|
|
2014 Issue 1
|
January 15, 2014
|
|
In this
| |
| Jet Tjarks
Executive Director
Henk Tjarks
Executive Operations Manager
Board Members
President
Michael Bosmann
Marketing and Fundraising
Cynthia
Klaja-McLaughlin
Secretary and Child Advocate
Anne Little
Treasurer
Patrick McLaughlin
Communication and Volunteer Coordinator
Deborah Coffey
|
|
|
 Greetings!
Recently, eight of our babies were adopted into forever homes!! We are so happy for each one of them - Angel, Ava, Bryant, Emma, Leo, Robyn, Seth and Trevor! Seven went to Italy and one to Norway. What a joy to see these Starfish babies in the arms of loving families! Plus! Julia has been matched with a Chinese family and Kaitlyn has been matched with an American family! We are grateful for the role that all our Starfish family has played in blessing these children's lives. Here are some pictures of a couple of the babies in their new homes! |
Starfish Baby Bryant
The Francesco Zen family from Italy
  Starfish Baby "Bryant" now lives in Milan, Italy with his mom, dad and older brother. 
A note from his parents says, "We adopted our first child in 2010 at the age of 18 months in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. He is really a wonderful boy. Since the family was really happy and willing to enlarge, we decided to come back to China for a second adoption.We met An Qiao Zhi (Bryant) in Xi'an on Nov, 24th and we came back to Italy on Dec, 14th. We are very happy with him. He is sweet, peaceful and funny, and talks (Chinese) all the time." Francesco Zen Family |
|
|
|
|
|
Starfish Baby Ava....
.....joins Dad and Mom Ivan and Monica Toffoleto in Italy
 | That's all for ME????!!!
|
 | I am cute and I know it!!
|
|
New Board Changes
The Starfish Board has made a few adjustments to start off the new year. We welcome Michael Bosmann as the new Board President. Michael has considerable experience with Starfish and a great passion for moving Amanda's vision forward. Previously our international relations expert, he looks forward to guiding Starfish in its new growth and opportunities. Cynthia Klaja-McLaughlin continues to serve in the marketing and fundraising department. Anne Little will continue on as our secretary and child advocate. Our new treasurer is Patrick McLaughlin. In his new role as Treasurer, Patrick will be responsible for the management of the finances for the organization. Specific duties will include donation management, accounting, tax return preparation and budgeting. Patrick will continue to manage the relationship with key donors as well. Deborah Coffey will continue to oversee communications and volunteerism at Starfish. From all the Board, we are grateful for your love for Starfish and commit ourselves to doing all we can to bless the lives of as many babies as possible, paving the way for them to join their forever families. |
Message from the President
Michael Bosmann
On behalf of Starfish I want to beg in by expressing our wishes to everyone for a Healthy and Happy 2014!!! We are all extremely excited for this year as we continue Amanda's mission to save the lives of orphan children with medical needs. 2013 was a year of exhaustive behind-the-scenes activity as we relocated Starfish to serve the future in a new location within China. As we announced in our previous newsletter, the Tjarks family are in the final process of relocating to China. Many of our supporters have known Jet and her family for many years. I have the highest level of confidence in Jet and Henk to provide the dedication and leadership of our operations in China that is so necessary for success in truly changing the lives of these children in need.
I know I am unknown to many of you, so I want to share with you some background regarding how my path crossed with Starfish several years ago and changed my life. I met Amanda in Xi'an about five years ago during one of my many business trips to Xi'an in support of my business in the power electronics business. As many of you know, meeting Amanda was always wonderful, full of laughter and so many times a memorable experience. I would always visit Starfish after that initial meeting whenever I was in Xi'an and the focus, dedication, and love with which she cared for each child was so evident and profoundly impacted me personally. As a supporter of Starfish I took every opportunity to introduce business associates and friends during my visits and support the wonderful activities that Amanda and her team were accomplishing. My involvement with Starfish increased after her tragic loss in my own personal focus to continue her mission. In my new role I hope to continue her mission and to care for each child entrusted into our care and remember that together we can "make a difference to this one".
All the best,
Michael Bosmann
Back to top
|
|
|
