Kennedy's Fundraising for Yangzhou Re-union (March 13th-March 21st)

Kennedy's Travel Blog to Follow along..

2009-03-13T12:02:00.002-07:00

Hi all,

In case you would like to follow along on Kennedy's journey to Yangzhou...
please visit: http://kennedysjourneytoyangzhou.blogspot.com/

Thank you,

Karen (Kennedy's Mom)

And the winners are......

2009-02-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

1 week vacation in Orlando - Winner is Chris Anthony Gerantoumakas and Family

25,000 Aeroplan Miles - Leanne & Tao Tao

19" Widescreen Display - Patrick N

Set of Signed Children's Books (Illustrated by Leanne Franson) - Chris Anthony Gerantoumakas and Family

$25 gift certificate from La Maison Kam Fung - Leanne Franson

$25 gift certificate from La Maison Kam Fung - Pat Benson

$25 Gift card from Lasenza - Laura Barwick

$25 Gift card from Lasenza - Maria M

$25 Gift card from Lasenza - Sylvia Kennedy

Bath & Body Works Gift Set - Nancy Wright

Bath & Body Works Gift Set - Denise Brown

Bath & Body Works Super Soft Bath Robe - Drazenka

Dinner for 2 at Buffet Fu Lam - Chris Anthony Gerantoumakas & Family

Beautiful Baby Quilt - Kimberly Christmas

$15 Gift Certificate from Peking Gardens -Chris Anthony Gerantoumakas & Family

1 hour massage in your own home - Tina Ruggiero

1 hour massage in your own home - Nathalie Constance

Willows Inn (Hudson)1 night get away with breakfast 2 two - Mary Lyn Shapiro

Thank you all for being so generous and helping us raise the funds that we needed.
It has been an incredible experience for all of us...and we could never have made it if it wasn't for all of you.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who graciously donated the gifts for this raffle. We really appreciated everything and it made the raffle possible.

Congrats to you all!! I will be in touch with you shortly.
Karen

Raffle Draw is today at 5pm

2009-02-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

Below is the list of amazing prizes for today's draw: Hopefully in a short while your name will be beside one or a few of them. Check back later today or wait patiently by your telephone.

1 week accommodations at a vacation rental home near Orlando Florida for any time during the next 12 months(3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms)-sleeps up to 8 people (Donated by Bernicy and family)
Check out the pictures of this beautiful home: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernicy/sets/72157612745238929/

25,000 Aeroplan Miles (Flying with Air Canada, this will get you a return flight for most cities in Canada and the United States) Thank you Aeroplan!

19" - widescreen TFT active matrix Flat panel display

A set of Children's Books-signed by the Illustrator(Leanne Franson)

2 - $25 gift certificates for La Maison Kam Fung located in Montreal

3 - $25 Gift Cards from Lasenza(www.lasenza.com)

2 - Bath & Body Works Gift Sets

Bath & Body Works Super Soft Bath Robe

Dinner for 2 at Buffet Fu Lam (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, West Island-Montreal)

A Beautiful Baby Quilt (Donated by Karen Grabouski)

$15 Gift Certificate from Peking Gardens (West Island, Montreal)

2 - 1 hour massages in your own home(Donated by Francis)

Spaghetti Fundraiser Dinner Cancelled

2009-02-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I thank those of you who RSVP'ed for the spaghetti dinner but I don't think we will be going to have it after all. We have only a few people who have indicated they are coming and the cost of doing the dinner will be more that we think we could collect for the orphanage.

We think with the money we would have spent on buying the groceries we will just donate that money to the orphanage.

Thank you to all of you who have been very generous already and to those who offered to help us out with the dinner. It is very much appreciated.

I hope you understand our decision and thanks again!

The raffle draw will be done on Feb 21st as planned...GOOD LUCK!

Now as we prepare the final things for Kennedy's big travel to Yangzhou..I hope you will check in and follow her journey. I think we will create a new blog for the travel journal but will of course let you know what the new blog's address will be.

Thank you for everything! Without you Kennedy would not be going!

Love,
Karen, James, Kennedy, Madison, Jagger, Colby, Jaden and Presley

Spaghetti Fundraiser - Feb 21st at 5:30pm

2009-02-07T19:03:00.001-08:00

Hi everybody,

For those of you who are thinking of joining us for the spaghetti fundraiser please contact my mom and RSVP, you can email her at: chinamum@videotron.ca. Right now we have about 20 people coming including my family who have RSVP'd. If we don't have many people confirmed my mom is not sure how many people to prepare supper for. We don't want to make dinner for 100 people and only 25 people join us. What a waste of food that would be if that happens. Please let us know if you will be able to come.

Thanks again!
Hugs
Kennedy

What a wonderful gesture...

2009-02-07T18:48:00.001-08:00

Today ,Jaden(our 6 year old) was invited for a birthday party for a dear friend of hers named Jenna.
Jenna's mom Kathy organized the party and instead of the kids giving Jenna gifts each familiy made a monetary donation for a cause that Kathy and her family chooses. From what Kathy explained to me they buy food for a food bank or donate money to a good cause on behalf of Jenna each year. Well today's party gifts (donations) were donated for Kennedy's orphanage. How wonderful and thoughtful was that. We cannot thank Kathy and her family enough for the generous donation. The children in Yangzhou who remain in the orphanage will be very happy with the toys etc that Kennedy will purchase while she is there.

Thank you again..what a wonderful gesture..

Karen-aka Kennedy's Mom

Plane tickets are bought...Yangzhou here we come!!

2009-02-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

I purchased James and Kennedy's plane tickets last Thursday. They leave on March 12th and come home on the 22nd. They head to Beijing for a couple of days, than leave for Nanjing(capital of Jiangsu province) and than take a bus from there to Yangzhou. I still can't beleive they will actually be going. It will be such an incredible trip for Kennedy. We are in contact with some other families who are attending the 20th year celebration as well. Kennedy and James will be meeting up with them in Beijing. There are a few girls who are close to Kennedy's age as well so how wonderful will that be to make some friends who are her age and originally from Yangzhou. Now they are living all over the US and some from the UK.

We are working on getting their Chinese Visa's and I will be bringing them to the travel agent today. Once that is complete, we need to wire the money for the in China travel and then all that is left to do is pack and get on the plane.

Again thank you to everyone who made this incredible trip possible for Kennedy. She is excited and nervous but can't wait to get going.

Take care,
Karen (aka Kennedy's Mom)

The day after...

2009-01-29T09:58:00.000-08:00

Well after an incredible day yesterday of reaching my goal...my Mom came home today early as she was laid off of work. I feel so sad for her. I know her though she will pick herself up and hopefully have a new job soon.

We are still going to China though as she said the trip was something I could not miss.

I love you Mom!
Kennedy
xoxoxoxoxoxo

I AM GOING TO YANGZHOU - YIHAWWWWW!

2009-01-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,

I am thrilled tonight to shout out to everyone that is following my blog that I reached the magic number tonight. I WILL BE GOING TO YANGZHOU with my Dad!!!!!!!!
I cannot thank all the wonderful generous people who have helped me to make my goal amount. I thank you all with all my heart.
We are still selling raffle tickets, teddy bears and dogs and our spaghetti fundraiser will go on as planned. Now I will work hard for the children who are living in the Yangzhou orphanage who are not as lucky as I was. I would love to be able to go to Yangzhou with some money and help them purchase things they need and of course buy things for the kids who are still waiting for a family of their own. It makes me sad to think there are so many kids who don't have a family.

Look at these little faces in a recent video(2007) that was taken in the orphanage that used to be MY home. Help me to help them!

Thank you so much..I can't beleive we made it.
Hugs,
Kennedy
XOXOXOXOXO

Happy Chinese New Year -Gong Xi Fat Cai

2009-01-25T05:22:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Chinese New Year tomorrow!
Make & Eat lots of dumplings (Mom makes some delicious ones)and enjoy this special time with your family.

Happy Chinese New Year - Gong Xi Fat Cai!

Hugs,
Kennedy
xo

We have made the local papers again!

2009-01-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

We are so lucky our community is trying to help us get the word out. This morning a great article was written on my project. Thank you Kristina E. : ) You can check it out at:
http://www.journalpremiereedition.com/article-295717-Digging-for-her-roots.html

Have a warm weekend!
Kennedy
xo

Slow and Steady hopefully wins the race..

2009-01-23T14:00:00.001-08:00

Hi,

It has been a fairly quiet week in fundraising land. We are trying everything to try and raise the money I need to go to Yangzhou. We have made some bracelets with beads, sold lollipops at school, did a Guess how many candies in the heart shaped jar? and of course our raffle tickets. My mom keeps telling me that "Slow and steady wins the Race" and I hope she is right. We have less than 4 weeks to go before the deadline of February 21, 2009. Raffle tickets sales have been slow. I have been selling some of my too cute teddy bears and we received some donations from some generous people. Thank you! We are almost half the way there. That is great news! My Mom has also worked with the wonderful people at Aeroplan and we now have an account set up if generous people out there would like to donate Aeroplan miles(Air Canada), if we reach enough to buy a plane ticket that would be amazing. Contact my mom if you are interested in doing that as she needs you to fill in a form.

Have a great weekend!
Kennedy
xox

Raffle tickets & Teddies are now being sold..get yours today!

2009-01-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

It has been a busy week this week...I was interviewed this weekend by a lovely reporter from our local french papers..I was so nervous. I hope I did ok.I think the story will be in the paper this week.
I start selling my raffle tickets this week. Tickets are 1 for $3.00 and 2 for $5.00.
We also have some teddies that we are selling for $5.00 as well.
My mom has worked hard to get some great prizes, thank you Mom and the businesses and people who have donated them. The draw will be on Feb 21, 2009 at my Spaghetti Fundraising Dinner. Hope you can come! If you plan on coming..please RSVP with my Mom Karen at: chinamum@videotron.ca

Here are the prizes:

1 week accommodations at a vacation rental home near Orlando Florida for any time during the next 12 months(3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms)-sleeps up to 8 people (Donated by Bernicy and family)
Check out the pictures of this beautiful home: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernicy/sets/72157612745238929/

25,000 Aeroplan Miles (Flying with Air Canada, this will get you a return flight for most cities in Canada and the United States) Thank you Aeroplan!

19" - widescreen TFT active matrix Flat panel display

A set of Children's Books-signed by the Illustrator(Leanne Franson)

2 - $25 gift certificates for La Maison Kam Fung located in Montreal

3 - $25 Gift Cards from Lasenza(www.lasenza.com)

2 - Bath & Body Works Gift Sets

Bath & Body Works Super Soft Bath Robe

Dinner for 2 at Buffet Fu Lam (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, West Island-Montreal)

A Beautiful Baby Quilt (Donated by Karen Grabouski)

$15 Gift Certificate from Peking Gardens (West Island, Montreal)

2 - 1 hour massages in your own home(Donated by Francis)

More prizes are still coming...so check in now and again.

Good luck to all of you and thank you again!

Hoping to have a great week.
Kennedy
xo

Our local paper(Hudson Gazette) writes about my project

2009-01-15T04:44:00.001-08:00

We made the front cover of our local paper(Thank you Jim Duff) to help me with my fundraising project and getting the word out about it. How great is this!. Here is our picture. This is me with my 3 sisters and 2 brothers. You can check out the article at www.hudsongazette.com

Thanks again to everyone,
Kennedy

Spaghetti Fundraiser confirmed - Feb 21, 2009

2009-01-13T04:28:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

So my fundraising dinner will be on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at Wyman United Church which is located at 513 Main Rd in Hudson. The dinner will be in the basement. There is a limit of how many people can attend(60-70), so if you would like to attend the dinner, please RSVP with my Mom at chinamum@videotron.ca.
We will be asking for a donation of $5.00 for children under 12 and $10.00 for adults.

We will have available meat sauce as well as tomato as I know many people don't like meat and we aim to make everyone happy.

Raffle tickets are now on sale and will be on sale until the spaghetti dinner. The winners will be drawn at that time. There are GREAT prizes and thanks to many wonderful people more are coming. I thank you so much!

BTW...my family and I will be on the front page of the Hudson Gazette tomorrow (Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - www.hudsongazette.com)- thank you Jim Duff and the Hudson Gazette for helping me to try and get the word out about my fundraising project.

We live in a great community.

Hugs
Kennedy

Spaghetti Fundraiser & Raffle

2009-01-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Me and Mom have been working hard these days trying to confirm everything. We will be having a Spaghetti Fundraiser on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 from 5:30pm-8:00pm.
We will probably be having it at Wyman's United Church in Hudson or at Westwood Jr High School, all the details are still to be confirmed.

Raffle tickets are now for sale. We have many wonderful gifts that have been donated by many wonderful people and businesses. Cost is 1 ticket for $3.00 and 2 tickets for $5.00

You can see the list of prizes in my blog dated January 18th

We will be selling the tickets in my school and also at the spaghetti dinner and of course online so if you are interested please send me an email.

The draw for the raffle will happen on Feb 21st at the Spaghetti Fundraiser.
If you are a lucky winner I will be calling you to let you know.

If by chance we do end up raising more money than the $3300 that is my goal, the extra will be brought to China with me and donated to the Yangzhou Children's Welfare Institute for those children who are still waiting for a family of their own.

Thank you for all helping me out!
You want to buy some raffle tickets?

Kennedy
xo

Working on Fundraising Ideas...

2009-01-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

So me and Mom are starting to come up with some ideas and this week hopefully things will start to happen. We are thinking of doing a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at a local church hall or school. We are looking into places we could do it at..and hopefully Mom will have some luck with that this week.

We are also hoping to do a raffle, we are waiting for the OK from my principal to see if this will be ok to sell in my high school.

So things are starting to move. We have to move quickly as I have 3 weeks to give my answer to the people organizing the group. I need to give them a $120 deposit. I have 5 weeks to know for sure if I can raise the money. If I do not think I can make it at that point than at least I know I have tried my best.

Thanks to those who have donated..I cannot thank you enough!

Hopefully those of you who live close by (St. Lazare/Hudson area) you will be able to come for dinner..I would love that.

Thank you for your support!
Kennedy

A Wonderful Exciting Adventure Awaits.....in Yangzhou, Jiangsu China

2008-12-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

My name is Kennedy and I was born in Yangzhou, Jiangsu in China. I was adopted at the age of 6 months old. I am the oldest in my family. I have 3 sisters and 2 brothers. So that is right 6 of us! We all joined our family through adoption. Today in the mail I received an invitation to go to China and celebrate with the Yangzhou Children's Social Welfare Institute their 20 years of helping children find their families as well as completing their new children's building.

The week will be filled with wonderful activities, calligraphy, a visit to the China Center of Adoption affairs in Beijing(the wonderful people/place who matched my file with my parents file). I will get to tour the Great Wall And the Forbidden City. Then we will head to Yangzhou where we will stay for 4 days. The party in Yangzhou would include a grand and welcome ceremony for all of the children who were adopted from Yangzhou, a visit to the orphanage to learn about its development and a trip to the Canal Scenery Belt and Slender West Lake. I would be able to enjoy the great cuisine of Yangzhou and meet some wonderful people from my hometown. I would get to play with the waiting children in the orphanage and we would plant trees together which would represent our everlasting friendship. I would be an honored guest for the anniversary ceremony.

The Trip is from March 14 to March 21st and I would looooooooove to go....

The trip is very expensive but I would love to go with one of my parents. My parents have told me that they can afford to give me $1500 towards the trip but the rest I would have to raise. So I need to raise $3300 dollars (oh my that is a lot!!).

I could really use your help!!! Any donation would be greatly appreciated. Me and my parents are trying to think of all kinds of ideas for fundraising so I will be able to attend this wonderful week in Yangzhou. Check back with my blog and see what we have come up with.

You can make donations via paypal(www.paypal.com) to my Mom's email address(chinamum@videotron.ca)or a cheque would be great as well, I have my own bank account and will be putting the money in there for the big trip if I am lucky enough to raise the rest.

Thank you for reading my blog...and if you can help me to get to China..that would be just wonderful! It is a chance of a lifetime for me to go back with other kids from around the world who are adopted like me.

Here would be our itineray in China:

Yangzhou Reunion Activity Itinerary

March 14 Arrive in Beijing, check in at the hotel and take a rest

March 15 Tour to the Great Wall and visit Olympic Venues

March 16 Morning Learn Tai-Chi at a local park, Visit CCAA, and welcoming party at BLAS

Afternoon Visit Tian’an Men Square and Forbidden City

March 17 Go to Nanjing by air and drive to Yangzhou

March 18 Morning Welcoming party at Yangzhou CWI, visit the orphanage, and view the adoption files

Afternoon Anniversary ceremony, play with the waiting children and make dumplings at the orphanage

March 19 Morning Have local food for breakfast

Visit the Canal Scenery Belt and fly kites

Afternoon Visit Slender West Lake and Daming Temple, and Yangzhou toy industry which is very famous abroad

March 20 Morning Visit Ge Garden, learn paper-cutting and get local featured clothes for souvenir

Visit Yangzhou University and go shopping at a local market

Afternoon Farewell ceremony at Yangzhou CWI and plant trees

March 21 Morning Drive to Nanjing to fly to Beijing and leave for home

Hugs and thank you so much! Every dollar gets me 1 step closer to Yangzhou!

Just a little note: If we do not reach our goal than of course all donations will be returned to those who kindly helped us.

Kennedy
xoxoxoxoxox