OPERATION: LOVE

HAPPY FEBRUARY! Love is in the air, isn't it?! Here at Sixteen Small Stones we are feeling lots of love from all of our wonderful friends and supporters, and are sendinging our love right back to you. Thank you for all of your support! We are also feeling the love for some special little kids around the world! As you all know, this month is our annual OPERATION: LOVE project (I can hear the cyber-crowd go wild!)! This year, we have even more kids than ever in our OPERATION: LOVE program, and we are excited to be able to reach out and touch so many little lives. Will you join us? OPERATION: LOVE is when we collect "Valentines" (any note of love, really) and send them to the kids in our OPERATION: LOVE program. Anyone and everyone can participate! People who are interested can buy Valentines OR homemake Valentines! You can donate one Valentine or one hundred! It is totally up to you! If you are not really the Valentining sort, but want to be involved, you can donate money to put toward the cost of sending the Valentines!! YOU WANT TO MAKE VALENTINES? Sure! The kids LOVE the homemade quality of Valentines made by YOU (and/or your kids!). Remember some of the kids are little, so make sure there is nothing they could choke on (bells that can pull off, etc.). Some of the children have visual impairments, so adding embelishments like soft feathers or fuzzy stickers are a wonderful way to help them enjoy their Valentines! YOU WANT TO BUY VALENTINES? Great! The kids LOVE the cute, cartoon-ey pictures found on store-bought Valentines! Many come with candies or stickers, and that is great! The kids love any little extra "treat"! WHAT DO I DO NEXT? The premise of OPERATION: LOVE is to send love to kids who otherwise not feel there is anyone who really cares about them. Recieving a special "Valentine" is a physical reminder that they are important and valuable and loveable. It is something they can carry with them and keep forever. Although the cute pictures are fun, the real meaningful part of the Valentine comes in the message printed on it. Writing words of love and encouragement on your Valentine tells the children they are LOVED! Keep in mind that the children do not celebrate Valentine's Day in their country, so wishing them a, "Happy Valentines Day" will not hold the same meaning to them as it would to children in America. It is important to tell them in other ways that they are loved and you are wishing them happiness. **NOTE: Signing your name (or having your child sign his name) makes the Valentine very personal and give them children the feeling that someone specific cares about them.** Here are some examples of what you might write on your Valentine: Hello! You are such a wonderful person and I love you! You are special! I love you! I am sending lots of love and good wishes your way! I LOVE YOU! Hello! My name is _________ and I love you! I hope you have a good day! Never forget how special and important you are! I LOVE YOU! WHO WILL RECEIVE MY VALENTINES? You can specify if you want your Valentines to go to a specific country, but it is best if you send them and Sixteen Small Stones can make sure enough go to each home. Your Valentines will be sent to: Racham Ministries--Uganda, Africa. Serving His Children--Uganda, Africa--A home that takes in severely malnourished children and rehabilitates them. The Kings Children's Home--Belmopan, Belize--A home that takes in needy children, adults and orphans. We are contacting some homes in China and India to see if they are wanting to be involved in OPERATION: LOVE this year! We will let you know what they say! :) We hope they will want to be involved!!!!!!! I HAVE MY VALENTINES READY! WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM? You can either mail them to Sixteen Small Stones, or drop them off in person. The address to mail them or deliver them is the same! Sixteen Small Stones C/O Breclyn S. Everett 445 East Center Shelley, Idaho 83274 U.S.A NOT DONE YET!!!!!! PLEASE leave us a comment and let us know if you are wanting to send Valentines! We are excited to hear who is involved! Also, you can take pictures of you making/buying/writing your Valentines and send them to us! We will post them in our later post about OPERATION: LOVE! :) THANK YOU to EVERYONE! Let us know if you have any questions!