Celebrate with Us!

MATCHING GRANT UPDATE

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away here in the states? Life is all a little different this year, but one thing that hasn’t changed is that we are super thankful for you.   You did it!  Together you met and exceeded the matching grant and together raised over $45,000.  Jump up and down – we certainly are!

We thought it would take 20 days to raise the matching funds, but your generosity exceeded the goal in just five days. Your generosity gives us the ability to tell our contractors to get ready to put that shovel in the ground to begin Phase 2; talk about a home extreme makeover!  

Remember, this is just the seed of Phase 2, the first 10%, to get the construction started.  We will share more details in a few weeks about the entire project, with a preliminary cost of $400,000.  But for now, let us all focus on “Thanks Giving”!  We have so much to be thankful for if we fix our eyes on what is truly important!  Celebrate God’s goodness with us!

Oh, by the way, expect a cuteness overload from our Gems for the next few weeks. We will be giving thanks for our Gems and the staff who serve and love the Gems so well!  We are blessed to be able to do what we do!    

From all of us:  thank you, and a big virtual hug!

Love from AZ and Uganda!

– Dwight

Changing The World One Child At A Time

Executive Director US Operations The Gem Foundation John 15:13   

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Assisted Living Home for Bethany

MATCHING GRANT UPDATE

This past weekend we shared our exciting news about a matching grant! We have been blown away that on day 4 of our Thanksgiving campaign – we have already raised $14,000 of our $20,000 goal. Wow! Only God! 

If we are able to reach our goal then our corporate donor said they would give an additional $5,000! That means together we could raise the first $45,000 towards the homes that will allow us to give the go-ahead for construction set to begin in January of 2021. 

Why Assisted Living Homes you may ask? In Uganda, by law, when a child reaches 18 years of age they “age out” of our children’s home and have no where to go. It is our deepest desire to provide a safe place for our oldest Gems as they become adults in order to continue to grow and thrive independently. We dream of amazing vocational skills they can learn and the joy of seeing our adult Gems reach their full potential. 

Have you met Bethany? This past September, she turned 16 years old. She dreams of being a social worker when she grows up so that she can help others. She is the life of Gem and keeps us laughing. She loves to learn and school is her favorite. We can’t wait to see her achieve her dream of becoming a social worker.

In less than two years Bethany will age out of our children’s home. We are the only family she knows and so she will have no where to turn, but to us. We can’t leave her homeless – we need to do this together! For Bethany, Jerom, Pearl, Angel, Anita, Jane and Collins and Caleb and the many other Gems who will follow. Will you help provide and be a part of our Assisted Living Home for our oldest Gems? 

We can’t do it without you. Every gift makes a difference towards us reaching our goal!  

Thank you for loving our precious Gems! 

Love from Uganda, Emma  

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Countdown to Thanksgiving

20 DAY MATCHING CORPORATE CHALLENGE

I think you will agree, 2020 has been a difficult year for everyone.  Loss of employment, loss of loved ones, and the loss of connection has affected everyone.  It can be very discouraging.  But let’s change our thinking and hearts by becoming advocates of Thanks-Giving!   For the 20 days leading up to Thanksgiving find ways to express your thankfulness; write a friend, call a loved one, do a purposeful act of thankfulness for 20 days!   At The Gem, we will purposefully be thankful each day! 

We are also excited to announce, for the next 20 days The Gem Foundation needs to raise seed money, 10% of the cost of Phase 2, so that we can give the go-ahead to our contractors to begin building Assisted Living Homes for our Gems as they grow to adulthood and become 18 years old.

In Uganda our oldest Gems will be growing into adults and will be required by law to leave our children’s homes.  Gem Village for many of our Gems is their forever home and we will not leave our adult Gems without homes.  We have been planning for the day that our Bethany and Pearl turn 18 years old.   We are excited to announce that our plan for the Assisted Living Homes includes two homes for our adult Gems and we need to raise the funds this year!

We must start in January 2021 with building Assisted Living Homes for Bethany, Pearl, Joram, Moses, Jane, Anita, Angel, and many more will follow as they grow up.   It is important to raise the first 10% to enable us to begin site work as soon as the Medical Center is completed.  In Uganda, if our contractors move to another job site it could take another year to get them back to us. We simply cannot afford that time delay.

A generous corporation has offered to match the first $20,000 given and will include an additional $5,000 if we reach our goal!  Will you help us reach our goal?

It’s simple math! For every dollar you give toward Gem Village in the next 20 days,  the grant will match your gift dollar for dollar up to $20,000. And if we hit the goal, another $5,000 gift!  

As always we are thankful for your partnership and truly couldn’t do it without you partnering with us!

Blessings from Team Gem,

– Dwight

PS:  When you give, tell us something or someone you are thankful for on our FB or Instagram site!   Let’s blow up social media with hearts filled with Thanksgiving!  

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