Where does all the time go? It is already August and I have missed two months of posts but it certainly hasn’t been without activity.
First, the best news of all. We applied for Charitable Status in January of this year and despite friends telling us that it took them anywhere from 18 months to 5 years, we have been notified after just 7 months that WE HAVE BEEN APPROVED FOR CHARITABLE STATUS!!!! See the top right corner of your screen for our registration number.
Throughout the summer we have been presenting to various Rotary Clubs across our District and beyond with some success, plus we have been invited to speak at Indigo’s
flagship book store in Toronto in September – of course I don’t even have a
book. Who’s complaining? Not me to be sure. We have also been asked to present
at Rotary’s District Conference in Collingwood in October – this is attended by
all 55 clubs in the District from Toronto to Belleville. We are certainly
looking forward to this.

On September 17th, please hold that evening open for us. This is our annual fundraiser to be held at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope, Ontario. There will be live entertainment, silent auction Lao goodies, and our presentation of course. Ted Amsden, our wonderful photo journalist will be releasing his video that night to give our followers a real
taste of Laos and their people. Don’t worry if you cannot manage a donation for
our cause at this time – we won’t lock the doors after you enter and promise not
to bug you. We want you to enjoy and learn about what we have been doing in Laos
– we hope it will bring inspiration to you, and in turn help someone who is
needy.

I am already preparing for my return to Laos but still fundraising until the moment I have to board the plane. We have a long way to go to realize the dreams of so many Loatians that would never otherwise have a chance. Please help us make this happen.

Note also that we now accept Visa and MasterCard to give more of you a choice or payment.

On a personal note, and to add to our already heavy burden, we put our house up for
sale in April, but didn’t really expect to sell it this year, due to the tough
economy. Well it happened. We move on August 26 to our new digs in Port Hope. I
have always loved Port Hope and found that we were spending more time there than
in Cobourg anyway. An added bonus too….it has been a lot of effort to manage
our grounds here. At our new place, it is managed by someone else – no lawn
cutting, no major gardening – yeeaaahh! More time for fundraising, planning and
managing the projects we have on the go.

So in summary, please check back for more details on our September 17th event.