Julie Kenner/J.K. Beck

I’m an active supporter of Love Without Boundaries. In 2006, an auction I sponsored to benefit LWB and to fund medical care for orphans in China raised over $8,000. The money was earmarked specifically for medical care, with a percentage going exclusively to fund the repair of cleft lips and palates, a cause near and dear to my heart. Thanks to all the authors, editors, agents and Hollywood folks who donated!

Click here to learn more about Love Without Boundaries or to donate directly.

Half the Sky is another charitable organization that I support.

In addition to other things, Half The Sky provides preschool opportunities to little ones living in orphanages. Our daughter, Isabella, was in a Half The Sky preschool at the Chuzhou Social Welfare Institute in China. Adopted at three, Isabella came home with wonderful gross and fine motor skills, and we are certain that is in large part due to the love and care she received at Chuzhou SWI and through the HTS program. HTS documented her growth and development, and we will be forever grateful for the records we received about her first three years.

My family sponsors a little girl through Half the Sky and another through Love Without Boundaries.  In reading an early report on one of the girls, I was brought to tears. She didn’t want to leave her shoes at the classroom door because she was afraid (according to the ayi, or nanny) that some other child would take them. Oh, the memories! For weeks after adopting Isabella, she would throw a fit if anyone tried to take off her shoes (and at first, she slept in them). Even more, though we bought her two new pairs on our first day with her in China, she would only wear one, apparently unable to comprehend that they both belonged to her. She clearly liked one better and didn’t want to trade them for the inferior pair!

It was a big day in our lives the first time I saw a pair of Isabella’s shoes lying casually in the living room. Now, I’m doing good to convince her to wear shoes. Usually, they end up in the basket of her tricycle. (And, dang it, I’m tearing up again!)

If you’d like to sponsor a child, be sure to click on the links above and investigate these wonderful organizations. You can help change a kiddo’s life for as little as $20/month.