[31 for 21] ~ Here’s me, Leaping!!…

Hope.

Today’s word is hope.

Yesterday I wrote this post about something near and dear to my heart: a tiny little school, deep in rural Guatemala, dedicated to providing an education to children with special needs, children who have been deemed unworthy by a large part of Guatemalan society.

I desperately want them to have hope. Hope in a future that has potential. The kind of hope that I have for Jake.

The amazing family that I wrote about in yesterday’s post has ideas. They have brilliant ideas of ways to help this school. And not only do they have ideas, but they have a plan. It’s amazing ~ I’ve seen it! They have it all worked out, what could be done, what could be upgraded, what could be purchased, and learned, and taught, and provided, in order to realize this dream of hope.

The objectives that they’ve written down (and I am taking this straight from their proposal!) are:

1. Expose students to different vocational opportunities
2. Teach some of the basic principles of micro-enterprise
3. Help develop physical, intellectual and social skills
4. Cultivate dignity and self-esteem
5. Generate a small amount of revenue to reinvest in the projects and/or other school programs

Ummmm, yes please! This is something I want to get behind. This is something that will provide that elusive hope for the future for these children. This. Is. Good. Stuff. People.

So here is what I am going to do about it. Here is my small part. Hopefully it will amount to something bigger in the future, but you gotta start small, right?

I am opening an Etsy shop. It is called “321Joy” (more on that later…). You can look it up on Etsy, or follow this link to find it.
I have been planning this for a long time, and I am really excited! This is a great way for me to be creative, and have a much-needed outlet.

It will have more items in it as I continue building it. But so far all there is in my store is a line of shirts in my shop entitled “321”. These shirts serve a dual purpose. They are about Down syndrome awareness, which I am all about! But 47% of the proceeds from this “321” line of shirts will go directly towards the project for this Special Needs School in Guatemala.

Why 47%, you ask? Well, because individuals with Down syndrome possess 47 chromosomes, instead of the typical 46. So again, Down syndrome awareness, plus doing something to raise money for these students who have captured my heart.

This could flop. I am well aware of it. I mean, I think the shirts are adorbs, but come on, I made them for heaven’s sake, so I am a wee bit biased!
Regardless of the outcome, however, I really felt as though this was something I needed to do, to step out of my comfort zone and take a leap of faith. So, here’s me, leaping!!

**If you are interested in ordering a shirt and live near me, let me know and I can just get it to you without shipping! Also, so far I’ve just got baby and toddler sizes on my Etsy shop, but if you’d like a shirt in a bigger size, leave me a comment, shoot me an email, or get in touch with me some other way, and I will be sure to make that happen too:)**