Who gets loved?

Who gets loved? Who gets left out?

That was the question Alla faced every day.

Her child had disabilities. In her culture, her child was to be, for the most part, hidden.

Children with disabilities might be loved in secret, in the shadows, but not out in the open.

Alla set out to change the who-gets-loved question.

She did the unthinkable ... In her Belarusian hometown of Dzerzhinsk, about 20 miles outside of Minsk.

She launched an “Association Supporting Families of Children With Disabilities” (that’s my lame translation from the Russian).

Alla gathered other parents of children with disabilities — including single moms who’d been abandoned by dads because of the disability stigma.

They began supporting each other, creating events and opportunities for their children, celebrating rather than hiding their kids’ talents.

Friends of New Thing have had the joy of coming alongside this group, providing humanitarian aid and more.

We even released Look at Us, a book of family portraits. (It’s on Amazon but you can download the PDF here without charge.)

Our longest-serving “Response of the Heart” team member Lydia Danielevna (wearing yellow in the photo) has been a leader in all of this from the beginning.

Approaching her 85th birthday, she wants to celebrate by giving these 35 children and their parents a summertime adventure.

Summer camp, a visit to the city, a day at the circus, and more.

Transportation, fun foods, facilities rentals, everything will cost just $100 for each of 35 children and their parents.

(Some of the children are now young adults, but they’ll still love this just like little kids.)

As I write, 11 generous friends have contributed a total of $1114.48. 

To include all 35 children, we still need another $2385.52.

So if you’d like to help make this happen, maybe you could be 1 of 25 friends to give an extra-generous gift of $95.42?

Or if that’s not possible, give what you can and I’ll combine your donation with someone else's to welcome one more child and parent to the celebration.

Whatever you’re able to do, please respond quickly, because Lydia Danielevna’s birthday is fast approaching: May 20th!

Any gift you give today will say to children with disabilities: Yes, you are loved.

Thanks for journeying with New Thing.

Much love,

Doug Brendel

(Photos by Oleg Yarovenko)