The Hunt Is On And The Tickets Are Bought!

It has been a behind-the-scenes-flurry of activity since our last posting. We have all the spots filled for Jamaica (45) and Barbados (21); now comes the time of planning; however, we were rudely interrupted by the rising costs of fuel and all the surcharges the airlines suddenly feels obligated to pass on to its customers. We all know this gives them more income and a lower tax rate but man it hurts. Well, that meant we had to jump into overdrive to get the groups' seat reservations ticketed before it got out of control. Mission accomplished. Jamaica tickets are bought and ticketed - no backing out now! We will keep an eye out for the Barbados tickets. They had some surcharge built into them so no increase...yet. We will keep a steady on them. Here's a shout-out to our dear friends and travel partners, Malinda and Diane at Springfield Travel.

Back to planning...and, oh, back to hunting grant money for our cause. We recently signed up for Foundation Online Directory and are going through the process of vetting the list of countless foundations. It is amazing how much money is out there waiting for a cause! Hope we are one of them. Let the hunt begin. In about two weeks, our corporate sponsorship guide booklet will be printed. It looks awesome, thanks to Phil Goodwin and the VII EAST staff. We are waiting one final piece of data and to the printer we go. It is a 12-page booklet telling our story and giving pertinent data upon which corporations will decide to sponsor us. We will be sending this out to about 300 corporate entities in the next month or so. Send us happy thoughts for a successful fundraising campaign. We have big plans for this money: full-time leadership and camp planning, training for counselors in host communities, sponsoring of inner-city kids to come to the camp. Very exciting!

We are inundated with the details of starting this and trying each and every day to not get caught up in the business side of things and to remember why we are doing this - for the kids in our own backyard and those in the countries to which we will be invited. They are our inspiration. We hear their voices. We see their faces. It is their cause for which we struggle and strive to gain recognition and support. For a better world let's start with tomorrow's leaders today!

For the kids, Jeff & Wade