Global Interest, Reinforcement, & a boy named Nacho

The spirit of giving is contagious.  We can hardly believe it, but The Sticker Project is turning heads throughout the United States, Canada, England, Brazil, Korea, Malaysia, Germany, Australia, & Switzerland.

Please…take a look at the The Hochstein Family in Germany sending us stickers. Amazing!

We are humbled and completely in awe of your love and participation.

We have received several photos like this one from our dear friend Julie in Connecticut,

and we even received an e-mail from a retired sticker company owner who has been going through “rolls and rolls.” Unreal.

This incredible amount of support calls for reinforcement.

Juliet (Chu), me, & Matilde:

Thanks to a few good friends through AnnMarie’s school, I’ve teamed up with the local Catholic church. They are working to provide a list of 100 names for us by next Tuesday.

If you haven’t already sent stickers, it’s not too late! You know you want to, and you still have one more day!

Today Carlie & I found Nacho, a 3 year old boy who has been in & out of the hospital for the past 2 months due to an inflamed internal organ. (His mom told me what organ it was, but it was a word I definitely did not recognize nor do I remember). 

Regardless, we found him, and thanks to you, he’ll be getting Christmas.

Oh, and please please remember to NOT send stickers directly to our Argentina address unless you live overseas. 

Love, Sharee

 

Stickers and Unconditional Love

Last night I was so anxious to find a particular family. We have names & ages, but some of the addresses are sketchy and difficult to find.  I had heard about a family with 3 children that I really wanted to meet. Some of the referrals are in pretty rough areas - like makes your heart pound & throat swell up rough. Sometimes I just don’t understand why they were born there and I wasn’t.

I feel comfortable enough now with the whole Argentina situation in general to where I can get around on my own. I didn’t feel that way for quite some time, and even though I still have to be cautious, I feel strong and safe for the most part.

I was having a hard time finding this particular address, and I couldn’t believe some of the ‘homes’ I was seeing. I wanted to stop and take pictures, but I knew I had to keep pushing if I wanted to get out of there before dark. It had been raining all day again, so the dirt roads were questionable.

I ended up finding the place. The mom, Soledad, was hesitant, but I introduced myself unabashed and told her that I was working on a service project. I was afraid to get out of the vehicle on this one. The stray dogs were rampant even though the kids were carefree, completely undisturbed.  

As I was taking the picture of her kids, she started panicking. In that moment I figured she was just pulling away, and I kept pushing to get a picture. I’ve experienced this type of abrupt distance before, I mean, here’s me, the American in a nice vehicle (between me & you, it’s not that nice), what do I know?

But in that moment, I noticed her husband was in sight - coming home on a dirt motorbike, and apparently, this was not good. She was pretty much terrified of him, not me. I got out of there as quickly as possible with a lot to think about.

I don’t know what goes on in their home, nor do I know what goes on in YOURS, but thank you for reaching out and being so kind. The stickers are a simple expression of your GREAT BIG hearts, and oh, how I wish I could somehow bundle up all that unconditional love that’s being sent right along with all those stickers and give THAT to some of these broken homes instead.  At the very least it’s been an inspiration to our family.

So with that, thank you for your donations. We’re trying to make them go as far as possible.

And maybe, just maybe, all that unconditional love you’re sending along with those stickers will mend a few lives along the way.  

Florencia (age 4)

Rodrigo (age 6), Guandagraciana (2)

Four Days Left!!

For what?! Click HERE.

Four days left, and we are working overtime down here thanks to you and you and YOU! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your contributions. The response has been overwhelming and inspiring.

We have been trekking through Venado Tuerto (literally) for the past 4 days finding children in need. This experience has been heart changing for my family.

We also know of a very poor rural school with 23 students in need. We are going there before Christmas to surprise them with gifts – your gifts. I will do my best to describe, document, & capture these beautiful moments.

Yesterday we came across a sweet family including these 3 sisters. 

Bianca (age 9), Martina (5), & Julia (2)

After I took this picture, I found out that there are more of them - another sister in between Bianca and Martina named Milagros (means miracles) and a brother a little older than Bianca.

Here is a little tease for you, Eric, age 7

Today the girls & I are going to try to find Nacho, a 3 year old boy who has been having some health problems. 

It’s not too late to send stickers, and thank you so much to everyone who has already sent envelopes. We are so grateful. We’ll keep working hard – our list is growing each day.

You can make a difference.

Love, Sharee