Help Needed, friends

Dear friends,

Voting starts at noon on August 1

One of the photos taken by the American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA) has been selected as a finalist in a contest hosted by Global Giving!

Here is the link where you will vote: http://www.globalgiving.org/poll/vote/?pollOptionId=21. I took this photo while in Zimbabwe during a goat distribution to grandmothers who are raising AIDS orphans.

The photo which receives the most votes by noon on August 15^thwill win $1000 for the organization, plus, $3000 from matching grants, AND it will be highlighted on the Global Giving home page, which opens us up to many more donations. Voting starts at noon on August 1, so we please be ready to vote and to ask others to vote as well.
Only one vote will be accepted per email address, so voting more than once from the same email address does not count.

We ask you to please vote and to ask your friends, family and colleagues to vote for our photo, too. Emails, facebook, twitter, list serves - all these are ways you can get the word out.

Think creatively, too. You can take your laptop to a café and you can ask people to vote for us right then and there. Or, take your smartphone to work and ask all of your colleagues to vote.

On behalf of the kids,

tanya

2012 Chandler Mountain Challenge

I want to express my sincere appreciation for all the funds raised to help children affected and/or infected by AIDS in Africa through the 2012 Chandler Mountain Challenge.  We are so grateful to every single climber who climbed to raise funds for these kids.  Also, we’d like to thank Horsepens 40, the Howard Schutlz Family, Ascension Climbing and the Robertson Family and all the members of SRCFC for their commitment to the event, as well as for making the day special.

Thanks to everyone’s generosity, AFCA will provide:

1.       260 bunnies

2.       300 chicks

3.       100 packets of seeds

4.       200 HIV testing kits

5.       20 water filters for clinics

Without counting the water filters, 650 children will be affected by the generosity all all involved in the Challenge.  The bunnies, chicks and seeds will help children become self-reliant, as they receive training on how to grow their flocks, how to budget, how to care for animals, etc.  The seeds are for their gardens – between the seeds and the manure from their animals, the gardens grow nicely and the children end up with better meals.  The water filters will be placed in 16 small clinics in rural Congo, with an additional four being used at Tandala Hospital.  These will decrease the number of water-borne pathogens locals drink, thereby reducing the number of children and adults visiting the clinics for these illnesses.

We love what was accomplished and look forward to next year’s Challenge!