We made it!
We at Beauty For Ashes Project have exciting news to share with you this month! Our KickStarter campaign ended in a huge success and we are so excited to report that we rose over $8,000! A huge thanks to those of you who donated and helped make this a success! This money will allow us to start the construction for the sewing initiative in Las Banderas and also purchase our first sewing machines and supplies for the women to begin earning enough money to support their families. This project is extremely close to our hearts and we have great anticipation for what it will do in this community. Stay tuned for some incredible stories of life change through this new adventure and also the opportunity to purchase the women's goods one day!
Also this month in Nica, we were honored to be joined by a few volunteers that helped us on the ground. We planted fruit trees for the feeding center in Las Banderas. We also continued to pass out more clothes and shoes to children in need, however, this month the kids receiving the clothes were also a part of our outreach. We asked all of the children to design and color cards for cancer patients here in Managua that were delivered along with fresh sweet bread to the local hospital. It's important to us at Beauty For Ashes Project that everyone we give to gives back and this month the kiddos were no exception!
One of the main feeding programs outside of the trash dump went down this month. After witnessing hungry children show up for what was most likely their only meal that day and being turned away with nothing, we decided to step in. We scrambled to feed them that day and then prepared ourselves to be ready to feed them again and again until we could figure out a permanent plan. Luckily after meeting with the church that runs the feeding program we were able to help get them back up and running in less than a week. After experiencing first-hand how difficult it is to run a feeding center, we would like to publicly thank all of the amazing people who work hard to feed hundreds, if not thousands of kids everyday here in Nica. It is definitely not an easy task and we are grateful for your sacrifice and your love!
Towards the end of the month, we began to experience how serious Dengue Fever is here in Managua. Mosquitos infected dozens of the children and families we work with here. Many parents could not afford fever reducer or even simple pain medicine to try and help comfort their children. When we are able to help an extremely sick child or feed them the only meal they may receive that day, it makes me so grateful for each individual person that generously gives to make this possible. Those children's hugs and smiles belong to you!
We look forward to updating you again next month and we hope to see you all here in the beautiful country of Nicaragua one day soon!
With blessings,
Kara Westermann
Founder and Executive Director
