GlobalGiving Project of the Month Club

Dear Project of the Month Club,

Happy New Year! In our first email of the year, we are excited to welcome 30 new people to the Project of the Month Club. These new members may have seen the Club featured over the holidays, or may have even received Club membership as a holiday gift. However you found out about the Club, we are thrilled to have you, and we are grateful for your generosity (and the generosity of those who gave to you!) 

Then we have even more good news for you. Last month, you and the other Project of the Month Club members raised a record-breaking $4,594 for Education for Children in Ningxia Province, China. The Children of Ningxia organization provides scholarships to 95 children who would otherwise not have the money to attend school. Your combined donations provided year-long scholarships for five children. The families of these children will no longer have to worry about where the money for lunches or textbooks will come from in the new year. (Chinese New Year is on January 23 this year. How wonderful that five children can look forward to school rather than manual labor this year!) 

January's featured high-impact project is called "Help These Children Avoid Further Suffering," a project by Retrak that meets the needs of children who have fled the famine-stricken areas in the Horn of Africa and are now living on the street in urban slums. "We want to be ready to act quickly as children arrive on the streets," says Anna, Retrak's project leader. "We will provide imediate care as well as offer them a real alternative to life on the streets. We will work to get these children back into a family environment." Your donations in January will be enough to put at least five homeless children into foster families in Ethiopia for a year. Thank you for giving these kids a fresh start for 2012. 

We hope that you feel gratified seeing the impact of your giving on a regular basis. Thank you again, and we look forward to updating you on the high-impact project that you will support next month!

Warm regards,

Mari and the GlobalGiving Team

Dear Project of the Month Club,

Last month, the Project of the Month Club raised $3,124 from 98 donors to Increase Food Security in Oregon, raising the supply of nutrient-rich foods for over 923 relief agencies throughout the Oregon Food Bank Network.

Your november donations supplied 7,200 meals to low-income individuals - freeing up scarce resources to cover more of life's basic necessities. The USDA ranks Oregon third in the nation for "very low food security"—the term used to describe those households that skipped meals or reduced their food intake to make ends meet.  We hope you are proud to know that your donations are helping men and women improve their living conditions for themselves and their families.

When the Oregon Food Bank Network’s Corporate Gifts Developer, Sarah, heard about your support, she said,

“It is an honor to be supported by GlobalGiving and its donors.  We are so grateful for support in our effort to help those in Oregon and Clark County, Wash.  The holidays are extremely busy for the Oregon Food Bank Network and the additional funds will allow us to distribute an additional 7,200 meals to those in need.” 

This December, your donations will go to Education for Children in Ningxia Province, China. The Children of Ningxia organization provides scholarships to 95 children who would otherwise not have the money to attend school. Ningxia is an impoverished rural province in Northwest China with the 3^rd smallest GDP in China (thanks Wikipedia). Many girls are illiterate and married off early, and both boys and girls drop out of school because their families cannot afford it. Even though primary and middle school are free in China, the associated costs—accommodation, food, school supplies etc.—end up costing families a large portion of their annual income. A donation of only $35 keeps a child in school for a month—a month without worrying about where the money for lunches or textbooks will come from.

Again, thank you for being part of the Project of the Month Club, we are so grateful for your regular contributions. It’s not too late to give the Project of the Month club as a present this holiday season. (Don't forget that a new subscription comes with a $25 GlobalGiving gift card!) 2011 is coming to a close, and your monthly support has unleashed a world of good for so many projects. We can’t wait to see the impact of your donations in 2012!

We hope that you feel gratified seeing the impact of your giving on a regular basis. Thank you again, and we look forward to updating you on the amazing project that you will support next month!

Warm regards,

Mari and the GlobalGiving Team