And the winner is...

LoQuita S. Richardson from Cottondale, AL!

We want to give a big THANK YOU to Loquita and everyone who donated as a part of Alabama Gives Day! Thanks too for those of you who blogged, tweeted, and facebooked about this event! We know you are the reason we now have new donors and followers on twitter. We also appreciate the folks at ABC 33/40, especially Producer Erica Huddleston, for featuring us on "Good Morning Alabama"! (See the video here!) THANK YOU for advocating for our kids!

Thank YOU for GIVING to The Sound of Hope from The Sound of Hope on Vimeo.

We used the True Random Number Generator to determine our winner. LoQuita, you now have a choice between the AUBURN Prize Pack or the ALABAMA Prize Pack. Let us know which one you prefer and we'll get it in the mail to you asap!

The Alabama Gives Day AUBURN Prize Pack ::

               

(navy handwoven cotton scarf from Thailand + orange camel bone bangles from India + SOH American Apparel T -shirt)

The Alabama Gives Day ALABAMA Prize Pack ::

 (red handwoven cotton scarf from Thailand + elephant earrings from Thailand + SOH American Apparel T -shirt)

Thanks again for giving!

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Be a part of Alabama Gives Day!

“How did a girl from Oxford, AL end up here?” – It’s a question I often ask myself, whether speaking Thai in a Chiang Mai market, greeting women at a carepoint in Swaziland, or putting on my traditional punjabi suit before riding through Delhi traffic. My life looks very different than I ever could have dreamed it would, growing up in small town Alabama. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that my husband and I are running our own international non-profit. When we aren’t working in our office in Maylene, AL, you can find us living and working in Thailand, India, or Africa.

Back when I was a student at Oxford High School, if you’d told me I would be comfortable half a world away in Africa I would have thought you’d lost your mind. A few years later, when I was struggling in Spanish classes at Auburn University, I would have laughed at the idea of learning Thai! But sometimes, things don’t go as we plan – and I am grateful for that! Every day that I get a chance to rescue innocent children from horrors like drug trafficking, sex trafficking, genocide and abuse, I am in awe that this is my job.

Through our work in third world countries, we are making a real difference. Little girls, who suffer in extreme poverty in Africa, are getting an opportunity for an education. Little boys, who would otherwise be forced to fight as child soldiers in Burma, are learning sustainable life-skills like gardening and raising livestock. Forgotten children, orphaned and abandoned in India, are being welcomed into loving homes. And it’s all happening because someone gave a few dollars to show they care.

If you’re reading this and wondering, “What does this have to do with me?” - well, I’m getting there.

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