "gifts", & saving we have raised $1,136.58 out of $21,000!!! I hate saying this but with just a week til my Birthday we still have a good long way to go! Only $19,863.58 is needed to reach that!! I am out of ideas & I have nothing to Giveaway or do an auction with. 
I keep on praying & hoping for this to be POSSIBLE!!!
If you have not donated yet due to the chipin being down please do so. PLEASE KEEP SHARING & SPREADING THE WORD NEAR & FAR!!!! 

God laid this on my heart for a reason. I may not ever understand why but I want to try my hardest to make this happen!

This is for all the "Pink Princesses" out there in the world just waiting to be loved! 

What Life can be like

I know I have shared this before but in honor of my 21st Birthday & what I am doing for my Birthday I thought I would share this video I did with my siblings a year ago. This is what life can be like if Celine or Cora Lynne lived in this country.

For you see if Celine & Cora Lynne had siblings they would get to enjoy countless activities whether thats playing family football or watching a movie together. If they were given a chance they could shine like my sister has.

Despite her challenges she faces other than Down Syndrome "Pink Princess" lives life to the fullest!

Can't you imagine these girls living the same life?

Life, Love, A family

You may wonder why do I care?

"Pink Princess" is one of the many reasons I care. Had she born a few years earlier doctors might have urged my parents to put her in a mental institution. I just can't possibly imagine someone like my sister being tied down in a crib so she won't escape. 
For you see had I not cared this boy, would soon have found himself in a mental institution without any hope.

The biggest reason I care is I want orphans to have the kind of Love like my family shares with me. I want them to know the Joy that having a family can bring. Love shares no boundaries family is the ones you love most whether they were born in your family or not. It does not matter what country they come from they all deserve a life a family can bring!

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widowsin their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

For you see, no matter if they are in a "good" orphanage or not nothing can compare than the love of a family. These kids, won't have that chance unless they get adopted.

God commands us to help the widows & the orphans. PRAY, ADVOCATE, ADOPT!!! 

You may think your too young to make a difference but whether your 12, 16, or 21 YOUR NEVER TOO YOUNG TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! 

If I had thought that almost 3 years ago at 18 years old would I be here today asking for your help to raise $21,000? I would have run as fast & as far away as I could possibly run to!

Could I even have pictured myself a blogger & that I could have met all these amazing new friends through a passion I could not even begin to imagine?

God has been so gracious & he is another of the reasons why I care so much about the orphans!

Look what Love can do for many of these orphans! This is me holding Olivia at her homecoming May 2012

And here she is 8 months later

Does she not look like a complete different girl?
How about Misha? Him & I May 2012

Him with Olivia 8 months later on the left (after) & the day they both met their families on the right (before)

All these kids need is a little bit of LOVE & TLC that a family can bring!!!! Now you know why I care why not help so these girls can find forever families!

Getting there

We are getting there slowly but surely! Their has been chipin delays but that's not going to stop me! Don't worry if the site does not work please come back & try again!
Last I checked it was really close to $900 by at least $20 or less! So hopefully it will work again soon!

Thanks again to all who have donated thus far!!!! I never could do this without your help!!

A Big leap of Faith

It took a big leap of faith to start this somewhat insane idea but look what God has done through prayers & support so far! 

$816.42 on the chipin

$36 I have saved personally & gift from a friend

I never can say THANK YOU ENOUGH!!!!!

That's very good news that we have made steady progress so far, BUT I NEED YOUR HELP TO GET THIS ACCOMPLISHED cause my Birthday is in 12 days(Feb 4th)! I am working on a local fundraiser or two, & contacting any form of media I can! I will be posting a video once I have it all sorted out & I hope you will HELP ME BY SPREADING THE WORD!!!

Feel free to use this picture that my sweet sister made to get the word out via fb,email, twitter, WHATEVER WAY YOU WANT TO SPREAD THE WORD PLEASE DO SO!

Finally, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY NOT ONLY FOR THE GOAL TO BE REACHED BUT A CERTAIN PLACE TO REOPEN IT'S DOORS!!!

These girls can't say thank you enough & so can I! This is going to be the best Birthday I ever could have asked for!

Having faith

I am having faith & hoping that somehow these girls WILL FIND FAMILIES!!!

Faith is hard sometimes when your heart breaks for these kids stuck without HOPE.

But all you can do is keep praying EVERY SINGLE DAY that somehow they will be rescued!

Lord, I pray for these 4 in particular please let something IMPOSSIBLE BE POSSIBLE AGAIN! Amen.

In the meantime I continue to press forward even through uncertainty & even though the odds are highly stacked against me!

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!! $241.42 would not have been possible without your love & support for my goal!!! When this is over I am printing the list of names so I can include you in the girls scrapbooks I have for them!!

14 days

Just 14 days til my Birthday!!! $231 has been donated & I have $15 saved so far!! 

God knew the plans he had for me from the moment I was born. I never could have imagined moving from MO to CA but as we approach our 8th year of living here I could not say thank you God enough. I never would have found my passions including caring for the least of these. 

 Today I am reflecting back to this journey God brought me on. It all started when a friend of a friend posted a blog link to a local family adopting a little girl named Sofia.

Little did I know as I followed their Journey I would be hooked for life. I started looking at the Reece's Rainbow website & after seeing several blogs telling about what Eastern Europe is still like for kids with special needs I knew I had to do something to help. My eyes were opened & soon I started falling in love with a precious boy named Quinton.

I started fundraising for him little by little early fall 2010. November 1st 2010 I got the wonderful news HE FOUND HIS FAMILY! I'm so glad he has been home for over a year now! Soon after falling in love with Quinton I fell in love with an adorable smile that absolutely stole my heart.

Her grant was about $3,033 before I had even started fundraising for her! I soon started to fundraise for her too bit by bit. Another had already signed up to be her Christmas warrior that year so I chose Quinton who found a family when it first started. So I helped Quintons family & Celine til mid december when new kids got listed & that's when Cora Lynne caught my eyes.

Over the past almost 3 years of advocating, praying & fundraising for the girls I always have a plan of getting there little by little helps. You can see that reflection already in Brandis(53) grant & Cora Lynnes started at $0 when she got listed compared to Celine who had a grant already when I found her.

From the yard sales/baked goods

to the crazy consignment sales

To insane Giveaways

To amazing matching grants we have been through some WILD TIMES!!! BUT I WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN FOR THE SAKE OF YOU BOTH & ALL THE OTHER ORPHANS I ADORE!!!

WE WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!! I JUST KNOW IT!

A tad closer & Awareness campaign!

So as you well know, about my Birthday goal I wanted to happily share we are up to $231 on the chipin so only $20,769 more to go! Thanks to all my friends who have donated! Every little bit helps!!
My amazing sister today came up with this image to help spread the word! Since she did this I am hoping to go viral with this to even the local media & newspapers! I am also going to be working on a video to go along with it so I will post that here when I get it done. Please feel free to spread the word!

Inspiration

Inspiration what is that? a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation.
It comes in many forms it can come from a dear friend who blogs her heart out & encourages you when you need it most.

It can come from my sister who dances her heart & soul out.

Or it can be anyone who you admire including the girls who still wait on the other side of the world

No matter who is your inspiration remember to thank God first for that person cause he is the best inspiration of all!

Thanks to a new friend the chipin is at $210 yahoo! Tears of Joy over here that only $20,790.00 stands in the way of the goal! I know God will make it happen!
Some of my friends who have been inspirations to me next to God is my Reeces Rainbow friends Patti & Julia. Every time they both blog it keeps me going on this road of advocating. So I thank them both cause without your blogs & words I don't know where I would be!