Greetings from sunny (today) Novi Sad, Serbia. After the double Christmas/New Years Holiday craziness things have settled down a bit. Tho’ the weather cannot decide if it is Winter or Spring. We have had days where it would snow in the morning, be in the 50s in the afternoon, rain, then snow again that night. There are only 50 days until Spring arrives, not that we are counting.
So, what’s new over here? Continue reading
Wow #1: Remember how we were celebrating getting names for 15 kids in the Big Pit?? We missed the goal. We blew it. When the smoke settled and the dust cleared we found we had helped 28 kids!!! Thank God there were already enough sponsors and funds from The H.I.K.E. 2023 to make this a reality. Our thanks to everyone who made this leap possible!!!!
Wow #2: Speaking of The H.I.K.E….in a series of events both unplanned and wonderful, we will have a second fundraiser this year. A most dear friend (Yes, Jason Hoag, you) and his brother have put together an event we could not help calling The B.I.K.E. Jason and Matt will be cycling from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, yep – all 335 miles (500km for our metric-minded friends). Check out the most excellent video Jason’s Brother (Matt) put up on YouTube. You can also follow their progress …Look for updates and videos on our Facebook page.
Wow #3: For those of you wondering how you can be part of the continuing WOWNESS. Great News!!! We have met some new families with kids who need help. If sponsors can start their contributions now, there will be enough $$$ to kit out these kids for the 2024 school year. More info on kids needing sponsors can be found here>>>Students
Yep…school is out but we have a way to help the kids keep their little grey cells active!!!
It might look like fun and games (OK, it is fun and games) but all designed to teach a lesson. Continue reading
Wow!!!!! It happened!!!! The H.I.K.E. 2023 raised 1,197,745….Yep…One million, one hundred ninety-seven thousand, seven hundred forty-five (Serbian Dinar). OK, in US dollars it would be Continue reading
After over seven years of working with kids in Serbia, it just keeps getting better and better. Little did we know when this all started in 2016 so many lives could be touched.
Looking back a bit…we started with 4 kids in 2016. The numbers grew to 11, Continue reading
Just when we thought things couldn’t get any better – they did! But not without a few bumps along the road.
A bit of background. We have been using the community centers in the villages where we have been most active, Mali Beograd and Šangaj. We have always done our best to respect the facilities and the people who work there. But, somehow we upset one of the directors to the point he not only refuses to allow us to use the center, he is even blocking our calls. Continue reading
It was April 2012 when we first visited the city which became our home. The visit included a walk through one of the worst neighbourhoods we have ever seen. Condescendingly called “The Big Pit” by the locals, it was where our hearts were broken to the point of saying…something has to be done! Something was…The Propel Initiative.
Wow! It has been three years since we’ve been able to host a Summer Education Camp in the village of Šangaj. But last week….the kids were back…we were back…and the local community center was more than happy to have us use their facility. Over the course of four days the kids had a blast as they learned some valuable life lessons disguised as characters from… Continue reading
Greetings from Serbia. Happy Spring!!!
What’s been happening?
The early part of the year is usually quiet for us. It is a time of planning and grant writing and preparing for the coming school year. It is also a time of rest and personal rejuvenation…usually. This year took a left turn in January… Continue reading
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