A.N.P.O.S. Foundation
"A New Pair Of Shoes!"
In July of 2005, I stated this Foundation in one of those 'life moments' when you say, "enough is enough...my life is so good, my sons' life is so good, we are so darn lucky..we can't just keep 'receiving' unless we are giving back, I need to figure this out and make something happen or it's all out of balance".
So it started with the very simple hopes of helping any child between the ages of 5 & 18, living in poverty here in Seattle, as well as helping kids in Africa, Iraq or Afghanistan that live in "like" situations. As we help a child here in Seattle/locally, we reach out to another child in another country in the belief that we are now very much a global community, and what is good for one child here, is equally good and beneficial and important to a child in a country on a continent a million miles away...that we are all inter-related in our lives and needs, in our joys and pain.
Each child here that we reach, will know/be told on the day of our outreach to them, that because of them...because of their beauty and importance on this planet...by their very existance, that we are together, reaching out to another child in say...Sudan. It's the philosophy of empowerment that we hope to instill in this message. In learning more about the ONE CAMPAIGN, an organization who we align with, along with a couple of other grassroots foundations in Afghanistan and Africa on the global aspect of the Foundation, a simple amount of $16. a year is enough to radically change the future of one child, paying for a full year of tuition, books and uniforms for that child. Without this tuition and the ability to go to school, that child is heartbreakingly earmarked for a cruel life of suffering and subsistant living. Well, we can do that! We can provide that, why couldn't we? And, shouldn't we?
The children that we find to help here in Seattle, will be brought to our attention by the various institutions: First Place, Treehouse, Elementary School Counselors & Principles, Clergy, and concerned Citizens in our community. We want to know who those kids are and where they are and what it is they need! We know that their needs are constant, as is any growing child's, but our main focus here is to help a kid with a very simple, but crucial self esteem item or situation, hence our name "a new pair of shoes". Do you remember what that meant to you as a child? What a new, cool outfit or a new pair of shoes meant to you growing up? Think about the distractions that kids in poverty are facing daily as they go to school, things that might seem to be trivial to us, but are HUGE to them and their peers. We want to change that. We want to help the child that never gets the "latest & greatest", whether it be the an impractical thing or a necessity thing. They just might with us! Hopefully, it might help, make them feel better for that day, week, month....maybe feel more connected with their peers? How about a homeless child who doesn't get to wear clean clothes and feels so self-conscious about it that he skips school? We can help. We should help. We will help! |
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Or, how about a child that can't afford to get their hair cut and is getting teased by the other kids about it. Or, the right shoes to play on a team? Or a dress for a school dance, or...I could go on and on. You get the picture. A.N.P.O.S. wants to know where these kids are that could use a hug and an awesome gift. We want to let them know that people out there really care about them, think they are valuable and important....and that there are many kids in the world that are like them...and that we're together on this.
A.N.P.O.S. volunteers will personally go out and buy or organize/arrange and distribute these gifts, take the time to talk with the kids....let them know how to ask for help, other organizations and outreach programs that are open to them....identify their 'sister/brother' child in the other country that they have helped by just 'existing' here. We will start slowly, but hopefully be a phone call away from really making an impact on raising that self esteem, that is so often impacted and impaired by the situations they find themselves in. We need to help. I know so many wonderful and generous, beautiful compassionate people that I can call on to help with this...friends, mothers, business leaders, other real estate agents. We have already identified our African outreach ambassadors in Christian Cloud. As a model who travels internationally, she can reach many people and organizations abroad. Malcolm Gowans is from South Africa and has identified organizations in his community that have already set up relief efforts in South African townships. Watch for us.....watch for A New Pair Of Shoes Foundation and please call to help! We are a non-profit organization, and your donation is 100% tax deductible.
How do we fund this? I will donate 10% of all my commissions to ANPOS. We will do fundraisers, holiday drives....whatever we need to do. We can start small....every single child we reach, to us, is BIG. |
Windermere Real Estate/Capitol Hill, Inc.
1112 - 19th Avenue East Seattle, WA 98112
206.718.3608
Seattle-Capitol Hill-Roslyn
evewhitman@windermere.com
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