USA / CHINA :: A ramp for Laila

Laila at home

We love Laila Mei, a beautiful, feisty, four-year-old Chinese girl and her American forever family whose story we first shared with you last year when we funded the purchase of her first manual wheelchair! Leila Mei’s story of foster care, adoption, misdiagnosis followed by a heartbreaking diagnosis of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a progressive genetic neuromuscular disease, had us on an emotional roller coaster.

What we came away with, though, was HOPE for the future as we continue to love and support this family, watching Laila grow and prosper. You, The Red Thread Promise community, made Leila’s much-needed wheelchair a reality.

The road to independence

Now, as winter yields to spring, an organization in Laila’s family’s community has committed to provide skills, tools, and manpower to build a ramp/deck on the back of the family house for Laila to go in and out independently in her power chair!

Building will begin on March 28, 2015.

The ramp will provide Laila the freedom to safely enter and exit her home, play in her backyard, and enjoy the independence every child needs. Leila’s family is responsible for paying the costs of materials - $1000.

Recently however, due to the extensive time for appointments and advocacy that is required for Laila's care, Mom was forced to choose between her job and income or the complex needs of her family. Without her secondary income, saving the funds for the ramp is out of reach.

We need you

And that is why we bring this need to you, our supporters. Your contribution to Leila’s wheelchair ramp will make a huge difference in Leila’s quality of life. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to The Red Thread Promise and designate it for "Laila" to help build an accessible ramp for this special girl?

Donations can be made by check or PayPal.

Credit Card: Please go to our website and click on HELP, DONATE and the PAY PAL. You do not need a PayPal account to donate. Designate: Laila

Checks can be mailed to:

The Red Thread Promise

249 N Belfield Ave

Havertown, PA 19083

Designate: Laila

Thank you Red Thread Promise community for your continued support.

Additional info about Laila

A micro-wheelchair for Laila

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Laila (lower right) and family

Ramp Update

We are so pleased to announce that Laila's ramp is FULLY FUNDED! Thank you to those who generously contributed to meet this little one's needs. The Red Thread Promise and Laila's family are thrilled with the love that is continually shown to their family. Look for photos soon of her new ramp!

CHINA :: Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Charlet!

Surprises are so much fun! 

Little did we know that the silken red thread of destiny would surprise our team by re-connecting us with a beautiful little girl that we had supported during her foster care in China. Little DXX—who isn't so little anymore—is now settled in with a loving family in the United States who affectionately calls her Charlet. 

What's more? Charlet is sister to Laila, the little one that we recently helped get a micro-wheelchair. Coincidence? We think not! It's just that red thread doing it's business in our lives.

Here's an update on Charlet from her mom, Joslynn. We couldn't be happier that she is with this amazing family and growing up quickly.

Charlet (left) and Laila with their braces

Since bringing her home in December of 2013, we have watched Charlet blossom into a happy-go-lucky, spunky little girl. Charlet has been through many “base-line” tests to mark her medical status and the doctors have been amazed at her health and mobility as a child who suffers from spina bifida. When we tell the doctors of her spine and shunt placement surgery at one month old, they are speechless to explain how she could have survived, as most doctors in the U.S. do these two surgeries separately and at an age much more than one month. There are many things medically that “should” be wrong with Charlet, but they just simply don’t exist. She attends physical therapy once a week to strengthen her body and to help her walk. When we brought her home at 2 years old, she could “cruise” but not walk and she could not stand for long periods. Charlet also recently received braces for her legs to help straighten her gait and keep her joints safe from improper movement. She is now walking independently and her strength and endurance are improving everyday. 

Our greatest efforts for Charlet have been emotional. Charlet was abandoned at one day old, and though she was in a very loving group foster home, she has simply never experienced bonding with a mother and an unchanging family. She quickly accepted Jason as her big Papa Bear. She loves to cuddle with him and be carried around everywhere. You don’t realize when you adopt the things you will have to “teach” this child that simply come as a natural part of development when you are raising your biological children. We had to teach Charlet how to enjoy and not fear play, especially outdoors. Grass and swings were things of great torment in her early months, but it is such a sweet sound to hear her adorable belly laugh now as she swings. When indoors, and if left to her own devices, for many months she would simply sit and stare at us as we moved around a room, with no idea how to “play” by herself. She required our engagement, and even then, she often didn’t know how to interact. Charlet actually really enjoys her solitary time now and I love watching her sing and play with her dolls peacefully with no fear or painful stares in my direction.  

Charlet loves her big sister, Laila (3.5), and her really big brother, Steven (14). Laila and Charlet were adopted on the same day and they bonded quickly. They easily fall into their respective big sister/little sister roles. Charlet is a wonderful helper to her immobile big sister, often bringing her toys or helping her get things that are too heavy. Charlet and Laila are the predictably ornery little sisters who love to bug their big brother. But there is nothing more beautiful than seeing all three of my children cuddling on the couch or playing together on the floor. Charlet’s addition to our family has been an amazing blessing. Her early transition has been quite difficult for our whole family, but she is finally settling in, trusting the family she has been given, and knowing that we are hers forever!

Charlet (left) and Laila

CHINA :: 2-years-old and ready to take on the world with your help!

Meet our newest little friend from China! 

WXR is an adorable 2-year-old with a sweet personality - she's a charmer for sure with that smile! Thankfully, she has already received surgery for spina bifida and serial casting of her club foot and is doing well in the hands of our partners at Swallows Nest! Sadly, it appears that she may be incontinent as she came back from Shanghai with a horrible irritated bottom. The Red Thread has sent funding for her medicine as well as her follow up care. 

Please help us support WXR by making a donation in her honor to our China program (click on the PayPal button - donations are accepted via PayPal but you don't need a PayPal account). We hope and pray that she finds her forever home quickly. 

Who wouldn't want to hug on this baby for years and years?

CHINA :: A micro-wheelchair for Laila

3-year-old Laila, all smiles!

Over the past weeks, The Red Thread team has gotten an unexpected crash course in Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), due to a precious Chinese girl named Laila. The silken red thread of destiny recently connected us to this feisty 3-year-old and her American forever family and we’d like to share that story with you.

Misdiagnosis
When Joslynn and Jason began fostering 18-month-old Laila in China, they were told she had cerebral palsy. Only three short months ago, after returning to the States, they found themselves faced with a new diagnosis for Laila: SMA, the second most common fatal genetic disorder in young children.

Children with SMA have problems with movement of any kind to varying degrees, even breathing and swallowing. SMA is an inherited disease that damages motor neurons in the brain and prevents important messages telling muscles “how” to move from reaching the muscles. When the muscles don't get direction on how to move, they become inactive, get smaller, and begin to waste away (a condition known as atrophy).

This degenerative disease limits the ability to complete simple tasks of life, like combing their hair. To date there is no cure, but many kids learn to live as independently as possible with therapy and treatment for the disease’s most troubling symptoms (kidshealth.org).

Moving forward
As soon as her parents knew her true condition, they began researching the disease and looking for support. Joslynn attended her first Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Conference in Washington D.C. to learn everything she could to help their young daughter. During the conference, Joslynn’s eyes were open to a real need for Laila: a micro-wheelchair.

A mother’s perspective
From Joslynn: “When I called my husband, frantic and emotional, begging him to agree to put an unplanned $4000 purchase on our credit card—to buy our daughter a micro-sized, 6-pound wheelchair—he asked me to consider it for 24 hours before making a decision. I don’t fault my husband at all for his rationality because we both knew it was an out-of-reach purchase for us. However, it wasn’t until my time at a Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Conference that I truly understood the worth of this tiny wheelchair and what it would mean for our daughter.

During the conference, I was overwhelmed with sadness at Laila’s lack of independence. Even though we were in a place where almost EVERY child was physically immobile, they were all “running around”, playing, squealing, and chasing each other with the aid of their wheelchairs. Meanwhile my daughter sat motionless and bored, waiting for me to push her. 

Until that point, my husband and I had been satisfied to carry Laila from room-to-room inside our home and push her in a stroller in public. Together we decided that nurturing our daughter’s independence was critical to her development. We took a leap of faith and bought the wheelchair, not knowing how we would pay the balance.

It only took a single day at home in her chair for my husband to join in my exhilaration over Laila’s newfound freedom. Her little face always beams with a smile while she’s in her chair. She loves to come into the room where I am and say, “Hi Mom.” And I say, “Hi Baby.” And then she says, “Laila go find Daddy,” and she wheels away. Only moments later she has usually circled around again, “Hi Mom!” We have set up little stations around our living areas where she can “play kitchen” or roll under her own little table to color or do stickers. She also loves to chase the cat or bump the front of her wheelchair into her big brother’s door in the morning to knock and say, “Wake up!”

Big brother, Laila, and little sister, Charlet

Our greatest surprise was how the addition of a wheelchair impacted the rest of the family. As a mother, I found myself relieved of many requests from my immobile girl: “Mom, I fell over; Mom, I want to see you; Mom, where’s the cat.” I didn’t realize how many times I moved Laila around and fulfilled her requests until then. And then there are the benefits to our youngest child, Charlet. Because of Laila’s condition she had to be carried everywhere, leaving Charlet constantly jealous when I made her walk while carrying her “big” sister. Now that Laila is able to move around by herself, Charlet is also more willing to be independent and walk.  Big brother is so proud to push Laila in her chair and loves to play chase with her. And Daddy can now safely take Laila outside to the garage so she can “help Daddy do work,” which she absolutely loves.   

There are no words to express the gratitude we feel to The Red Thread Promise. Little did we know that we were already connected to them—they had sponsored Charlet in her foster home for TWO years prior to her coming home to us! And now, they have connected with our family again through sweet Laila. By paying the balance of the cost for Laila’s manual chair, my family is free to enjoy the perfect blessing of independence and mobility for our precious girl.”

Helping Laila
We are so thankful for that red thread of destiny connecting us to this beautiful family not once, but TWICE. And YOU are the reason we were able to bring much needed mobility to little Laila. It is through your tax-deductible gifts to our programs that we help children with disabilities lead the fullest lives possible. Please consider giving today via PayPal or check made out to The Red Thread Promise, 249 N Belfield Ave, Havertown, PA 19083. 

Thank you everyone!

CHINA :: 2 years old and growing like a weed

2-year-old WZX

Every day that we hear from our partners in China with an update on one of the children we sponsor is a GREAT day! Our hearts swell when we see these children growing and thriving in the hands of the caregivers at Swallow’s Nest. We are thankful to be able to provide life-changing surgeries, life-sustaining hospitalizations and medical care for these babies until they are matched with a loving family forever.

As you can tell from his smile, WZX is a happy boy. He loves to eat, which is no surprise based on his chubby, kissable cheeks. He enjoys holding and playing with toys but occasionally gets upset and cries for no obvious reason, sometimes during meals or at night. Then, after a minute or so and some comfort from his caregivers, he’s fine again.

Although he’s over 2 years old, WZX has never spoken yet he responds to speech and sound, especially music. He often seems unaware of what’s going on around him and doesn’t process sounds very well.

Following his clubfoot casting, he appears to have no feeling in his legs. Due to his weight and lack of feeling, it is challenging to get him to move around very much. We are unsure as of yet, but he may require a wheelchair. His caregivers are working to provide him more exercises that will help him build strength in his arms and upper body.

Your support of WZX since January 2013 has been amazing and we are so thankful for your donations on his behalf. We will continue to provide medical care for him as he grows and pray for him to become a permanent part of a family soon.

If you'd like to support WZX and children like him, 

you can do so via PayPal or by sending a check to:

The Red Thread Promise

249 N Belfield Avenue

Havertown, PA 19083

January 2013

What's in a name?

Ever wonder why we use names for some of the children we support and initials or pseudonyms for others? Well, let us explain.

In the US and Haiti, we are able to secure permission to use children's names by either the family, guardian or the orphanage. In China, the government has strict regulations about what information we are able to disclose regarding orphans (including names, birth dates, birth cities, etc), thus the use of initials and limited details about the child. In Uganda, we change the names to provide security for the girls who come from abusive environments where their safety is paramount. 

And there you have it, friends.

CHINA :: Club foot & pneumonia - not a winning combination

Pneumonia is a serious threat 

to the children we support. 

This treatable infectious disease is one of the leading causes of death in China: it is the number one cause in rural areas; in urban areas, fourth. Data suggests that there are approximately 2.5 million documented cases of pneumonia in China annually. Of those cases, 125,000 (5%) people die of pneumonia-related illness. (US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.)

Most disturbing to us is this: childhood pneumonia accounts for an estimated 17% of all child deaths in China. The Red Thread Promise takes pneumonia seriously, especially when it involves infants and toddlers who have other medical conditions that may compromise their immune system further and do not have anyone to advocate for them.

WZX - January 2013

In January 2013, The Red Thread met Baby WZX. He came to Swallows Nest (our partner foster home in China) unable to sit or stand due to club feet. After extensive evaluation, doctors decided to treat him with a non-surgical method that involves serial manipulation and casting, taping, physical therapy, splinting, and continuous passive motion. We have been funding his care ever since with hopes of this little man walking independently in the near future.

WZX - June 2013

WZX - August 2013

One year later, WZX has made great progress in his club foot regimen. But this isn't his biggest hurdle. He was recently diagnosed with pneumonia and hospitalized. Thankfully, he is on the mend and back at Swallows Nest, on the road to recovery. Your donations helped provide his care at the hospital and we are so thankful for your support of this critical intervention. 

WZX (left) playing beside a friend at Swallow's Nest

Unfortunately, the little girl in the photo above (next to him in the black dress) is now in the hospital for the same reason: pneumonia. She has been there for over three weeks. With your contributions to this project, we can help her and others as well. 

As always, thank you for everything you are able to give. If you'd like to help, please send your tax-deductible donation (memo line: China) via PayPal or check to:

The Red Thread Promise

249 N Belfield Ave

Havertown, PA 19083

Attn: Kathy Korge Albergate

JACOB'S FUND :: Rotary hears our story

Glenna Fisher, Director of Jacob's Fund

We love telling our story. So when Rotary of Middletown, Ohio, invited Glenna Fisher, Director of Jacob’s Fund, to speak during this week's meeting, she was delighted. “Knowing Rotary’s dedication to service and international understanding, I knew that they would not only listen to our story, but would hear it with both hearts and minds,” Glenna said.

“The Red Thread Promise’s story—from Zhou-Zhou in China, the first child whose surgery we sponsored, to Kyle, whose hippotherapy we support at Hilltop, just minutes away from where we were meeting—is a story of loving children and helping them live their lives to their fullest potential.”

The Red Thread Promise hopes to partner with Middletown Rotary to help children in the Cincinnati area through Jacob's Fund. As one of the Rotarians said following Glenna’s presentation, “There are so many children in our area who would benefit from hippotherapy.”

We whole-heartedly agree. Together with our supporters from Rotary and across Ohio, we hope to make a lasting difference in their young lives.

CHINA :: A home for DXX!

A new family is born

Great news brings huge smiles to our faces. Today held news like this. 

Remember little DXX from China? She was officially adopted on Monday! Here she is with her forever family (she is in pink). Aren't they beautiful? 

This is EXACTLY why we fund medical care for orphans in China - so they can enjoy improved health for the rest of their lives AND have a better chance of adoption. 

We wish DXX and her family a lifetime of happiness. Thank you all for your support of this precious child.

HAITI :: Serving Needy and Orphaned Children

The Red Thread Promise is a non-profit organization whose vision parallels that of women everywhere: to unite women by bringing peace and healing to the world. For The Red Thread, this means serving needy and orphaned children in Haiti, Uganda, China and the U.S. Our programs improve the quality of life for disabled children and battered girls by providing medical care, nutrition, mobility, and education so they can live independently with dignity and improved health. Through this critical work, we strive to cultivate passionate followers who advocate for the rights of disadvantaged children around the world.

It is this shared vision that compels us to reach out to the women of your community for help. While we can do much as individuals, we can accomplish so much more as partners. The Red Thread team asks for both your prayers and financial support as we strive to expand our programs and serve more children—children like Christina in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

An otherwise completely healthy infant, Christina was born with a birth defect that caused clubbing in both of her feet. Following multiple unsuccessful surgeries and castings to correct her condition, she was no closer to walking than she was the day she was born.

But we are here to offer her hope! Through our partnership with a clubfoot specialist from Memphis and surgeon from Port-au-Prince, we celebrate the completion of Christina's first successful surgery on her right foot in August 2013. The surgical team performed a tendon release, bone and soft tissue correction, and finally a foot rotation, all at a cost of only $1800. Christina's second surgery is scheduled for spring of 2014 and her prognosis is excellent!

Our goals are two-fold: first, for her be able to put both feet flat on the ground, something her condition has never allowed her to do; and second, for her to be able to walk independently, leaving her wheelchair behind.

Being wheelchair-bound is a huge obstacle for Christina. Only 12 out of 1,000 Haitians own a car and the phrase “wheelchair accessible” is a virtually unknown in the country. Rough, unpaved streets as well as lack of sidewalks and smooth surfaces make wheelchair use nearly impossible. These conditions often isolate the individual from their community and prevent them from gainful employment and independence, thus deepening the existing social stigma against handicapped people.

Christina is a bright, energetic girl who can and will lead a relatively normal life when both feet are corrected. We invite your group to be a part of this life-transforming process, helping kids like Christina, kids whose biggest obstacle in life was being born into poverty where adequate medical care isn't an option as their families struggle to put food on the table.

There are many more success stories like Christina’s shared on our Facebook, website and blog. Our team is available via phone or email to answer any questions you may have about how we serve impoverished children with disabilities. We invite you to join us in making a difference in these children’s lives. Financial support can be sent via our website, PayPal or check. Thank you for caring.

TEN YEARS AND COUNTING!

On behalf of The Red Thread Promise, we want to thank you for your continued support of our organization. Without people like you, we wouldn't be where we are today, beginning our 10th anniversary celebration! 

We have served countless children in China, Haiti, Uganda and the USA over the past decade. We look forward to continuing our mission—providing hope and healing to needy and orphaned children—with you at our side! 

As 2014 approaches, we wanted to share some exciting opportunities to serve and be in mission with us.

DOMESTIC TRAVEL
In the US, we will continue offering bi-annual trips in the spring and fall to McKenna Farms, our partner providing hippotherapy and therapeutic riding in the south (Dallas, GA). We are excited to announce that we will begin hosting mission trips to our new partner farm in the north, HillTop Equestrian Center (West Alexandria, OH) as well! During these missions, each team performs a variety of stable, grounds and facility work, learns about the therapy offered and the impact it has on young lives, and—most importantly—meets some of the kids we sponsor in our own backyards.

McKenna Farms, Georgia

HillTop Equestrian Center, Ohio

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
With more than 15 trips to St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children over the past three years, The Red Thread will continue offering medical and non-medical mission trips to St. Vincent’s in Port-au-Prince and other areas in Haiti. We have an exciting opportunity to visit a Haitian hippotherapy farm during our upcoming trip (Nov. 2013) and are hopeful to begin a relationship there. This would allow us to offer both hippotherapy and therapeutic riding to kids at St. Vincent's. As we focus on these major medical issues, we will no longer offer Camp Jake. The Red Thread celebrates the three successful sessions we completed over the past two years and we look forward to offering new opportunities that will enrich the children’s lives and improve their health.

St. Vincent's Center for Handicapped Children, Haiti

LOOKING FORWARD
As The Red Thread team reflects on our years of service and looks to the future, we feel our organization is poised to delve deeper into life-changing medical care for disadvantaged children. We will continue to provide services that the child would not receive without intervention, including surgeries, long-term medical treatment, therapy and nutrition. By improving the state of these kids’ health, together, we make a lasting irreversible positive impact on a child’s life, increase their self-confidence, and open doors to a better future. 
  
Who knows where 2014 will lead? It may be the perfect time for our first trips to China and Uganda. Wouldn’t that be a grand way to celebrate our anniversary?!

We look forward to sharing details of upcoming travel and gifting opportunities as we work together to care for needy and orphaned children, TEN YEARS and counting!

EDITORIAL: Reconciling my inner turmoil

“Enough.”

How much is enough?
What we have? A little more? A lot more?
Can we even define it? 
Do we care?
Should we care?

In my mind, ENOUGH means:

• Enough fresh water.
• Enough food.
• Enough shelter.
• Enough education.

Just plain enough. Enough of the essentials to sustain life AND to flourish.

Speaking for myself, I can’t even remember not having enough. I’ve always had clean water to quench my thirst, food to fill my belly, a roof over my head and a respectable school. I was even fortunate enough to earn a degree after high school.

Sure, I’ve endured “tough times” like:

• Being teased at school for my hand-sewn clothing 
• Boxed mac-n-cheese with SPAM or squirrel pie (honest!) for countless dinners 
• Drafty windows that made the house—especially my bedroom—very cold
• Riding the bus to school instead of driving a car
• Struggling over bills and credit card payments

Looking back, I am still thankful …

• Thankful for the fabric and buttons that held my clothes together and for the hands that made them (even if not high fashion)
• Thankful for the simple groceries that filled our pantry and the hands that prepared meals every day (even if not steak and lobster)
• Thankful to live in a house and for the income that paid the mortgage (even if not a new house)
• Thankful my education (even if not from an Ivy League college)

For those of you who have traveled to developing countries, my guess is that you can relate to the inner turmoil I feel after every trip there and home again.

I hold a firm belief that the world has enough resources for everyone. What I think is lacking is our distribution of it.

“Enough,” as I see it, is wrapped up in “more” and “I deserve this” and “I earned this.” For many of us, “enough” lacks compassion and forethought to walk in someone else’s shoes.

Oh, sure, “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is great—in theory. But for those trying to break the cycle of generational poverty, “trying harder” usually isn’t enough to make a change—and perhaps never will be.

So what is our obligation to others? 
To our fellow human beings? 
Do we simply relish in our “we are so blessed” feelings?
Or, dare I say it, do we work together to make a real and lasting difference?

This is one of the reasons that I got involved with The Red Thread Promise: the desire to make a difference. Whether it's fundraising for a Chinese baby's surgery, working hands-on in Haiti at Camp Jake, or volunteering at a hippotherapy farm, I pray everyday that in some tiny way, I can be a part of positive change in the world.

~ Sonya, Vice President, The Red Thread Promise

CHINA :: A miracle for Yong!

We believe in miracles! 

Within 24 hours of our post about Yong's needs, our partners at Love Without Boundaries informed us that the full $100,000 needed for his surgery had been raised! We are so happy to hear that he will receive the care that he so desperately needs. Thank you to everyone who shared our post within their networks. 

That's the power of connections!

CHINA :: 100,000 angels for Yong

Connections. That’s what The Red Thread Promise is all about. It is the root of the Chinese proverb from which we take our name and the cornerstone of our work.

• It’s that instant attachment you have to a child in great need, no matter what country they call home.
• It’s the heavy weight on your heart that can only be lifted when that child’s needs are met, no matter how extensive.
• It’s the heights we go to together, ensuring that we are part of the solution for this child, offering hope for the best life possible.

Connections also allow us to come together to solve problems, forging partnerships with other organizations and medical specialists. Through these partnerships, we capitalize on our individual strengths for the collective good.

In the case of this post, the collective good has a name, and it is YONG.

Only a week ago we met Yong through Love Without Boundaries, one of our partners in China. He is a sweet, handsome 5-year-old living in Guizhou. As you can see by the photographs, he has a large facial tumor that is growing rapidly and has recently begun to impact his ability to swallow and chew. While this brings its own set of challenges, the greatest threat at this time is that, at the current rate of growth, the tumor will soon close off this young boy’s airway.

Eating is a challenge

Yong has already received an MRI in his home province and a biopsy of the mass. Thankfully the tumor is benign, but the risks to his health from its rapid growth are grave. Both surgeons and radiologists have determined that an aggressive course of action must be taken to save Yong’s life that involves a series of complex and expensive surgeries. Many of his facial nerves have been massively stretched and the blood supply feeding the tumor are some of the biggest challenges during the operation.

At the hospital

Charming the nurses

Although many hospitals in both China and the US have been approached, none have been able to donate their services due to the intricate nature of the procedure. But there is hope. Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles has agreed to perform the initial operation. However, due to the magnitude of the procedure, his medical costs will be steep.

How do you put any price on the life of an innocent child?

Yong will need an army of angels to come together to fund the medical care he so desperately needs: 100,000 angels to be exact. The Red Thread Promise has agreed to be one of those angels and we invite you to join us in raising the $100,000 needed to cover the American surgeons’ and hospital fees. Together we celebrate that over $30,000 has already been raised for his care..

After the biopsy

Love Without Boundaries is working with the Chinese government to secure his medical visa so he can travel to the US and be seen in Los Angeles on March 1st! Yes, that is less than 2 weeks away. We’ve all seen the miracles that occur when people give from their hearts. Today YOU can be one of Yong’s angels.

If you would like to support Yong, donations can be made to The Red Thread Promise via PayPal or check. Please see the donation information in the left sidebar. Be sure to put his name in the memo line.

More importantly, please share this post with your friends, family, co-workers, employers, churches, civic groups and any others with a heart for children. Help us spread the word about Yong's critical need through your connections as well. Together, we can raise the additional funds necessary for his care, revealing that red thread of destiny.

THANK YOU for your support and prayers and this little guy.

CHINA :: A baby has landed

Each time we share a new baby's story with you, we are reminded of this beautiful poemby Joan Margalith entitled "The Babies Are Landing":

...There are so many places to land on Earth.

It all gets decided long before birth.

Every baby's landing is carefully planned

at this very moment, in that very land.

And it's just as sure as the nose on your face,

that each baby lands in exactly the right place...

Baby ZZT has indeed landed at just the right place—into the loving hands of the caregivers at Swallows Nest Children's Home in China. She is the first child that The Red Thread Promise is sponsoring in 2013.

Born with hydrocephalus, she has many challenges ahead. We are grateful that she has already received surgery for her condition and is recovering in the skilled hands of Swallows Nest's nannies. 

With your support, Baby ZZT will continue her recovery and grow into the healthy child she was meant to be. Her monthly care is $175 ($125 for the nanny / $50 for foster care). Donations can be made via PayPal or by check - information can be found in the sidebar at the right. 

Thank you for keeping Baby ZZT in your thoughts and prayers. 

CHINA :: 2012 Summary

Our Work in China

Providing surgery for infants with spina bifida and 

other serious, life-treating conditions

Sponsoring post-surgical children until adopted

Funding hospitalization, urgent care, special formula and 

medication for severely premature infants

Supplying nebulizers, food and formula for at-risk infants

CHINA :: Baby XX update

Baby XX, May 2012

Will you look at how Baby XX is growing! We received some new photos of her from Swallows Nest and have heard that she is doing well. As you know, she already received her surgery to treat her spina bifida and The Red Thread is supporting her post-surgical care. 

We are unsure if she has been placed on the adoption list yet, but we do know one thing for sure: your support of this beautiful child has made a significant impact on her life. For this, we thank you.

We will be supporting Baby XX until she is matched with a family, a process that could take 2 years or more. She will require frequent doctor's visits and other specialized care as she recovers from surgery and moves forward in a better state of health. If you would like to be a part of Baby XX's life, please send your tax deductible donation for her treatment and care to:

The Red Thread Promise

20 Brookfield Avenue

Glen Rock, NJ 07452

Or, simply click on the PayPal link on the right sidebar and make a donation in her name.