It's Worth a Shot

See that gorgeous little boy in the picture above? That's Jaron. Remember him? He's the little 23 lb, 8 year old boy who lived in a hospital in India until Sarah found him last December and took him home with her to Sarah's Covenant Homes in Ongole.

Do you remember what he looked like back then?




Pretty sad, huh? Makes you a bit mad, right? Because, come on, he was in a hospital under the care of doctors and nurses.... yet, he was wasted away and covered in sores and lice when Sarah found him.

Look at that top picture again. See how happy he is? See the change in him? It's fantastic!

But, unfortunately, he's really sick right now. Jaron is really sick. In fact, he's on the way to the hospital in Hyderabad because he's throwing up blood.

Now, that alone is pretty scary. But what makes it even scarier is that two children have passed away at Sarah's in the last week:

Sweet Elizabeth

And beautiful Evelyn

Both precious girls had epilepsy and neurological issues, but it's not really known what caused their death. And after Elizabeth died, several of the children in her room came down with unexplained high fevers and had to be taken to Hyderabad.

Now, I'm not one to go on and on about the controversy of vaccines. People close to us know what we've chosen and why. I've seen the good side of vaccines and I've seen the bad. But in India? These kids don't have a choice. They NEED to be vaccinated.

Think about it. You have 82 medically fragile children living in a group setting in a third world country. Some have Hepatitis. Some have come to Sarah's with Typhoid. They almost all go barefoot, so they need tetanus shots. And polio? Uh huh. It's still a big concern.

These beautiful, precious, amazing, God-has-a-purpose-for-them children MUST be immunized. But they can't. Because Sarah doesn't have the money to do it.

Two children have died in a week (and no one knows why), several have been sick and now sweet little Jaron is vomiting blood.

It costs $175 to fully immunize one child. There are 40 children. That's $7,000.

Seems like a lot, right? But what if we all got together and pitched in. What if we blogged about it? Facebooked it? Emailed it to our friends and family? Did a little office fundraising challenge? Or a school challenge with each classroom?

What if we banded together and raised the money to ensure that these children - these children who are finally being given a second shot at life - never, ever, ever, ever have to die from a preventable disease?

What do you say?

$7,000 sounds like a lot. So let's break it down:

We could raise the money by...

50 people giving $140 each

100 people giving $70 each

140 people giving $50 each

280 people giving $25 each

350 people giving $20 each

700 people giving $10 each

1400 people giving $5 each

Come on! We can do it!! Spread the word. YOU can help save a life today. Let me repeat that. YOU can help save a life today. That's a pretty amazing feeling isn't it?

Here's how you can do it:

Click HERE. This will take you to Sarah's blog. On the top right hand corner is a Chip In button for you to make your donation.

And pass it on. Pass it on. Pass it on. These children don't have families.

WE'RE their families.

These are OUR children.

Won't you help your child today?