Announcing the Interlink Gift Catalog

Posted by Jason Walke, Business and Technology Coordinator

Have you ever struggled to find the perfect gift? Now you can give gifts that changes lives.  This holiday season, Interlink is offering a selection of meaningful gifts that benefit the children of Kazakhstan. 

Here is how the program works:

• Choose items from the Interlink Gift Catalog that you would like to give to your friends and family.  

• Donate quickly and securely via Google Checkout.

• Then print out gift cards from our gift card page.  Each card explains the value of the gift that you gave in the recipient's honor. 

Visit the catalog today and start shopping for meaningful gifts.

Improvements to the Kids Connection program- Part 2

Posted by the Kids Connection Team

Kids Connection has regional coordinators who help us find and take care of our sponsors. These coordinators contribute many hours a month to help us run this program.

We thought you might like to get to know them:

Pam Brown- Richmond, Virginia Region

Family: husband, Gilpin, daughter- Karen and Dave Bosley, and son, Gordon and Marty Brown and two wonderful grandkids, Mabel and Atticus Brown

Job: wife, mom, grandma

Favorite Hobby: reading, being with kids

How did you get involved with Interlink? I was blessed to get involved in the same year I first knew of Interlink - in 2000. I was asked to be on the board that year and am getting ready for my seventh trip to visit team and friends in Kazakhstan.

Why are you involved with Kids Connection? I'm very excited about the program and have seen first hand the joy our letters and pictures bring to the children in Kazakhstan.  It's such a fun and easy way to have a big impact on kids over there and it's also a wonderful way for so many to get personally involved with our work there.

Lisa White- Lynchburg, Virginia Region

Family: husband - Jamey; children, Elizabeth, 6 and Matthew, 3

Job: Stay at home, home schooling mom.

Favorite Hobby: Reading, cooking

How did you get involved with Interlink? Through my community of friends

Why are you involved with Kids Connection? My husband and I adopted our daughter, Elizabeth, from Kazakhstan, and we have a heart burdened for the orphans of Kazakhstan.

Jim Asher- Portland, Oregon Region

Family: wife - Glenda, 3 daughters, and 2 grandchildren

Job: High school Guidance Counselor / 12th grade homeroom teacher

Favorite Hobby: Fishing and coaching girl’s basketball

How did you get involved with Interlink? I was asked to go with a group of people to do an English program in a village in Kazakhstan, which was in 2000.  I have been back every year since.  This coming June with be my 10th trip.  Kazakhstan has become a part of me because of the opportunity provided by Interlink.

Why are you involved with Kids Connection? The privilege of helping provide for the kids at the orphanage is something I really enjoy participating in.  Having met so many of the children and having built personal relationships with them has been wonderful.  Knowing that the children are being cared for in this way is very comforting for me.  The ability to actually write them and to get responses back is really great!  They have become like my own children.

Bethany Planton- Muncie, Indiana Region

Family: dad – Mike, mom – Kathy, and sister - Bailey

Job: Interlink - Coordinator of Kids Connection Sponsors and Ball State University - Computer Lab Assistant

Favorite Hobby: Scrapbooking, reading, and hanging out with friends

How did you get involved with Interlink? I went on my first delegation summer of 2006 and feel in love with the country. I have been involved ever since.

Why are you involved with Kids Connection? I am involved because I have spent time in the orphanages that Interlink works in and I have seen how the children need love. I want to help them feel loved anyway I can.

Color Me Beautiful

Posted by Olya Cherevko, Youth Impact Manager

This month we had two American delegates (a teacher and an interior designer) who gave a seminar on colors in food and psychology. There were over 50 students attending the seminar at PTL and the Youth House.  Students learned about the color wheel, matching colors, how colors affect mood, what colors to choose to decorate a room, etc. Youth also learned about the food pyramid.  When they were asked how many food groups they had the day before in their meals, a majority of them said "two groups" and only two students said "three". At the end of the seminar each student received an orange or an apple.

 To read more stories like this, check out the Youth Impact Newsletters. 

Ulan Birthdays

Posted by Ember Mumaw, Intern

 

The celebration of October birthdays at Ulan happened to fall on Halloween day.  So after helping out at the Youth Impact carnival, Ken, Kiizkhan, and I (still sporting our costumes) took cake and gifts to Ulan to celebrate birthdays.  Birthdays at Ulan have encouraged me that good things are happening here in Kazakhstan for these kids.  For Ulan birthdays the children will sing and perform for each other.  Their music teacher helps them prepare and they sing for us just as they would a huge audience.  The staff make special dishes at home and bring them in for dinner.  It's been a very neat time to connect with a smaller group of kids and staff. Those connections allow us to understand and better meet the needs of both groups. So a birthday is so much more than just cake and games!

 

 

Improvements in our Kids Connection program- Part 1:

Posted by the Kids Connection Team

    Due to the wonderful growth in our program and the fact that we would love to continue to grow, we have made many improvements to the Kids Connection program. These improvements are so that we can better help our sponsors build relationships with their sponsored child.

    First of all, there has been a new schedule set up for donating, letter writing, and newsletters. Our sponsors will now be hearing from Kids Connection about once a month. Here is the monthly schedule:

January - This is a letter-writing month. Kids Connection will send our sponsors a reminder to write to their child at the beginning of the month, and all letters should be into our office by the end of the month.

February – This month our sponsors will receive a newsletter. The newsletter will give sponsors an idea of what our team in Kazakhstan has been doing with the children at the orphanages in the past three months.

March – This is a donation month for those sponsors who donate quarterly. Kids Connection will send out a reminder for the donation at the beginning of the month, and the donation should be in our office by the end of the month.

April – This is a letter-writing month.

May – This month our sponsors will receive a newsletter.

June – This is a donation month for those sponsors who donate quarterly and bi-annually.

July – This is a letter-writing month.

August – This month our sponsors will receive a newsletter.

September – This is a donation month for those sponsors who donate quarterly.

October – This is a letter-writing month.

November – This month our sponsors will receive a newsletter.

December – This is s donation month for all sponsors. Those donating quarterly, bi-annually, and annually.