Our Heartbridge Healing Home facility in Beijing is dedicated to helping some of China’s most medically fragile orphaned children. These children are provided specialized care to allow them to gain weight and strength before life-saving operations. Read more.
LWB’s Orphanage Assistance Program has evolved over the years and is the parent program to LWB’s Nutrition Program program. Did you know that nutrition was actually the first program we began in China…even before Kang’s heart surgery? When Amy Eldridge first visited an orphanage in 2003, she wrote about how hard it was to see the toddlers eating just a tiny bowl of rice, and how they scraped down the sides to get every grain because they were so hungry. As she left that day, she pressed $300 into the hands of a trusted doctor and told him to buy the kids additional food. Read more.
We first learned about little Gracie when she was enrolled in one of our nutrition programs in Guangdong Province. As soon as we were sent her photo, we began to get opinions on how to best help her. We learned from several physicians who looked at her pictures that she was most likely born with a condition known as Treacher Collins Syndrome.
Children with this condition have issues with their facial structure, but they usually have normal intelligence. We first posted Gracie’s photo to our Facebook page several months ago, and the response was just incredible. Read more.
These little ones, lined up to have their photo taken, are part of our nutrition program in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province. The program started in 2011 when an adoptive parent brought to our attention the need these children have for nutritious formula.
Our program is small as it is new, but we serve about ten babies and toddlers. We send a shipment of formula quarterly and receive new photos of the children in return. With rising formula costs, it is becoming harder and harder to keep our babies’ bottles full! You can make a difference in the life of a child through a suggested monthly sponsorship of at least $20 per month or a one-time donation in any amount. Read more.
This is Abby (in the striped shirt), who attends LWB’s Believe in Me Huainan School. She will be eight this month and is in a kindergarten preparation class. She knows how to listen carefully in class and can write characters perfectly. She plays with the younger children and takes good care of them.
Our Huainan School Nutrition Project was started to help Abby and her classmates receive better nutrition. Our recent Red Envelope Campaign raised needed funds for this program. Read more.
LWB provided nutritious formula to two orphanages when it first began over eight years ago. Since that time our nutrition program has expanded to serve children residing in numerous orphanages throughout China. Quality formula is essential for babies to grow and thrive, particularly when they have medical needs. We use only quality formula, which, unfortunately, comes at a premium price.
In December we received the unexpected news that Nestogen, our formula of choice, will no longer be available in China. We plan to switch to Lactogen, a formula that is produced by the same company and has a similar formulation. This formula will meet our babies’ needs but comes with a price tag that is almost twice that of Nestogen’s. We now have the difficult task of telling the orphanages that, without additional funds, we must send half the amount of formula. Please help us keep our babies’ bottles full! Read more.
Number three in our Top Ten Photos of 2011 is preciouis Yi. Baby Yi is part of our nutrition program in the Guangdong Province. She is a very sweet baby with a mild personality who loves to smile when her nannies tickle her. Yi was born with thalassemia, and she needs to go to the hospital for blood transfusions once a month.
We love this beautiful photo of her peeking out of her crib. Her nanny says she loves to be held most of all… and we think very few people could resist picking up such a beautiful little girl. We hope that a family will choose baby Yi in 2012 so that she can continue receiving the medical care she will need long-term.
We would like to introduce you to Elizabeth, the youngest baby in our Deyang nutrition program. Yes, this cutie is a little girl even though she is wearing blue. Just two months old, Elizabeth weighs 12 pounds and is about 20 inches long. We say about 20 inches as she didn’t want to stretch out her legs for a more accurate measurement!
Elizabeth’s bright eyes and chubby cheeks are due in part to the high quality formula that she receives through our Deyang nutrition program. Every three months we ship formula to the orphanage, and one of our staff in China visits the orphanage to assess the children’s health and developmental progress.
Current donations to this program no longer bring in enough funds to cover the amount of formula we have been sending each quarter. In addition to babies like Elizabeth, toddlers with special needs at the Deyang orphanage also benefit from our formula.
Read more.
On the second day of Christmas, we send the sincerest appreciation to everyone who has supported our nutrition programs this year. Many babies who come into our hands need specialized formula to survive. It is hard to believe from this photo, but little Barbara was found shortly after her birth, weighing just 1.2 kilograms. Thankfully, her orphanage called us immediately, and we were able to get her to the hospital for emergency treatment. We then arranged for her to start receiving specialized PreNan formula, made especially for premature infants. As you can clearly see, Barbara is now thriving. She is in the 50th percentile for children her age, and she is crawling everywhere. Barbara’s life was saved because someone cared enough to support her special nutritional needs. To a baby, happiness really is a full tummy. And for all of us at LWB, happiness is knowing we can help provide that gift when orphanages are in need.
Read more.
Without spending a dime, you can help give children in China the gift of a full tummy this year! Suzanne Damstedt, an LWB volunteer who directs our Nutrition and Orphanage Assistance program, is trying to win $10,000 for baby formula in a contest sponsored by Ford Focus. Our budget for formula in 2011 will be $100,000 – and so winning $10,000 (one-tenth of our budget) would obviously be a huge blessing!
Voting is quick and easy and can be done each and every day until December 31 by anyone on Facebook. If you’ve already voted for Suzanne’s video, please click here to vote that you “Love it”, and share with all of your friends and family on Facebook. We would love their votes, too!
If you haven’t yet voted for LWB and Suzanne in the Ford Focus contest, here are three easy steps to follow:
1. Go to the Ford Focus page on Facebook and “Like” it by clicking the large “LIKE” button at the top of the page. You will need to agree to allow Ford Focus to access your Facebook page.
2. Click on the “Global Drive” tab at the top of the Ford Focus Facebook page; then scroll down and click on “Rate Videos”.
3. Look for Suzanne’s video, which has a blue background and says, “There are lots of things in life that you can start…” Currently, her video is on the second page. Under the video is a button where you click “Love it!” Please click here to vote and share on Facebook so others will can join in the voting as well.
Read more.
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