| FOCUS WEEK |
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Each month An Orphan Smiles highlights one aspect of our organization during FOCUS WEEK. The goal of FOCUS WEEK is to raise awareness among our supporters about a program, a special need, or a volunteer opportunity. A FOCUS WEEK topic will be either a TO GIVE opportunity or a TO DO activity. TO GIVE involves a financial donation. TO DO involves the donation of time. DECEMBER 2011
November's Focus Week was a TO GIVE month. We held a sock and underwear drive! We far exceeded our goal of 100 pairs of socks and 100 pairs of underwear. Supporters donated money, purchased on our Amazon wishlist, and sent socks and underwear to our Essentials Coordinator. Thank you!  OCTOBER 2011 October's Focus Week was a To Do Month. Erica is our birthday card coordinator, and she ensures that every child at Tsurupinsk orphanage has a birthday card to open on their birthday!! Sadly, many of the children do not receive anything for their birthdays. AOS members got out their scrap-booking supplies and made colorful, personal birthday cards so each child will have something of their own to open on their special day!!! SEPTEMBER 2011 September's Focus Week was a To Give month. An Orphan Smiles collected funds so 5th and 6th graders at Myko could take a once in a lifetime trip to Kiev. Mykolaivka Internat is a boarding school that houses approximately 170 children from the ages of 7 years old to 17 years old. All the children who live at Mykolaivka Internat are labeled as learning disabled. They also all have some type of handicap such as cross eyes, cleft palate, epilepsy, speech delay, or attention disorder.
AUGUST 2011 August is a busy vacation month and we tried to keep our Focus Week simple. An Orphan Smiles reviewed some of our TO DO activities which help our cause. 
1) Shop thru our special Amazon Link and AOS earns a 4-6% rebate on purchases. Our TO DO activity was to load a shortcut to our LINK on your desktop as follows: For PC users: 3) Enroll and use igive.com for all your online shopping and searching! 4) Support An Orphan Smiles thru our eBay Auctions.
JULY 2011 It was CHRISTMAS in JULY. Our July Focus Week was to promote our Christmas program and raise funds for shipping treats to the kids and grads in our sponsored orphanages. Our goal for the week was $300. We came up a little short raising $282, but look forward to sharing gifts with the children in December. If you would like to help us reach our goal with a small donation, please click here. JUNE 2011 JUNE FOCUS WEEK was a TO DO month. We promoted An Orphan Smiles ROLL CALL and we asked everyone to post a message to introduce oneself to the group. We enjoyed a great response. Supporters can join in at any time. Just send an email to An_Orphan_Smiles@yahoogroups.com with your introduction. MAY 2011 Our May Focus Week was aimed at finding sponsors for seven available young men in our GAP program. These teenagers aged out of the orphanage in June 2010 and started their Vocational Training in September 2010. Of the thirty+ orphans who aged out last year, these were the only ones who were still waiting for someone to take an interest in their life. During the May Focus Week An Orphan Smiles successfully matched sponsors with four of the seven young men waiting. We featured a different GRAD each day for seven days for the May Focus Week. To read about the three remaining young men, please click here. To learn more about our GAP sponsorship program at Mykolaivka, please visit our GAP program page. Sponsorship is $30/month. For additional information or questions, please contact Rachael, our program coordinator.
            
APRIL 2011 April 2011 was a TO DO month and we asked supporters to complete a short survey about An Orphan Smiles. The objective of the survey was to provide feedback to the Board in such areas as planning, programs, and volunteerism. The results of the Survey are being tabulated and will be posted soon.
MARCH 2011 FOCUS WEEK for March was an effort to create DORM PACKS for thirty Mykolaivka kids who are aging out of the orphanage system and are headed to vocational school in September. It is similiar to preparing to send a son or daughter away to college, except these teenagers do not have parents in their lives to help them in this way. DORM PACKS consist of items needed in preparation of living in a dormitory for two years. The list includes things like sheets, towels, toiletries, a backpack, socks and underwear. During MARCH 2011 An Orphan Smiles collected $685 in donations and $250 in store gift cards to help purchase items to assemble Dorm Packs. We also received commitment from donors who volunteered to assemble a complete DORM PACK for a specific child. We have individuals creating 18 DORM PACK in total and An Orphan Smiles will create and ship twelve DORM PACKS with the funds that were raised. An Orphan Smiles plans and collects for our DORM PACKS all year long. Often we are presented with orphanage graduates who are dire in need of supplies and household goods. Donations are needed on an ongoing basis. OR visit our Amazon wishlist to make purchase of individual items.
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