Brenda Hunsberger (third from left) and Patti Boote (second from right) with Child Aid staff in Santa Lucía Utatlán, Guatemala.

When Brenda Hunsberger turned 50 earlier this year, she skipped the presents and decided to use the occasion to make a difference. After reading about our educational work with indigenous children, she contacted Child Aid and set out to raise enough money to support our Reading for Life program in the village of Santa Lucía Utatlán, Guatemala. Over the course of a year, Brenda and her partner, Patti Boote, raised over $9,800 for the community, all through modest donations from friends, colleagues and family.

Last month, Brenda and Patti traveled with us to Guatemala to see the fruits of their effort firsthand. They visited Child Aid partner villages, observed our field staff in action and journeyed by “chicken bus” out to Santa Lucía, where they spent four days volunteering in the village library they supported.

“The most special part,” Brenda told us, “was the day we were invited to the principal’s father’s home for lunch. They made this big lunch for a dozen of us. No one spoke English and we hardly speak Spanish, but we had an absolutely wonderful time.”

When we asked them about Reading for Life, Patti replied that “Child Aid’s work was much more than we ever thought it was going to be. This is so much more than building a library – it’s about supporting a whole community.”

Child Aid volunteer, Heather Nicolaides, helped throw color at runners in the Yellow Zone.

Saturday’s Color Run in Portland, Oregon, was a big success! Over 15,000 people, including nearly 100 Child Aid volunteers (Thank you, volunteers!), turned out for the event. Participants young and old ran 5K and got blanketed in brightly colored powder at each of the five Color Zones that were located along the course. A portion of the event’s proceeds were donated to Child Aid by The Color Run. (Thank you, Color Run!) We also had the opportunity to get the word out about Child Aid’s literacy work to thousands of people in Portland, home of Child Aid’s head office. What a weekend. Our thanks go out to everyone who ran, volunteered or otherwise helped make it possible.

For more pictures of the Portland Color Run, visit our the Child Aid photo gallery.

Color Runners give thumbs up for Child Aid.

Child Aid Executive Director, Sam Hendricks, talks to Color Runners about Child Aid’s literacy work in Guatemala.

Smile, it’s the 2012 Portland Color Run!

Thank you Zivi Spectre! Zivi, who lives in Portland, Oregon, just turned 13. For her Bat Mitzvah project, she raised $1,550 to support Child Aid’s literacy work in the village of Godínez, Guatemala. The event made for a beautiful evening. A Guatemalan family made delicious vegetarian tamales, Zivi gave a smashing presentation, a Child Aid staff member presented a slideshow about our literacy work in Guatemala, and a young Guatemalan woman gave an moving speech about going to school as a child in Guatemala. Plus, Tienda Santa Cruz, in Portland, generously donated a giant tres leches cake that served over 80 people! You couldn’t have asked for a lovelier event.

Zivi (left) and her mother, Lesley (right), with friends from Guatemala.

All of us at Child Aid would like to express our sincerest thanks to Zivi for this tremendous show of support. The money you raised will help us bring more children’s books to Godinez, continue our literacy training for the village’s seven teachers and support the reading programs that are underway now. Thank you, Zivi!

Homemade tamales and a packed house.

Child Aid volunteer, Katherine Hinds, helps in the kitchen after a long day's work in Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

Our first annual Travel with Child Aid trip happens August 5, 2012, and there’s only one month left to register. We’d love to have you join us. The registration deadline is June 5, 2012.

Designed for those who have made, or are considering making, a significant financial contribution to our literacy program, Travel with Child Aid gives key supporters a week in Guatemala to get to know us in depth. Participants will travel with Child Aid staff to some of our partner communities, where they will see firsthand how our program works. Most importantly, members of the group will be able to directly experience the difference their investment makes in children’s lives. A light volunteer project in a school or library will also give participants the chance to work alongside children and families – those who know best the value literacy brings to their communities.

We hope this trip will inspire our most committed supporters to continue their involvement, while giving new donors insight into Reading for Life, a program they will come to know intimately.

Our in-country sample itinerary includes:

• Orientation breakfast and walk-through of Antigua.
• Visit to Child Aid’s Book Center and a reception with literacy staff.
• Guided visits to rural villages in the Central Highlands region.
• Demonstrations of our literacy work in remote schools and libraries.
• Home visits with local families.
• A volunteer activity to benefit a school or library.
• Cultural activities like markets and coffee farms.

How to Participate:

To participate, download our Program Application form and, by June 5, 2012, send it by mail to Child Aid, 917 SW Oak St, Suite 208, Portland, OR 97025, or by email to travel@child-aid.org.

Read-a-thon participants turning pages to support Child Aid’s work in Guatemala.

When fourth-grade teacher Nancy Danforth told us her students were reading to raise money for Child Aid, we were thrilled. But we had no idea her and fellow teacher Cynthia Scruggs’ students would plow through enough books to raise over $3,200.

In April, fourth-grade students at St. Louise School, in Bellevue, Washington, embarked on a 30-day read-a-thon to support Child Aid’s literacy work in Guatemala.

First, the students gathered pledges from parents and friends, who promised to contribute a small amount for every page the children read. Then the students hit the books. They read at home, on their free time and during several “read-ins” that the teachers organized at school.

By the end of the month, the students had read nearly 30,000 pages in all, raising enough money to bring reading programs to more than 60 children in Guatemala for an entire year. Without a doubt, the efforts of St. Louise’s page-turning fourth-graders will be felt thousands of miles away, by children who face tremendous challenges when it comes to learning to read.

We want to send our sincerest thanks to all the fourth-graders at St. Louise for their energy, commitment and hard work. The effort they put into this will make a real difference for children in Guatemala. Our gratitude also goes out to Mrs. Danforth and Mrs. Scruggs for making it happen; to St. Louise’s principal, Dan Fitzpatrick; and to all the parents and friends who sponsored these young readers. Thank you for your support!

If you are interested in holding a read-a-thon at your school, please email us at readathon@child-aid.org, or call 503-223-3008.