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!

You can make a difference in the life of a child through a one-time or monthly donation to our nutrition program. Sponsors will receive regular updates and photos and will know they have provided the gifts of health, contentment, and a full tummy.

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.

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. We urgently need monthly sponsors and one-time donations to this program to prevent us from having to cut back the amount of formula sent each quarter. Monthly sponsorships of $20 are suggested, but donations in any amount are welcome. All donors will receive quarterly updates with photos and stories of the children in our Deyang nutrition program. With your help, Elizabeth and her Deyang friends will continue to receive the gifts of health, contentment, and a full tummy.

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.

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.

Voting daily in the Ford Focus contest takes just seconds once you set it up…and winning the contest would be an amazing holiday gift for orphaned babies needing formula!

Like many of us during the holiday season, three-year-old Artie has to face the scales every once in awhile!   As a participant in our Gaoming nutrition program, Artie gets weighed periodically to make sure he’s growing as he should be.  It looks like Artie is growing very well but could certainly indulge in a few more cookies!

Artie’s caregivers tell us that he is a boy with mild personality. Although he is also somewhat shy around strangers, a piece of cookie can make him warm up very quickly. At mealtime Artie doesn’t mind being the last one to eat. However, missing snacks can make him very upset and can even bring on the tears!

Artie understands what the nannies tell him, but at this point can only speak some simple words, like “mama” and “bye-bye,” most likely due to his cleft palate (his lip has been repaired). He has no trouble pointing out what he likes to the nannies! He also loves to be a nanny’s helper. Sometimes when the nannies changes diapers, he goes to get the bucket for the dirty diaper so that the nanny can clean things up right away.

Artie is currently available for adoption through the Waiting Children Program and is waiting for a family of his own to give him love…and lots of cookies too!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

I also enjoy an occasional treat from a visitor from LWB’s Nutrition Program.   Snacks really make me happy, and I also love to visit the orphanage director’s office to see if he has left any on the table.

I am a cooperative little guy, and I get along well with other children.  My caregivers are very proud of me and tell me I am quite smart.  I love to be active, and some of my favorite things are playing outdoors, dancing, and music.

As you can see I am very curious and enjoy learning about new and interesting things…like photography:

Danny is such a little darling.   Ironically, we think his serious face captures his silly side!

Due to Danny’s medical needs, his file will be available for matching through the Waiting Children Program.  Danny is in need of a therapy that isn’t readily available in China, so finding a family is essential for him.  Please contact your agency or adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com to learn more about making Danny your darling!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

Waiting patiently with her hands out…

Penny is a quiet girl with a mild, gentle personality. Despite a birth defect called syndactyly that has resulted in several of her fingers being fused together, she is able to use her hands to hold most things, including…

Cookies! Yum!

Penny holds food using both hands and is able to easily feed herself, as well as play with toys. The orphanage staff report that they don’t see too many difficulties in her daily life since she uses her hands so well.

We are excited to recently learn that Penny should be available for adoption through CCAA’s Waiting Child List. Penny is excited too – but mostly about the cookie so far!

Got my cookie…hooray!

Please consider giving Penny something more to be excited about, and feel free to share her story with others.  It’s our hope that this darling girl will thrive and blossom in a loving home — and have a family of her own to share cookies with!

Love Without Boundaries proudly advocates for adoption but is not an adoption agency. We invite you to contact adoptionassistance@lwbmail.com with questions about a child we have featured and encourage you to contact your local adoption agency for more information about China’s Waiting Child Program.

In our continuing series, “A Day In the Life,” we are featuring three volunteers who were inspired to work with our Orphanage Assistance (OA) program. We hope you enjoy learning more about these dedicated volunteers and what they do for LWB!

MaryHelen Donnelly, Orphanage Assistance Coordinator: I am a single mother who works full time, so after I put my daughter to bed I usually log onto the computer to check my email and then 2-3 times a week do some of my LWB volunteer work. I wear two hats in the Orphanage Assistance program. In my role as the OA Child Coordinator, I archive all the pictures, stories and sponsor updates that are produced by the OA team. Parents who have adopted from China can request any information that LWB has on their child from their days living in the orphanage. When I receive one of these requests, I look through the archives and send the parents what information I have on their child and/or the SWI in which their child resided.

My second volunteer hat is as an OA Coordinator. Three orphanages where LWB is currently running a Nutrition program are assigned to me. Quarterly, the China Nutrition program managers send pictures and updates on the children in LWB’s Nutrition programs. Using this information, I create an update that is sent to the sponsors of that SWI’s Nutrition program to let them see how the children are benefiting from their donations.

Yet I still wanted to do more. When I adopted my daughter from China, I visited her orphanage and looked at all the babies still there and, I wanted to take them all home! Since I couldn’t do that, I decided that I should help those children in some way. Since I work full time and am a single Mom, I don’t have the luxury of being able to attend meetings and do my charitable work on-site. LWB allows me to give back to my daughter’s country and to her fellow orphans but allows me to do it in the comfort of my own home so it takes no time away from my precious daughter. It makes me so happy to hear that a little one is getting the nutrition they so deserve, the surgery they so desperately need as well as all the other great work LWB does. It’s also so thrilling to share pictures and information about their chidren’s early life with adopted parents. That information is so precious to the parents and will be to their children as well. I’m very proud to be a part of this organization!

Andrew Gurthet, the Associate Director of the Orphanage Assistance program: My wife and I adopted our daughter, Anna, from Qianjiang orphanage in Chongqing Municipality in 2006. The very second she was put in my arms, I knew that I was the luckiest dad in the world! Anna is now 4 1/2 and the absolute love of my life. I first learned about Love Without Boundaries in 2007 while attending the annual Families With Children from China – Northern California Chinese New Year event. There was a booth there staffed by a young man representing LWB. I was extremely impressed with the work that the staff of LWB were doing to help children in Chinese orphanages. In an attempt to give back a little of the luck I have received as a dad, I volunteered for LWB in 2009. My luck continued… I was “hired” by Suzanne, the wonderful and amazing director of the Orphanage Assistance Program. I absolutely love working for this organization. It’s what gets me out of bed and going each morning! (Well, actually, it’s my daughter jumping on the bed at 6am saying “Is the sun up yet, Dad?”) But, once we get past that point and a cup of coffee, I’m then on my way excited to see what the day holds for LWB.

By far, the most enjoyable part of the job for me is receiving photos both from donors as well as from the orphanages. Often donors will send me photos of their children. We use these photos to create certificates that we send on to the orphanages so that the orphanages know who made the donation and how the child is doing now. And the orphanages send back photos of the donor’s final donation materials. Often the orphanages will include photos of the children presently in the orphanages. I love seeing these photos as it really puts faces behind all the hard work! It makes what I do “human.” I can see that what I am doing is impacting people in a positive way!

Suzanne Damstedt, Orphanage Assistance Director (shown with some of her family in the top photo): When we were preparing to adopt our first Chinese daughter and my husband and I were considering a special needs eight-year old at Shantou Orphanage, I was put in touch with Amy Eldridge because she had met my daughter.  It turned out that my daughter also had a sponsor in the Shantou Education program, and that’s how I became involved with LWB!

I love knowing I am making a difference in other people’s lives.  I know I can’t help every child who needs it, but I can help some of them.  I love that the work OA does provides comfort items like formula and clothing to many children in the orphanages, many of whom may not have a chance to be adopted, but who still benefit from the projects that are done in their orphanages.

Micah has grown so big that he barely fits onto the scale for his monthly weigh-in!   When you consider that he had purulent meningoencephalitis when he arrived at the Deyang orphanage in Sichuan province, it’s especially wonderful to see him looking so rosy and robust. Thanks to the good care and nutrition Micah has received there, this ten-month old is obviously flourishing. According to his nannies, he really enjoys his formula and, unlike some of the other babies, waits for it patiently with a big smile on his face. In fact, they say that Micah is a chubby, content and funny boy who loves to smile — just not when he’s involved with the serious business of being weighed!

We’ve just learned that Micah’s orphanage has submitted his file to be considered for adoption. Some family is going to be very lucky to find this happy boy!