L.O.V.E. Notes
(Laurencia's Victory Newsletter)
February 2016 Edition
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Greetings and Happy Valentine's Day to our
Donors, Sponsors, Volunteers, Racers and Friends!
Be sure to scroll down to see how YOUR SUPPORT helped LV fulfill its mission to support and bring awareness to orphaned children and adoptive families in 2015!
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SAVE THE DATE!! SAVE THE DATE!!
2016 L.O.V.E. 5K Sat., AUGUST 20!!
Look for more information in the coming months
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2015 L.O.V.E. 5k Run Re-cap - a HUGE Victory!!
The 2015 L.O.V.E. 5k was a wonderful success thanks to all of you!
We raised over
$12,000 to be used to directly aid orphaned children, adoptive families and other missions that care for the orphaned and abandoned. Highlights of the day include:
- 170 5k Race registrants!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING OUT!! The image at top is of the race start. Go HERE to click through all of the photos taken by Shelly Jorgensen on race day. Shelly donates all of her time and talent on race day to capture these special moments!
You can also go
HERE to find the complete race results as well as a photo of yourself at the finish. Choose the L.O.V.E. 5k from the EVENT drop down menu, on the Right click the image to open all images of finishers.
Gopher State Events is a Platinum sponsor and so generously provides our race timing.
- Over 40 Little Lamb Race participants! Look at them go! The kids make this day so much fun!!
- A very successful silent auction - A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who donated and placed bids! We will be doing the auction again next year and can't wait to see what items will be included - a small snapshot of just some of the goodies up for grabs:
- The kids had a blast on the birthday cake bouncy house - the bouncy house will be back for the 2016 L.O.V.E. 5k Event!
- We were blessed with a visit from the Watsons, an LV 2014 grant family. Look at their sweet girlie, orphan no more! She is pure sunshine!!
- Overall winner of the race was 17 year-old Dane Ruberto of St. Michael with a time of 20:22. Great job Dane!
Along with other prizes, Dane received a $100 donation in his name to the Phillip LaVallee Scholarship Fund. We were so fortunate to be able to hand the donation check directly to Phillip's parents, Amy and Greg, who both ran the race--Greg even placed (see photo below)--speed runs in the family!
- Our "Happy Birthday" to Laurencia and Valencia and annual pink balloon release was once again a big hit. Thank you for helping us celebrate the Life of Laurencia and spread her message of L.O.V.E. far and wide!
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A few more fun photos of the blessed day:
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Laurencia's Papa, Grandma and some cute cousins.
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A dedicated LV supporter. Check out the deconstructed race shirt - awesome, pink and sparkly as usual Colleen!
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Sr. Bonnie (L's great-aunt and Papa's twin sister) helping with the birthday cake - we love you Sr. B!
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Ani (another cousin), helping spread the L.O.V.E. and some racers getting ready and set - I spy a Jennifer representing the Saturday Morning Running Club Crew!
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These 2 lovely ladies are always willing to help, and they do it with beautiful smiles every time!
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More smiley helpers. HI Sam! Tessi, the balloon goddess, in the background! She nearly floated away!
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FULFILLING OUR MISSION
Some of the many ways in which YOU are making a difference
in the lives of families and children
(This is the good stuff!!!)
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Wangerin Family
(Zoey)
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Sanborn Family (Kit)
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Little Simon
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"We felt we were a complete family after bringing Anna home in 2012, but when we saw a little girl's picture, and read about her needs, we knew she was meant to be ours. She lives in China, and is two years old. Her name is Hua Yi Mian*. She has hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy and vision issues along with developmental delays, just like our girls. We know she'll thrive when she gets home. But since we weren't planning on adopting again, and using all our funds and savings to adopt previously, we weren't prepared for all the fees of
a Chinese adoption. We appreciate your consideration of our family for a grant from your foundation!" *Zoey is now home and thriving in her FAMILY. The Wangerins say "THANK YOU" to LV!
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"We are so grateful. We almost died when we saw your email. I thought you said 2000 was being split 4/5 ways, I didn't realize it was all for us. We don't even know what to say. We cried all day. We just never imagined such a gift and we can never say thank you enough...He's very small (20lbs) but doing well. He (and his entire support group/entourage) will be at Laurencia's 5k next year and we hope to see you all in person before then as well. Please, please give our thanks to your board and your family. Tonight we prayed for Laurencia and said thank you to her for all her love and support. She is an amazing little girl and you and her are doing so much more good than you could ever imagine. I hope one day you get to experience the joy of your own adoption and then you will fully understand how much this means to the families you've helped. We will absolutely pay this forward and can not say thank you enough. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
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"Simon received a grant from Laurencia's Victory to help pay for hearing aids. He got his hearing aids today! Thank you so much for helping make this day possible! We are so blessed and so grateful!" |
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Dixon Family (Nati)
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Mustard Seed Communities
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Sykes Family (Mabel)
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"Our family is deeply grateful to LV for their very generous support of our adoption! We passed court in Ethiopia yesterday and now have a beautiful 3-year old son, and LV's grant money will help toward our travel expenses to bring him home...We have been so encouraged and uplifted by other people's love and support during this difficult journey, and LV's grant was such a sign of God's generosity and love for us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts
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"Thank you for your donation to Mustard Seed Communities! We are deeply grateful for your generosity and support of our efforts."
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"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for supporting the Sykes family in their adoption of Mabel. We are forever grateful!"
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Life 2 Orphans
Photos below are of the boiler LV helped to fund and of some of the children in the orphanage. The "
This Little Light of Mine" Fundraiser by LV in October provided over half of the cost of the boiler!
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Merry Muscles Exerciser for some VERY SPECIAL
little girlies (who are home with their family)!!
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Chaves Family (Zebediah)
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"Plea to live; Heat for Aids Orphans:
We have heat!!!! Update... we have raised $2,300.00 for the Heat for Aids Orphans. Thank you to so many of you that stepped
...
forward and thought of these needy little ones far, far away in Ukraine. The money has been wired to Lyudmilla and she sends her many, many thanks and love from all the children and caregivers!! Thank you so much to Laurencia's Victory for the check for $1,215.00 that they raised during their "Love" Run "Heat for Aids Orphans". The outpouring of love for these special children has warmed all our hearts! Please see the orphanage's boiler that is filled with your love and the special photos of thanks from Makiivka!!"
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"So many thanks to your
charity group, as they donated the cost of this wonderful device, to help (our daughters) develop strength safely in their legs and torso!!!!!!!!!! We can't wait to get it set up so they can start using it!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! (Our daughter) is so excited!!!!"
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"We just received notice of a wonderful and truly unexpected blessing. We have been awarded a grant for a stroller for Zebediah so that we will be able to transport him while in country. Thank you Laurencia's Victory for blessing us in this way. We are overwhelmed at your generosity and the love of God demonstrated, through you, to our precious son. Glory to God!"
"We made the decision to wait to purchase the stroller while in Ukraine so that we could be sure it would fit Zebadiah and his need and so that we would not have to pay extra to check it ($300 ouch!). Today we not only found a stroller but also a car seat. These both recline so that when Zeb get's tired we can lay him back. They both have great padding and the stroller has something that helps absorb the shock when going over bumps (believe me that is a problem here in Ukraine). And as you can see he was very excited about both!!!! Thank you so much Laurencia's Victory, what a blessing this is to us and has been great to relieve my worry about transporting him home those long hours in flight!!! God is so good and you have been his hand of goodness to us!!!!"
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| We are awaiting news of another family's adoption of 2 little boys and will provide that family a $2000 grant as well, once we receive word that all is set for the boys to come HOME! We are so thankful for ALL of your kind words, continued support, sacrifices of time, talent and treasure and most of all, your willingness to open your hearts and eyes to see the millions of children in need of the most basic thing: a family. Thank you for sharing the message of these children and showing the world and them that they are indeed loved. We intend to keep working toward showing that love for as long as you'll run or walk beside us. We imagine our Laurencia is so grateful and so proud to have all of you on her team. We know we are. With all of our LOVE and gratitude, Laurencia's Victory Board of Directors |
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"God is within her, she will not fail."
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| Donate to LV and help us reach even more children and families in 2016! THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT and LOVE!! |
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*Donations made to Laurencia's Victory are tax deductible (to the extent allowed by law). If you have not received a tax receipt from a 2015 donation and would like one, you may send a request to [email protected]. |
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Laurencia's Victory is a nonprofit corporation organized in the State of Minnesota. Tax ID 46-5505588.
© 2015-2016 Laurencia's Victory. All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written
permission from this website's author and/or owner(s) is strictly prohibited
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