Letter Writing Ideas

I love the idea of a laminated leaf! It is autumn in Atlantic Canada right now, and I am writing a letter to them about all the things we do in the fall, and about all the glorious colors God has painted across the landscape here… I am including photos, but I LOVE the idea of including a leaf too ) Thank you!

My kids (Honduras, 3 girls) seem to be very interested in our holidays, so I wrote them a very long letter with one paragraph for each holiday we celebrate. The paragraphs were in chronological order, from January to December. I explained what the holiday was, how it is generally celebrated here in Canada, and what our family traditions are, etc. I included a mini calendar (the ones with photos of puppies and kittens that they’ll enjoy!), and marked the holidays and their birthdays on the pages. I didn’t think they’d have a calendar at home, so I thought they might enjoy it.

I bought some scrapbooking stickers. They are layered and have the little tiny bobble eyes. They aren’t foam, but the pieces to stick them together are. Would these make it to the kids?

Hi Crystal.
I have sent similar stickers to my children. They seem to be OK as long as they are under 1/8″ thick.
The wiggle eyes seem to be OK if they are very small or reasonably flat.
I rarely pay more than $1 for the items I send to my kids.
If the stickers were inexpensive then I would just send them.
If they were expensive, then I would call customer service and make sure they would get to your child.
Have a great day!
Carol

RE: Foam Crafts

I took an Advocate Training Class (about a week ago) and they stated that Foam Crafts were acceptable, I even verified with them at the end of the call and they said yes they are okay. It will come out in the next updated list on the website which should be soon. I was excited because I had some that I had purchased and wanted to send, but had also heard both acceptable and not acceptable; so my foam project is still on for my kids!
Blessings,
Marci

Hi,
What is everyoen else sending their child for christmas?
I’m going to send some christmas bauble cards that she and her siblings can make and decorate (with sequins,stciekers ect that Im sending) and give to their friends.
Do they have any glue at the centres?
To string the 2 parts of the cards together there is a small bit of elaticated chord. Would this get through the regulations?
Also, the idea about the chirstmas mandalas is very good.
I thought that a small advent calendar was also a good idea
Any other ideas?

I have a question and I sure hope someone can take time to answer me. My email is cheap_socks and that is @yahoo. The Compassion website says it is no longer able to mail plastic items. My question is… does that include the clear plastic packaging that stickers sometimes come in? I also have a small paper game of pin the tail on the donkey and it is packaged in clear plastic. Thanks

the things you just mentioned are fine
they mean plastic molded things etc..it is alot of $ for heavy things and some things just won’t make it thru customs

Clear plastic packaging is fine. I have volunteered with processing sponsor letters and that kind of plastic can go through.
When your letter gets to Compassion they will take all of the stickers and other items that you send and will put them into a separate envelope that they will then staple to your letter. I have seen many stickers in plastic go in, and I even saw one person who had sent a flat plastic bracelet. That would have gone through, but it had metal snaps so it had to be sent back to the sponsor.

I want to send some cards and decorations in a small sealed plastic bag (like the food freezer bags.) Would this get through or do I need to trasnfer them to another paper packet???

Also, if anyone is sending a card to their child for christmas or any other celebration, make or buy some others which the child can hand out to their family and friends.

Do the children have glue they can use at the compassion centre?
So they can stick down sequins and other decorations ect…

I sent little foam stickers to one of my children. I had read before that the thin foam stuff was okay.

I have small wooden airplanes that can be assempled. I removed the small metal clip on the front of them. If they have access to a paperclip at the projects it could be used to “fly” it. Can that be sent with instructions to a child? They are not more than a 1/4″ thick.

I just mailed my Christmas cards today…I had handmade them all and decorated with stickers and a story about the birth of Jesus. For an extra little present I sent them all sticker albums to put all the stickers in that I send them in the letters. I used to make hand made bracelets out of string to send, but it seems there are restrictions now. It’s good to hear that foam can go through again.

my parents are the ones sponsoring Armando, but i found out that i can “sponsor” him as well. I don’t particularly have to give him money, but I can do stuff that my parents can’t. for example, my mom was just saying how she was feeling guilty that she wasn’t corresponding with our sponsor child. I can write letters to him and get to know him, and be sponsoring him too. so i encourage all you kids to get involved! Send them a letter, it’s easy!

Abby, that is so great! I’ve heard of several families doing that…the parents pay the cost of sponsorship, and the kids get involved in the writing process, or are set up at the beginning to be the correspondent. Whether Armando thinks of you being the sponsor, or seeing your entire family as his sponsor family, doesn’t matter as much as knowing that someone cares enough about him to write to him and pray for him. Keep on doing what you’re doing!

I’m doing the same as Abbey and it’s such a good idea. Also, it can be nice for the child you sponser to have someone near their own age write to them.
I had good fun putting together the cards and gifts to send to my familys sponser, Linda.
I recenly emailed compassion to get a correspondence child. I think that a lot of children who really do care would love to do this if they knew about it.

I sponsor Samuel, who is 9 and lives in Bolivia. He writes the sweetest letters and tells me about how he wants to be a lawyer and loves to play soccer. I am trying to decide what to send in my next letter, and I think I’ll look for soccer cards. And bandaids, stickers, and an outline map of the US with louisiana colored in, because he asked where i lived =] does anyone know if we are allowed to find people going on the Compassion “meet your child” trips and send stuff for our own sponsored children? because i am about to be in college and there is no way i can afford to visit him so yeah. email me if you know! superchick92@cebridge.net

Paige–if you haven’t yet, join OurCompassion.com and check out the groups for people who sponsor kids in Bolivia. You can ask people there if anyone is going on a trip. I sent a gallon-sized bag of goodies with someone who was going to Peru, and she left it at the country office to be delivered to my child.

And by the way, I’m in Louisiana too!

I have read a few comments that say money was sent for the child or family. I did not think it was possible to send cash directly to the family so it could be used for all. I assumed my contribution was pooled and all children in the specific center were given the same things when anyone needed it. Only the items in my letters were given to my sponsored child.

Linda, that’s what happens with the monthly sponsorship funds and Christmas gifts…the money is pooled and items are bought for all the children. Food, school supplies, clothes, etc. But you can send financial gifts through your online Compassion account, to be used for your child’s birthday, or just any time of year for a child or family gift. The money will be routed through Compassion and items will be bought in the local market, so that the community benefits as well. Compassion/church staff will meet with the family to discuss how the money will be used.

Hi.
I am new to this forum.
We have a soon-to-be 16 year old girl that we sponsor from Ecuador.
She has written to us twice. We have written to her twice. Due to a variety of circumstances, I have not written to her nearly as much as I would have liked. Reading through all these posts has been inspiring.

Our sponsor child is sponsored by us as a family. Meaning, our children intend to participate in communicating. These comments have given me some good ideas to help my children.

Question: One of my girls loves to make friendship braclets. It was suggested early on in these comments for a gift. Great idea. Great way for my daughter to participate.
Are friendship bracelets allowed? I am a bit confused. I know it says no clothing, ribbon so I am not certain about the bracelet.

Thanks.

Deanna,
Go ahead and try sending the frendship bracelets. I just helped process some letters and many sponsors sent 3d items that were allowed to go through. Just make sure that the bracelets are flat, and that there is no metal on them. Ribon that was wrapped around a card was allwed to go through as well.

Also, anything that has to be taken out will be donated to Operation Christmas Child, so a child somewhere will enjoy it.

i want to share that in most of my letters, i write ,,thank you to who ever is translating this letter.. i’m sure it gets boring doing their job..some appreciation makes everyone feel better..

also, i got a letter today from my boy age 10, he said he always thanks God for a virtus sponsor that is not lazy in writing to him…that was so sweet.

For Christmas, I am sending a small calendar with pictures of Colorado on it (our home state), as well as Chistmas stickers, school pictures of my kids, and a Christmas card. I also donated $ online. I did something similar last year. I was amazed at how much my child was able to puchase with the $20 I sent last year – a dress, shoes, meat and more. Anything we send makes a big differnce in their lives.

How late is “too late” to send something for Christmas?

If you want to send money for this christmas, it needs to be sent before the end of the week. (October 31)

If you are wanting to send a letter with stickers and paper gifts for christmas, I would say that it is never “too Late.” But the sooner you send it the faster your child will receive it.

It depends on the country I think, since ones that are farthe away might take longer for delivery. I’ve heard that the minimum delivery time is 2 months for any country, so you’d need to mail it this week if you haven’t yet. I’ve started sending Christas stuff in August just to make sure, since my kids are in Indonesia, and last year it took about 4 months for Gabriel to receive my first letter.

I want to thank all of you! I have been so inspired by this site, that if I hadn’t just sent an email letter to my 11 year old boy in Colombia just today, I would send another. I have been sending only two letters a year – one for his birthday in July and and another at Christmas. I’ve already begun his next letter, and can hardly wait to get it in the mail. My goal is once a month, with an immediate response to his letters.

I would like to add that the translations on the internet are not all that good. So many words can have more than one meaning, and idioms don’t translate at all. I did that with one letter, and then had it checked by someone in the office who was from Colombia. She made MANY changes, in order for my letter to make sense. Anyway, that was my experience.

This blog was a real blessing to me – and to Luis. Thank you again.

First to address Valerie’s question about photo’s of pets: My little girl in Haiti and my sister’s little girl in Central America both love hearing about our pets and getting photos of them. We have sent both girls a collage of photos of our dogs & cats with their names printed under each photo along with stories of how each pet came to live with us and some of the silly things our pets have done. The girls know the pets names and will mention/ask about them in their letters. And, yes, both girls loved the photos.

Second, to address the questions/comments about children that don’t write much (or anything) back: my little girl has been very expressive and great about returning interesting and heartfelt letters, each one accompanied by a drawing she colored. She is five, but her older sister helps her write the letters. I think that this makes a big difference in how much content is in her letters. My sister’s sponsored little girl is six and her teacher at school helps write her letters. When she was in pre-school & kindegarten, her letters were few and far between and essentially form letters. She never mentioned receiving any of the stickers or coloring pages my sister had sent and rarely responded to anything my sister had written. This year, she has a different teacher and her letters have become much more animated and personal, with thanks for the small gifts she has received. Please keep in mind that most of our children depend upon an adult to help them with letter writing and their letters are only going to be as good as the adult helping them.

Third, another idea I didn’t see mentioned. My child’s mother is a farmer and my child enjoys working in the garden. I also love to garden and raise my own vegetables. So, I often talk about what crops I’m growing, if the bugs are getting them, rainfall, etc. My child finds this an interesting comparison to her garden and will tell me about what she is growing and how those crops are doing. I also will snap photos of my garden and send them to her every once in a while. I make sure they are close-ups so that she is seeing the plants and not my house or a bunch of gardening equipment her mom can’t afford. I got the gardening topic idea when my child told me that my monetary Christmas gift last year was used to buy seeds so her mom could grow rice to help support the family.

Thank you to everyone for your great ideas on keeping letters from being too dull. Writing to a five year old can be a bit challenging at times.

Hi,
I have just got my pack for my correspondent child in Ethiopia.. I really enjoyed writing to the girl my family sponser (who I have yet to hear from)so I decided to write to another child to.

I want to write my first letter but I don’t know whether to mention about who is the sponser ect?

What do you suggest?

Also does anyone know when you should get your first letter from your child. It has been about three months since I wrote. How long did it take anyone else?

Thank you

Also does anyone know if instructions for craft can be translated?

Stephanie: I got my first letter from Brasil within the first month, but it took nearly six months to hear from my child in India for the first time, so the time really varies. I just had my first letter from my correspondence child in the Philippines. I think it was 2 months to hear from him.

Stephanie- If you write the instructions in your letter they will be translated. Otherwise it will probably not be translated.

Stephanie: With the times on receiving letters, mine was opposite of Bev’s. My Brazil child (and Mexico) were about 6 months. And my all but one of my India children were really fast.I got the first letter from my ethiopia child 3 months after I started sponsoring her.

I think the average is 2-6 months for the first letter. It depends on the country where your child lives (and to some degree which project they attend).

Stephanie,

It all depends on the country and the center they attend. I have never heard from my child in Columbia and it’s been a long time. I only heard from my boy in Mexico once that was the initial opening hello letter. My little girl in India I have heard from twice. Now my boy in East India, however, loves to write. Another letter from him today. I receive 1 or 2 letters from him a month. Hang in there. The letters will come.

Also, I wanted to share that I try to email them all weekly and send a package with a hand written letter and stickers and goodies for them once or twice a month. Hope this helps.

Dyan, while it can take as long as six months to get a first letter from some countries, you should otherwise receive a minimum of three letters a year–roughly one every four months–from countries that are not on the response-letter program. If you have waited longer than four months, or so, for a letter from your child in Mexico, you should probably call Compassion’s 800# and ask them to inquire.

Hi Bev!

I’m glad to hear that you finally heard from Anjali. I celebrate with you as you begin to develope a relationship with her that will bless both of you and glorify God!

I’m still been waiting for an introductory letter from my 16 year-old young man in Ecuador. That’s been 7 months.

Just as I said I would (in my post dated Sept 21st), on the six month anniversary date I asked CI to send a Field Inquiry to country.

The CI policy is:
If a sponsor has NOT received an introductory letter by the 6 month anniversary date of the sponsorship, then Compassion HQ can send a “Field Inquiry” to the country office to determine the cause of the problem.

It takes about two months for CI to receive info back from the field inquiry, so in about a month I should know what’s going on with my “mystery man!”

In the meantime, I continue to pray for Braulio and write my monthly letters. I don’t know what the situation is…but God does and I know it is in His hands. What a confort!

Sandy

For Christmas, I sent my child from Bolivia a Christmas card written in Spanish. I drew a snowy scene on the front, which may be funny to her because it will be summer in her country! I also sent a small sticker book of the Nutcracker and briefly described the story. I usually get my girls to draw a picture. Sometimes they draw and write a sentence like “my favorite food is pizza,” then I translate it into Spanish. I have also sent postcards of the Amish and described their lifestyle since we live in Lancaster County.

i do the same as dyan (#636 above)..when i get letters, usually once a month per child, they are so thankful and 2 have moms that write, they all tell me they get the most letters and gifts at their project. one girl told me she actually got 12 letters from me in one week?? (the mail has been so crazy this year) but she was so excited, like each were a bag of candy.
THOSE LETTERS ARE SO IMPORTANT! sandy burd

Oh wow Sandy….. I’d give anything to get a letter from Ludis every month!!! (even every two months would be lovely….)

Right now I’m going a bit nuts waiting to hear what she got with her $25 gift I sent back in early May…. It is a long time to wait…. I didn’t think it would be this long.

But now I know approximately how long it will take to hear the results of her birthday gift and the family gift…. which I sent in September.

I guess I figured she’d be able to write thank you’s for the gifts separately from the three letters per year. Which would be nice as her tutor writes for her and my letters from her consist of one bigger paragraph… and I want to know how she is doing as well as know what she got!

Sorry. I’m feeling grumpy and anxious to hear…. This is very hard, this waiting. And with the turnaround time I likely won’t hear until after Christmas for the first gift! (8+ months… oh the agony!!!)

(Okay, I’m being a bit overdramatic… but it IS hard!!!)

Sandy said: “In the meantime, I continue to pray for Braulio and write my monthly letters. I don’t know what the situation is…but God does and I know it is in His hands. What a confort!”

Okay, that would be even harder to wait for!!! I’ll keep Braulio in my prayers….

8 months is a long time. In the Philippines they write a thank you letter for gifts. I sent a family gift to each of my children in April 2009. The gift was at the project in June and I got the thank you letters in August. I have kids in 2 different project and it took about the same time for each.

Thank you, Michelle.

The Lord has laid my Braulio heavily on my heart and I believe this young man needs lots of prayers.

When I hear news I will post it.

to Michelle,

Hang in there. I know how hard it can be. You should be hearing about your gift anytime! Thank you for helping your child in this way though, and dont forget you can send Christmas cards and letters to her too! but really, you are not being overdramatic…Waiting for those letters is a hard thing!

It is good to send email to your sponsorshild, i think your email will reach soon and reach it in to the project than your gift. so they can write response letter to you. mean while your gift reach to the child you will get teh response letter.

My husband and I sponsor a girl in Kenya and a young man in India. When they were younger we used to send stickers, but they are now both in their teens. I work very long hours, have little time, and am not creative. Can anyone give me easy ideas for older children? thanks!!!

If a poster is, as an example, 16″x8″ but fits the 8½”x11″ dimension folded,will it be accepted if it’s not over ¼” thick?
Or, must its full size absolutely not be any larger than the 8½”x11″?
I’ve read things both ways on the site and want to be positive.
Thanks for the help.

Diane

Hey Pam, my kids are getting older and I am running into the same problem. I am about to send some football cards to my boy. I’ve sent bandaids to both of them. And lots of pictures! They love them. I haven’t done it yet, but I saw somewhere an idea to send them articles from the paper, National Geographic, etc. First of all, it would be helpful to know if they are learning English, but I think many children do. I hope this helps a little!

And Diane, yes, as long as it can fit into the dimensions, you are fine. It doesn’t matter how many times you fold it.

At the Dollar tree store I found Soccer Cards, which I’ve been looking for for quite a while. I’m sending them to my two correspondent boys. The one in Tanzanea is 7, and the one in Etheopia is 20. They both tell me that they play soccer.

THANK YOU for the sports cards idea! We actually have a sport card shop only a block away. As soon as I read your suggestion my husband and I flew out the door! The shop owner was glad for some business, and we are thankful for the idea!

Can anyone tell me if the letters stay in the orginal envelope that you send them in or do they take the items out? Also I put my letters & stickers, pictures in a clear scrap booking topload page protector, is that ok?

Becky, Your letter and all the contents are taken out to be sorted before sending. All of the items you include will be put into another envelope and marked with your child’s number, then that envelope will be stapled to your letter.

If the page protector can be folded smaller than 8.5/11 then it should go through.

Pam,

Older kids often like maps.One of my teenage girls likes geography so I’ve sent her a world map that shows the state I live in relative to the entire U.S. and then shows Tanzania relative to the rest of Africa. I also compared the number of countries in Africa to the number of states in the U.S. as they are similar.

I’ve also sent Sudoku number puzzles, Bible verses for them to look up, mazes and visual puzzles. One that my older kids (ages 11-15) enjoy is the Life Magazine picture puzzles, where you see two similar photos and have to try to find the differences between them.Each edition (available at bookstores for about $10) would provide you with many picture puzzles to send in future letters and kids (and adults) of all ages seem to enjoy these.Soccer stuff seems to appeal to boys in many countries, as well. Hope that helps!

Another thought about the older kids (especially boys)… I am a football fan so in one of my next letters to my boys I planned to send some pictures of my favorite NFL team and players and explain some of the rules of American football. They may or may not know that what they call football is actually soccer to us. I hope they will tell me about how they play soccer/football and maybe share some of the rules with me.

Thank you Sara.

Do you know if we can send Foam crafts? My son made a christmas craft out of a foam craft kit from the dollor store. I’ve been getting mixed answers by reading, some say they have & some say no.

Thanks for soccer card idea, I went to the dollar store today and got a pack, while I was there I got a football & a basketball travel board game. It is for a school 3 ring binder but you can play it without it being in the binder. It comes flat. They had football, basketball, baseball, golf, & shuffleboard. I was hoping to find a soccer one but didn’t.

Stephanie,
Thank you for some great ideas. I’m glad you mentioned the Sudoku puzzles. Just last night my husband and I went to CVS and bought a couple of Sudoku puzzle books and word search puzzle books, but we weren’t confident about how they would be received. But now I think we’ll try. Would you recommend sending the entire book (about 1/4 inch thick, or should we send a few pages at a time?

I love your idea about maps! I also like your ideas about more sports stuff beyond the cards.

We have not been good letter writers to our kids for the past 6 years, but we want to do better for the remaining few years (actually, at what age does sponsorship end? Or is it not age?). Thank you everyone for your great ideas!

My understanding is that you CAN send foam. I have sorted letters that contained foam and it was allowed as long as it is less than a 1/4 inch thick.

My mind goes wild when I go to the store I am always wondering if this will fit the requirements, or will my child like this or that. Both my children, like to draw and so I made a easy to draw book, by Bob Weber Jr.(I have a collection that we got out of a newspaper, every week) He shows how to draw simple figures,using simple shapes, like a frog or cow. So much we take for granted in books, that they don’t have. I pray God gives me ideas, because He knows what they want and need to learn.

Pam,

I try to write my kids every few weeks so if I buy a book of puzzles, mazes, etc…, I usually just send a few at a time. That way they have a few to work on or to share with others until the next installment comes although I try to mix up the things I send so it’s not the same letter to letter.I keep a box of things to enclose with letters so I stash things in there whenever I find them. You may find your children commenting on what you’ve sent which is an encouragement to find other things and write again! I like to send what I can in multiples so that it gives them the opportunity to share.

Sponsorship ends at different times for different children. The general age range seems to be 18-22 but is dependent on the
child and the country in which they live. If you call Compassion, they can give you more information specific to your children. Kudos to you for making the decision to get more involved in the letter writing process. It really is SO important to the children and they will truly be blessed by your increased correspondence. I hope you, too, will be blessed through that process.

Sherry and Stephanie (and everyone else),

Thank you so much for your ideas and encouragement. I really have been blessed by this correspondence with YOU!

Stephanie, we did send e-mail to our children the night before last just to get a letter out to each of them while we are still gathering a few items to enclose in envelopes. That was a huge relief; it’s been on my “to do” list for much too long!

Sherry, I could hit myself on the head! PRAY for ideas!!! Of course! Now there’s a great idea!

Thanks again everyone!
Can’t wait to meet you all someday!

i have seen many letter. most of them says , we like to hear from you or how is your family, we are praying for you, thats ok. good

but asking questions will give you more information about their situation and needs and the child’s wishes.

according to that you can send any items. it will help your child.

allways try to send an item which your child was in search or wish

like , Maps, amazing pictures, worlds wonders, your land pictures, try to get a picture of your place in a long sight, beautyfull bible verses which they can keep in their book or home, coloring sheets, ets is good,

all ways remember that may be your child will hvae other sibilings, if you send one coloring sheet. it will make problem between the sibilings, so try to sent atleast 2-3 ( according to the sibilings, so your child can share to their siblings if possible.

Thank you Pastor Prakash! Great suggestions and reminders!

For the children about 12 years you can present many things according to their choice in differend way.

1. you can present your child , a vollyball, a football, cricket bat and ball, suttle , chess, carroms, or any playing item.

one way- send the amount and request to the sponsor relation assosiat to purchase the perticular item for your child. the project will purchase the same thing and will present to your child.

For my little girl’s birthday I made her a card and wrote everything in spanish so there wouldn’t be any need for translation. Then on her actual birthday I made a birthday cake with her name on it for my family and friends and took a picture of everybody there for her “party” and sent it to her. She Loved it! And I hope that it made her feel special and important!

Also one thing I sent to my little boy is a paper hat, the kind you get with your meals at the Varsity or little dinners. they are flat and fit the requirements and he loves them.
Just a few ideas, hope they help!

Pastor Prakash, I am finding your comments very helpful. Thank you so much! I sponsor 7 children and am very surprised that not once has the family purchased a toy with the money I send. I have been sending the full amount each time and thought they could spend a little of the gift on a soccer ball. That would benefit the whole family. I have not ever made a suggestion when sending the money, I thought the family would know best what they need. The children have always been thrilled with their new clothes, mattresses, etc., but I still think a ball or a game would be really special. I may try suggesting that next time. Thank you again for your comments!

I spent hours reading this instead of sleeping 2 nights ago; what insights! I cannot wait to try these out on my newly sponsored child, who I signed up for (and made initial payment) 3 days ago. How long does it take to hear back from Compassion so I can get a sponsor number and begin all this wonderful correspondence? I feel a tremendous sense of urgency to begin a relationship with my 13 year-old girl in India! (Plus, thanks to this blog, I’m stocked up well with stickers/calendar/paper crafts/etc.!) Does anyone know what the usual turn-over is from submitting a form at a concert to actually “participating” in the sponsorship on a personal level?

something that is going over good with my kids is,,,,i send a whole pack of fancy computer paper…..

i also send scrapbooking stickers.

ribbon on cardboard……..

and many different shapes of colored paper…..so they can make their own scrapbooks

good for boys or girls of all ages and no language needed..

number flashcards, send in several letters in a few weeks, so they don’t have to wait so long to get them all………

small puzzles at the dollar store, put some in a ziploc bag and again, in several envelopes so it will meet the requirements…………

plastic sleeves from photo albums and page protectors..any kind of paper..lunchbag puppets can be sent made or send them some bags and materials for the faces.

sandy

if you belong to AAA , or go to a rest area, or chamber of commerce. get pamphlets of places all over the world , and maps, they are free.

i try to send note and something 2-4 times a month. my kids and the moms are so excited ,and said i am the best sponsor that they or their friends ever had….wow that makes me feel great and i was just trying to make them happy.
God just put that on my heart…my kids are grown so i enjoy spoiling these kids….
for those who don’t like to write,,sometimes just write a bible verse or a prayer on an index card and write that its just a note to let them know you are thinking about them, i always tell them they are now a part of my family and that we love them and pray for them, and put some stickers in it….simple works just as good as all the thought…

sandy

another idea,,,,take a photo of each family member and pets…make them all individual photos..
tape or glue the photo to the top or bottom of a paper, then just like a book report…write the person’s name and relationship to you…the person’s birthday, age, height, weight, eye and hair color..their favorite things and a few sentences about that person.

by doing this until all family members are done, you have given them a great picture of your life and family. and also their own scrapbook…if you are creative and scrapbook, make a fancy page with this info on it..they love it…
i had a philippino friend visit usa and she saw me sell a puppy and give paperwork,,,she was so confused,,,they don’t keep animals in the house or buy or sell dogs or cats…she told me why do you have birth certificates for dogs? when in the philippines we eat them…yuck, but different cultures,
sandy

Kathy Olson

I appreciate your love towards children . thank god that you are supporting 7 childrens. i am sure that my sugession will help you. you can clarrify and confirm that your gift is delivered.

if you request for a photgraphs of the distributing gift. I hope they will send that also