JACOB'S FUND :: Prayers for Fabiola

In loving memory

Sweet, sweet Princess. It is with heavy hearts that we share that she passed away early this morning. 

Yesterday morning, she came through her open heart surgery fine. By afternoon, the medical team was already discussing plans for her next procedure in 6 months following her expected recovery. Yet sometime during the night she slipped away. 

Tomorrow TRTP VP, Sonya, her children, and a friend will be visiting Princess's mother, Fabiola, to comfort her in any way possible. Sonya is printing out the photos she took of her two days ago and framing them to give as a gift - a small something for Fabiola to take home. We cherish the photos and hope that the family does as well. 

If you pray, please say a prayer for the family who is in deep mourning. If you think positive thoughts, please send your energy to them. The mother, father and grandmother's separation from one another must be unbearable. 

Gifts in her memory are gratefully accepted. Please write "Princess" on the memo line. To make a gift via credit card, visit our website. To make a gift via mail, please make checks payable to The Red Thread Promise:

The Red Thread Promise
249 N Belfield Ave
Havertown, PA 19083
Attn: Kathy Korge Albergate

Thank you as always for your support for all parents that grieve the loss of a child.

JACOB'S FUND :: An overwhelming day

Princess and Jacob Noah Beachy

Our hearts are OVERWHELMED today. It is a day for CELEBRATION, MEMORIES, TEARS, and most importantly, HOPE. 

Today we honor the life of Jacob Noah Beachy, namesake for Jacob's Fund, the US arm of The Red Thread Promise. Today would be his 10th birthday, a day we celebrate every year. Jacob was born with a heart condition that required multiple surgeries; complications from his final procedure took him from us 3 years later. While his life with us was brief, his memory continues to make a lasting impact on children with disabilities. We honor him every time we award a hippotherapy ridership to a disadvantaged child. Along with his family, we are happy that a bit of Jacob lives on in every child who receives this life-changing treatment.

On this same day 7 years later , an infant girl with a similar heart condition went to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio for open heart surgery. Today, tiny Princess, a Haitian infant just 6 months old and barely 10 lbs, had her first of several critical operations, under the skilled hands of the same surgeon in the same hospital where Jacob was treated. Both children will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

We ask for your prayers and positive thoughts for this little girl, her mother, the surgeon and the hospital staff. Although she made it through surgery, we are unsure of her status as of this post. We trust that everything went well, and following all procedures, she will grow up to lead the most normal life possible in Haiti with her family. The Red Thread Promise will continue to support Princess and her mother, Fabiola, while in the States as well as in their home country.

Your donations make a huge difference in the lives of disabled children in the United States and abroad. Please consider making your next gift to The Red Thread Promise in honor of Jacob to help children like Princess receive the medical care and therapy they need to lead the fullest life possible. Thank you for your support and for sharing this critical need with others so we can make a huge impact on children with disabilities.

To make a gift via credit card, visit our website.

To make a gift via mail, please make checks payable to The Red Thread Promise:

The Red Thread Promise
249 N Belfield Ave
Havertown, PA 19083
Attn: Kathy Korge Albergate

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!