Books from Baldwin Elementary!

Today I picked up a carload of school books that were no longer needed at Baldwin Elementary School in Manassas, Virginia. I am over the moon happy and grateful. They are amazing books! There are teachers manuals, text books, work books, reading books and more. These will be invaluable to my friend Billa who is trying to provide a free education for children living in extreme poverty. When I say extreme poverty, I mean extreme. Children who go without food, sleep on the floor in shacks made of scrap wood and metal sheets. Many of their parents can't read and write and have never gone to school themselves. That kind of extreme poverty. There is no government agency funding him, no large organization backing him. He is just one man, from a poor background himself, trying to help children who otherwise would have no chance at an education. There is no teacher's supply store near him, no book stores, nowhere he could buy these quality books even if he did have the money and it would take a lot of money to buy books like these. I can't wait for him to see them.

This is a perfect example of why I tell anyone who will listen about my project to help the kids at Future Leaders UCC. Because I talked to Diane Angba, who works for the school system, while at a friend's house one night, she was kind enough to make a phone call to the right person who directed me to this jackpot!

 So to the parents and staff at Baldwin Elementary,  Monica Helper with the Manassas school district and Diane Angba,  these are the beautiful children your books are helping. Thank You!

I want to get this blog out and get back to sorting books so I will post more later about how these books will help.



Painting Brighter Futures LLC

It is official! I just incorporated Painting Brighter Futures LLC

 Painting Brighter Futures' mission is to paint brighter futures for the children living in extreme poverty by painting bright paintings and donating proceeds to help educate the children.

 

 

After many hours of research I decided that setting up a tax exempt charity here in the US would be a bureaucratic nightmare for me. I am and artist not an accountant. So, I will function as a small business which donates proceeds to a charity like Tom's shoes or Newman's Own salad dressing ( just much smaller and really different). I think the name is perfect. Painting Brighter Futures. It is so simple, I am selling my bright paintings to raise money for Future Leaders UCC. Educating children makes them brighter and gives them a chance for a brighter future. See perfect!

I bought the domain name paintingbrighterfutures.com(not up and running yet) Now I am busy learning and building a new website. Thank you, Ryan at GoDaddy.com for your practical help and tutorials. Now, I will be able to sell my paintings on line, take payments on line and eventually have a store where I can sell a wider range of products inspired by my art to help more kids have brighter futures. I am on a roll now. Maybe, I can raise money for needy kids all over the world! Woah, slow down, Adrienne. Focus right now on the very real opportunity you have in front of you. Raising money for Billa to buy the land he needs to build his dream of a children's center for the needy of Accra, Ghana. Billa dreams big too. But, based on the fact that he started teaching 5 kids under a mango tree and now teaches 170 a day in several open air classrooms, I believe he can do anything he sets his mind to. And I can too!

 

What a difference a year makes. This time last year I didn't know what I was going to do with the next chapter of my life. Now, thanks to all my life experiences, good and bad, I know what makes me feel happy and fulfilled and I know what doesn't. So, I am going to focus on what gives me real joy; painting what inspires me and helping children. Viola!

 

 

I feel like the kids in this picture right now.

If you want to share the joy and help my little friends in Ghana click here.