Julie Gumm - Author

World Orphans Volunteer Team

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I’m 2 weeks into my new job as Director of Communications for World Orphans and I am having SO MUCH fun! I feel like I’m drowning half the time but I keep kicking and there is a smile on my face the whole time. WO does so much stuff that I’m spending a lot of time just catching up, seeing all the things my team had in progress, getting lists of things that need to be done, etc.

We are doing some major rethinking to our overall marketing and communications plan and my brain is working overtime. There’s a new web site to plot out, new marketing pieces to develop, processes to put in place etc. But this is the part that totally excites me. The first week I kind of felt a little bit like I was wading through the water, floating an idea here and an idea there, testing the waters. And the reaction has been overwhelming – this is a group of people who are SO open to new ideas that it astounds me. Not once have I heard “well, that’s not the way we do things” – in fact it’s just the opposite. They have met every one of my ideas with not just acceptance, but excitement. They believe in me, my experience and my desire to do what is best for this incredible ministry. You have NO idea how good that feels!

I have an awesome team of guys working with me. Marcello and Marty knock out some brilliant design work – award winning design work in fact (Pikes Peak ADDY Awards). And Luke is our resident programming genius who makes all our back end systems work. The best part is that these guys are here not for the paycheck, but because they are passionate about the orphan and what World Orphans does. It doesn’t get better than that.

I’ve got lots of projects on my plate and some opportunities for others to get involved if you’re looking for a way to help the orphan community. Not a lot of experience needed. All you need to help with my first project is a love of reading adoption/orphan blogs and the ability to cut and paste into Excel 🙂

If you’d like to help, just leave a comment and I’ll get in touch ASAP.

Kids for Haiti

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We’ve been talking to the kids this week about what happened in Haiti. We rarely have the news on in our house (no cable or satellite anymore so no 24 hr news to watch). I read all my news online. So in one sense I guess we’ve sheltered them a bit. I don’t necessarily think they need to see the images of arms protruding from piles of rubble and bodies being emptied into a dumpster by a huge front loader to understand the gravity of the situation in Haiti.

We’ve talked about what an earthquake does (which led to questions I had to Google to answer) and what that means in terms of buildings collapsing and lack of clean water, power, etc.  We prayed together – for those missing loved ones, for those who already know the fate of their loved ones and for the many people in need of food, water and medicine.

This morning as we were going through our morning routine (which is spurred on by my “What do you need to do next?” every few minutes), Natalie is frantically running around looking for her wallet. I was getting somewhat impatient with her but was luckily distracted by a sibling for a few minutes.

Before I knew it she had dug out a few dollars and handed it to me.

“It’s for the kids in Haiti, mom.” (insert guilty silence and a few tears from mom)

They get it!! They have not, like so many of us, been jaded by life’s disappointments. They do not succumb to “the problem is so big what can one person do?” excuse that passes through our heads.

If we let them, they will just give.

So talk to your kids. This is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate being the hands and feet of Christ – whether that means your family donates $10, $100 or $1000. If you give them ownership in it, you’d be surprised at some of the ideas they come up with.

If you need one to get you started – try this:

All 55 Sports Chalet locations are accepting donations of gently used kids, mens and womens shoes that will go to Haiti in coordination with Soles4Souls. Go door to door in your neighborhood, get your kids school involved. (I’ve already talked to our girls Girl Scout Troop leader.)

Shoes may seem unimportant in contrast to food and water.

But wearing shoes prevents feet from getting cuts and sores from contaminated soil. Not only are they painful, but these sores turn dangerous when they become infected. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. This is true in “normal” times. Think about how much more dangerous it is going to be for the people of Haiti to be walking around without shoes in a city that lies in ruins and without proper sanitation.

If you have other ways for kids to get involved, leave them in the comments section. I would love to hear what you and your family are doing.

Haiti – Beyond the Front Page

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As most, I have been watching, with a heavy heart, the news that comes from Haiti. Mark was there several years ago on a trip with our last church. There are so many obvious needs but what has overwhelmed me today is thinking to the weeks ahead and the domino affect this tragedy has on so many things.

There are adoptive parents in the U.S. with no idea if their soon-to-be-children are okay. Even those families that have gotten good news must now wonder how long it will take them to bring their children home. Adoption paperwork has most assuredly been lost for many. Will the Haitian government be flexible in allowing these families to bring their children home sooner rather than later? I can only imagine the worry and anxiety that is facing so many.

Unfortunately this tragedy will bring many who seek to profit from it. An already troublesome sex trafficking industry in Haiti threatens to loom over the many new orphaned and frightened children. World Orphans is partnering with churches in Haiti who will hopefully get to these children and provide protection before they are forced into child labor or worse.

You can read more about World Orphans relief efforts on Paul’s blog.

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