His name is Boots. Well, not really, his real name is Amos. But then again, not even that because nobody knows what his actual name is.

Boots, as I refer to him (you will see why), was brought to this orphanage 3 years ago after he was found roaming the streets of Port au Prince and rummaging through garbage looking for food. He was 2 years old at the time. 2. Years. Old. On his own, left to fend for himself. He has no recollection of who his parents are. When Boots was first brought to the orphanage, he had a lot of problems. He was very angry and was known for beating up on the other children. Truthfully, that is probably all he knew, since he had been fending for himself for who knows how long.

Skip forward 3 years – Boots is now one of the sweetest children at the orphanage. If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he will say “A Policeman!” with a huge smile across his face. He loves to sing songs about Jesus, and he loves to play with the other children. Still, though, Boots is living in the most unideal of places. The kitchen in which his food is made is quite dirty and less than basic. His mattress is a makeshift piece of foam, ridden with holes and bugs. He shares this mattress with another child or two.

The earthquake in Haiti left approximately 400,000 children orphaned, in addition to the 385,000 that were already orphaned before the earthquake. Some of them were brought to orphanages, many of which are literally hanging on by a thread because of the damage done to the structures. Many other children are left to wander the streets, digging through trash for food and trying to find refuge in the tent cities.

Karissa Washburn of Bless an Orphan felt the tug on her heart years ago to build orphanages throughout the world. She herself has adopted two orphans from Russia. If you were to sit down and hear Karissa’s dream of opening an orphanage in the hillside of Haiti, you would believe that there actually is hope for these children and for this country. It is people like Karissa, and her husband Marshall who look beyond the filth and destruction and see hope. They are working their butts off to get an orphanage up and running ASAP, but their biggest need to do so is….of course…$$$. I am hoping to take a team down later this year (more on that to come!) to help bless them in building the orphanage but before we can do that, they need to raise the funds to actually build.

So here is my challenge for you this week: Give up one thing and donate that amount to Bless an Orphan. You can live without that one Starbucks for a day. Or one Chick-fil-a meal (oohhh, I am craving Chick-fil-a now!). Or that manicure that you have needed “oh-so-badly”. Just one small item, that’s all I ask. You may think that your $5 won’t make much of a difference, but I beg to differ. Yesterday I had 597 people visit this blog. If every one of those 597 gave $5, then we would raise close to $3000 for Bless and Orphan….all because you gave up your Starbuck’s for a day. So, go ahead, do it. Donate now and give the 785,000 children…and Boots… a chance at a better life 🙂

Meet Boots.

See….Boots! Aren’t they cute?

Totally digging the cowboy boots and basketball shorts! Now THAT is fashion, my friends! 🙂

Seriously, isn’t he the cutest thing ever? I wanted to take him home with me.

Boots peaking while he was supposed to be praying, lol!

The kitchen in which Boots’ food is made, and the tent in which he sleeps.

The bed on which Boots sleeps.

Give Boots and the other orphans in Haiti a chance by donating a few dollars today! It only takes a couple minutes. 🙂

This is definitely a legit and very tangible way of helping out! I plan on going down to Haiti more to document the work that Karissa and Marshall are doing with the orphanage that they are building, so you can expect to see updates on this blog. It will be great to know that YOU were a part of helping build that orphanage. 🙂