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Student needing sponsorshipFamily in need of help!An impoverished family
MAYAN FAMILIES is a registered U.S. 501 (c) 3 non profit, based in Panajachel, Guatemala serving the needs of impoverished rural communities in Guatemala.
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In This Issue
Mayan Families is going Green
Storm Crisis info
Help Mayan Families for free
Mayan Families Connection
About Us
Make Christmas matter
Still more Xmas Baskets needed
Mayan Families T-shirts available
Adrian
Creative Fundraisers
Sponsor a student
Spread the Word
Mayan Families is going Green!
We are now sending out the Students letters, drawings etc by scanning them, translating and then e-mailing them to their sponsor. This saves paper, printing, ink, envelopes and 0.44 cents US for each stamp plus it is the environmentally correct thing to do.
We also offer a choice. If you would like to receive the letter by US mail, because you do not use e-mail, please let us know by mailing a letter requesting this to: 
Mayan Families
P.O. Box 52
Claremont, N.C. 28610
or by e-mailing your request to:
 [email protected]
and we will note that in our data base. 
 
An Ongoing Crisis in Guatemala 
Help Mayan Families for Free!
Spread the word by posting the link to one of our blogs--Family Aid, Elderly Care, or Sharon's Blog--on your Facebook or Twitter, forward this email to your friends, mention us on your personal blog--whatever you can think of to let more people know about what we're doing!  Even simple acts like those can make a HUGE difference for us.
Sponsored Student
To make a tax-deductible contribution...

   

Online, please go to Donate Now.  

 
To give via check, please send your donation made out to Mayan Families to:

 
Mayan Families

P.O. Box 52

Claremont, NC 28610

 

Mayan Families Connections
Sponsored Student
Mayan Families Connection is an online community for our supporters!  To participate, visit the MFC Blog, or join the Yahoo! mailing group to keep up with the latest news.
About Us
Mayan Families is a small non-profit group working in the Highlands of Guatemala. We are a registered 501(c)(3) Non Profit Charity of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

Your donation is tax deductible.

  

 

Quick Links:  

About Us 

Programs 

News and Events 

Donate Now 

 
Please also forward and share this email with anyone you know with an interest in Guatemala and changing lives and keeping families intact.
Much�simas Gracias! 
Mayan Families Monthly Newsletter
 Winter 2011
Greetings!

Story1Make Christmas matter    
Sponsor a child to go to school...give the gift of education..and change a child's life.
Give a stove. ....a water filter. ...give a bed to a child sleeping on a dirt floor.
Give a basket of food to a family.
Give a gift that will mean more than you can imagine to the family who receives it.
Go to our link here.
Save on your 2011 taxes! When giving to your favorite charities this holiday season, we hope you will also make a gift to Mayan Families. Your support is vitally needed and deeply appreciated! Your donations keep us working to make these sustainable projects a reality for thousands of impoverished children, families and the elderly! Please give what you can. All donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Still more Christmas Tamale Baskets needed!
It is not too late to send your basket! 
Last year we raised donations for 1,600 Tamale Baskets, which fed over 16,000 individuals! 
This year we have more people in need of food but less baskets donated. 
Christmas food basketFood basket to needy familya needy family receives food!   
We have 650 right now.  
If you would like to give the gift of food for a family in need to celebrate the Christmas/Holiday season please  
click here now and donate $35 per basket.  In the "Extra Notes" field on the donation page, please describe the donation (such as, "Tamale Basket for [general for any family in need  OR [family ID number]"). 

ORPHAN CARE PROGRAM BLOG
We are happy to announce our Orphan Care Blog. 
Please click here to read.
You can find the orphans that we are caring for and see what their needs are. These children are living with extended family members who are unable to support them. Mayan Families tries to provide sufficient support through school sponsorship, monthly food supplies, clothing, shoes, dental and medical care, a bed, blankets, etc. Through this program we enable the families to keep the children at home rather than being sent to an orphanage.   

CHRISTMAS GIFTS HERE IN GUATEMALA 
Due to many requests, this year we have also provided a small list of toys that can be purchased here in Guatemala as Christmas gifts for children and sponsored students 
(you can find the list here). 
Buy our New, Custom-Designed Items at CafePress
We are now offering Mayan Families branded items (including: t-shirts, calendars, hats, buttons, and more) on CafePress. 
Mayan Families will receive a percentage of each purchase as a donation from each item that is sold!!! 
Not only does buying and wearing our brand provide us donations, it also markets our nonprofit organization!  So get your gear now, just in time for the holidays to give as gifts and to get ready for the New Year with a 2012 calendar! 
 
Go shopping here:
  
An Example of Where Your Money Goes 

Elderly impoverished man Elderly Care Program

Adrian is a very sweet man who recently became part of our Elderly Care Program. He was brought to the office by his granddaughter who was really worried about his wellbeing.

He worked his whole life to provide for his family, but now at this stage of his life he can no longer work and his family is trying to keep him as comfortable and healthy as they can. However, his children and grandchildren have their own families and the little money they make is hardly enough to support them all.

When his story came to us we immediately included him in our program and the following day he started receiving one nutritious meal daily. However, it broke our heart to know that he did not have a bed and that he was sleeping on a piece of wood placed over cement blocks. At that point Adrian told us that he was thankful to his neighbors that lent him the piece of wood; otherwise he would be sleeping on the dirt floor. 

A few days later, thanks to many very generous donors, we were able to buy Adrian a bed with a mattress and it melted our hearts to see his smile when he saw the bed. He could not believe that he would no longer be sleeping on a piece of wood.

Creative Fundraising Opportunities

1) GoodSearch:  Contribute pennies to Mayan Families for every single search engine search you make, simply by using the Goodsearch toolbar (powered by Yahoo).  Download the toolbar here for free, and then designate Mayan Families to be the recipient of your search's earnings!


2) GoodDining:  Eat at GoodDining participating restaurants and provide up to 6% of your total cost to Mayan Families.  Just find the restaurants that meet your tastes and dine-in or dine-out, use a credit card, and start giving donations to MayanFamilies immediately.  Get started here.

3) Buy-It-Forward:  This is a time-sensitive opportunity to shop online and donate to Mayan Families at no extra cost to your purchases, simply by using Buy-It-Forwardwww.buy-it-forward.com) and then by placing your vote for your favorite charity listed (ie Mayan Families).  
creative fundraiser_buy-it-forward

Mayan Families is honored to be 1 of 5 charities listed for the months of November, December and January, so do your shopping now...in perfect time for the holidays and new year...and you can help increase the amount of donations received from Buy-It-Forward.
 

4) eBay Giving Works:  Start selling or buying on eBay using the eBay program Giving Works.  Now you can sell items on eBay and donate 10% to 100% of the final sale price to our Mayan Families children, families and elderly to provide an education, nutrional support and to give hope for their futures.  Start by visiting www.MissionFish.org and get registered, then choose
 what items to sell, indicate that your items will benefit Mayan Families under the MissionFish listings, and once your transaction is complete (ie when your items is sold) then MissionFish collects the donation and forwards it to Mayan Families as a "Where Most Needed" donation.
Sponsor a Guatemalan Student
Impoverished Student
 
Schools are out for their three-month break, and we want to send a big thank you to everyone who sponsored a student this year.
 
Thanks to your help we have sponsored over  2,000 children to go to school this year! But despite this progress, many in the Solol� region are still without access to education: while 86% attend Primaria (Elementary School), older students are often forced to drop out and work. Only 19.6% complete B�sico (Junior High School grades 7-9), and only 7.9% complete Carerra (High School grades 10-12).  
 
The consequences of dropping out follow students for the rest of their lives. A Carerra education provides training for work in tourism, teaching, business, medicine, mechanical work or a host of other steady, higher-wage professions. Without this education, students are confined to unskilled labor-jobs that will never bring in more than a few dollars a day. 

The gift of a Elementary, Junior High School or a High School education will bring students benefits that last a lifetime. A sponsorship for a year for Elementary School costs $190, Junior High School costs $390, a year of High School costs $490 and a University Education costs $1,250 a year. To read more about the student sponsorship program, and to meet some of the students seeking sponsors, click
 here.
Spread the 'Mayan Families' Word
 
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Blog:  Sharon's Blog
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Thank you once again for supporting Mayan Families!
 
Please also forward and share this email with anyone you know with an interest in Guatemala and changing lives and keeping families intact. Much�simas Gracias! 
PS. If you are able to make a gift to Mayan Families at this time, I invite you to visit our website and (securely) donate online at http://www.mayanfamilies.org/
Sincerely,
Sharon Smart-Poage
Mayan Families
[email protected]
www.mayanfamilies.org
Tel: 619-550-2608
 
 
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