It’s my privilege to introduce my favorite charity today. In many ways, this organization is one of the driving forces behind the idea of The One Dollar Give, as it is the one that ignited my passion for giving this season and made me desperately want to do more than I could possibly do on my own.

As most people are aware, the global AIDS crisis continues to affect millions and millions of lives around the world, and in Africa, a significant portion of those infected are women and children.

AHOPE for Children is an organization dedicated to serving the people of Ethiopia, specifically by caring for orphans who are HIV+ and have no family to care for them. Through two children’s homes, AHOPE is able to provide the medical care that these children need, as well as giving them love and providing them with an education.

Additionally, through a community outreach program, AHOPE is able to help orphans stay with their extended families while receiving the medical care and other help that they need.

It’s easy to think of the AIDS crisis as affecting a nameless, faceless mass of people, but AHOPE puts a face on some of the individual children affected. I can’t get those faces out of my mind or those children out of my thoughts.

I recently received a packet of information in the mail about Kidist, the little girl we are sponsoring through AHOPE. Her father died just two months ago, and she was brought to the children’s home by her uncle, who is unable to provide the medical care she desperately needs as a child who is HIV+. She is a beautiful little girl, and my heart breaks thinking of all she’s been through. Unfortunately, unlike sponsorships through Compassion International and other programs, we are not able to correspond with Kidist because the caregivers have not been able to make the children understand that their sponsors will not be adopting them, which has led to even more heartache for these precious children.

There’s another name I can’t get out of my mind either. I recently received a bracelet from the AHOPE store. These stainless steel bracelets sell for $10 and the proceeds from each sale provide food for a child for one week. On the bracelet is the name Eden, another little girl living at AHOPE. My 4-year-old daughter asks me daily what the bracelet says, and I’m thankful for the opening this gives me to share the story of these children with her.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes out of your day today to click through and donate $1 to change the lives of these and other children served by AHOPE for Children. Make no mistake – your $1 will make a difference.

To donate $1 to AHOPE to help provide much needed care for the HIV+ orphans in Ethiopia, click here. Please use “One Dollar Give” in the dedication portion of the donation form. For more information on how you can purchase a “Good Card” to help minimize transaction fees deducted from your donations, click here. After you’ve donated, come back and vote in the poll so that we can count donations!

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(Yes, the poll offers you the choice between “Yes.” and “Yes.” because I didn’t think we really needed to count the “No” answers, and the poll required two choices! Hey, it’s not a perfect system, but it’ll work!)