I’m participating in a group effort with a group of bloggers coming together today in a collaborative effort spearheaded by Paloma Contreras of La Dolce Vita.. Some of my other blogger friends, Maria Killam of Colour me Happy and Brooke Giannetti of Velvet and Linen are also participating in order to make a difference for a very deserving charity. I wanted to be a part of this blessing too.

This past Sunday, our pastor gave a sermon on fearless giving. After the sermon, they handed out $2.00 bils and asked us to donate that money to a good cause. Yesterday, I read a couple of my favorite design blogs an they introduced me to a wonderful charity. For some reason I knew that this was what I was suppose to do with my money. Probably because I grew up overseas and saw the struggles young children have. It touches your heart deeply and you never forget visions of people struggling. Our family put our money we received from the church and donated it to this charity. It's a small amount but it will make a big difference.

Pencils of Promise is a wonderful 501(c)(3) organization based in New York, that partners with local communities and organizations to build schools of early-stage education in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children. Sadly, there are more than 75 million children in this terrible situation worldwide. To watch a small video, go here

Last December, the Pencils of Promise team visited a small village in Laos and by July 2009, they had built a new school for the village children who started attending classes on September 1st. This month, Pencils of Promise will be opening their third school!

All of the money donated via this blog campaign will go to The Champhet Girls Dormitory and Library Project. Champhet is a small village in Laos where high school girls now have to live in mud huts built by themselves in order to go to the only high school in the area.

If you would like to donate to this cause, go here to make your donation.

Thanks for your generosity during this Christmas Season and God Bless!

Ruthie