Here’s today’s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.
10/10/10. 10,000 sponsors to help 10,000 orphans over the next 10 years. That’s the goal of Grammy-winner Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth as they launch a Twitter campaign this Thursday (10/10) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the nonprofit orphan care ministry they founded. Show Hope’s Brown Bag for Hope drive is aimed at encouraging folks to take their own lunch to work or school each week and become monthly Show Hope sponsors with the cost savings. On average, a homemade lunch saves the typical worker $9 per meal, as opposed to purchasing lunch at a restaurant. By participating in this once a week initiative for an entire month, approximately $36.00 per person can be allocated to help transform the life of an orphan through a Show Hope sponsorship. Twitter followers will be encouraged to tweet photos of their brown bag lunches by tagging #BrownBag4Hope.
Each year, thousands of families who wish to give an orphan a loving home are unable to do so due to the costs involved in the adoption process. Approximately 1,000 families apply annually to Show Hope for adoption assistance. These families are willing to welcome a child into their home, but they are unable to afford the high cost, which averages from $25,000 to $45,000 per adoption. Show Hope Adoption Aid grants have made it possible for more than 4,000 children to come into forever families through adoption. In addition, Show Hope also helps provide medical care to orphans with special needs through their Special Care Centers. Sponsors also help support the care these children receive, and to date more than 1,000 orphans with special needs have received life-giving care through these centers.
In celebrating 10 years of orphan care, Show Hope has helped transform the lives of thousands of orphans. With the continued initiatives, the organization hopes even more people will recognize the importance of providing a loving and caring family for orphans throughout the world who are still in need of a home.
A genuinely good cause and a very positive use of social media. For more info, you can visit www.showhope.org.
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Way to Go! Kevis Antonio, the Catholic filmmaker, I recently interviewed about the Kickstarter campaign in support of Five Blocks Away, a faith-themed movie he hopes to produce with his local parish (St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church in Atlanta), has been successful in his quest. The crowd-funding effort has over $12,000 in 25 days. That’s enough to produce what is called a “proof of concept trailer” for his film. Antonio had until October 9th to reach his goal but surpassed it on October 3rd.
“This campaign was started with complete trust in God that He would open the doors and allow us to carry forward with this historic film project,” Antonio said. “We will continue to trust the Lord and allow Him to guide us as we move towards making our proof of concept trailer.” Godspeed, Kevis!
BTW, you can still support Kevis’ movie by clicking here.
Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11