Christmas may come early this year!

It's probably no secret to most of my friends that I'm trying to raise $101,000 for orphans and vulnerable children by Christmas. And I'm doing that by supporting the good work of Raising Malawi, an organization I've come to know and trust.

Well, great news! I found a donor to match funds up to $10,100 till 10/1 (see the 101 theme?). That doesn't give us much time, so please oh please, I beg you...give whatever you can TODAY.

Donations are 100% tax deductible and will help bring much needed funds to the Home of Hope orphanage in Mchinji, Malawi. This video tells the story (my story) of what's needed and why. It's part Al Gore in Inconvenient Truth and part Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But hopefully it explains what I'm up to and inspires you to help however you can. (After you start viewing, you may want to hit pause for five minutes so the entire video buffers. Otherwise, I find it's too choppy and annoying to watch).



Since it's so urgent that I raise this money quickly, as my own contribution, I'm offering these awesome cloth shopping bags from Africa Bags.org to the first 50 people who donate at least $101.00. All the bags are hand made in a village in Malawi.



But don't let me cap you out at $101.00! Maybe you can support a whole orphan! That's $1,400 per child per year. Or, maybe you can only give $20, but you have four friends who can also give $20. I can still send you a bag. The name of the game is to do what you can.

1. Donate to raisingmalawi.org

2. You will receive an automatic reply thanking you for your donation.

3. Forward that reply to me at jsilka@yahoo.com and I'll count it toward my goal (and the matching donor goal) and acknowledge your donation on my blog (unless you explicitly ask me not to). If you act quickly, please include a mailing address where I can send your Africa Bag.

On behalf of myself, Raising Malawi and 600 wee little orphans - thank you so very much!