Come one, come all!

If you live in the Orem/Provo area, or if you know someone who does, please help me spread the word that my family and I are having a fundraiser yard sale on Saturday (tomorrow), starting at 8 am at 682 West 400 South in Orem. It's going to be completely awesome! We have tons of clothes (especially kid clothes), shoes, accessories, furniture, household items, baby stuff, and treats that we would like you to eat, so when I say "Come one, come all," I mean it! Come!

My family and I are raising money to donate to the Padma organization, which is a group that supports the Optimistic Children and Youth Home of Nepal (OCAYHN). There are literally thousands of children who live and beg on the streets of Kathmandu in Nepal, who have absolutely nothing - no homes, no food, no future, which is why the work of Padma and OCAYHN is so amazing and so crucial. OCAYHN takes in children from off the streets and gives them a clean, safe place to live, healthy food to eat, tuition for schooling, and a family community. When you look at pictures of the children - children as young as two or three years old - living on the streets of Nepal and compare them to the pictures of the children living at OCAYHN, there aren't really words to describe the differences. In the first, you can see despair, pain, neglect, and starvation; in the second, you see hope, love, and happiness.

Last summer, my sister Rachel got to go to Nepal and do some volunteer work. (Check out her Nepal blog for more stories and information, listed on the right under Family Blogs.) Though she had to come home several weeks early because of an emergency appendectomy, she was able to spend some time with the girls (and one boy) at the home. When she came back and shared her experience with us, we were deeply touched and wanted to do something to help. Sometimes it seems like there are so many desperate people in the world who are in tragic situations that our small efforts can't really make a difference. But what we do can and does make a difference to Padma and a huge difference to these sixteen children in Nepal. It's not the whole world, but it's a start.

So please come tomorrow. Even more than enjoying the sunshine and finding some awesome stuff, it's an opportunity to help someone in need. You won't regret it. See you there!